Looking for a "retro" DCC camera

[Daahzling]

Which camera should I buy?

This short questionnaire will help the rest of us make good camera recommendations for you. Please answer each question carefully and succinctly.

The questions marked with a * are the most important.

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Budget - up to 400$



Size - small to medium



Features

How many megapixels will suffice for you? 5 MP

* What optical zoom will you need? Standart 3x-4x

* How important is “image quality” to you? 7

Do you care for manual controls? No

General Usage

* What will you generally use the camera for? Everyday photographing, the camera will have to take care of all my photography needs, except for those candid shots done on the phone.

* Will you be making big prints of your photos or not? Most likely not. Perhaps standart picture prints.

Will you be shooting a lot of indoor photos or low light photos? Very likely

Will you be shooting sports and/or action photos? Probably not

Miscellaneous

Are there particular brands you like or hate? All go!

Are there particular models you already have in mind?Leica DCC M3

(If applicable) Do you need any of the following special features? Image stabilization would be nice to have.


If I may add to the above, I am looking to replace my Sony DCS P32 camera with something new, while the finances last. While on a plane trip, I saw an advertisement for a Leica DCC M3 camera and I simply loved the design part of the camera! A classic Leica camera with brand new tech! However, after reading the reviews, my fears were confirmed: the design of the camera is a head-turner, however the tech inside is horrible.

Now, I was wondering if another company produces something similar to the Leica DCC M3 in the design part(that is, a retro look, or a remodeling of a classic camera) but with good specs and a price that is more or less reasonable.

Thank you in advance!

[coldrain]

I do not know, but maybe the Canon G7 and G9 come close to what you are looking for?

The tech in those most certainly can impress...


Then there is the Leica D-lux 3, also pretty. More expensive and probably a little bit less on the image quality front, but pretty classic in design.

[Daahzling]

Hello!
Thanks for your suggestions. On pictures neither gave me a "gosh, that's it!!" feeling, but I will go to our local store tomorrow and try to find them and see them in persona. The Cannon just looks "conservative", but doesn't feel very "retro". The Leica is outright minimalistic, which is not exactly what I am looking for.

In short, both look like a passable choice for someone who looks at the 90's era. I want to shoot for late 70's-early 80's.

P.S. and yes, design really is important. I am an eye-candy person

EDIT: I have upped the price to 400$ and I changed the image quality grade to 7. I don't want it to take EOS quality pictures, but they need to look good to the naked eye.

[coldrain]

No idea what 2nd hand Leica compact digitals will go for... but those are your only choice.

They probably still will outstretch your budget though, but you can try ebay I guess.

Leica Digilux 1:

Leica Digilux 2:


And another exotic 2nd hand one:
Panasonic LC1:

[swpars]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...&O=productList

Leica Digilux 1 is $399 at B&H. If style is what you are looking for, this camera is a very nice looking camera.

Personally, I like the chunky looks of the G7/G9 - it looks sort of like an old rangefinder camera.