The Leica X1 Daily (or every few days) Image Diary – Started July 2nd 2010
July 2nd 2010 – Entry 1
I am now with a Leica X1 (as in, I BOUGHT ONE) as I have been dying to buy one of these since it was released. After my review I wanted to keep the review sample but of course, that was not possible 🙂 Well, today I happened to stumble upon one at a local shop and I could not resist! So starting today, July 2nd 2010, I will be updating this page with new X1 photos every day or two. I will start with a silly snapshot which was the very first shot out of the camera. I took it as my son was siting down and he was looking at me with that “NOT AGAIN” look.
ISO 2000, f/2.8
July 3rd 2010 – Entry 2
Just walked outside and decided to test out the spot metering on the X1. Works well 🙂
how’s this for iso3200?
July 5th 2010
Love the X1!
July 22nd 2010
It’s been a long last couple of weeks with my family issues, and then working on the road with Seal but here I am now READY to conquer the world. Going to be putting alot of work into this site for the rest of this year! Still really enjoying the X1. No, it’s not an M9 but it’s still LEICA, and that is a special thing IMO. With all of my stress over the past month I lost 13 lbs. The good thing is, I have a six pack again. The bad thing is, I look way too skinny! Operation weight gain is under way starting tomorrow. Back to a high calorie, protein rich diet and my work outs!
“Hollow Man”
July 30th 2010
Well, I gained 3lbs this week, and feeling MUCH better than the previous weeks, so all is well 🙂 I found a couple of shots from the X1 last night that I liked and processed in Aperture. From when I was in Italy 🙂 The X1 just has something about it that the other smaller cams do not have…
August 1st 2010
iso 3200
August 2nd 2010
iso 100 – f2.8 – 1/30s
August 4th 2010
I need to find some cool places to shoot at here in Phx, AZ. Back in IL I never ran out of subjects but here, with the extreme sun and 110 degree days it is tough! Im whipping up some ideas so until those gel out, here is a wondeful CAT picture! Ha ha, ISO 3200 with the X1…
August 6th 2010
August 7th 2010
August 17th 2010
September 29th 2010
The X1 is lovely even at 2.8 🙂
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ok. i just realized you’ve sold your x1.
Ahh.. Steve, you are getting lazy. This is not a DAILY diary. I want to see more pictures !!! Haha.
Steve, the picture of the italian sign is… magnificent! Did you do some extra processing, since it looks so.. analogue? It is a lovely picture that makes me want to buy a x1 next to my Sigma DP1 & DP2 (so yes for me the speed of this x1 will be really fast.. 🙂
I do want to try and wait buying though till photokina, maybe Leica will surprise us?
The only thing that stop me from buying a X1 was the slow autofocus. I do 95% street photography and rely on autofocus. I ended up buing a GF1 and really love it. I have made 11 X 17 inches prints that are really amazing (resolution and the precision of the autofocus even at f 1.7). The X1 could have been the perfect street photo camera with a fast autofocus. The 35 mm equivalent lens is perfect for street photos (better than the pancake on the Lumix at 40 mm equivalent), and the shutter is near inaudible. In the 80’s, I did tons of street photos using a Nikon F and a 35 mm lens (was using hyperfocal focus).
This being said, I love the fact that I can use the 7-14 mm on the GF1.
Steve, I sincerely hope you get a chance to try the Leica X1 BrightLine Viewfinder. It’s wonderful and brings a special feeling to the camera and it’s operation.
I plan on buying one as soon as I can 🙂 Thanks
Oops, sorry Darell. I see it your way now. The EP2 is a great camera, so I wouldn’t stress the X1. I love it, but I understand it isn’t for everyone. It isn’t my main camera, the M8.2 is. That said, I’d still love to have the GF1 as well due to its fast AF.
No worries John. I never take things personally on forums, its far too easy to misunderstand people when you are only getting 7% of the communication. What would be interesting is to know how many X1 owners also have a digital or film M and what they use the X1 for that they can’t or don’t do on the M.
So as you have the M8.2 John what is the gap that the X1 fills??
Naive newbie Darrell? I’ve been using Leicas since you were sucking your mom’s teet! 😉 I actually use Leica Ms and an X1.
I’m not a fan of zooms at all. Panaleicas have zooms… not traditional Leicas. The D2 was a Panasonic rebadge. To me, zooms just make everything bigger and slower than they need to be. The X1 is slow enough.
@ John: You read me wrong here, I meant my comment was that of a naive newbie!
The only Lieca that I have is glass, a 40mm C Summicron that I use on my EP2. I’m very interested in the X1 but would like more flexibility, ideally to use interchangable primes, however not sure Lieca will go that way after the CL experience?
Oh yeah, and a true Leica doesn’t have video modes.
Ah as I thought a naive newbie comment 🙂
I would prefer interchangable primes personally but I wonder if Leica has scars on their institutional memeory form the CL when, from everything I’ve read, it seems a smaller cheaper camera was so popular people stopped buying M’s. If so they may never make an X with interchangable lenses. If that is the case then why not make it with a varifocal length lens? After all they have done this before with the Digilux 2 and had some consderable success. Surely the X is in reality the true son of the Digilux 2?
Just my meanderings and I’m sure no one at Leica will pay any attention.
BTW I absolutely agree with the video comment!
lets not forget that X1 is a real Leica , made in Germany and its rare to find a camera like this caliber built in Europe any more
I always wanted a camera that satisfies me from all directions and X1 is not one of them .
I wished that X1 had a video recording even at VGA and at this price tah to have an interchangeable lens that suits all applications
plus the screen of the camera is not so impressive and it was better to have at least high resolution 465K colour screen .
ok i agree that it made the best pictures in its class but that s not meant the camera to do only these days , , camera is like a mobile complete photography tool and X1 do not deliver this .
I hope Leica will produce the X1.2 which completes some of the missing aspects of a Digital camera in this class .
if i am going to spend on Leica i would rather go for D lux 4 , V lux 20 and maybe D lux 5 in the near furure , , X1 delivers excellent pictures but its only meant for few narrow circle of camera lovers of this sort .
Maybe I’m being naive but surely if Leica can come up with a 28mm to 90mm Summicron zoom for the DLux 5 (this is what was announced on the Pany) then surely they could do the same for the X series? I would think that this lens would meet the requirments of the vast majority of users and if it had a high quality EVF I would definitely buy one.
Dear Leica – Please do not listen to Darell. 😉 A true Leica does not have a zoom… only a prime!
I come from a ‘lightning fast’ Canon SLR and a Panny LX3 but I never find the X1s AF frustrating or annoying slow. Not in low light either and up till now it never hunted in low light. That doesn’t mean I don’t notice it’s slower than the Canon but the AF is equal or faster than the LX3 and miles more accurate.
I only use ‘1 Point H’ focus on the center square from the moment I took it out of the box. I’ve never tested it but could it be that ‘single square AF’ is faster than the camera evaluating 11 different possible focus points?
Reassuring to read, Richard. On all my cameras that I used, I use always only the center-point.
I can manually focus an M9 faster than the X1 can AF
Thanks for your comment. That’s a disappointment!
Well, not everyone can focus the M9 faster. I am so used to RF focusing, that is why. The X1 is not bad. In good light its really fast. In low light it hunts but the good thing is it NEVER EVER misses focus!
Thanks for your explanation. I shoot regularly in low light. A bit hunting is no problem.
Sorry, I mean: is it slower …….
Hello Steve,
OK, the Leica X1 AF is slow, but it is slower than the manual focus speed on the Leica M9?
Further, I am a bit worried about lack of a lens hood for Leica X1.
its a nice picture
It is a great camera for quiet places. You can work in the LIbrary of Congress’s Prints and Photos room, taking pictures of cartoons once owned by the British royal family. You disturb no one. Of all the reviews on the web, only Sean Reid picked that up. He said it was a quiet as a Sony R-1. The X-1 is better for archival work than an R-1 especially with one of Luigi’s cases with a hand grip. The DNG files go right into Lightroom for immediate processing.
Your BW shots. Did you do any Post Processing? Any special settings you used on the camera?
Also, I would love to see the different film-colors or film-effects.
Finally, I am really curious about how much bokeh you can really push out of this camera? Would it be good for portrait?
Steve,
There is magic in so many of your photos…especially the ones of your son and wife where i can often just feel your love for them…so soft and dreamy; so utterly FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! Keep these x1 images comin’ at us!!!(Wish bandh would hurry up and get some of these in…probly i have to line up behind thousands of others who want this little gem also!!!) All the best to you ’cause you’re the best!!!!!
sori
This camera is a pleasure, with simple manual controls that make shooting intuitive. Steve, do you think a future software fix will enable us to shoot RAW without JPEG? The unfortunate combination is probably what makes the write speed so slow. Or will we have to wait for the X2 to fix that?
Not sure, but I would think they could fix that with a firmware update. There will be something new with the X1 being announced soon 🙂
Thanks Douglas! I have the E-P2 as well and find both wonderful but the X1 has the simplicity, and the IQ that trumps it. Especially when it comes to higher ISO. I look forward to getting out there with the X1 this weekend.
I look forward to seeing a few more of your X1 shots, I am enjoying my X1 its a great little camera.