entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
No surprise:
Man that's a slow lens. It better be REAL sharp wide open.
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Man that's a slow lens. It better be REAL sharp wide open.
Armanius
Bring Jack back!
- Location
- Houston, Texas
- Name
- Jack
3.5-6.4 .... Yikes.
Paps Guattro
Regular
- Location
- London/Shanghai/The City Ground
*turns to my RX1*
"Rest easy my beautiful little boy, rest easy"
"Rest easy my beautiful little boy, rest easy"
stillshunter
Super Moderator Emeritus
- Location
- Down Under
- Name
- Mark
Leica has lost it! Pffttt....
Zack Arias was so right in his bar-room analogy.
Zack Arias was so right in his bar-room analogy.
xdayv
Top Veteran
- Location
- Tacloban City, Philippines
- Name
- Dave
Agree. Sad but true for Leica.
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Leica are officially nuts.
More officially nuts are the people who are going to buy this thing for that price.
More officially nuts are the people who are going to buy this thing for that price.
entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
Well it is about half the price I thought it was. The Leica faithful will still buy it.
Still ridiculously expensive though for what it actually is.
Still ridiculously expensive though for what it actually is.
christilou
Legend
- Location
- Sunny Frimley
I was chatting to one of the guys in the L London shop who was saying that it takes Leica so long to actually bring anything out that it's old technology by the time they do and no one wants it! Oh well, now I have the RX1 I'm not sure that I actually need a Leica of any sort at the moment anyway!
Press Release:
Leica announces X Vario zoom compact with APS-C sensor
Samples:
Leica in Netherlands
Review from Jono:
The Leica X Vario - previously known as Paula
Leica announces X Vario zoom compact with APS-C sensor
Samples:
Leica in Netherlands
Review from Jono:
The Leica X Vario - previously known as Paula
Boid
All-Pro
- Location
- Bangalore, India
- Name
- Rajiv
I feel sorry for the reviewer and the way he felt he had to both justify and defend his views.
entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
He makes some good points about simplicity and lack of scene modes, etc. I like that.
It does appear to have nice image quality.
AND: he does say it "isn't for people on photography forums"... that's why we're underwhelmed. If you give up your membership in them, you might like the camera I think, lol. Actually I KNOW what he means. He means Ken Rockwell will probably love it.
That said it is interesting what he has NOT said I think: he didn't say he's buying one for himeself -- he said his wife really liked it though.
But bottom line for me at least: it's still WAY, WAY too expensive for what it ACTUALLY IS -- not what it's cache' as a Leica inflates it to. Sometimes Leica stuff reminds me of those little lizards with the huge fans of skin on their head/neck that can look HUGE when they want to, or perhaps a blowfish. Seeming much larger (or more significant) than it actually is.
Yes, that's Leica to me, sorry.
It does appear to have nice image quality.
AND: he does say it "isn't for people on photography forums"... that's why we're underwhelmed. If you give up your membership in them, you might like the camera I think, lol. Actually I KNOW what he means. He means Ken Rockwell will probably love it.
That said it is interesting what he has NOT said I think: he didn't say he's buying one for himeself -- he said his wife really liked it though.
But bottom line for me at least: it's still WAY, WAY too expensive for what it ACTUALLY IS -- not what it's cache' as a Leica inflates it to. Sometimes Leica stuff reminds me of those little lizards with the huge fans of skin on their head/neck that can look HUGE when they want to, or perhaps a blowfish. Seeming much larger (or more significant) than it actually is.
Yes, that's Leica to me, sorry.
wt21
Hall of Famer
This is literally, the MOST obvious test on the worth of the red dot. If you like everything about this camera, and don't care about red dots, why the HECK not just get a Fuji? Seem to be comparative sizes, built in EVF and a fast kit lens. Of course, I've not seen IQ samples next to each other, but the Fuji is good, so the Leica would have to really be trippy.
Ray Sachs
Legend
- Location
- Not too far from Philly
- Name
- you should be able to figure it out...
Looks like a Canon G1X with a slower lens for about 4-5 times the price. I'm not interested in the G1X at $600, as nice a camera as it turned out to be. I'm overwhelmingly not interested in this one...
I think the only way I'll ever own a Lecia is if I win a lottery and then go for an M9 or Monochrome or the new M-240 and 2-3 NICE lenses. Short of that I don't see any appeal. At that point, I see the appeal, but not at the price. If the price somehow ceased to matter (hence the lottery), I'd love to have the high-end stuff. But I'll never buy a D-Lux 6 instead of an LX7 just to have the red dot...
Edit - Just read Sean Reid's review. Sounds like the lens is slow but excellent. The controls also look really good, with an aperture ring, shutter speed dial, I THINK an exposure comp dial, and a manual focus ring that has end stops, a distance and DOF scale, and, if you turn it past infinity to "A", kicks into auto focus - cool approach. The thing I don't get is how the DOF scale on the lens barrel can work with more than one focal length in the zoom. I'm not sure I read the review carefully enough to say he didn't address that, but I missed it if he did. More appealing than my initial reaction, but nothing I'd spend the money for...
-Ray
I think the only way I'll ever own a Lecia is if I win a lottery and then go for an M9 or Monochrome or the new M-240 and 2-3 NICE lenses. Short of that I don't see any appeal. At that point, I see the appeal, but not at the price. If the price somehow ceased to matter (hence the lottery), I'd love to have the high-end stuff. But I'll never buy a D-Lux 6 instead of an LX7 just to have the red dot...
Edit - Just read Sean Reid's review. Sounds like the lens is slow but excellent. The controls also look really good, with an aperture ring, shutter speed dial, I THINK an exposure comp dial, and a manual focus ring that has end stops, a distance and DOF scale, and, if you turn it past infinity to "A", kicks into auto focus - cool approach. The thing I don't get is how the DOF scale on the lens barrel can work with more than one focal length in the zoom. I'm not sure I read the review carefully enough to say he didn't address that, but I missed it if he did. More appealing than my initial reaction, but nothing I'd spend the money for...
-Ray
- Location
- Jersey Shore
- Name
- Steve
Part of me just cannot believe that Leica brought out this camera with these specifications at this price - with a straight face. On the other hand, part of me realizes that's the Leica of today. And I just can't get past the f/6.3 at the long end of that zoom. I'm sure the glass is sharp but even the most pedestrian of kit lenses with that kind of a focal range can manage f/5.6. I'd consider buying a Panasonic-branded version for $700. But, as it stands, if I were a Leicaphile, I'd see this camera as an open insult.
entropic remnants
Hall of Famer
- Name
- John Griggs
It's the going thing: Look at Hasselblad with the "Lunar". It's $7000 and it is a Sony NEX-7 in a different wrapper for more than 6 times the price... the Hasselblad "Looney" is what they ought to call it.
Leather, fine wood, etc. do not a camera make, nor a red dot a masterpiece.
- Location
- Jersey Shore
- Name
- Steve
If I owned a Leica today, I'd be asking myself "Is that what this company thinks of me?" I don't wish anything bad on Leica but I also have to wonder if perhaps this is the beginning of the end. A camera like this smacks of total, clueless elitism or desperation - or both. Can Leica continue in the commoditized, Brave New World of the 21st Century?
Gary
All-Pro
- Location
- Southern California
- Name
- Gary Ayala
I think we're taking this all to personal. As Christina stated Leica takes a helluva long time to get anything out (probably a union thing). This has probably been in design, testing, redesign forever ... back to a time when this may have been more palatable. As such Leica probably have many discussions about bringing out a camera which will be distasteful to "photographers" yet swallowed by the well-heeled non-photographic crowd ... or do we just eat all that R&D monies we spent? So it seems that Leica went for getting a return on their investment and probably fired the engineer/manager in charge of the project.
When Nikon produced a lesser camera for the masses, the Nikkormat, at least they called it something different than Nikon. Maybe Leica will use a pink dot.
Gary
When Nikon produced a lesser camera for the masses, the Nikkormat, at least they called it something different than Nikon. Maybe Leica will use a pink dot.
Gary
