nickma Posted June 5, 2012 Share #21  Posted June 5, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) have a look Leica X2 Street Photography Stress Test from Adorama Learning Center  broken link Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 5, 2012 Posted June 5, 2012 Hi nickma, Take a look here Help jumping in...used X1, new X2, other??. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Feudal1 Posted June 5, 2012 Share #22  Posted June 5, 2012 have a look Leica X2 Street Photography Stress Test from Adorama Learning Center  I would say that it's probably not a good idea to judge the X2 output based on a very limited set of photos floating around out there. With any new camera and sensor, it takes time to learn the strengths and weaknesses, and to adjust shooting/settings/processing accordingly. It does appear that the larger 16mp sensor in the X2 requires stronger sharpening, but that's probably to be expected, given the higher density sensor, and a slightly stronger AA filter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feudal1 Posted June 5, 2012 Share #23  Posted June 5, 2012 broken link  http://www.adorama.com/alc/0013722/article/Leica-X2-Street-Photography-Stress-Test Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
prk60091 Posted June 6, 2012 Share #24  Posted June 6, 2012 http://www.adorama.com/alc/0013722/article/Leica-X2-Street-Photography-Stress-Test  Still broken Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicarox Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share #25 Â Posted June 7, 2012 Ok, the plot thickens... Â I was just about to pick up the X1 demo with full warranty, box, etc, and noticed one of the eyelets for the wrist straps was loose. :-( They said they would gladly send that in for repair (to New Jersey?) but it would probably take them like 6 weeks. Also, they would send it in months later or whenever it was convenient. <sigh> The thought of immediately sending my new baby off didn't sound so great. I tried to bargain them down on price, but no budge. Apparently they weren't making much off this one in the 1st place. Â My wife later said "don't buy a demo, people thrash those things". True/false?? ;-) Â They do have a super-mint m8 but it's like $2800, which I felt was a few hundred too high. Lots of nice used lenses. What looked like a brand new summarit 35 for $1500. Â Pondering... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecaton Posted June 7, 2012 Share #26  Posted June 7, 2012 Ok, the plot thickens... I was just about to pick up the X1 demo with full warranty, box, etc, and noticed one of the eyelets for the wrist straps was loose. :-( They said they would gladly send that in for repair (to New Jersey?) but it would probably take them like 6 weeks. Also, they would send it in months later or whenever it was convenient. <sigh> The thought of immediately sending my new baby off didn't sound so great. I tried to bargain them down on price, but no budge. Apparently they weren't making much off this one in the 1st place.  My wife later said "don't buy a demo, people thrash those things". True/false?? ;-)  They do have a super-mint m8 but it's like $2800, which I felt was a few hundred too high. Lots of nice used lenses. What looked like a brand new summarit 35 for $1500.  Pondering...  There are different ways that lead to an M. This might just be yours. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicarox Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share #27 Â Posted June 7, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) There are different ways that lead to an M. This might just be yours. Â LOL. I know.... I was wondering.. ."is this a sign?!" Â But that M8 did feel a bit pricey. Hrmm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeputt Posted June 7, 2012 Share #28 Â Posted June 7, 2012 @ leicarox: I logged on tonight intending to start a very similar thread. I don't know if this will be of any help, but I'll expound a bit on my recent thoughts. I too am considering an X2 and am leaning that way, but am still apprehensive. I have never owned a Leica digital. As a matter of fact, the only Leica I currently own is an M3. I LOVE this camera and shoot it all the time. It's my go-to camera for careful shooting, fun for street shooting, etc, but would like a digital option with the IQ I'm looking for. I just burn through too much film on the street. Â Like many others, I can't justify the cash for an M9 right now. Up for consideration are the X100, X2, X1, and possibly an M8 or a Sony NEX-7. Â The X100 is nice - great IQ, wonderful EVF/OVF, no disputing that. On the down side, the menus give me a headache. Another issue is the focus hunting in low light and the overactive (aperture?), buzzing and making noise constantly. The one I played with did this. I like the simplicity of the Leica X better, reminds me of the M. Â M8 - I haven't used one, but have read about them for years, and have the overwhelming impression that low light performance leaves something to be desired. This is important to me and my style of shooting. Â NEX-7 - that thing is a friggin computer. I know it's just the interface and I could probably get used to it, but it's the opposite direction from where I want to go. I think that's why I like to shoot my M3 so much. It's just intuitive. No distractions. Besides that, I've owned two Sony digitals in the past. I don't know why, but Sony's images just look flat, two-dimensional, and lifeless to me. Sharp maybe, but digital, if that makes sense. The countless samples from the NEX-7 I've seen online are no different, although much better than their older cameras. The Novoflex Leica M adaptor for it adds to it's appeal as I already have two lenses, but I'm looking for something smaller and more portable with the Leica IQ. If I started building an NEX-7 kit with an adaptor or two, I'd be right back where I am with a DSLR and a bag of lenses to lug around. Â The X1 images are wonderful. Exactly what I'm looking for. The lethargic responsiveness is an issue for me though. I was/am hoping the images from the X2 will be on par with the X1, but I've only seen a handful online. These comments about a more aggressive low pass filter concern me however. The EVF capability isn't paramount at this time, but I would definitely want an OVF. X1 or X2.... I don't want to settle for sluggishness in order to have the IQ, or vice versa. From what I've seen, the jury's still out on this. Â What it comes down to for me is IQ with simple, no-nonsense controls. For it's intended purpose, I don't anticipate a need for more than the one focal length. With the added megapixels on the X2, that would allow a little more flexibility for cropping. That could be helpful when you can't physically get as close as you'd like for the shot. I am looking forward to more tests and sample images, as well as knowledge from those on these forums. Â Hope this was of some value to you. I've been digging and scraping for awhile now and hopefully I hit on something you haven't thought of yet. Â Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richam Posted June 7, 2012 Share #29  Posted June 7, 2012 What it comes down to for me is IQ with simple, no-nonsense controls. For it's intended purpose, I don't anticipate a need for more than the one focal length. With the added megapixels on the X2, that would allow a little more flexibility for cropping. That could be helpful when you can't physically get as close as you'd like for the shot. I am looking forward to more tests and sample images, as well as knowledge from those on these forums. Jeff  Excellent point about the controls. As an old timer from the age of film, I took to the X1 immediately and it quickly became my most used camera.  Just to clarify, with the same lens and field of view, image frames from both cameras should be the same, albeit with more pixels on the X2. So I gather your point is that there are more pixels left in the image after a serious crop.  I consider this a minor advantage. I had a situation where I had the X1 with me but really should have had a 75mm lens field of view to get the shots I wanted. I took the shots anyway, and cropped to about what a 75mm lens would have covered. They came out ok. You can see the results here: The Souli Incident, 1803 AD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted June 7, 2012 Share #30 Â Posted June 7, 2012 Michael, that is a commendable set given the situation and inevitable degradation when shown at low resolution on a monitor. Ideally you would have been much better using an M digital with 75mm lens which is how I work in such situations. Reserving the X1 for those wider angle shots for which it excels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
budhudson Posted June 7, 2012 Share #31  Posted June 7, 2012 Ok, the plot thickens... I was just about to pick up the X1 demo with full warranty, box, etc, and noticed one of the eyelets for the wrist straps was loose. :-( They said they would gladly send that in for repair (to New Jersey?) but it would probably take them like 6 weeks. Also, they would send it in months later or whenever it was convenient. <sigh> The thought of immediately sending my new baby off didn't sound so great. I tried to bargain them down on price, but no budge. Apparently they weren't making much off this one in the 1st place.  My wife later said "don't buy a demo, people thrash those things". True/false?? ;-)  They do have a super-mint m8 but it's like $2800, which I felt was a few hundred too high. Lots of nice used lenses. What looked like a brand new summarit 35 for $1500.  Pondering...  Hey  By coincidence my X1 also had a loose eyelet (front right if looking from behind)  Sent to Solms, repaired and sent back in under 10 days (from England) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicarox Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share #32 Â Posted June 7, 2012 .........What it comes down to for me is IQ with simple, no-nonsense controls. For it's intended purpose, I don't anticipate a need for more than the one focal length. With the added megapixels on the X2, that would allow a little more flexibility for cropping. That could be helpful when you can't physically get as close as you'd like for the shot. I am looking forward to more tests and sample images, as well as knowledge from those on these forums.......... Â Thanks for all your feedback Jeff! Â This sort of sums it up for me too--"simple controls, great IQ, etc." :-) Â The X100, while feels great, I'm worried about the navigational menu annoyances that people talk about. Â Low light on M8 is a concern, but the images I've seen in reasonable light have looked fantastic, better to me than the X1 IMO. I like the idea of the 1.3 crop vs 1.5. Also like the price compared to the M9. Â Sony NEX -- agreed, WAY too much of a computer with too many options. Although the 5n is fairly inexpensive. Â Have you looked into the GXR? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicarox Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share #33  Posted June 7, 2012 Hey By coincidence my X1 also had a loose eyelet (front right if looking from behind)  Sent to Solms, repaired and sent back in under 10 days (from England)  Interesting!! Sounds like not the most uncommong thing then. Still, not feeling great about immediately having to send it in :-(  I did manage to track down a NIB X1. $500 more, but with full 2 year warranty, etc. My feel better about that. The X2 is due in local stores I think in a week or two too :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeputt Posted June 7, 2012 Share #34 Â Posted June 7, 2012 Have you looked into the GXR? Â I did awhile back when that was the only other viable option for M glass, but I don't recall exactly what drove me away from the Ricoh. One thing I do remember was the whole "module" thing. Just seemed odd to me to make so much of the camera swappable. I envisioned myself with a bag of modules. I'd have to revisit it, but it's not on my short list. Â Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicarox Posted June 7, 2012 Author Share #35  Posted June 7, 2012 I did awhile back when that was the only other viable option for M glass, but I don't recall exactly what drove me away from the Ricoh. One thing I do remember was the whole "module" thing. Just seemed odd to me to make so much of the camera swappable. I envisioned myself with a bag of modules. I'd have to revisit it, but it's not on my short list. Jeff  I am looking at it just for the M mount and no other modules LOL  One can get a GXR + used 35mm Summicron for not much more than the M8 body. :-/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
anolanbfg Posted June 13, 2012 Share #36  Posted June 13, 2012 OK  I have just been through the very same dilemma and opted for a second hand X1. I've had it about a week now and do not regret it. It is my first Leica.  The way I thought about it was that, considering price and the fact you would probably want to buy several accessories: viewfinder, spare battery etc, the cost was just too high for the improvements on the X1. I found a second hand X1 being sold with a large number of Leica accessories for around £1000 (the accessories valued at over £400 themselves). So this just made total sense to me. The way I see it I'll get pretty much the same image quality and I will wait to see how the X3 goes- and this is at least another couple of years away.  The only thing I think might be an advantage is the electronic viewfinder on the X2, you can only use the optical one on the X1 and you have to guess (which is possible) that the camera has focused on what you want. Although I would say the whole thing about the slow autofocus on the X1 can be mostly overcome by learning how to get the best from the camera: different focus modes etc.  In short, if you can get a good price I'd say X1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted June 13, 2012 Share #37 Â Posted June 13, 2012 OK....on the X1 and you have to guess (which is possible) that the camera has focused on what you want. ... With a little practice it will become second nature to you and your failure rate will diminish. Good luck with your X1. Mine continues to be used almost daily. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfowler Posted June 13, 2012 Share #38  Posted June 13, 2012 I choose the X2 and have been pretty happy with it. I have only had it a couple days but it sure has exceeded my expectations for a small camera. You can view these in the original size.  Testing sharpness and some bokeh | Flickr - Photo Sharing! tweaked with lightroom just a touch.  L1010096 | Flickr - Photo Sharing! original out of camera  I personally don't see anything wrong with sharpness in either picture. Bokeh is great as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen.w Posted June 13, 2012 Share #39 Â Posted June 13, 2012 Between the M8 and GXR. If $ is a concern, get the GXR. Otherwise, no brainer. M8 wins whichever way you look at it.Except for reliability and shooting anything over ISO 640. I wouldn't pay the prices people are asking for a 6-year-old camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bull40 Posted June 29, 2012 Share #40 Â Posted June 29, 2012 Well, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one anguishing over a similar dilemma. While I was pretty much set on the X2 for a take everywhere snapshot camera, I've noticed I could add an M8 for about the same price as X2 and accessories, having film M bodies for my "serious" work. The 28 2.8 ASPH on the M8 would give about the same view angle as the X2. So... different thought perspective on this question, will servicing, parts and batteries be available longer for the M8 or the X2. I suppose this is mostly a crystal ball question, but do we have any indication which will be supported longer. I tend to hold onto my (Leica) equipment for decades often, so I would be disappointed if either had to be abandoned after five years or so. Feel free to share your thoughts, I appreciate your experiences and opinion. Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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