I used it too when I was using my P7100, and not only in an emergency. The P7800 has 2 advantages: the lens is 1 stop faster, and you have 12MP, which might be useful when cropping. I suppose the other advantage is that the ovf, poor as it is, is there in an emergency.
I have to say that the images I am getting from my P7100 are as good as the P7800, which may not surprise you. It is out of warranty, just, which is annoying. Yes, as you both point out it is still useable without the evf, particularly as I have trained myself away from using it as much as I used to.
#Leica geo office 7.1 recently stopped working iso#
Those wanting faster performance and high ISO IQ might be happier with an entry level DSLR or one of the faster MILCs. I heartily recommend it for travel, landscape and leisurely family activities. Yet, when all of the advantages of the P7800 are laid out it serves my needs very well. Admittedly, the 1/1.7 sensor and Expeed 2 processor are a bit dated in comparison with 1", four-thirds, and even APS-C compact cameras. What I find best about the P7800 are its size and weight, its many customizable controls, articulating LCD, live view advantages over my DSLRs, its excellent 28-200 equivalent lens, silent stealth shooting (with sounds turned off), and its new EVF. So I sold the kit and bought another P7800. Carrying a DSLR and changing between multiple lenses wasn't bringing an appreciable difference to the quality of my photography, and I was less able to shoot without bringing attention to my DSLR's louder shutter and my eye-level pointing at people. In the months since, I sold a magazine cover photo from it, and ran across a number of other excellent shots it had taken. I wrote a rather hasty review, somewhat dismissing it for its small sensor and slow raw processing, and rated it 3.5 stars. A number of months ago I owned a P7800 for a short time.