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Some X1 Images


efftee

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I just got back from the Leica launch in Singapore and I was pleasantly surprised they had a working X1 for us to test drive. The X1 handled very well -- compact, solid and well built as expected as of a Leica; I must say that I was quite impressed!

 

As I wasn't familiar with the controls, I had the shutter speed, exposure, awb and iso all on auto setting. The IQ is not exactly M8/9 quality, as expected (sadly), but whilst I am not jumping up and down, I am not too disappointed with what I managed milked out of it for a few minutes at the first try.

 

The only real gripe I had was the write time, which was reminiscent of the DP1 agony. I used an Extreme III and each image took something like 3 to 5 seconds before I could snap again. That said, this was a pre-production model so expect a firmware performance boost when the camera hits the shelves, or so the on-site techies claimed.

 

Here are the images. Opened with ACR, lightly boosted for color or converted to BW with Phototools and/or Silver Efex, then framed with Photoframes. If you are interested in the original files (jpgs unfortunately -- I neglected to check the file format setting), the links are below. Enjoy!

 

L1010958-1.jpg

 

L1010972-1.jpg

 

L1010976-1.jpg

 

L1010979-1.jpg

 

http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/_efftee/L1010958.jpg

 

http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/_efftee/L1010972.jpg

 

http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/_efftee/L1010976.jpg

 

http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/_efftee/L1010979.jpg

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The only real gripe I had was the write time, which was reminiscent of the DP1 agony. I used an Extreme III and each image took something like 3 to 5 seconds before I could snap again. That said, this was a pre-production model so expect a firmware performance boost when the camera hits the shelves, or so the on-site techies claimed.

 

This video would seem to suggest otherwise: LINK

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This video would seem to suggest otherwise: LINK

 

I can't really make out what actually transpired in the video but it seemed to me that the person shot in C mode and the camera appeared to be still writing, with the images stored in buffer, after several shots had been fired. I can say this with certainty, the write time on this preproduction X1 is noticeably slow.

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I can't really make out what actually transpired in the video but it seemed to me that the person shot in C mode and the camera appeared to be still writing, with the images stored in buffer, after several shots had been fired. I can say this with certainty, the write time on this preproduction X1 is noticeably slow.

 

If that means you can continue shooting immediately, I don't mind too much about slow write times. I very rarely chimp.

 

I'm not a machine-gun shooter either, so I don't need a high shots-per-second rate, but if the camera were actually totally blocked for a couple of seconds until you can take the next shot as with the Sigma DP1, that would really bother me. That shouldn't happen with a digital camera released in 2009 (or 2008 like the Sigma).

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If that means you can continue shooting immediately, I don't mind too much about slow write times. I very rarely chimp.

 

I'm not a machine-gun shooter either, so I don't need a high shots-per-second rate, but if the camera were actually totally blocked for a couple of seconds until you can take the next shot as with the Sigma DP1, that would really bother me. That shouldn't happen with a digital camera released in 2009 (or 2008 like the Sigma).

 

I personally didn't try shooting in C mode, as the video showed. However, in the S mode, I couldn't take another picture while it's writing -- exactly like the DP1. Again, I must say that this is a preproduction model and I was told by several different Leica staff that the real McCoy would be better.

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I personally didn't try shooting in C mode, as the video showed. However, in the S mode, I couldn't take another picture while it's writing -- exactly like the DP1. Again, I must say that this is a preproduction model and I was told by several different Leica staff that the real McCoy would be better.

 

Let's hope so. That would be a real deal breaker for me.

 

As I said in another thread, the X1 has a couple of trade-offs, but assuming that all else is fine and of high quality, I could live with those. But a camera in 2009 at that price where you have to wait until you can press the shutter a second time wouldn't be acceptable to me.

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Hmm. Based on these samples, the B&W out-of-the-camera JPEGs don't seem to have that special quality that those from the Digilux 2 have. Still, will wait for final production samples before I ditch my Oly Pen-F as my D2 complement. I really like the design!

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Hmm. Based on these samples, the B&W out-of-the-camera JPEGs don't seem to have that special quality that those from the Digilux 2 have. Still, will wait for final production samples before I ditch my Oly Pen-F as my D2 complement. I really like the design!

 

I don't think the B&W shots are out of camera JPEGs. See the links below the images; the B&W is a PP conversion.

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Let's hope so. That would be a real deal breaker for me.

 

As I said in another thread, the X1 has a couple of trade-offs, but assuming that all else is fine and of high quality, I could live with those. But a camera in 2009 at that price where you have to wait until you can press the shutter a second time wouldn't be acceptable to me.

 

Nhabedi got an X1 as his image!

Well, I'm heartbroken also. :o:confused::rolleyes:

 

I will not have my X1 for Christmas, because I called it off at my dealer after reading this.

 

Hopefully they'll make us all wait and give their reps and dealers in Jan-Jun 2010 a sellable cam. Simply because there was the promise "there will be more than the M9 on 09/09!!!" should not lead to a halfbaked product.

 

If the LEICA datasheet was specific about this, there would be no speculation.

It's not the first LEICA digicam has in it's list, so cearly giving info about how fast a cam they offer is up to date. It's not that hard to measure either.

Sorry!

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