Leica unveils its new V-Lux 20, 12 Megapixels straight from the TZ10

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One the results of the partnership between Panasonic and Leica--the former has used some of its lenses on its own cameras--is the new Leica V-Lux 20, a 'restyled' TZ10 in the latter's trademark red and black colour scheme.

It's not the first time the two brands have co-operated either: other models include the D-Lux 4 (identical to the Panasonic LX3), or the incredible C-Lux 3 (a copy of the Panasonic FX37).

In most respects, the Leica V-Lux 20 has the same tech specs as the Panasonic TZ10, and the German version of this popular point-and-shoot will have the same powerful 12x (25-300 mm) zoom, the same optical image stabilisation, the same 3'', 460 000 pixel screen, the same built-in GPS, the same A and S priority modes, and, of course, the same automatic scene recognition.

One huge difference is that the V-Lux 20 doesn't film in AVCHD Lite any more: its specs only mention M-Jpeg video recorded as QuickTime (.mov) files.

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Naturally, the Leica V-Lux 20 will also suffer from the same weaknesses as its cousin, including a GPS that takes to long to get a fix and a few problems with electronic noise handling at higher sensitivities.

More interestingly, the V-Lux 20 will come with a free copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, which is much more powerful than the proprietary software Panasonic developed to accompany the TZ10.  The bundled software is a result of another Leica partnership, with its M9 camera coming with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Price: adding Leica's logo to the front doesn't come cheap.  The V-Lux 20 will sell for for £495, more than twice as much as its Panasonic lookalike. 

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