X1 reviewed by Steve Posted

[GFONG]

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http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2010/01/05/the-leica-x1-digital-camera-review/

 

Enjoy.

[ppolla]

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2010/01/05/the-leica-x1-digital-camera-review/

 

Enjoy.

 

I think Steve's website has crashed...I can't get a connection...

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[h00ligan]

If you're in a hurry here's the google cached version.

 

The Leica X1 Digital Camera Review | STEVE HUFF PHOTOS

 

some of the image links won't work with this method, but the text is there if you want the nuts and bolts of the review and trust his interpretations on his photos.

Edited January 5, 2010 by h00ligan

[jsrockit]

Good review... didn't add anything new regarding the specs. However, the videos of the box, menus, and AF were cool additions. Also, some better constructed example photos IMHO.

[ppolla]

website is back up, and Steve did a great review.

definitely worth a look...

P

[jhs1963]

Very enjoyable review. For me he says whats important and thats the images it produces. I'm lucky in some respect as i have not owned a camera before so the downsides of slow af do not mean much to me.

Since logging onto to this site i have been tempted by the GF1 as many people mentioned it as a good camera and as its available now and my camera course starts 13th Jan. Add on a 50 mm summilux lens and away i go.

I've done without one for this long and will be patient until they arrive in Feb/March.

[hexar]

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Thanks for the review Steve . Very much confirming the other previews from people that really know something about photgraphy. (a.o Sean Reid)

One issue that I am missing in your review however is the way to make the X1 a real street Photography tool. In extend discussed with Sean in the LEICA FORUM and by Sean on his own website. ZONE FOCUSSING !

You mentioned it only very quickly but this issue is so important for many of us.

Ofcourse the wheel on the back with the limited scale on the screen are not what we will work with. Like you said this will take even more time to start up than any AF. The way to work with the X1 as a streeshooting gun is to (for example) set aperture to F11. AF to a point a approx. 2.5 metres. Switch with the dedicated button (below the dial on the back) to MF (press 2 times) and fire away in the highest speed possible from any distance from 1.4 metres to infinity. Just framing and shooting (shutter lag is improved since Sean got newest update) without the annoying lag of AF. Experiment with aperures and distances . Practice distance estimation and you will become a stealthy streetshooter with the X1. For more static pictures very fast AF is ofcourse fine but not essential. Those who want this kind of pocketable camera with big sensor AND fast AF will have to wait another few years due to technical hardware shortcomings at this moment of time.

Why wait if you can work you way around it ?

Have fun and shoot like hell !!

[el.nino]

Do I see barrel-distortion in some of the last shots?

[markpsf]

Hexar:

 

I think you and I may read Sean's comments differently.

It seems to me that using the wheel to set distance is just a bit tricky and takes practice.

So it sounds like using the wheel to set distance and setting the aperture will set up zone focusing.

But I may also be misreading you.

Of course once I have the camera this will seem a bit less abstract!

 

Mark

 

 

 

Thanks for the review Steve . Very much confirming the other previews from people that really know something about photgraphy. (a.o Sean Reid)

One issue that I am missing in your review however is the way to make the X1 a real street Photography tool. In extend discussed with Sean in the LEICA FORUM and by Sean on his own website. ZONE FOCUSSING !

You mentioned it only very quickly but this issue is so important for many of us.

Ofcourse the wheel on the back with the limited scale on the screen are not what we will work with. Like you said this will take even more time to start up than any AF. The way to work with the X1 as a streeshooting gun is to (for example) set aperture to F11. AF to a point a approx. 2.5 metres. Switch with the dedicated button (below the dial on the back) to MF (press 2 times) and fire away in the highest speed possible from any distance from 1.4 metres to infinity. Just framing and shooting (shutter lag is improved since Sean got newest update) without the annoying lag of AF. Experiment with aperures and distances . Practice distance estimation and you will become a stealthy streetshooter with the X1. For more static pictures very fast AF is ofcourse fine but not essential. Those who want this kind of pocketable camera with big sensor AND fast AF will have to wait another few years due to technical hardware shortcomings at this moment of time.

Why wait if you can work you way around it ?

Have fun and shoot like hell !!

[hexar]

yes you are partly right Mark but the scale only goes to 2 metres or so. Not very usefull. With zonefocussing you don`t want to take the time to turn a wheel to see if something is in focus . Zone focussing is about experience and knowlegde of FOV of the several apertures in combination with cut offs you are prepared to make. (real focus is always on one specific real focuspoint only but we play with our perception of "in focus" when using zone focussing. Are you with me ?

[markpsf]

Hexar:

 

Thanks. Consider me a slow pupil who functions better with the object in hand!

I do know what zone focusing is....I think.

It's easy with a lens that can easily be set to a specific distance.

I also think I know what a hyperfocal point is.

 

So the question then is how does one set the distance on the X1 to cover the largest field of

good focusing.

 

I'm hearing two opinions re the use of the wheel and scale on the LCD....one is that it will take some practice and the other is that it's more or less impossible.

 

It also isn't clear to me how to do it without using the wheel.

 

Once we both have the camera maybe you can post an illustrative video on You Tube!

 

thanks.

 

Mark

[hexar]

Hallo Mark,

As there is no distance scale on the lens and the sreen scale is very limited you have to set hyperfocal distances by the eye or measure it up fysically.

Depending on the aperture with this 24mm lens from F2.8 till F16 the hyperfocal distance range between 10.2 and 1.82 metres. How easy would it be if these distances could be read off the screen scale !! But.... Life is not perfect.

[hexar]

Maybe I forgot to say in the mail from me earlier about how to set the X1 to a streetshooter is that when you AF at 2.5 metres (in my example) you press the shutter half way to lock focus and then when having this focus locked with you finger still on the haf pressed shutter you have to set Focus Button to MF. In this way your distance is locked. More clear how to do it without the wheel now ?

[markpsf]

Getting there Hexar. I am a visual and tactile learner so through no fault of yours...or Sean's...I find it difficult to fully understand without watching it done or handling the camera directly.

The more I hear tho the more confident I am that this is very doable.

Sean says "it's easy."

 

Once you lock it that way will it stay locked indefinitely...until you decide to change it?

 

Mark

 

Maybe I forgot to say in the mail from me earlier about how to set the X1 to a streetshooter is that when you AF at 2.5 metres (in my example) you press the shutter half way to lock focus and then when having this focus locked with you finger still on the haf pressed shutter you have to set Focus Button to MF. In this way your distance is locked. More clear how to do it without the wheel now ?

[Ecaton]

Hallo Mark,

As there is no distance scale on the lens and the sreen scale is very limited you have to set hyperfocal distances by the eye or measure it up fysically.

Depending on the aperture with this 24mm lens from F2.8 till F16 the hyperfocal distance range between 10.2 and 1.82 metres. How easy would it be if these distances could be read off the screen scale !! But.... Life is not perfect.

 

That's quite a workaround. In 2010 notably, to compensate for design shortcomings of a USD 2000 tool.

[jsrockit]

That's quite a workaround. In 2010 notably, to compensate for design shortcomings of a USD 2000 tool.

 

I'm not so sure about that... most cameras in 2009-2010 don't have depth of field scales do they?

[barjohn]

The GF1 does if you use a MF lens.

[h00ligan]

Just wanted to add - Steve's review actually put me off waiting for and purchasing an x1 due to his street photography comments... I was on the fence, and I'm still obsessed with it, but it made me think it's a second cam perhaps, not a first.

 

I'll probably change my mind another 643 times until I buy an X1 and either love or hate it.... decisive eh!

[waileong]

1. Extremely longwinded review.

 

2. For zone-focusing, most AF lenses no longer have DOF scales, so it's best to stick a DOF scale on the lens or the back of the camera. Then set the manual focus distance and aperture accordingly.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[barjohn]

That sounds simple but the problem is there is no way to know the distance the focus is set to the way there is on a true MF lens where you can read the focus distance off of the scale on the lens barrel.