The new Leica M is a 24-megapixel full-frame digital rangefinder camera with Live View and Full HD video recording capabilities. This means - among other things - that Leica M users will, for the first time ever, be able to see exactly what their M lens sees prior to taking a photograph (if they so wish, that is). In Live View mode the Leica M offers a choice of two focusing aids, focus peaking and up to 10x magnified view. In addition to these the traditional rangefinder focusing method is, of course, fully retained. The brand new “Leica Max” CMOS sensor was designed and constructed in collaboration with CMOSIS specifically for this camera and its use with Leica M- and R-Lenses. According to Leica, “[t]his new development successfully transfers the characteristic advantages of CCD sensors, such as natural and brilliant colour rendition and impressive reproduction of detail, to a CMOS sensor.” The Leica M in black paint or silver chrome finish is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £5,100 including VAT from early 2013.

The Leica M-E is an “affordable” (ahem) version of the Leica M9 full-frame digital rangefinder camera. Featuring a classic “Leica format,” i.e. 35mm full-frame, sensor with 18 million pixels, the Leica M-E is claimed to represent “the essence of rangefinder photography.” Described as the “ideal entry-level model for photographers wishing to experience the fascination of M-photography in its purest form,” the Leica M-E retains most of the core functionality of the M9 while setting you back “only” £3,900 including VAT (for reference, the M9 retails for £4,950).

Leica has announced a range of accessories for the Leica M digital rangefinder camera, including an adapter for Leica R-mount lenses, an electronic viewfinder and a multifunctional handgrip that doubles as a GPS unit. The Leica R-Adapter M (£215) allows users to mount almost all Leica R-Lenses ever built on the new Leica M, while the live view enabled camera enables accurate framing and focusing without a need for a bulky Visoflex unit. This opens up new potential for Leica M photographers, including, for example, video recording with Leica R zoom lenses. The new Leica M also features an accessory port, which in turn enables users to attach an external electronic viewfinder - the Leica EVF2 (£360). Boasting a resolution of 1.4 megapixels and offering 90° rotation for capturing images from unusual angles, this EVF is also called, aptly but at the same time somewhat confusingly, an “Electronic Visoflex Viewfinder.” Ensuring high quality sound with the 1080p Full HD video capability of the Leica M, a Leica Microphone Adapter Set (£150), consisting of an adapter and stereo microphone, is also available. Finally, the Multifunctional Handgrip-M (£630) is a valuable aid to safe and steady handling of the camera, particularly when shooting with heavier R-lenses, and conceals an integrated GPS module that can be used to automatically geotag your photographs.

Successor to the Leica S2, the new Leica S features the same 37.5-megapixel resolution but comes with a new image and sensor board that promises improved noise characteristics and an extended sensitivity range. In addition, the Leica S offers a range of new features - some of them unique -, predictive autofocus, integrated GPS, higher speed and enhanced handling. The Leica S is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £16,000 including VAT from December 2012.

The Leica TS-APO-ELMAR-S 120 mm f/5.6 ASPH. is a telephoto lens for the Leica S system, featuring tilt-shift capabilities. Designed for still-life and product photography, the Leica TS-APO-ELMAR-S 120 mm f/5.6 ASPH. is an apochromatically corrected lens offering parallel shifts (shift, rise and fall) of up to 12 mm in all directions and tilting of the plane of focus (tilt and swing) by up to 8°. The Leica TS-APO-Elmar-S 120 mm f/5.6 ASPH. is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £4,920 including VAT from January 2013.

The Leica ELPRO-S 180 is a new close-up conversion lens for the Leica APO-Elmar-S 180 mm f/3.5. Reducing the close focusing distance to 1.1 metres, this accessory lens achieves a significant increase – around 30 percent – in the reproduction ratio to 1:4.5. In contrast to the majority of apochromatic accessory lenses, the Leica Elpro-S 180 is dedicated to one particular lens, thus avoiding lateral chromatic aberrations and ensuring that there are no detrimental effects on the imaging qualities of the lens. Autofocus, exposure metering and all other camera and lens handling functions are maintained when using the add-on lens. The Leica Elpro-S 180 will be available at selected Leica dealers from October 2012.

The Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. is the first zoom lens for the Leica S system. The range of focal lengths covered by the lens is equivalent to that of a 24-72mm zoom on a 35mm camera. The lens construction is based on 14 elements assembled in 4 groups. For a zoom construction, the lens achieves extraordinarily high contrast rendition and maximum resolution wide open the company claims. The Leica Vario-Elmar-S 30-90 mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £7,380 including VAT from November 2012.

The Leica Super-Elmar-S 24mm f/3.5 ASPH. is a new superwide (19mm equivalent) lens for the Leica S system. With an optical formula comprising 12 elements in 10 groups, the Leica Super-Elmar-S 24mm f/3.5 ASPH. exhibits an extraordinarily high degree of freedom from distortion for such a wide-angle lens. Five of the lens elements are manufactured from glass with anomalous partial dispersion to prevent negative effects such as chromatic aberration. Two aspherical elements located behind the iris and the aspherical surface of the front lens minimise monochromatic aberrations. Thanks to the unusual construction of its focusing system, the Leica Super-Elmar-S 24 mm f/3.5 ASPH. offers extremely high image performance from the point of closest focus to infinity, the company says. The Leica Super-Elmar-S 24mm f/3.5 ASPH. is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £5,330 including VAT from November 2012.

The Leica V-Lux 4 is a digital superzoom camera with a 25-600mm (eq.) f/2.8 lens. Featuring the same headline specifications as the Panasonic Lumix FZ200 and available from November, the Leica V-Lux 4 comes with a licence for the professional still picture and video processing software, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4, plus a two-year warranty and a one-year Leica UK ‘Passport’ (complimentary accidental damage cover) for £690 including VAT.

The Leica D-Lux 6 is a premium compact camera with a 10-megapixel sensor and a 24-90mm (eq.) f/1.4-2.3 Leica DC Vario-Summilux lens. Featuring the same headline specifications as the Panasonic Lumix LX7 and available from November, the Leica D-Lux 6 comes bundled with a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4, a two-year warranty and a one-year Leica UK ‘Passport’ (complimentary accidental damage cover) for £600 including VAT.

Leica has expanded the ‘Leica à la carte‘ programme – the special concept for personalising your Leica camera – and will be offering a selection of styling options for the Leica X2 from the end of October 2012. In addition to the two standard models (black and silver) the X2 is now also available in an exclusive, titanium-coloured, anodised finish. The colour and textures step of the camera’s leather trim can be chosen in a further step of the personalisation process. The range includes a collection of ten different leather trim options. The choice of colours ranges from a discreet black saddle-leather to full-grain cowhide in eye-catching colours like green (pictured), blue or aztec. The portfolio also includes extravagant variations embossed with lizard and ostrich leather patterns.

The technical specifications of the Leica X2 à la carte are identical to those of the standard camera model.

The Leica X2 Edition Paul Smith is a special-edition Leica X2, limited to 1500 units worldwide. “What the red dot is to Leica, above all bright stripes are to Paul Smith designs and the most wonderful proof that they can live in perfect harmony is embodied in every single one of the 1,500 cameras of the strictly limited Leica X2 Edition Paul Smith,” the company says. “And it is these immensely popular stripes that are now recreated in the design of this special edition of the Leica X2: in the bright orange on the top plate, the legendary British racing green of the leather trim and the fluorescent yellow of its base.” The Leica X2 Edition Paul Smith is scheduled to be available in the UK at a suggested retail price of £2,000 including VAT in October 2012.

Phase One today announced the Phase One 645DF+ camera platform, with support for more than 50 different digital medium format digital backs and 80 different lenses from leading brands, and featuring a new high-powered rechargeable Li-ion battery enabling up to 10,000 captures on a single charge. Billed as “the world’s most versatile camera platform for high-end photography,” the Phase One 645DF benefits from an enhanced auto focus system with an all-new custom adjustment feature, and offers support for both focal-plane and leaf-shutter lenses. Its range extends from exposures of up to 60 minutes to as fast as 1/4000s. It facilitates flash synchronization speeds of up to 1/1600s with leaf shutter lenses from Schneider Kreuznach. The Phase One 645DF+ camera body is priced at €4290 / $5990 without a digital back.

Also today, Phase One announced the Schneider Kreuznach 28mm LS f/4.5 Aspherical lens. With edge-to-edge sharpness, an angle of view of 102°, a minimum focusing distance of only 35 cm / 1.15 feet, it is ideal for interior, land- and cityscape as well as architectural photography. The Schneider Kreuznach 28 LS lens is priced at €4290 / $5990. Both the camera and lens are available for ordering now; volume shipping begins in October 2012.

Within the past few days, both Nikon and Canon have announced new “full-frame” - or “FX format” in Nikon speak - digital SLR cameras (namely, the Nikon D600 and the Canon EOS 6D) that are more affordable than any other comparable and currently manufactured model in the two manufacturers’ line-ups. In order to help you get a clearer picture of how they compare to each other specifications-wise, we’ve compiled a handy little table summarising the key differences between the two models, based on information available to us at the time of writing.

Panasonic delivered an interesting presentation to the assembled press at their press conference held today in Cologne, Germany. Much of the presentation was, of course, dedicated to the new, dust- and splashproof Panasonic Lumix GH3 Micro Four Thirds camera but it also contained interesting tidbits about the compact system camera market in general, and the company’s future plans in particular, including two new lenses scheduled for launch sometime in 2013/2014.

At the Photokina trade show held in Cologne, Germany, we had an opportunity to lay our hands on a prototype M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.8 lens. This is an interesting moderate wide-angle lens that features both a distance scale and DoF marks, making it suitable for zone focusing, much like the existing (but considerably wider) 12mm f/2 lens. In order to show you what the M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.8 “street photography lens” looks like in the flesh, we have compiled a hands-on gallery of 22 images.

Want to see what the new all-black Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f/2 Special Edition looks like in the flesh? We have put together a hands-on gallery for your perusal

Want to see exactly what the new Panasonic LUMIX G X 35-100mm F2.8 lens looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the premium Panasonic LUMIX G X 35-100mm F2.8 lens, then take a look at our Panasonic LUMIX G X 35-100mm F2.8 Photos article to see the image quality that it can produce.

The Panasonic GH3 is a dust- and splashproof Micro Four Thirds camera with a new 16.05-megapixel Live MOS sensor, three-inch OLED screen, built-in Wi-Fi, 1080 50p Full HD recording in a range of video file formats - with all footage indexed - and sockets for professional grade equipment. Aimed at both photographers and professional filmmakers, the new Lumix GH3 allows users to capture AVCHD video with a bitrate of 28 Mbps or MOV1 movies with 72Mbps in ALL-I. For still photography, the Panasonic GH3 offers burst shooting of up to 6fps at 16 megapixels and up to 20fps in 4-megapixel mode, plus a 1,744K OLED EVF and a sync socket for studio lighting rigs. Like the G5, the Panasonic Lumix GH3 features a completely silent electronic shutter in addition to a conventional focal-plane shutter. The camera will be available for £1100 body only, £1600 in a kit with the 14-140mm lens, or £2000 in a bundle with the Lumix G X 12-35mm f/2.8 high-performance standard zoom.