Digital Cameras Ratings: Leica Leather Ever-Rdy Carry Case with Attached Viewfinder Case for D-LUX 4 Digital Camera, Mocha Review

Average Reviews:
4.0 out of 5 stars

(More customer reviews)I own the other Leica case for the D-Lux 4 -- it's good, but it has no place for the accessory handgrip or viewfinder.And so, I bought this "Ever-Ready" case to replace it."Ever-Ready" is quite a misnomer -- indeed, a bit of a puzzle.It is decidedly not ever-ready if that name is meant to imply that it is easy to use.While you can leave the handgrip on the camera while it's in the case and while the case has a small, snap-closed box on the strap for the viewfinder, the case's value is more for transporting the camera safely than for ease of use.Try to follow this write-up, which may leave you puzzled.(Let me add:the leather work and quality are very good; the functionality of design is where the problems lie.)
The basic case is in two parts:A neckstrap-and-cradle (or nest)array for the camera body; and a wrap-around, detachable front and back flap to cover the whole.
The construction of the case makes it very (and I mean "very") awkward to use the camera while the camera is still in the case.It is rather hard to explain this awkwardness unless you actually have the camera in the case and both of them in your hands; but it goes something like this.
The front part of the case (i.e., the part over the lens) where the word "Leica" is embossed is attached by a large knurled screw to the bottom of the part of the case in which the camera is cradled or nests (the same screw also secures the camera into its nest) and to which the strap is attached.That embossed flap wraps up over the lens from the front-bottom to top, then back down over the viewing screen, and finally to the bottom where it affixes with a sewn-in magnet next to the knurled screw.
To take pictures, you must lift the embossed flap over the camera.The leather is stiff, so the embossed flap then lies flopping about (along with Leica's signature, string-mounted lens cap, of course), getting in the way of the lens and of course of your hands as well, as you try to manipulate this tiny camera body.
While you can swivel or pivot the embossed flap around as it dangles from the bottom of the case, it then gets in the way of the viewing screen (or your face if you happen to use the accessory viewfinder).(Did I mention?As you reorient the camera from landscape to portrait, the dangling flap flops or swings around, too.)To be sure, you can take the embossed flap off by unscrewing it altogether from both case and camera.But then you have to remember to put the screw back into the cradle part of the case and, through that, into the camera body, in order to ensure that the camera doesn't accidentally fall out of the cradle.Then, of course, what do you do with the now-detached embossed flap?Too big for your pocket -- so you risk losing it.
The case is good for transport -- but it is impossibly klugey for walking-around, easy use.Who designs these things?Do they go from drawing board to manufacture without any intermediate steps in which an ordinary user takes them for a test ride to see how they work in the world?This case smacks of that chronic inattention to "human factors" testing.
Oh, and did I forget to say that for all this design you get to pay nearly $250?Although it affords less protection, a paper bag is cheaper. You be the judge of their comparative utility.Leica Leather Ever-Ready Carry Case with Attached Viewfinder Case for D-LUX 4 Digital Camera, MochaLeica D-Lux 4 Digital Camera (Black)Leica Leather Carry Case for the D-LUX 4 Digital Camera, Brown

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Product Description:
Leica D-LUX 4 Mocha Ever-ready case with an attached viewfinder case. This case will fit a D-LUX 4 with a handgrip attached to it. The camera and viewfinder cases are made of premium calf skin.The case can be attaced to the D-LUX 4 with a screw and accomodates the handgrip too. When the front flap is removed, it allows the photographer to take pictures directly. The viewfinder is housed in a smaller case which is attached to the shoulder strap.Leica Camera is producing only a very limited quantity of these cases. The Leica D-LUX 4 Mocha Everready case will be delivered in a silver carton box with a velour protection pouch bearing a leather Leica emblem.