Leica X1: day two...F2.8 and don't stop moving...

[Dan States]

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So after posting a load of images taken about town primarily at high ISO and small aperture I wondered if it was depth of field and not focus accuracy that was at work on my street images.

 

Today I repeated my little walk about town but this time it was at full aperture. The results are posting to my flickr page now and you can link to them below. (I think there may be two images where I stopped down to 3.5. See if you can tell which ones:D)

 

 

Further observations about the X1:

Boy, that "DATA TRANSFER" screen is REALLY anoying and makes 1 second screen review totally useless. Didn't they try this thing before they rolled it out?

 

Battery: What the heck? Yesterday the battery indicated near dead (one bar) but then went on to shoot 50 more images. I think the meter is wonky. Today it ran over 200 shots and is still on 2 bars...Hell, I'm only on one.

 

At full aperture you get CA in the outer areas of the image..I haven't tried to correct it because I don't care too much about it. The over all impression is of good clarity and very accurate color. (I tend to goof around with it so it may look overcooked to you)

 

 

stnami had mentioned really low light and moving subjects...if by REALLY low light you mean like 1/20 sec at iso 3200 I can testify that it aint happening. At that paltry level you will need as much as 2 seconds to lock focus, so plan ahead and prefocus....Not sure frankly if I could focus my M6 very well in the same conditions...hello Nikon D700.

 

In what most folks will encounter for "low light" IE the bar: It's not too bad...it locks focus pretty accurately and as long as you have about 1 second to compose while it locks I don't think you will mind the results...forget about shooting fast moving pole dancers unless you prefocus...

 

So, can the X1 shoot street images quickly and accurately on moving subjects? See below. Once again, I'm pounding this stuff out so my apologies for the mundane and repetitive motif....

 

 

Best wishes

Dan

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[Guest stnami]

Thanks Dan,............I sorta mean about 125th at F5.6 say 3200 or 1600

 

fast moving pole dancers unless you prefocus

...one should have prefocused to enjoy not photograph

[diogenis]

So, with what you show us here, it is more than clear that the camera can capture fast moving scenes.

 

stnami had mentioned really low light and moving subjects...if by REALLY low light you mean like 1/20 sec at iso 3200 I can testify that it aint happening. At that paltry level you will need as much as 2 seconds to lock focus, so plan ahead and prefocus....Not sure frankly if I could focus my M6 very well in the same conditions...hello Nikon D700.

I am certain that you would. Easily. And where you wanted, not where the camera thinks...

[Dan States]

Thanks Dan,............I sorta mean about 125th at F5.6 say 3200 or 1600

 

...one should have prefocused to enjoy not photograph

 

 

At that level it's no problem at all. Not lightning mind you, but it won't stop you from getting great shots. At 5.6 the depth of field would probably allow prefocus in MF mode. In that case you can use the camera like a machine gun....

[thomsva]

At 5.6 the depth of field would probably allow prefocus in MF mode. In that case you can use the camera like a machine gun....

 

Yes in mf mode it's really quick and continuous mode works fine for up to six shots. But after the burst the camera is again locked for a long time while writing to memory.

[barjohn]

When I look at the images full size they appear to be soft and grainy. Were these shot at high ISO with MF?

[Dan States]

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It depends which shots you mean. The earlier ones were all at 800 iso. The later range from 200 to 3200. Soft: Some of the indoor shots have motion blur but there are plenty others that are crazy sharp on the point of focus........grainy....I turn off all luma and most chroma noise reduction. I don't like the fakey feel of cleaned up digital files.

 

I can say for certain the files print to jumbo sizes with no additional sharpening needed and have outstanding tonal gradation. They DON"T look as spotless as files from a D700....that's still the benchmark of clean.

 

This is not the "final camera" to be had by all: It's another option that provides class leading image quality. It's not a 5dmkII. It IS worlds ahead of any other camera it's size and many that are quite a bit larger. My efforts were to determine if the operational limits mentioned in many reviews and comments really make the camera "unuseable" for my style of photography...I like to keep moving and expect the camera to stay out of my way and behave predictably enough to build a rythm. For me it does the job.

[jmteno76]

The picture of the Shendoah sunrise is spectacular. Also, I like the color shot in the bar. Excellent work.

 

Joan

[peterb]

I'll second that. Great image...with ANY camera.

[mah]

X1 night shot at ISO: 1600, f: 2.8

 

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Thanks.