PHOTO QUALITY. This 20-megapixel advanced point-and-shoot camera captured images with very good quality. Pictures were very sharp, which means you can see even tiny details and very subtle patterns in the image. In low-light situations without a flash, pictures were not quite as sharp as those of most recommended models. We judged this model excellent for outdoor performance, such as shooting landscapes in the daytime; very good for indoor performance, such as photographing a well-lit basketball game in a gym. And good for low-light performance without a flash, such as capturing a birthday party. Photos taken in our low-light performance tests displayed very little image noise; subjects retained correct detail and color.
FLASH. The V-Lux 5 captured flash shots that were very good.
LENS. It has a moderately long 16x zoom lens that can be helpful when you need to zoom in to capture your subjects. The lens also has very wide-angle (25mm) capability that's very useful for landscapes and group portraits, although you may notice a bit of distortion when you're shooting faces up close, for instance.
IMAGE STABILIZATION. This is an important feature with a long zoom lens; taking hand-held shots at the telephoto end of the zoom range can generally blur or soften images due to the slight movement of your hands. Shooting zoom set at 4x in well-lit scenes, this model did a very good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. Shooting telephoto in well-lit scenes, this model did a very good job of minimizing the effects of camera shake. In low-light settings, it performed excellently and almost never produced blurry photos. Overall, the shake reduction results from our tests were very good.
SPEED. In terms of performance, the Leica V-Lux 5 powers up in a moderate amount of time. It has a very short interval between shots, which can be important when shooting fast-moving or unpredictable subjects.
VIDEO. The Leica V-Lux 5 takes excellent video. It also captures 4K-UHD video at 3840 x 2160 30i.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS. Like most advanced point-and-shoot models, this camera does include an electronic viewfinder, which means you have flexibility when composing your photo or video; this viewfinder has excellent quality. The display also swivels; this can be helpful when shooting self-portraits or hard-to-reach shots. This advanced point-and-shoot is much bigger, thicker and heavier than most in its class. Although this model has many features and controls, this advanced point-and-shoot is bulky and heavy, which may not make it the best model if you travel a lot.
