Leica V-Lux 20 compact zoom is officially announced (aka Panasonic TZ10/ZS7)

It looks like Leica is trying to promote their cameras to a new demographic by their choice of announcement date for the brand new V-Lux 20 ;-) Details of the camera already came out, including prices and samples yesterday. But today it gets officially official.

The camera is a Leica version of the Panasonic TZ10 (ZS7), and the second Panasonic zoom that becomes "Leicafied" (the first one being the Panasonic FZ50 / V-Lux 1).

The price is 550 euro in Europe and $700 in the US where Amazon has already began taking pre-orders. The current price of the TZ10/ZS7 is around $350, so the US premium is around 100%, while the European premium is around 50%. Boat rides are more expensive these days :)

Further Reading
+ Preview at Fotopolis including ISO crops and full size samples
+ Full-size samples at Lens Tip
+ Official reveal and many samples at Leica Travelocity website :)
+ Imaging Insider
+ dpreview
+ Photoxels
+ etc, etc, etc