Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Just as good, if not better, than a entry level SLR
Review: This is the best sub-SLR (bridge) camera there is out there.
Enough has been written about this camera by others so I am not going to go over the same things again.
Here are just a few points that I think are important, or have not been covered before.
1. I saw that some people wrote that if you want to spend this money, you might as well buy a SLR camera kit. That is a misleading idea.
Leica V-Lux 1 comes with a 35 to 430 mm original, best quality lens. There is no SLR kit on the market that covers that range at the same lens quality under $1000.00, let alone the fact that you don't have to carry two lenses to cover the same zoom range (focal distance).
2. This is the only bridge camera that offers exactly the same controls like true SLR cameras, including dial controls for aperture and speed, placed just like the controls in the Nikon SLR series. Without taking the camera from your eyes you can adjust with your index and thumb, the aperture and the exposure speed (or the Program Shift as the case may be). In the same time, with your left hand you can adjust the zoom and the manual focus rings.
3. Leica V-Lux 1, has some features encountered only in SLR-s much more expensive. In example, on the left side of the lens there is a "forced" Focus button. Even with the focus set to MANUAL mode, one can still touch with the left thumb this button and the lens focuses automatic. Then it remains further in manual mode, so you can continue to adjust it further by turning the focus ring.
3. Here is one example of how great the image stabilization works. Last week I was at my son's convocation ceremony that took place indoors in a sports arena, but it was not lit enough. My son was sitting in the middle of the stadium. I was standing all the way up. With the camera held in my hand and with the maximum zoom, I took about three pictures. One out of three came out perfectly clear. Now consider this: the exposure was 1/16sec which would absolutely require a tripod.
Further I just leaned my right elbow on a railing and then took some more pictures, and they all came out very clear at 1/8 and 1/16 sec!
4. One word of caution: If you are used to other cameras that in Auto mode allow choices on metering, focus area, etc, this camera in Auto mode offers very little options. If you want access to all the settings, you have to set it to "P" (Program Mode) which is also an "automatic" mode that allows all the settings to be changed.
5. If money is tight, but you would really like to get the Leica as opposed to the equivalent Panasonic, if you shop around you find this camera at around $750 - $800. Also, look on the Leica web site as they are offering a $150 mail in rebate (March-Apr 2008, and again July-Aug 2008, and I am sure they will offer it again), so you end up paying $600 - $650, which all of a sudden looks a lot more as a very good value.
A great, high quality camera.
Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Twice the price it should be
Review: Being a field biologist specializing in the study of animal behavior, I wanted a camera with high resolution (10 mp), good optical zoom (at least 10x), minimal delay between shutter release and recording on the CCD, fully manual focus option, video capacity, and reasonably light weight for carrying on my neck through the day. The Leica V-Lux 1 fits the bill as no heavy DSLR could possibly do. Similar "advanced" cameras by Canon, Fujifilm, and Nikon have less resolution or smaller zoom, or both, as well as other deficiencies. The Leica has proven to be a wonderful camera with which I have (in only a few months) taken an estimated 4000 photos -- but the price is a bit of a rip-off.
Before explaining the rip-off, I report one annoying and initially alarming problem with the camera. In the field, in the low humidity environment of Patagonia (Chile), drizzle began and while the camera was under my rain jacket and did not get wet, the CCD went screwy. At first it put a purple haze over everything (viewfinder or LCD, viewing or playback, and permanent on the photo when downloaded). This aberration then turned to black and white horizontal lines. Nothing in the manual's troubleshooting section mentions this problem, although p. 5 deals with condensation fog, which I suppose this was an unusual version of. The camera was unusable for half a day, and then the patient spontaneously recovered from its strange malady.
Returning to the rip-off, according to Wikipedia, all the Leica digital cameras (with two trivial exceptions) are actually made by Panasonic in Japan. The excellent lens systems appear to have been developed jointly by the two companies. Panasonic's Lumix DMC-FZ50 is nearly identical with the Leica V-Lux 1, with obvious differences in external finishes and labels, and hidden differences in the firmware, so that Leica processes white balance, noise reduction, etc. differently. If you don't want to pay for the Leica label, buy the Panasonic version at approximately half the price. (Yes, the pricing is really that different.)
If you've already naively bought the Leica as I did -- or decide you want it despite the small difference from the Panasonic -- at least be aware that all the accessories are interchangeable (and again, the Panasonic versions run about half the price). Third party batteries and chargers are cheaper yet. Furthermore, Leica apparently does not post their manuals online for download, so go to Panasonic's website and get a pdf of the Lumix DMC-FZ50.
Finally, I could not find that either Leica or Panasonic markets a teleconverter lens for the V-Lux/Lumix although such are mentioned on pp. 97-99 of "the" manual. (Yes, even the pagination is the same for the Leica and Panasonic manuals.) However, Olympus makes a 1.7x teleconverter with 55 mm diameter screw mount that fits the V-Lux/Lumix. That combines for a zoom of over 20x, and works just fine with my Leica. Panasonic DMC-FZ50 10.1MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Black)
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Marvelous camera
Review: I agree with other positive reviews of this camera, particularly that provided by the former military photographer. The leica lens performs beautifully. Images are extremely sharp. It is user friendly. For the person who believes some reviews were written by Leica company---I'd say, not a chance. Have you really read them? I mean no disrepect to the reviewers--am only trying to make a point.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: I don't trust the other "reviewers".
Review: Kinda obvious that the customer reviewers of this camera are in the marketing department of the Leica company.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Leica V-Lux 1 is a surprise in its simplicity
Review: This camera was a total (GOOD) surprise when I received it. I WAS ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT AND OPERATE IT ! You have no idea how important this was to me. The camera's "buttons" and menus make sense and the Instruction book is actually understandable. This was important to me because I glaze over badly when I am confronted with a techie piece of equipment. Other shocks about this camera were the incredible amount of USEABLE zoom -- up to 85 X zoom, and the stabilizer control that can actually stabilize the picture at huge zooms. Example: I have quite a clear and full frame picture of a hovering harrier bird that I took with this camera from 300 yards away. Anoither pleasant thing: when you choose one of the "programs" like "portrait", "landscape", "night sky", "candle light" etc. that the ACTUAL DESCRIPTION of exactly what the program does comes right up in clear English language on the screen. This Leica ranks among the best products i've owned.
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