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 p.3 #20 · Anyone thinking about a Leica X1? | |
Mawz wrote:
Ironically, my experience is that 4/3rds lenses hold their value better than APS-C lenses despite the latter having become the accepted format for smaller-than-35mm DSLR's. With m43, as with 4/3rds, you're buying into a system and lens value tends to track inversely with how popular the system is due to supply & demand issues.
Well that's debatable, but they won't fit a micro 4/3rds (MFT) camera without an adapter thus increasing it's size. Conversely, mounting a MFT lens to a FT body, if even possible, will not cover the sensor without cut-off. From what I have read, the Olympus MFT body doesn't do well with Panasonic MFT lenses in the IQ department. You can adapt Nikon and other manual focus lenses to these modified P&S bodies, but for me it doesn't make sense putting a large lens on a camera the size of a EP1. At that point I would just get an SLR.... at least it has an optical viewfinder. Right now the only two players in the MFT game is Panasonic and Olympus. If the technology exists to put a 1/5x sensor in a camera the same size as an EP1 or GF1, why go smaller with a 2x sensor?
I'd expect the X1 to be a worse deal now and down the road compared to a GF1 with 20 and 45mm lenses. With the GF1 your next body will not require new glass, whereas the Leica will likely have a similar lifespan but you'll end up paying more than twice as much for the replacement.
Leica film cameras hold their value... that's a fact. The M8, a disaster IMO, was Leica's first attempt at putting digital in an M series. Besides the lousy color issues, I think it was dumb of them to put a 1.3x sensor in a true rangefinder camera. It was difficult enough when I owned a M6 to feel confident within those various RF lines. A 1.3x sensor just made it worse. Now it seems that those who want a true digital rangefinder will get it with the M9.... but I digress. Panasonic has no history of making still cameras even if the GF1 might end up being the best MFT camera on the market. Next year it will probably be the GF2, then GF3 for 2012. Knowing Leica, they don't fix what's not broken. I expect the X1 to end up being a cult camera like those tiny Rolleis were, the ones made in Germany, not Singapore.
As part of the X1's $2000 "deal", Adobe Lightroom ($300) is included. That's a nice feature and I guess it's better than waiting for and then paying for Photoshop CS5 to acknowledge the X1.
Don't get me wrong, I think the X1 looks excellent, but at $2000 it's not a good value compared to the GF1 in a straight up comparison. The Leica wins primarily on size, as well as simplicity rather than value.
Any tiny, metal camera made in Germany that shoots 3 frames per second, no shutter lag, 13 true MP, a 1.5x sensor, and also looks cool is worth consideration, especially compared to the only competition at this point - the Sigma DP series, cameras that seem to be an excercise in frustration en route to decent quality pictures at 4.5 MP per jpeg (14MP if you do Sigma's fuzzy math, but only in RAW).
For those who want a zoom, do some cropping with the 1.5x sensor. You should come out to a focal length in the 50s after factoring the 2x sensor. Need a faster lens than the G10 because it topped out at ISO 200, try the X1 at 800. Now you got a camera with a sensor ten times the G10 and a 1.4 lens, so to speak.
Still haven't decided on anything at this point. I am not thrilled about announcements for products three or more months down the road. We'll see. 
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