brt3 Posted March 25, 2010 Share #1 Â Posted March 25, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) The X1 just arrived! Since it's Spring in California, I decided to venture all the way to the back yard to see what it can do. This is quick and dirty, using the highest quality JPEG settings (12.2M/JPEG Super Fine). Â My gut response is AT LAST! I have tried a ton of small cameras trying to find something that lets me travel light without sacrificing IQ too much. Sigma DP1 and DP2 were maddening, while the Ricoh GX100 and GX200 are nice cameras, but not high enough on the IQ. Â The X1 seems to offer good build quality, good ergonomics, and decent (not great) responsiveness. Especially in comparison to the Sigmas, it is an absolute JOY to use... Â http://lh3.ggpht.com/_wfhUWVBCj3c/S6vseECv5tI/AAAAAAAAABc/oLMd89g-H1w/s1440/L1000081.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 25, 2010 Posted March 25, 2010 Hi brt3, Take a look here X1 just arrived; first shot.... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
h00ligan Posted March 25, 2010 Share #2 Â Posted March 25, 2010 I've been looking forward to reviewing some 'quick and dirty shots' even jpeg out and just posted up. Thank you! Take a few more 'snapshots' and post them up please Good colors! interesting blur around the leaves... sort of halo-ish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmteno76 Posted March 26, 2010 Share #3 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Excellent shot.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brt3 Posted March 26, 2010 Author Share #4 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Here's another: Â http://lh6.ggpht.com/_wfhUWVBCj3c/S6wo9wOecnI/AAAAAAAAACE/FVCIC4t6nRA/s1440/L1000112.JPG Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
h00ligan Posted March 26, 2010 Share #5 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Well, i'm very impressed by the sharpness for a 'pocket' cam - btw, could you actually fit the x1 in your pocket - not jacket? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brt3 Posted March 26, 2010 Author Share #6 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Well, i'm very impressed by the sharpness for a 'pocket' cam - btw, could you actually fit the x1 in your pocket - not jacket? Â It's really hard to convey online, but the images are quite sharp and the bokeh is not bad at all. I'm excited by how easy it is to get great results compared with the Sigmas. The camera just feels so much better to use and I haven't sworn at it once... so far! Â If you mean pants pocket or shirt pocket, no. Any pocket that's bigger should work. I suspect a LOT of people will use the wrist strap and keep the thing concealed in their palm, ready to go... Â I am getting frustrated with (what seem like) incompatibilities between Picasa and my Mac. Here's a set on Flikr. Again, please realize I had 5 minutes to grab some quick shots... Â http://www.flickr.com/photos/brt3/sets/72157623578072937/show/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted March 26, 2010 Share #7 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well, the lens is certainly sharp enough to allow us to read the ridiculous promotional spiel about the company selecting their clients and having many "fabulous people". Oh yuck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdannn Posted March 26, 2010 Share #8 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Looks like the "Leica Glow". Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stnami Posted March 26, 2010 Share #9 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Scraping the bottom of the barrel with that second shot........ a goddam waste Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
damnsharp Posted March 26, 2010 Share #10 Â Posted March 26, 2010 First shot is very nice, keep up the good work. And welcome to the club Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted March 26, 2010 Share #11 Â Posted March 26, 2010 The X1 just arrived! Â My gut response is AT LAST! I have tried a ton of small cameras trying to find something that lets me travel light without sacrificing IQ too much. Sigma DP1 and DP2 were maddening, while the Ricoh GX100 and GX200 are nice cameras, but not high enough on the IQ. Â The X1 seems to offer good build quality, good ergonomics, and decent (not great) responsiveness. Especially in comparison to the Sigmas, it is an absolute JOY to use...] Â My sentiments entirely! I thought the Ricohs would fill that niche need, but although I really liked their ergonomics, the smaller sensor killed the promise of a solution. The X1 comes at a price, but does the job admirably. Â I know some members crave it to be a 'sports' camera; I don't, so that aspect is not a concern. Â Although it adds to the cost, I am finding the external viewfinder and hand-grip a huge bonus to subject framing and general handling. I thought the long neck strap was slightly disappointing but am finding it super for walk-about travel photography. It enables the camera to be used with my M8, or alone, and can be quickly hidden inside a jacket when necessary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
h00ligan Posted March 26, 2010 Share #12  Posted March 26, 2010 Scraping the bottom of the barrel with that second shot........ a goddam waste  Given that some people, myself included, were looking for pedantic shots just by clicking a few times, I don't find it a waste at all. The poster specified these were 5 minute pic and click and I am appreciative to see the starting point results rather than carefully crafted and post processed work. If you were expecting art rather than a fast display, why would you click on the link given the definition?  As for the viewfinder - since I am not a rangefinder person, I am not sure how much it would benefit. With the x1 my impression is that you would need a lot of faith in autofocus for it to be useful.. is that inaccurate?  Thanks BRT3 - don't let a negative comment dissuade you from helping out the rest of us who are looking for just such shots (because we know our own levels of post experience etc.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsrockit Posted March 26, 2010 Share #13 Â Posted March 26, 2010 As for the viewfinder - since I am not a rangefinder person, I am not sure how much it would benefit. With the x1 my impression is that you would need a lot of faith in autofocus for it to be useful.. is that inaccurate? Â AF as well as AE if you don't want to use the LCD. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
h00ligan Posted March 26, 2010 Share #14 Â Posted March 26, 2010 I'm actually a bit surprised they didn't decide to offer an evf for the x1.. maybe if they had teamed with panny they would have... but then it also probably would have been a rebranded gf1. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted March 26, 2010 Share #15 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Does anyone know whether the Leica designed OVF has an area indicated where the autofocus would be aimed so that when you see the green AF indicator via peripheral vision you're re-assured that where you were looking was the point where the AF is locked? Â I'm not all that concerned about it's AE. By all accounts wherever you point the thing it measures superbly (although I've had times where I've made some minor adjustments with other cameras AE). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted March 26, 2010 Share #16 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Does anyone know whether the Leica designed OVF has an area indicated where the autofocus would be aimed so that when you see the green AF indicator via peripheral vision you're re-assured that where you were looking was the point where the AF is locked?. Â Unfortunately, not. It is a pure precision optical finder of great clarity and utility. Visible near the eyepiece is a confirmation signal of AF. I am still experimenting but it is not difficult to estimate the dead centre of the viewfinder image. As I have spot AF as my default, I have not had failures by locking onto my desired point of focus, re-framing and shooting. I have also tried 11-point AF with equal success. Provided you remember that it will focus onto the nearest element in viewed scene again, there is no problem. Generally I find that AF is precise, given reasonable care. As I have already said elsewhere, indoors I find manually focusing really easy and precise. Precision manual focusing outdoors is not so easy, nor necessary. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
h00ligan Posted March 26, 2010 Share #17 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Wouldn't the problem with that be which sort of AF you are using (there are a few choices aren't there) ? Â edit - wda - you answered my question.. Fine for centerpoint but not for multipoint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brt3 Posted March 26, 2010 Author Share #18  Posted March 26, 2010 Given that some people, myself included, were looking for pedantic shots just by clicking a few times, I don't find it a waste at all. The poster specified these were 5 minute pic and click and I am appreciative to see the starting point results rather than carefully crafted and post processed work. If you were expecting art rather than a fast display, why would you click on the link given the definition? As for the viewfinder - since I am not a rangefinder person, I am not sure how much it would benefit. With the x1 my impression is that you would need a lot of faith in autofocus for it to be useful.. is that inaccurate?  Thanks BRT3 - don't let a negative comment dissuade you from helping out the rest of us who are looking for just such shots (because we know our own levels of post experience etc.)  Thanks, h00ligan, for the positive feedback. Though I'm typically not thin-skinned, I find it interesting how some can be critical -- particularly in a situation where I was responding very specifically to your request for "snapshots".  The content of the letter on my desk? Pretty irrelevant given the context; all I was trying to do was demonstrate DOF and how the X1 handles both the focused and OOF areas. I use that tape measure because it is lightly pitted and has a variety of patterns on it, and find shooting text can be helpful as well. Criticizing a proposal that happened to be on my desk (which I am reviewing for a family member) is more than a little off-point -- a bit like critiquing someone's clothing in a photo.  I hesitate to even mention the "bottom of the barrel" comment, but I also think it's important to mention one thing. Successful forums live and die by the behavior of their members. Being a critic is easy, but being free and easy with petty criticism does nothing but drive away those who are trying to be of help. I have seen many threads wither and die because of this type of post.  I welcome constructive criticism when that is the context in which photos are offered. I will think twice about making an effort to be of help if this forum consistently becomes a place where people are prone to criticism where none is warranted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsrockit Posted March 26, 2010 Share #19 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Ah, don't let the photo bullies get to ya! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brt3 Posted March 26, 2010 Author Share #20 Â Posted March 26, 2010 Ah, don't let the photo bullies get to ya! Â Well, though I usually have a strict "don't feed the trolls" policy, I have not been on this forum long enough to have a sense of it. So I thought I'd throw out what may be an obvious point, owing to what I've seen on other forums. The good folks on most forums greatly outweigh the bad, but a few enthusiastic criticizers (intentional Bushism) can muck things up... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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