I think the lens is good but I also think it is the magic of the interface with this chip.
By the dark side you are right it is rejoining the Sony Death Star and buying another camera with a fixed "35" lens. I mainly bought it to shoot high quality back plates that I normally shoot with my Nikon 800, but I wanted something that no one would notice even on a tripod. I must say I was very impressed, it work perfectly for its mission and I also came away with loving the files, and will probably use it more and more as my grab and go camera, sharing duty with the GR. While I am sure it will be fun to make B&W images with this camera, it almost seems like the wrong use since the color is so good.
I know that you've expressed the same sentiment I have about not really loving 35mm as a focal length and, thus, not really wanting it in a fixed lens. I never really loved the X100 or other 35mm outfits that much, but I absolutely love the RX1. And part of what I figure must be the reason is it's dirty little secret - or maybe it's clean little secret: it's not really a 35mm lens. It's actually somewhere closer to 32mm. I saw someone else who'd written that figure - I don't know the precise focal length, but I absolutely KNOW it's wider than the other 35mm gear I've shot with. Since I've had an RX1 I've shot with the X100s, the GR (with it's 35mm crop), the
Fuji 23mm lens on an XT1, the Zeiss 24mm lens on a Nex 6, and a Nikon 35mm full frame lens. And the RX1 is notably and obviously wider than any of them. And I've gotta figure that's one of the reasons I've connected with it in a way I haven't with other 35mm alternatives. It kind of splits the difference between 28, which I love, and 35, which I don't. And it works, at least for me...
And, yeah, the files are really something to work with. So are the D610 files from the same sensor, but I don't have any lenses for Nikon bodies that match the Zeiss on the RX1...
-Ray