[Leica] Digital questions . . . .

[puff11 at comcast.net (Norm Aubin)]

Greetings all - 

I'm preparing to order a new Leica D-Lux3 this evening - it's time to try
digital capture - and I'm not able to go for an M8 yet - if ever.

In addition to the camera I'm going to order a bunch of SD cards and a spare
battery - and therein lies the question!

I saw Brian's point about the 2GB cards being at the knee in the
cost/capacity curve - but neither SanDisk nor Lexar seem to 
be able to assure that their 2GB cards will work with the D-Lux 3 or the
Panasonic equivalents - whereas they both assure that 
their 1GB cards will work.  Does anyone have experience yea or nay about
these two brands and the Leica P&S cameras, 
I'm not sure that the DSLR or R9 cameras are enough the same to count . . .
or do you have an practical experience with other 
makers of SD cards to give a recommendation.

Batteries are the other question - the Leica branded battery, the BP-DC4 is
listed at $59.00, but USBATTERY.net has them at
$11.49, and a charger for $16.99 - the set for $25.48.  Can one really get a
battery at that price and expect it to work well - or are
there other discount (but reputable) sources out there?

I've just returned from a week in Jacksonville Fl., shooting M6 with 24/35 &
50 mm lenses and lots of Portra 160 and UC100, film 
is in  process and then into scanning.  I love my M6, but after reading
about the M8 and about the D Lux-3 and then looking at all the
work I've got in front of me to get images ready - I'm ready to take the
first baby step into the 21st century.

In a similar vein - I've been using MIS inks in my Epson 1280 with great
success on Epson Enhanced Matte papers, I can get neutral
and cool images with no effort using the Roark curves, but nothing else
works well - no other paper I've tried yet fails to give banding!
Anyone getting success using the 1280 and other brands of paper with MIS
inks, and how'd you get it to work?

Thanks all for any advice you can give - 
Norm