LFI article on X1

[wda]

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The latest issue of LFI (3/2010) has just reached me and includes the promised article on the background design and development of the X1 camera. For owners and aspirants it makes very interesting reading and explains why the Summicron lens option was ruled out on size and bulk grounds. ("Twice the diameter") While many will regret this decision, I think it was the right one. Incorporating a specially designed Elmarit added more to the size than I had anticipated but, having got used to it in practice, I am convinced that it was the right decision for a compact camera. After-all, compare the size of the X1 Elmarit with the Digilux 2 Summicron and the latter is feeding a smaller sensor. The superb high ISO performance is more than adequate compensation for the sacrifice of one F-stop, exciting though it would have been to see a Summicron in place.

 

There is direct reference to the initiative shown in Asia (Japan?) in presenting the original design concept for the X1, which is shown in a comparative photograph, not just a drawing. Interestingly the control dials occupied a more central position on the body top, but were repositioned to improve actual use of the controls. I wish I could have had an input to that decision because, although the original dials were smaller, I would like to have seen the repositioned aperture dial, (the more vulnerable of the two), finished with a neatly beveled periphery. I think that would have reduced the tendency for inadvertent rotation.

 

As usual, the whole LFI issue tries to please everyone. The opening portfolio of twelve pages, is twice the length I would have chosen; but that seems to be an editorial inclination to let a portfolio roll on and on and on! Saving half of the pagination would have made space for what I believe readers would choose, viz another general interest feature, perhaps devoted to use of older Leica cameras and lenses. That would help the continuity and flow of Leica lore!

 

There is copious coverage of the prizewinning entries in the 35mm lens competition for which X1 cameras were prizes. Again it is difficult to make an objective judgment. Having reviewed the subjects chosen, from 5000 entries, I doubt that my general 'every day' subject choice would ever meet the judges' favour. Of the twelve top entries reproduced, only one was taken with a non-Leica lens. That fact must have pleased the sponsors.

[nhabedi]

What I found interesting in the X1 article is that they wrote about initial plans to have a focus ring on the lens which were apparently sacrificed because of size considerations. I admit I don't really get that. Would that make the lens significantly larger?

[jsrockit]

Where can I get this magazine? Any PDF versions?

[inunnguaq]

Where can I get this magazine? Any PDF versions?

 

Here you are:

 

https://www.lfi-online.de/ceemes/page/show/portal_RELAUNCH/__language__=en/

 

great magazine.

enjoy

inunnguaq

[jsrockit]

I should have been more clear. Is there anywhere to get this in the USA?

[nhabedi]

I should have been more clear. Is there anywhere to get this in the USA?

 

Use the link above, click on "Magazine" and then on "Subscribe".

[jsrockit]

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I know that... I can order this single issue as well... and receive it a few weeks later. I was hoping to get it today.

[eduardoho]

This is old news. It was obvious to me, after reading various Japanese news article where it was implied that X1 was developed in partnership with an OEM manufacturer from the land of rising sun, as it turned out to be their long partner, Matsushita Electric. The choice of a Sony APS-C CMOS sensor is equally laudable. So, Leica did solicit input from the extraordinary Kaoru Mokunaka, a long time Leica devotee. I was lambasted when I expressed the Japanese influence in other postings of this Forum. The best English review of X1 that I came across is posted at LensTip.com.

 

PS: What is the X1 picture featured in the LFI article? Aluminized lens barrel bezel? Customized dials for f stop/speed? Are these trinkets from the aftermarket'ers???

[wda]

Nhabedi, I think the size comparison referred to Elmarit v. Summicron. Without knowing the internal design of the lens mount, I would guess that adding mechanical focusing would add to the size. Actually, I don't think it really matters, apart from more visible distance markings.

[wda]

 

PS: What is the X1 picture featured in the LFI article? Aluminized lens barrel bezel? Customized dials for f stop/speed? And swivel lugs?

 

Edward, it was the first working mock-up version. A prototype purely and simply.

[nhabedi]

Nhabedi, I think the size comparison referred to Elmarit v. Summicron.

 

Nope. The sentence in the original German article is pretty clear:

 

Selbst das Elmarit ist noch so groß, daß der ursprünglich durchaus gewollte Schärfeneinstellring keinen Platz mehr fand.

 

Without knowing the internal design of the lens mount, I would guess that adding mechanical focusing would add to the size.

 

They're only talking about the placement of the ring/wheel. The mechanism would be the same, i.e. "fly-by-wire" as it is now.

 

Actually, I don't think it really matters, apart from more visible distance markings.

 

If I were in the market for the X1, it would matter to me. Whether a ring on the lens would have distance markings is a different question, though. Many modern AF lenses with focus rings don't have any distance markings at all - which is a pity although understandable due to the way they work.

[eduardoho]

Yes, fly by wire is correct, I don't think a purely mechanical focusing mechanism was contemplated for X1; typically as you turn the barrel bezel you would be engaging a potentiometer thus by applying the millivoltage to the micro-servos you will be triggering the internal focusing mechanism withing the lens barrel, and it is of endless loop, which is exactly what the thumb wheel in the back panel is doing now, thus the necessity of having any distance markings on the bezel but you still got the visual in the LED screen. Certainly it would much user friendly than the tiny thumb wheel.

 

P.S.: LOL...I bet a lunch that before I finish this sentence someone will come up and sell those trinkets on eBay for X1 owners!!!

[jsrockit]

Without knowing the internal design of the lens mount, I would guess that adding mechanical focusing would add to the size. Actually, I don't think it really matters, apart from more visible distance markings.

 

A focus ring on the lens would have made the camera infinitely more usable for many people. It beats the stupid little dial we use right now.

[wda]

Of far more practical use would be memory retention of the distance set after switch-off or focusing mode change. I hope that can be fixed with a firmware update.

[grober]

You gotta love LFI's tease about the X1 story tucked inside their current issue -- "Leica X1: Everything about the new reporter camera."

 

The X1 clearly is an amazing camera but I wouldn't call it a "reporter camera."

 

I'd call it an intelligently designed compact camera with a large sensor and easy access to shutter speed and f-stop controls for the photographer who knows what they want.

 

-g

[jsrockit]

I'd call it an intelligently designed compact camera with a large sensor and easy access to shutter speed and f-stop controls for the photographer who knows what they want.

 

Yeah, if someone came here calling it a reporter camera, stnami would be in here blasting them within seconds!

 

I was using my X1 to photograph a freind last night who uses a Nikon D300 and he was jealous of the sound of my X1's shutter. I showed him some images and he said that they had a nicer look to them than his Nikon D300 and prime lens. Still, he would never consider buying it.

[Gentleman Villain]

It's true that most photographers wouldn't consider the X1 to be a reporter camera according to modern standards. But that might have a lot to do with a lack of confidence on the part of many photographers today. The only thing that's really necessary for good reporting is a camera with the equivalent of a 35mm lens and a photographer that's willing to move in close to the action. In that sense, the X1 should work just fine as a traditional reporter camera. But I can certainly understand why many modern photographers might beg to differ since they have become accustomed to zoom lenses etc

[Guest stnami]

In that sense, the X1 should work just fine as a traditional reporter camera......... but alas the traditional news reporter days are long gone back in the old days when smoking was fashionable and being a homosexual wasn't

[rob_x2004]

Of the twelve top entries reproduced, only one was taken with a non-Leica lens. That fact must have pleased the sponsors.

 

Its all in the post processing. Wouldnt have mattered what lenses they used.

 

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......Crops from first place.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Gentleman Villain]

In that sense, the X1 should work just fine as a traditional reporter camera......... but alas the traditional news reporter days are long gone back in the old days when smoking was fashionable and being a homosexual wasn't

 

haha...true true!

 

But many believe time to be cyclical rather than linear...Who knows? We'll see what the future brings...