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Leica X Vario Report


jonoslack

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It is not a Digilux 2 replacement because they forgot the viewfinder. I really want to update my Digilux 2 but I insist on a built in viewfinder, I am not interested in a clip-on.

 

Has technology gone backwards, the Digilux 2 lens body does not change length and it is F2, this is like any other zoom with a body that expands and contracts and is F3.5 at best. This does not look like progress am I missing something?

 

HI There Paul

Can't answer the viewfinder - although of course the plug in finder is much higher resolution than that of the Digilux 2, leaving it out has made it possible to have a much smaller camera - also it does have live view.

 

The lens I can answer - The sensor on the X Vario is much bigger than the one in the Digilux 2 and the ISO values are also much higher. That means 2 things:

1. The depth of field at wide aperture will be about the same as the Digilux 2

2. The low light performance will be better

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Now, after seeing it I have to conclude it's got quite a lot from the Digilux 2 while improving substantially on it on several points.

 

No built-in EVF, true, but the one on the D 2 was so abysmal that I hardly ever used it during my four "D 2 years". Slower lens, true, but as Jono points out, about the same effective d o f, and several stops better ISO performance. No bounce flash, sadly missed...

 

Same excellent method for manual focus: just turn the ring on the lens, even without having to turn the camera on. Same fast and distinct zoom control, also on the lens barrel, and active with camera turned off.

 

Improvements? Resolution, of course. Also, presumably, much faster raw handling and general responsiveness. Better close-up ability, judging from Jono's images. More flexible AF. (won't even mention video; have no use for it...).

 

So, it really IS a generally improved Digilux 2 (like I think I pointed out here a week or so ago). Will I buy it myself? No, if only for the same reason that has made me leave my D2 in the cupboard lately: I already have my M9 that is far more capable, and this one is almost as big as the M9 with a 35 or 50 lens.

 

Jono, thanks a lot for an excellent review!

Edited by elgenper
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Thank you for the review!

 

Very true that Leica's simple interface attracts many photographers to the Leica camp.

I own many cameras, from PSs to digital medium format, and my wife had an access to all of them. She went on shooting film with her Contax T2 and Fuji GA 645Zi. Only when I bought the X1 she felt comfortable enough to have a digital camera in her bag.

 

I bought the second M5 for myself and ordered the X-Vario for my wife yesterday.

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As others say, you nail the point that this camera is for people who don't read reviews or visit photo forums.

 

Ay, and therein lies Leica's greatest hurdle with this. The fact is that it is the people who read reviews etc (the G.A.S. crowd) that will happily spend $3K on a camera (quite possibly their second, third, fourth or fifth camera of the year) but others just walking into a store off the street just might balk at the price vs features ratio. Sure the Rolex around their wrist might be $15K, but watches are seen like jewelry as being forever items, cameras not so much (despite every effort of Leica to turn them into jewelry).

 

Personally, I think it's a handsome camera, but why would I bother when I have an M9 and MM that are for all intents and purposes practically the same size? For that carry everywhere companion to the M9, I'm saying hello to a Ricoh GR. Sorry Leica, nice try.

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@Jono

 

Thanks a lot for doing all this work and to write up this first review.

I was really impressed by some of your first pics. I enlarged them on my 27 inch iMAC, and made them even much larger, and there was still a lot of clear detail visible.

 

So despite the slow lens, and "only" APS-C, there must be some hidden qualities the gives reason for this high quality pics.

 

As I own a nice M8 with a nice 40mm Cron, I do not see any reason to buy this X-Vario, but this has nothing to do with the reviews and pics that I have seen.

 

Maybe one day if my eyes are that bad that a rangefinder is not for me anymore, it might be a proper alternative.

 

Keep up the good work, and enjoy it!

 

John

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Nice write up Jono, and lovely light in the images as always! Thank you.

 

Love the focus ring "AF" position concept, I've not seen that before, nice bit of innovation.

 

It feels too big to be a smaller "don't want to take my M9 (240)" camera to me, though I like the focal range in covers. I say 'feel' without having held it, but from the lens length and comparison to the X2.

 

Thanks for the review, always a pleasure to read your calm, measured opinion. And especially view your equally calm imagery.

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As others say, you nail the point that this camera is for people who don't read reviews or visit photo forums
This is the multi media/camera phone market and there is more prestige in the latest and best gadget

.Sure the camera will sell but will become a shelf dweller as the camera phone will be used as "the"camera and fulfill the demands of this sector of the buying public!

ps How good or bad the cameras results will be doesn't matter , what will be detrimental to Leica is that if the camera phone comes near the results in their eyes then it will sully Leica's name

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Jono, thank you. Your comments rather quickly put the X Vario in context, reminding readers that this camera isn't comparable on specifications but rather provides a vario alternative to the fixed-focal X2 option--for those who have, or perhaps have not, come to appreciate the value of top notch optics and operation in compact cameras.

 

If I might recommend Reid's site to everyone, here is my take on his observations regarding the internet reactions to Leica camera announcements (which is to say these are lifted with liberal interpretation):

 

  1. Gnashing of teeth.
  2. Sharing of pictures.
  3. Finding one at a dealer.

...which happens to be my experience of all things Leica, at least as far as the budget will allow.

 

 

How good or bad the cameras results will be doesn't matter , what will be detrimental to Leica is that if the camera phone comes near the results in their eyes then it will sully Leica's name

 

I don't think Leica has ever chased the camera-phone market, which is to say the low end. Contemporary Leica, with its luxury branding, certainly hasn't. Related to watches to cars, although Patek Philippe and Maserati both need to understand what Casio and Toyota are doing, the level of cross-shopping is very low as is the competition.

 

The X2 and X-Vario are both targeted at people who want a camera that is less expensive than the M or S alternatives. The compact body, medium-sized sensor offerings from Nikon, Canon, Sigma and Ricoh might all be competitors--where Leica offers more in terms of aesthetics and other less-tangibles--but camera phones are not in the running.

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Thanks Jono for an interesting review.

 

The point of this camera being a successor to the Digilux 2 is well made. It occupies the same space, updated in terms of the sensor size, resolution and noise performance you might expect after 9 or so years. It's double the price too, some of which is inflation but confirms that the best performing digital cameras have been getting more expensive, not less. Leica's own inflation is racing ahead.

 

Perhaps the experience of the dreadful Digilux 3 was what prevented this camera having interchangeable lenses. It's not even that expensive, about the same as a 21mm Super Elmar, half the price of an entry-level Rolex, three times the price of a basic Prada handbag (so I believe).

 

What has disappointed this correspondent is the crack-handed hijacking of the M name to make us believe there might be something alternative coming to put our M lenses on. As Stephen has suggested elsewhere, Leica's push for market share is probably dominating their plans and I fear M users will increasingly be consigned to a backwater.

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Thank you for a nice write-up Jono, which focuses more on usage and image quality than the tech specs. This is rare. I'm constantly amazed by online reviews where image quality is discussed at the end of the review.

 

What has disappointed this correspondent is the crack-handed hijacking of the M name to make us believe there might be something alternative coming to put our M lenses on.

 

Agree. I discussed this with a friend and Leica photographer last evening and we both said this at the same time. From a marketing point of view, it is a terrible move to raise expectations this way. Incomprehensible.

 

I made the point in the long thread about this camera that they should have taken the D2's excellent lens and put it on this camera. Of course this would not have been possible, which people naturally pointed out, but Leica did create a new lens for this camera and could have upped the specs.

 

They could also - since they made a new lens - have made it interchangeable and added, say, a fixed 50mm lens for those who want truly minimal but flexible kit. With this, and an optical viewfinder, they would have had a winning concept. And one which would deserve the moniker Mini M. Heck, they could even have sold an expensive M lens adapter - or introduced one at a later stage, having first announced that it would come to up sales. Why not? They don't even include a bloody lens hood (£90) so a 500€+ adapter would be peanuts for those who want to add the X Vario to their arsenal as at backup or carry-everywhere camera. It seems to me that money or cost have not been much of a consideration during the creation of this camera. But Leica doesn't seem to have a product plan, where each camera has a place in its respective series lineup (that may not be something to be expected from a company that simultaneously markets five 50mm M lenses, but I digress).

 

On the topic of the Digilux 2, I made a comparison of its RAW image quality across its entire ISO/EV range a while back. I'm continually amazed by that camera and it's performance a decade after introduction. But I would agree with the previous poster who said that sans optical VF this new camera is no Digilux 2 successor or replacement. This, I think, is the most glaring omission, and a difficult-to-believe one at that. Fuji is including (very creative) optical viewfinders in their compacts and have for a few years already. Leica, which used to lead innovation, is going the other way and expects photographers to shoot with straight arms. Incomprehensible.

 

brgds

Philip

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I don't think Leica has ever chased the camera-phone market
..............I never said that they did, but the camera phone market is winning the consumers hearts and minds.

 

Magnum photographers like David Harvey spend more time on camera phones on a daily basis than their Leica these days. His latest book (based on a true story) | burn magazine contains many iPhone images and one would be hard pressed to distinguish between the phone images and those that are made with a leica etc

 

An iphone encrusted in diamonds is luxury branding not a outdated rangefinder system.

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..............I never said that they did, but the camera phone market is winning the consumers hearts and minds.

 

Magnum photographers like David Harvey spend more time on camera phones on a daily basis than their Leica these days. His latest book (based on a true story) | burn magazine contains many iPhone images and one would be hard pressed to distinguish between the phone images and those that are made with a leica etc

 

An iphone encrusted in diamonds is luxury branding not a outdated rangefinder system.

I wonder if one would be hard pressed when looking at prints....I have tossed prints in the trash that looked great on the screen, even at 100%:(

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Thanks Jono for an interesting review.

 

The point of this camera being a successor to the Digilux 2 is well made. It occupies the same space, updated in terms of the sensor size, resolution and noise performance you might expect after 9 or so years. It's double the price too, some of which is inflation but confirms that the best performing digital cameras have been getting more expensive, not less. Leica's own inflation is racing ahead.

 

.

 

 

This is more a Digilux successor (or the Panasonic version of it) in my book:Alleged Panasonic Lumix GX2 Specs Leaked | Ubergizmo.

As is the Fuji XE-1 with its 18-55mm good and reasonably fast zoom with IS on board.

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Jono has produced an interesting and very good hands-on report and his images show that it is capable of a good IQ.

 

There is no doubt of the similarities between the new X-vario and it's Digilux 2 ancestor. Given the 10 years of time difference we do of course see an improved sensor and the lack of an EVF can be easily (with extra expense!) corrected with the excellent hot shoe Olympus manufactured EVF.

 

However whilst I am sure that the lens/sensor combo is excellent as was the D2's, the new X vario's 28-70 fall's short of the range of the D2's 28-90 (equiv.) F2 to F2.4.

 

Personally I have always been frustrated by some zoom's lack of range and 70mm is just too short for me. Leica zooms are usually very good though and sometimes close to the equivalent prime lens at their appropriate settings.

 

The lack of speed on the vario's lens can be overcome by it's much higher ISO performance but only if that does not show up as excessive noise.

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Very nice review and pictures, as always, Jono.

 

I do wonder though - your initial dismay was only put to rest after using the camera. Buyers don't have that luxury of "finding out". These kind of buyers, in particular, make decisions based on what they are told at the counter of the shop. What is there for them to hear? The camera is bulky? It's a non compact fixed lens? The lens is slow?

 

But then there are a lot of cashed up people wanting a nice camera who don't hear or care about numbers.

 

The one thing I will add...I bought an X1 for my wife. I was so impressed by it that I then, a month later, bought an M9 and Summilux/Noctilux kit. So maybe its not so stupid after all.

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Paul,

 

I agree with your assessment of the X1...works quite well for me...

 

Open Letter — Dear Leica: | THEME

 

Had I listened to the vilification of every forum on earth, I would have missed one of the most important and favorite images of my life...nothing special to anyone else, but it is to me and I just happened to have the little X1 in the pocket of my cargo shorts when walking the beach one morning last Fall.

 

Your thoughts about the strategy of step-up purchasing...exactly what Leica has in mind. As far as trying out a camera...can't even find a store with one to try out within a thousand miles of Atlanta...so we buy from B&H, return it if we don't like it and move on. So far, I love every product from Leica that I have tried, so no problem here.:D

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