Leica X (113): is it doing OK in fully automatic mode? MF useability?

[bob24]

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I am tempted by the Leica X, which I would possibly use for a bit of street photography at home and mostly as a holiday camera.

 

I used to have an X1 before (sold but I sometimes miss it), and a slightly frustrating thing is that for the few times during a trip when I wanted to hand the camera to someone else to get a picture of myself with my partner - the results were often not so great.

One major issue is that the camera would often focus on the background or anything but ourselves. Metering and AWB were better but would also occasionally fail me.

 

Would anyone have comments about how well the Typ 113 is doing in this type of scenario?

 

And quick supplementary questions: are you able to manual focus quickly and/or on a slightly moving subject? This is not something I can do with focus by wire lenses and but Leica's implementation seems to be closer to mechanical focusing than other cameras - but how close in terms of useability and accuracy?

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[wda]

...I used to have an X1 before (sold but I sometimes miss it), and a slightly frustrating thing is that for the few times during a trip when I wanted to hand the camera to someone else to get a picture of myself with my partner - the results were often not so great.

...

This experience is quite common with any AF camera. My method is to place the temporary photographer and then, from the subject position, manually focus the camera. Next, take the camera to the shooting postion and you return to where you stood to pre-focus the camera. At least you know focusing should be accurate. Framing is another matter. I certainly use that method with my X1.

[bob24]

Thanks for you answer. Yes when it comes to framing the camera won't help and I am not the type of guy who would feel comfortable briefing someone with long explanations or asking them to retake a picture several times ... so I live with it :-)

 

In terms of the focusing issue ... yes I sometimes pre-focus but it only is fine if you don't need tow wide an aperture (i.e. not too large DOF) and you can ensure neither the subject nor the photographer will move too much.

 

I agree the problem could occur with any AF camera, but some are definitely doing much better than others.While far from perfect the Fuji X-E1 I am curently using on holidays is definitely doing better than the X1. My brother has an Olympus micro 4/3 and that camera would have a much better success rate then the X1 or X-E1. My father's Sony DSLR also seems to be doing a pretty fine job.

 

I guess my question is to know if the Leica X is a marked improvement over the X1 from that perspective (Does face detection compete with Olympus in terms of AF? If the camera sees faces, can it prioritise metering one the faces are, etc?)

[Yoki]

I am tempted by the Leica X, which I would possibly use for a bit of street photography at home and mostly as a holiday camera.

 

I used to have an X1 before (sold but I sometimes miss it), and a slightly frustrating thing is that for the few times during a trip when I wanted to hand the camera to someone else to get a picture of myself with my partner - the results were often not so great.

One major issue is that the camera would often focus on the background or anything but ourselves. Metering and AWB were better but would also occasionally fail me.

 

Would anyone have comments about how well the Typ 113 is doing in this type of scenario?

 

And quick supplementary questions: are you able to manual focus quickly and/or on a slightly moving subject? This is not something I can do with focus by wire lenses and but Leica's implementation seems to be closer to mechanical focusing than other cameras - but how close in terms of useability and accuracy?

 

The face-detection on the X is fast; though obviously not as fast as the one they have on Olympus Pens and OMDs (yes, I am also an Olympus u43 users; with E-P2 and E-M1). But it is reliable, so in your shooting-scenario; you won't have any problem with it. Just don't move your face away too wild!

 

In term of auto-metering during face-detection, I'm not sure about that, but as far as I remember, the metering system will follow the one you set on the metering menu.

 

The manual focus is nice, maybe because I believe (trust) on 'magnify' focus system', and I use the magnify focus also on my Olympus camera (my E-M1 has both features; magnify and focus peaking). I like the manual focus ring on X, and it is fast!

 

Compared to X1 (oh yes.., I once have the X1 several years ago, for a very short periods time of ownership!), I think the X is far way better..

[wda]

Face recognition could help you with the scenario you define. I rarely use that function as a default, because it tends to focus on the nearest object rather than the object of your choice.

[bob24]

The face-detection on the X is fast; though obviously not as fast as the one they have on Olympus Pens and OMDs (yes, I am also an Olympus u43 users; with E-P2 and E-M1). But it is reliable, so in your shooting-scenario; you won't have any problem with it. Just don't move your face away too wild!

 

In term of auto-metering during face-detection, I'm not sure about that, but as far as I remember, the metering system will follow the one you set on the metering menu.

 

The manual focus is nice, maybe because I believe (trust) on 'magnify' focus system', and I use the magnify focus also on my Olympus camera (my E-M1 has both features; magnify and focus peaking). I like the manual focus ring on X, and it is fast!

 

Compared to X1 (oh yes.., I once have the X1 several years ago, for a very short periods time of ownership!), I think the X is far way better..

 

Thanks a lot, it covers all my questions! Yes I wish Leica could be as fast as the latest Olympus in terms of AF, but I didn't expect that. Last time I owned a PEN was an EP-2 (you have good taste for cameras ), hopefully the X can at least match or beat that.

 

Actually I am not doing very well with focus peaking either, but probably because Fuji's implementation is far from the best (never really got the chance to try Sony). I guess what I'm hopeing is that the feel of the focus ring is close enough to a mechanical one in terms of reactivity and accuracy.

 

One more question: do you shot JPEG and if yes how do you find the X files compared to your Olympus cameras? When I had the E-P2 and the X1 while the Leica JPEGs more detials to them and were very smooth, I was finding them a bit too dull compared to the Olympus and requiring more post processing.

[Yoki]

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Thanks a lot, it covers all my questions! Yes I wish Leica could be as fast as the latest Olympus in terms of AF, but I didn't expect that. Last time I owned a PEN was an EP-2 (you have good taste for cameras ), hopefully the X can at least match or beat that.

 

Actually I am not doing very well with focus peaking either, but probably because Fuji's implementation is far from the best (never really got the chance to try Sony). I guess what I'm hopeing is that the feel of the focus ring is close enough to a mechanical one in terms of reactivity and accuracy.

 

One more question: do you shot JPEG and if yes how do you find the X files compared to your Olympus cameras? When I had the E-P2 and the X1 while the Leica JPEGs more detials to them and were very smooth, I was finding them a bit too dull compared to the Olympus and requiring more post processing.

 

Excuse me if I'm out of topic a bit; but the E-P2 is one of masterpiece from Olympus, so it is rather unfair to compare it to other cameras..

 

Seriously..; yes, I think the face detection on the X is a tad better than the E-P2, as long as you have enough light on the faces. And the manual focus ring on that Summilux lens is GREAT!! It has the reactivity, accuracy, and the feel you expect from a 'modern' Leica lens.

 

I do agree with you, I remember one of the reason why I sold my X1 was because of the jpeg files are dull and flat, especially compared to those coming from E-P2. It required a serious work on post-pro. While the Olympus files need less, or in many cases, no post-pro at all. Being spoiled with the Olympus jpeg files, I was too lazy to learn more about processing the X1 raw files.

 

As for the X, I found the jpeg files are almost always under-exposed and dull. But if you get it right (the exposure, speed, and the aperture), you'll be rewarded with a pleasing image (which is rare in my case, as I have a bad habit of shooting before thinking!).

 

The raw files are excellent, with great dynamic-range, nice contrast, nice tonality, and great colors, though I found the red and yellow are a bit too saturated for my taste. That's why I normally reduce the saturation for red to -20, and yellow to -10 (I use LR5). So, yes, I processed the raw files only for the X.

 

You are welcome to observes the images coming from the X (and other cameras too) on my flickr account >> https://flic.kr/ps/t2T2c

[chrisjay]

My X is doing fine in fully automatic mode. (800 pics)   I can only use my right hand so it has to be AF or MF set to infinity.   Focusing much quicker than my X1 and you don't have to wait so long for it to wake up.  For brighter JPEGs have you tried using the cloudy setting all the time outdoors?   Could be too bright for some.   All the bad pictures have been the result of my incompetence and lack of forethought.

[bernie.lcf]

One more question: do you shot JPEG and if yes how do you find the X files compared to your Olympus cameras? When I had the E-P2 and the X1 while the Leica JPEGs more detials to them and were very smooth, I was finding them a bit too dull compared to the Olympus and requiring more post processing.

 

Generally speaking, Leica is very very conservative with their default JPEG settings: medium to low contrast, very little sharpening - compared to just about everybody else.

Olympus and Fuji are often praised for their JPEG files and I will agree that the directly-out-of-the-camera experience is quite nice. There is much more saturation and quite a bit more sharpness applied.

 

The Leica files are easier to post process. Once oversharpened, for instance, there is no way back. On the other hand, whatever Fuji and Olympus do to their JPEG you'd be able to do in Photoshop quite easily.

 

 

You can also increase sharpness and saturation in your Leica to get more pleasing out of the camera JPEG files. Alternatively, you can switch film mode to vivid - although I find that too much.

 

 

The raw files are excellent, with great dynamic-range, nice contrast, nice tonality, and great colors, though I found the red and yellow are a bit too saturated for my taste. That's why I normally reduce the saturation for red to -20, and yellow to -10 (I use LR5). So, yes, I processed the raw files only for the X.

 

 

This is the color profile that Adobe applies to the Leica DNG files. If you don't like the results, try using the embedded profile (Lightroom Develop panel, section "camera calibration" all the way at the bottom)

 

[Yoki]

 

 

This is the color profile that Adobe applies to the Leica DNG files. If you don't like the results, try using the embedded profile (Lightroom Develop panel, section "camera calibration" all the way at the bottom)

 

 

 

Thank you so much, Bernie... This is the kind of tips that I'm looking for...; my initial impression is the "embedded profile" is more nicer, 'punchier', and have better contrast.