Leica Rumor Mill: Leaked Image and Specs of the Upcoming Leica "Mini M"

Amin

Hall of Famer
According to Leica Rumors, here is a leaked image and set of specs for the soon-to-be-announced "Mini M" from Leica:

View attachment 677

Pair this with an EVF, and in many respects you have a modern day Digilux 2, which is a camera that I loved. Hopefully this zoom lens will have some of the magic of that one. Shame they couldn't manage a bit faster. An f/2.8-4 lens with aperture control dial (like the Fuji kit lens) would have made this more appealing.

[Thanks Serhan]
 

Attachments

  • Leica-X-zoom-specifications.jpg
    Leica-X-zoom-specifications.jpg
    73.9 KB · Views: 15,510
I hope it has a faster lens... Digilux 2 was an f/2-2.4 28-90m equiv. A lot of people were attracted to it, despite some quirks, because of the optic.

Its certainly too slow of an optic for my taste.
 
The lens is a little on the large size if that picture is anything to go by, overall size actually looks bigger than most MILC options with either standard or collapsable zooms. Still though I guess the pitch is to use the 16 Mp Sony sensor, sans AA filter and class leading optics to give the best possible APS-C image quality within the cameras limited capabilities.

Its interesting you mention the Fuji lens Amin as for a while that had me convinced I was going to buy into the Fuji X system. In the end though the size and weight of the thing in relation to the X-E1 just didn't seem to make sense to me any more. In the picture above the lens is just about on the upper end of what I would want to see attached to a body like that.
 
In terms of angle of view and DOF, the Digilux 2 was equivalent to 27-88mm f/7.8-9.4, whereas the Mini M (if leaked specs are real) is equivalent to 28-70mm f/5.2-9.6

If it gets all the other stuff right (lens not extending with zoom, great lens performance, great sensor, great controls), it could be a very useful and enjoyable camera for people who meet the following criteria:

- Like dials for exposure compensation and shutter speed
- Like great build quality
- Like straightforward controls and menus
- Don't care much about shallow DOF or great handheld lowlight image quality
- Want a camera that is smaller than Fuji X-E1 and 18-55 zoom with a lens that doesn't extend while zooming
- Have "extra" money to spend

I only meet 4 of those criteria, so it's definitely not a camera for me (if leaked specs are real)
 
That lens looks like Panasonic made it. Hopefully there's a lens release button on the cameras left side that we can't see.

Gordon
 
Honestly though....

DOF is the least of the concern for the typical consumer of P&S. Its like being concerned about the number of people that can be carried in a sports car... its an after thought. No one expects a shallow DOF out of a compact. People buy P&S cameras because its small enough to be carried very frequently with no fuss... thus a tool that must be adequate for all sorts of situations. This means a compact body (thus sensor) with a very fast optic. This is what placed the Lumix LX3 (and Dlux4) on the map.

Unfortunately, I'm not the target market if the rumor is true. The fixed lens compact is dominating the Leica line.... and honestly, I don't see that many selling.
 
Now if Leica pulled a miracle move and developed a sensor that beats its competitors by 2-3 stops, it just might have a chance. For me, the Fuji X20 looks closer to a fixed lens compact that I'd expect out of Leica.... or the RX1.
 
Unfortunately that image makes the lens look huge. Doesn't seem like its collapsible either so the French fake image appears to be real. This is a new low for Leica, a concept and execution at least 3 years behind the curve and an utterly pointless addition to the market place. The 16Mp APS-C zoom module for the Ricoh GXR just didn't sell so why on earth would Leica think this thing will?
 
Back
Top