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Would you buy still an M-System if there would be an X100 system?

M

memories

Guest
Hi

many of you own both, the Leica M9 system and the Fuji X100.

If Fuji would come out today with a "x100-system" with interchangeble lenses but the same body & sensor as the X100, would you still be interested in buying a Leica M9?

(I assume all Fuji lenses would have at least the same image quality as the 35/2.0 of the X100 and you would not have yet any Leica lenses or bodies)

If you could only afford one system of these two, which one would you pick and why if starting from scratch?
 

crwoo

New member
I have a x100 and a m8.
What i think you are ignoring are all these great 50 year old lenses.
Looking at fujis line of cameras i would assume that camera you are referring to would NOT be of leica quality.
Sure Fuji has best ISO and DR of any camera (which is the reason I bought x100) they would not put a full frame sensor in it, and it would probably not have what makes a leica camera a leica camera.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I've owned Fuji gear in the past, when I was shooting a lot of Medium Format film. And I've owned Hasselblad gear, and Rolleiflex gear. While comparable in many ways, they're not the same things.

Same goes for an X100 (which I really wanted to like but just didn't when I handled one in the flesh) and a Leica M. Fuji might come out with an excellent system, and I might buy it and enjoy it, but it would not be a replacement for a Leica M system.

I sold my M6, M4-P, and lenses in 2002. No regrets, it was good stuff and I moved to other good stuff. But I am moving back there again, one step at a time.
 
M

memories

Guest
I do think that if Fuji comes out with lenses for a "x-100 system", the build quality would be the range of Contax G-lenses (hopefully).

I do not think that Leica will be able to offer a sensor in the league of a Fuji X100 over the next 3 years. And then, Fuji will offer something even more powerful. Fullframe or not, nobody knows for sure whether Fuji will not offer this too sooner or later. The M8 did not have FF neither.

Since image quality is a mixture of lenses and sensor, IMHO it will be tough for Leica to compete with a future Fuji X-100 system.

If Leica lenses will be (just speculation) 20% better than the future Fuji X-100 lenses, but the Leica sensor is at least 20% worse, what would be the benefit of a Leica system except the material of Leica lenses and bodies. And that for 4x or even more the price of the Fuji equivalent.

Do not get me wrong. I am a fan of the Leica M system. I just can not afford it over the next 3 years and so I am looking for what would be the second best or even better alternative for a Leica M9 or M10 system.

My X100 is really a joy (with a few frustrations). But so was in the older times my M6 (i.e. frames that are invisible with too much sun etc.)

So I try to figure out whether I am too much seduced by marketing of Leica and the great build quality of their system and should rather look what counts in real life shootings and the final image quality on the print.

More opinions are welcome
 

Paratom

Well-known member
I do think that if Fuji comes out with lenses for a "x-100 system", the build quality would be the range of Contax G-lenses (hopefully).

I do not think that Leica will be able to offer a sensor in the league of a Fuji X100 over the next 3 years. And then, Fuji will offer something even more powerful. Fullframe or not, nobody knows for sure whether Fuji will not offer this too sooner or later. The M8 did not have FF neither.

Since image quality is a mixture of lenses and sensor, IMHO it will be tough for Leica to compete with a future Fuji X-100 system.

If Leica lenses will be (just speculation) 20% better than the future Fuji X-100 lenses, but the Leica sensor is at least 20% worse, what would be the benefit of a Leica system except the material of Leica lenses and bodies. And that for 4x or even more the price of the Fuji equivalent.

Do not get me wrong. I am a fan of the Leica M system. I just can not afford it over the next 3 years and so I am looking for what would be the second best or even better alternative for a Leica M9 or M10 system.

My X100 is really a joy (with a few frustrations). But so was in the older times my M6 (i.e. frames that are invisible with too much sun etc.)

So I try to figure out whether I am too much seduced by marketing of Leica and the great build quality of their system and should rather look what counts in real life shootings and the final image quality on the print.

More opinions are welcome
My opinion is that the Leica sensor beats the Fuji sensor (besides high ISO)-not the other way around (but then with fast lenses I rarely feel limited with 640-1000 ISO of the M9.
 

MPK2010

New member
I have owned both since the X100 came out and while there is no comparison in IQ and usability, the X100 does compare well in IQ with many much bulkier and uglier SLRs and I have no plans to sell mine at this point.

Hard to know exactly what an interchangeable lens X100 would be like as much of the X100's charm is the combination of form factor and viewfinder, which depend largely on the fixed prime. But it could be nice. You might also want to look at the NEX-7 this fall, rumored to have next-gen Sony sensor and built-in viewfinder.

Also agree with t_streng re sensor. Eventually someone is bound to catch up and make a sensor that shows the M lenses as well as the M9 at a lower price, but so far no one has come close.
 
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