Question on Leica lenses and Panasonic cameras

[carregwen]

I'm edging towards buying a Panasonic four-thirds camera for everyday use - see here. The Panasonic G1 looks good, and I see from the sales blurb that due to the cooperation between Leica and Panasonic you can get an adaptor to allow the use of old Leica 'M' and 'R' mount lenses (I think R are the old SLR lenses).

I don't know anything about Leica stuff. Would it be worth getting a used Leica lens for the Panasonic, or would it be better to stick with the custom-made lenses that Panasonic are bringing out? I would have thought that if the Panasonic are optimised for four-thirds, they would be better. But I don't really know.

example of used Leica

G1 camera

[offroc]

I'm edging towards buying a Panasonic four-thirds camera for everyday use - see here. The Panasonic G1 looks good, and I see from the sales blurb that due to the cooperation between Leica and Panasonic you can get an adaptor to allow the use of old Leica 'M' and 'R' mount lenses (I think R are the old SLR lenses).

I don't know anything about Leica stuff. Would it be worth getting a used Leica lens for the Panasonic, or would it be better to stick with the custom-made lenses that Panasonic are bringing out? I would have thought that if the Panasonic are optimised for four-thirds, they would be better. But I don't really know.

example of used Leica

G1 camera

Having decided to give up interchangeable lenses when I went from film to digital, I got the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 with the 12:1 zoom Leica lens, and I could not be happier with its performance. When I decided to get a "pocket portable" camera I got the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3, largely because it sports the same Leica lens; again, I am supremely pleased with it as a highly portable good performance camera. Both are 10+ MP, quite adequate for my needs. The FZ50 shoots RAW or two grades of JPG; the latter shoots only JPG. Both take excellent movies, a side attraction which I have occasionally used.
Jim S.