# Excitement - Incoming...But In A Month



## msq (Feb 18, 2010)

Ok, it's a month away, but I'm going to announce it anyways. I'm going to pick up a Leica X1 digital compact.

So, it is extremely expensive and some will say it's too much for a digi point and shoot. However, I really don't see it as a point and shoot as it is a mobile M camera, although with a single focal length.

Just wanted to share the excitement...but no pics until at least a month later - thats right this is my first digital camera I have ever owned!


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## HappyLad (Oct 28, 2009)

Very nice.... :thumbsup:

but very expensive :thumbsdown:


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## glug (Mar 20, 2010)

Love the style/quality, Enjoy.

My binoculars are Leica and they are brilliant.

I need the flexibility of an SLR but Â£16k for the current Leica is shocking, Different league :not_i:


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## msq (Feb 18, 2010)

glug said:


> Love the style/quality, Enjoy.
> 
> My binoculars are Leica and they are brilliant.
> 
> I need the flexibility of an SLR but Â£16k for the current Leica is shocking, Different league :not_i:


That's a bit different. Believe it or not, the one you are talking about is a COMPACT :shocking: medium format digital camera. I got an M4 with Leica glass, but want something compact and digital, but delivering Leica quality prints. Plus, I don't think I can justify on buying an M9 just yet, although they are direct rivals of the top canon and nikons (full frame digital) in a "compact" package.


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## glug (Mar 20, 2010)

msq said:


> glug said:
> 
> 
> > Love the style/quality, Enjoy.
> ...


Looking forward to seeing the results :thumbup:


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

msq said:


> glug said:
> 
> 
> > Love the style/quality, Enjoy.
> ...


I loved my M4, M2 & R6 but I had to let them go :crybaby:

I`ve still got an early `30s Standard & a model II.


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## groach1234 (May 30, 2010)

glug said:


> Love the style/quality, Enjoy.
> 
> My binoculars are Leica and they are brilliant.
> 
> I need the flexibility of an SLR but Â£16k for the current Leica is shocking, Different league :not_i:


I never had a clue that they were so expensive. When i was on safari a couple of years back there was an American couple in the same vehicle as us and he had a leica SLR and DSLR with him, his wife had a leica compact and they had his and her's leica bino's and he had a couple more leica's at home he was telling me about :shocking: and why on earth would you disbelieve someone who had two with him at the time.

George


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## glug (Mar 20, 2010)

groach1234 said:


> glug said:
> 
> 
> > Love the style/quality, Enjoy.
> ...


I couldn't afford the lenses for the cheap camera. Check out the baby; :inlove:










50mm f/0.95 Noctilux-M

Ref No: 11602

Price: Â£7167.50


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## malus65 (Dec 23, 2009)

Congrats with that camera! Did you compare it with another brand/type? I still have a Konica Hexar. I found it always a joy to work with and a good traveling companion as well. But because of the digital revolution I do not use it any longer. Still have also a Rolleiflex in good condition:



















I posted this pics also in the photographic section.


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## msq (Feb 18, 2010)

malus65 said:


> Congrats with that camera! Did you compare it with another brand/type? I still have a Konica Hexar. I found it always a joy to work with and a good traveling companion as well. But because of the digital revolution I do not use it any longer. Still have also a Rolleiflex in good condition:


Thanks, but I haven't picked it up yet. These little guys are selling like hot cakes, with every store selling out as soon as they have stock. I found one London dealer who agreed to only a 10% deposit (as opposed to 500 down, or 100% preorder), so I'm due to pick up in mid July.

I have an M4 kit that I will still use, as well as a hasselblad...I have a dusty rolleicord (not as fancy as your flex in your photo), but the focus is off-plane and it just isn't worth fixing for what it is worth. As far as how it compares, this is what I figure from checking review and handling the camera myself at a dealer

The little package is solid, like a mini M, but without the hefty feel. I got small hands, so it fits well in my hand, but manly hands will find it hard to handle

It looks pretty attractive.

It is slow - AF, replay.

The LCD screen is only mediocre

Image quality is second to none in the size category. Sharpness, color, metering. This is no rebadged product.

It works great even in low light (3200iso).

It comes with a license of Adobe Lightroom. a $299 value. Not sure how much its sold for in the EU/UK. This is far superior to most other software provided with digital cameras.

All in all, I have come to conclude that this is not a point and shoot camera. It requires someone to take time to compose and think about the pictures and anticipate the image. The AF is too slow to capture anything if you don't think ahead of time. Plus, the purpose of the LCD screen in this case is only to frame and do rough review, rather than to do any real critical analysis (print from camera type P+S). The images are meant to be judged on a computer with decent screen, which is why lightroom is provided.

But then again, I will know soon enough when I pick it up and share with you guys. I know this is not a photography forum, but I have grown to like this forum as it is much more organic, so I hope you guys will enjoy my upcoming review.


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## Tom Radford (Apr 28, 2009)

Just been looking at some samples from this camera. The high ISO stuff is stunning, hardly any noise in sight at ISO 3200.

Hell of a lot of money for a "compact" camera though. I think only die hards will be splashing out on this.


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## msq (Feb 18, 2010)

Tom Radford said:


> Just been looking at some samples from this camera. The high ISO stuff is stunning, hardly any noise in sight at ISO 3200.
> 
> Hell of a lot of money for a "compact" camera though. I think only die hards will be splashing out on this.


Yes, you are right. There are a lot of die hards out there though, believe me...I'm one of them!


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## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

Such a good looking, quality camera. I love the flash design, very cool.

Must be excited!


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## markffw (Mar 30, 2010)

I would love to own a Leica , amazing quality.


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## groach1234 (May 30, 2010)

Has it landed yet? Looking forward to some pictures.

George


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## msq (Feb 18, 2010)

Yeah, I got it in my hands now, but have yet to have any real pictures to show. You see, what happened was that when the X1 was first released, they included a license to adobe lightroom 2, a 300 USD value, but about 6 weeks ago, adobe released lightroom 3. Leica is in the process of allowing owners who have yet to cash in their lightroom 2 license to get lightroom 3 instead. I'm waiting for this so that I will be able to convert my raw images to jpeg to show here.

First impressions? very pretty, appears like high build quality, but a bit slow in the image transfer department. The reviews say super slow focus, but I don't really mind it so much, seeing as I come from strictly a manual focus background where I take my time anyways. Hopefully, I can get a few shots up in due time


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## msq (Feb 18, 2010)

So finally they are giving out licenses for lightroom 3. Here is one I snapped in the airport on my way back to home home after a long year away. This is altered a bit from lightroom with a little bit of cropping. I have no color calibration hardware, so the colors may be just slightly off.










Here is another one from when I was working with one of the professor histopathologists. I'm the guy at the back. This one was tough to edit, mostly because it was taken with flash at close range. The room was a little awkward, so it had to be taken closer than ideal. Nice show of some pretty smooth out of focus areas (me).










Both images shot as adobe DNP @ 12.2MP. The second shot is 1600 iso with NO noise reduction at all. Very impressive considering the size of the little guy.


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

I,ve just taken delivery of a D-LUX4 as I have become tired of lugging my DSLR around.

Still playing but, so far, I love it, even the leather case is a work of art.

Roger


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