Sean Reid's X1 Part 2 Review is up

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[nhabedi]

Here's a Netflix link. I'm sure it is also available elsewhere too:

 

Netflix: Rent as many movies as you want for only $8.99 a month! Free Trial

 

I kind of disagree with this choice. I think the following movie is much better if you want to know more about Eggleston and how he works:

 

Amazon.com: William Eggleston: Photographer: William Eggleston, Reiner Holzemer: Movies & TV

 

Holzemer is an expert in movies about photographers. He also made nice movies about René Burri and Magnum, amongst others.

[okram]

Here's a Netflix link. I'm sure it is also available elsewhere too:

 

Netflix: Rent as many movies as you want for only $8.99 a month! Free Trial

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Thanks a lot.

 

 

M

[hexar]

coup de foudre and Sean,

Thanks for fine replies.

It is very understandable that if Sean mentions that he will have a telecon with LEICA on a sunday that some people are curious about the content of this talk.

If you don`t want to be asked about it then one should not mention it , right ?

I am from the Netherlands so the very direct way of expressing is in our nature and I appologize for that. But again if you mention that you will have a talk on a SUNDAY than it it obviously very HOT and not feedback came from SEAN who is clearly not allowed to say all he has discussed on last sunday wich we have to respect but it would have been odd not to put this on the table. If I were Leica I would anyhow not allow someone to post a review like SEAN did before having a mutual agreement on what will be published and when. From a marketing point of view this is not a clever system LEICA is following here. I am a marketing specialist so I invite anyone from LEICA to contact me and let me explain a more clever exposure policy.

[sean_reid]

coup de foudre and Sean,

Thanks for fine replies.

It is very understandable that if Sean mentions that he will have a telecon with LEICA on a sunday that some people are curious about the content of this talk.

If you don`t want to be asked about it then one should not mention it , right ?

I am from the Netherlands so the very direct way of expressing is in our nature and I appologize for that. But again if you mention that you will have a talk on a SUNDAY than it it obviously very HOT and not feedback came from SEAN who is clearly not allowed to say all he has discussed on last sunday wich we have to respect but it would have been odd not to put this on the table. If I were Leica I would anyhow not allow someone to post a review like SEAN did before having a mutual agreement on what will be published and when. From a marketing point of view this is not a clever system LEICA is following here. I am a marketing specialist so I invite anyone from LEICA to contact me and let me explain a more clever exposure policy.

 

 

Hexar,

 

I didn't mind your questions and I understand that you're very interested in the X1. It's important not to confuse two things though. The review is based on testing an X1 itself - there are no restrictions there - I publish whatever I learn from direct experience with the camera.

 

The teleconferences that I've had are private but:

 

1) Information exchanged in them should help the camera be refined.

 

2) Some of the information can be published/discussed publicly - for example fw 1.00 and my new tests on shutter lag.

 

I can say generally that Leica is now very aware of the issues I noted in my review. What I can't say (and don't always know) is exactly how they will proceed from there. But to the extent that the information from those exchanges can be made public it will find its way into my reviews and forum discussions (on threads like this). For example, if those discussions were to lead to revised firmware, I would report on how that firmware (if implemented in the X1) affected performance.

 

If there's a broad message that can be concluded from my recent conferences it is that Leica does care very much about the performance of the X1 and they certainly are listening to feedback.

 

Testing the X1 has also gotten me thinking broadly about medium sensor cameras and AF and that has, in turn, lead me to speak with various industry experts. That info. has already found its ways into my reviews of the X1 and my (in progress) review of the GF1.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

I kind of disagree with this choice. I think the following movie is much better if you want to know more about Eggleston and how he works:

 

Amazon.com: William Eggleston: Photographer: William Eggleston, Reiner Holzemer: Movies & TV

 

Holzemer is an expert in movies about photographers. He also made nice movies about René Burri and Magnum, amongst others.

 

Thanks for the link as I didn't even know there was another movie on Eggleston. Why not watch both then? Have you seen both already?

 

I'll have to look to see who else Holzemer has made films about.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[coup de foudre]

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Testing the X1 has also gotten me thinking broadly about medium sensor cameras and AF and that has, in turn, lead me to speak with various industry experts. That info. has already found its ways into my reviews of the X1 and my (in progress) review of the GF1.

 

Sean,

 

is there anything you share with us as far as the bigger picture is concerned? i'm talking about sensor size in relation to AF and, also, the if it affects how fast the actual lens can be made... (for instance, is the speed of the lens on the X1 and the GXR/A12 stymied by physical size or because of AF -- or both).

 

no offense to the many that have and love MFT cameras, but i am still less than excited by the 2X crop. i find myself drawn to the APS-C size sensor or larger -- or, conversely, back to the little guys (small sensor).

 

as much as i love rangefinder photography and do not mind shooting zone, i am looking for a secondary camera that does have AF. not that i necessarily expect it to be instantaneous (i'm too jaded for that and sometimes nothing is fast enough), but i remember several times with the DP1 when it simply did not find focus at all in tricky lighting conditions -- exactly when, alas, my eyes might fail me as well.

 

is there really that huge of a gap between the 1.5X and 2X sensor size right now in terms of AF?

[coup de foudre]

thank you, Sean, for answering almost all my questions in the new addition to your rolling review. very intriguing, indeed! i also loved that you equated the speed to cameras we're likely to have used or handled it's extremely helpful as i never sit with a stopwatch on my camera.

[ottocrat]

Yeah, that was a very useful addition, definitely clarified the whole AF thing. So: with current sensor technology there's a clear trade-off between image quality and AF speed, if the camera is using contrast detection to auto-focus.

[wda]

It's not an embargo per se but obviously not everything we talked about can be public knowledge right now. I can say that we discussed each of the problems I list in my review and also that Leica's work on the X1 firmware will certainly not end with the introduction of the camera. That's as much as I can say for now.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

Sean, I have been a keen follower of the development of this thread. I am greatly appreciative of your participative approach to reviewing and learning from other photographers. Most of us respect the confidence Leica have in your reviews and your constraints on unlimited disclosure. We wait patiently for, hopefully, a beneficial outcome from Leica. Despite the pressure, I do hope that you are able to lead some kind of balanced and enjoyable life!

[nhabedi]

Thanks for the link as I didn't even know there was another movie on Eggleston. Why not watch both then? Have you seen both already?

 

Yes, I've seen both. And, sure, if you're really into Eggleston, by all means watch both of them. Having said that, I think the "Real World" film is pretty much a "buddy film" made by someone who knows Eggleston personally and is allowed to follow him to various places. You see him taking photos, but you also see him hanging around and being drunk with friends at length. This might be interesting if you want to know as much as possible about the person Eggleston, but to me at least a lot of the film was simply boring, especially compared to the other one.

 

As for other films about photography Holzemer has made, here are some I know of, including the ones already mentioned:

 

• William Eggleston
  
• René Burri
  
• Magnum Photos
  
• Walker Evans
  
• August Sander
  
• Herbert List
  
• F.C. Gundlach
  
• Lebeck/Höpker/Moses/Scheler
  

 

There are probably more.

[sean_reid]

Sean, I have been a keen follower of the development of this thread. I am greatly appreciative of your participative approach to reviewing and learning from other photographers. Most of us respect the confidence Leica have in your reviews and your constraints on unlimited disclosure. We wait patiently for, hopefully, a beneficial outcome from Leica. Despite the pressure, I do hope that you are able to lead some kind of balanced and enjoyable life!

 

Thank you very much and I do indeed try to do the latter (when I can) <G>.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

thank you, Sean, for answering almost all my questions in the new addition to your rolling review. very intriguing, indeed! i also loved that you equated the speed to cameras we're likely to have used or handled it's extremely helpful as i never sit with a stopwatch on my camera.

 

Thanks. I don't have a stopwatch on my camera either.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

Yes, I've seen both. And, sure, if you're really into Eggleston, by all means watch both of them. Having said that, I think the "Real World" film is pretty much a "buddy film" made by someone who knows Eggleston personally and is allowed to follow him to various places. You see him taking photos, but you also see him hanging around and being drunk with friends at length. This might be interesting if you want to know as much as possible about the person Eggleston, but to me at least a lot of the film was simply boring, especially compared to the other one.

 

As for other films about photography Holzemer has made, here are some I know of, including the ones already mentioned:

 

• William Eggleston
  
• René Burri
  
• Magnum Photos
  
• Walker Evans
  
• August Sander
  
• Herbert List
  
• F.C. Gundlach
  
• Lebeck/Höpker/Moses/Scheler
  

 

There are probably more.

 

Thanks. I'll look into these.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[sean_reid]

Yeah, that was a very useful addition, definitely clarified the whole AF thing. So: with current sensor technology there's a clear trade-off between image quality and AF speed, if the camera is using contrast detection to auto-focus.

 

Basically - yes. The next step, if its possible, would be an APS-C sensor that could deliver 60 fps (for example) while not compromising on the quality we have already with this Sony unit. I have no idea how attainable such a goal is because I am a photographer with no background at all in engineering or computers.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[hexar]

Dear Sean,

 

How would you compare the AF speed betwen NIKON S90 and LEICA X1 ?

Thanks in advance

Hexar

[sean_reid]

Dear Sean,

 

How would you compare the AF speed betwen NIKON S90 and LEICA X1 ?

Thanks in advance

Hexar

 

I haven't tested the Nikon.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[hexar]

thanks for reply.

Anyone else any idea about the AF speed of NIKON S90 ?

With the step zoom one would be able to set 35mm and get very decent pictures upto 800 iso as far as I have understood from a comparison in ISO IQ between S90 and Oly EP2 on flickr. i don`t want to get away from LEICA issues in this forum but just to stipulate alternatives to the LEICA camera on the current market

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Hallo,

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[ottocrat]

You mean the Canon S90? I don't think you could describe that as an alternative or competitor to the X1, they're not the same thing at all.

[hexar]

sorry indeed the CANON S90. Reading the reviews the IQ till ISO 400 can hold up with micro 4/3rds EP2 and than gradually starts to fade till ISO 3200. I would think that till ISO 400 the difference with the X1 can hardly be found on smaller prints do you ?