Nice review! The vf issue including the feint rf patch would be a deal killer for me. Let alone the other issues you mention.
I’d buy an M240 over this and save money.
Sep 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
Desmolicious wrote:
Nice review! The vf issue including the feint rf patch would be a deal killer for me. Let alone the other issues you mention.
I’d buy an M240 over this and save money.
A used M10 is also about $1,000 cheaper than this new (I sold mine about a year ago for $3,800) and I have a hard time seeing why any one would want this over an M10. I am glad somebody tried to compete with Leica, but this shows that it isn't as easy as some people seem to think to compete with Leica.
Steve Spencer wrote:
I am glad somebody tried to compete with Leica, but this shows that it isn't as easy as some people seem to think to compete with Leica.
Certainly not for a small start-up like Pixii. It's really amazing that they were even able to accomplish this at all but I don't think this example reflects on the technical capability of more experienced, traditional players to compete should they choose to do so (highly doubtful they would imo).
No personal experience with Pixii but this review left me feeling rather frustrated to be very honest. Pixii is small company but from what I hear pretty responsive. Why not reach out to them and ask for their feedback on some of these issues? It seems like a relatively small effort and I am pretty sure they would have gotten back to you. Integrating that feedback would also have made the review more valuable and relevant I feel.
Steve Spencer wrote:
A used M10 is also about $1,000 cheaper than this new (I sold mine about a year ago for $3,800) and I have a hard time seeing why any one would want this over an M10. I am glad somebody tried to compete with Leica, but this shows that it isn't as easy as some people seem to think to compete with Leica.
Competition is often a good thing but I am kind of scratching my head here over what problem this is trying to solve. It has the limitation of internal memory, apparently a worse rangefinder and no offset microlenses so will likely underperform with many rangefinder lenses. I think it could be a viable option if the price was much lower, but as it sits you can get a lightly used M10 for the same money and that makes the Pixii a hard sell.
I don’t know if the hope is to get enough sales volume to lower production costs and offer cameras at a better price point in which case the whole thing starts making better sense. A Leica is already really good at what it does so short of some revolutionary tech or a more attractive price I just can’t see the appeal.
I understand why the Pixxii is so expensive relatively speaking as it is such a tiny company.
And I like the idea. But it just makes no sense to me to by one when a used (most often barely used) Leica M10 is less, and an excellent M240 is way less. And the M240 is rock solid with a superb battery life as well as of course having a much better VF.
If anyone it should be Cosina who could step up and make a digital Zeiss Ikon ZM. But I think they've done the math and it makes much more sense for them to just concentrate on lenses.
Desmolicious wrote:
If anyone it should be Cosina who could step up and make a digital Zeiss Ikon ZM. But I think they've done the math and it makes much more sense for them to just concentrate on lenses.
This whole thing does have me curious as to what kind of margins Leica has on their cameras. Yeah, they are expensive, but they are also a bit of a niche item and clearly their tech and build quality isn't all that easy to replicate at a reasonable cost.
pingflood wrote:
This whole thing does have me curious as to what kind of margins Leica has on their cameras. Yeah, they are expensive, but they are also a bit of a niche item and clearly their tech and build quality isn't all that easy to replicate at a reasonable cost.
I gotta give it to Leica - I've owned the Bessa and the ZeissIkon ZM and the rangefinder/VF in the Leicas are way superior.
That costs money.
Some try to claim the ZM finder is better just because it is bigger. But that bigger size is what causes issues w the RF patch flaring unless you have your eye perfectly centered. And don't get me started as to how the rf patch is not synchronized with parallax correction movements of the frame lines...
Leica's margins must be huge though. How else can they afford that giant museum/HQ, or the really fancy (and nice!) Leica boutique stores?
I've owned a Pixii A2572+ (APS-C) camera for about 5 months now. It is an interesting, albeit frustrating camera to use. I found the viewfinder to be not bad at all and have had no issue with focusing. I owned an M10 and figure this viewfinder is 95% as good. My biggest gripe about this camera is the metering, but only when Auto-ISO is used. If I set an ISO manually and let the camera pick a shutter speed, I find it to work great. If I set a shutter speed and let the camera choose an ISO, the camera consistently over-exposes by at least a full stop or two. I've tested this out and noticed that the ISO seems to get 'stuck' at certain values when shooting in Auto-ISO. For example, in bright daylight, I would notice the camera would pick ISO 640 for no reason, but then the camera would alert me that the image was heavily over-exposed as well. So it seems as if there is a disconnect between the Auto-ISO selection and the rest of the metering.
Thankully, Pixii is responsive to questions. Every email I've sent, I have received a detailed response within a week. I've let them know my issues with the software side of things (I am a software engineer by trade) and hope that they are working on a new version. This camera is a difficult one to recommend. As I've said since I first bought it, there are times when I want to chuck it out the window and go back to a Leica M and there are other times when I feel like it is my favorite camera. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but here are some other thoughts and images on my website: https://www.jonathanhrovath.com/2025/06/04/one-month-with-the-pixii-a2572-digital-rangefinder-camera/
If anyone has questions, let me know. I like exploring this camera. I also am in no way affiliated with Pixii in any way. I wish I was so I could get a Max upgrade on the house...
I really hope Pixii succeeds (Esquisse too) and comparing a used something to a new anything else is a real-world scenario, but a little unfair. That said I see a couple comments on the positive communication responsiveness of the company and want to say from my defective A2572+ experience (misaligned viewfinder - returned), the pre-purchase responsiveness and post were different. Like all company growth hopefully that has been fixed or will be fixed. I did like especially the Monochrome output (and I'm a M9M owner) for what it's worth.
randomphotoguy wrote:
I've owned a Pixii A2572+ (APS-C) camera for about 5 months now. It is an interesting, albeit frustrating camera to use. I found the viewfinder to be not bad at all and have had no issue with focusing. I owned an M10 and figure this viewfinder is 95% as good. My biggest gripe about this camera is the metering, but only when Auto-ISO is used. If I set an ISO manually and let the camera pick a shutter speed, I find it to work great. If I set a shutter speed and let the camera choose an ISO, the camera consistently over-exposes by at least a full stop or two. I've tested this out and noticed that the ISO seems to get 'stuck' at certain values when shooting in Auto-ISO. For example, in bright daylight, I would notice the camera would pick ISO 640 for no reason, but then the camera would alert me that the image was heavily over-exposed as well. So it seems as if there is a disconnect between the Auto-ISO selection and the rest of the metering.
Thankully, Pixii is responsive to questions. Every email I've sent, I have received a detailed response within a week. I've let them know my issues with the software side of things (I am a software engineer by trade) and hope that they are working on a new version. This camera is a difficult one to recommend. As I've said since I first bought it, there are times when I want to chuck it out the window and go back to a Leica M and there are other times when I feel like it is my favorite camera. I'm not trying to hijack this thread, but here are some other thoughts and images on my website: https://www.jonathanhrovath.com/2025/06/04/one-month-with-the-pixii-a2572-digital-rangefinder-camera/
If anyone has questions, let me know. I like exploring this camera. I also am in no way affiliated with Pixii in any way. I wish I was so I could get a Max upgrade on the house......Show more →
Both yours and the OP JComer's experiences are very helpful. Thank for posting.
Desmolicious wrote:
Both yours and the OP JComer's experiences are very helpful. Thank for posting.
Glad to share some knowledge. I bought mine from eBay back in April and there were only a few reviews out. I feel like this camera is so close to being a true alternative to Leica. I've used it for street, landscape, family and even some sports just to push its boundaries. In my time with it, I did have to send it back to Pixii to fix the strap lug that broke. They fixed it under warranty even though I didn't buy it new. They explained the issue was the first generation strap lugs and they replaced with the newer updated version. Turnaround time was 2.5 weeks from shipping from USA to France and back. I just had to pay for shipping. I have never had it freeze up on me. I had a total of 2 'corrupted' shots when I first got it, but nothing since. Internal storage has been great with no issues. I have had almost no issue with the electronic shutter in regards to banding or scan speed. Viewfinder is pretty easy to calibrate (both vertical and horizontal). The phone app (Lineage OS de-googled android on my phone) has worked great and I haven't had any issues using both Bluetooth or WiFi connection.
Pro's:
- the APS-C sensor is very good and retains highlights much better than my old Leica M10
- Easy to use, minimal controls
- batteries are very cheap and easily found
- body feels very solid
- upgradable (I can send mine in to get the full frame sensor if I wanted too)
- Pixii CEO has responded to my emails multiple times to answer questions and talk tech stuff
Con's:
- the APS-C sensor just gives a different rendering than the old Leica M10
- battery life is bad. I average about 150 shots when using only bluetooth connection. WiFi takes it down to 75 or so.
- Using Auto-ISO can produce wildly overexposed shots. Why I think it is the AutoISO is that when I select an ISO and let the camera select a shutter speed, metering is very good.
- other minor bugs in the software.
- There is a certain color hue that comes out of the camera. I use darktable as my RAW processor and will not use the embedded profile in the DNG, but rather another input color profile, 'Linear REC2020 RGB'
I'm still up in the air on if I'm going to keep the Pixii or not. I love having a rangefinder camera. There are some things I like better about this Pixii than my sold Leica M10 (battery availability, frameline selection in menu, repairability, Pixii response time) but there are things where I want the Leica M back (sensor and color, build, rangefinder). I'd say the Pixii is a camera for those that like to tinker, already have a Leica M or want a challenge.
Sidenote, if anyone wants to buy a Pixii A2572+ with 128GB storage, let me know. I am thinking about letting it go to get some new Nikon gear for sports.
Honestly, this is a tough sell when a used M10, a far more refined camera, goes for around $4,000.
Even worse, the PIXII max sensor suffers from severe color shift at the edges, something PIXII hasn’t fixed despite all the firmware updates.
If you just want to be different for the sake of it, go ahead. But the downsides of these PIXII cameras are far too big to make it worthwhile.
