Yes indeed Andy you are a fine man of the cloth, you must be as you appreciate real ale and single malt. No finer praise than that, in fact I will even forgive you being a Nikon man, just shows your human failings.
Ah Leica Alex. Mechanical perfection and optics as good as it gets.Then came digital so still superb optics but Panasonic innards. Panasonic is Panasonic innards with Leica lenses so what is the difference? A name badge and a wad of money! Well at least for the lower end stuff, even the more expensive stuff will be largely Panasonic innards as Leica is just not financially up to all it's own electronic development in the fast moving digital world which has seen the demise of some superb quality manufacturers. Contax and Bronica to name just two.