Digital Home Thoughts: Another Overpriced Camera Reviewed by PhotographyBLOG

"The Leica X1 is a 12.2 megapixel compact camera with a 36mm fixed lens and a 2.7 inch LCD screen. The X1 has an APS-C sized, 23.6x15.8mm CMOS sensor with a 3:2 aspect ratio, which promises to deliver similar image quality to a DSLR camera. The image-stabilized Leica Elmarit 24mm f/2.8 lens provides a focal length of 36mm in 35mm terms, and there’s a full range of advanced controls from manual exposure to manual focus. Other key features of the Leica X1 include a sensitivity range of ISO 100-3200, maximum shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second, JPEG and DNG RAW file support, and a continuous shooting rate of up to 3 frames per second. The recommended retail price of the Leica X1 is £1395 / $1995 / €1550."

(Emphasis mine)

Alright, so here's a camera by the has-been company called Leica. It's got some nice touches, like the manual dials that avert the need for the all too annoying mode dial, but it's not new either; Panasonic launched the LC1 with a very similar control system all the way back in 2004. What the Leica has however, is a proper APS-C sensor that should, in theory, deliver good images. Thankfully it delivers on that, as the review confirms. However, in usual Leica fashion of not being able to do the modern things right, the camera is sluggish in operation and has slow AF. Yes, it has AF, and no, there is no viewfinder.

I can just about hear the Leica nuts gasping in horror when they realise that.

Of course, there is also the price. You can just about get a very good DSLR with lenses that will blow the X1 out of the water, just not at that size. Or you could simply get one of those Micro Four Thirds cameras that are not too different in size, have interchangeable lenses, and are not too shabby in the image quality department either. So while the review is favourable, I'm not so charitable: The X1's pricing just pins it to a very exclusive niche - the Die Hard Leica Fan.

Excuse me while I go hide for my safety now. Those Leica fanbois can be worse than the Apple ones, you know?