The finder is just an 0.33x magnification rectangular hole with a couple of almost invisible hairlines for parallax and focus area. It's half the size of the finder of the 35Ti or Hexar, and much smaller than the finder of a disposable camera! It's a joke! Once you pick it up, you quickly see my biggest complaint: the viewfinder is awful. I have a comparison photo of all three at the bottom under Recommendations. Please forgive my cranky attitude throughout this review, but neither this Leica, the Nikon 35Ti or Konica Hexar, to which I'll often refer in this review, do everything I want for serious photography. I'd carry this in a pocket of my hiking shorts, but be careful: it weighs a pound and kept pulling down my pants. Unless you want to dangle it from your wrist, you'll need to stuff it in a big pocket (or if you're a lady, in a purse). There are are no lugs for a shoulder strap. It has only one strap hole for a dainty wrist band. My wife's comment? "This camera is retarded." The Nikon 35Ti is a little better, and the Hexar is a lot better. When I handed it to my wife to make a photo of me, she also put her finger on the top of the dial, where the shutter should have been. The shutter button isn't where you want it it's a little too far in. It feels great picking it up, but as a simple, non-ergonomically designed rectangular brick, it doesn't fit well for in-hand for shooting. Even the screw-in battery cover weighs a ton.
The first thing that hits you when picking it up is how heavy and solid it is. I'd consider one of these for my mom since prices are reasonable today (2008), but I'd not get one for myself except as a wonderful objet d'art. It lacks almost everything that a photographer would want in a serious, but portable, camera. If you want to distinguish yourself among others as a person of distinction, carrying this Leica does the best job. This Leica is for people rich enough to hire photographers and buy fine art, not for photographers themselves. The fixed-lens Minilux is far better than this zoom. If you want great results, any plastic SLR like a Nikon N55 works better. It doesn't work any better than any other point-and-shoot, and is worse than advanced point-and-shoots like the Nikon 35Ti or Konica Hexar. The Leica Minilux Zoom is a very basic point-and-shoot for rich people. Buy from Adorama, Amazon, Ritz, B&H, Calumet and J&R.
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