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The X1

Terry

New member
I think manual focus will be good with hyperfocal but with a firmware tweak. The distance from 2 meters to infinity is so small that you really can't tell where you are. I think they need to spread out the scale a little bit. That being said I haven't actually looked at the hyperfocals at different apertures to see how simple it will be at about f8.
 
H

henricus34

Guest
I think manual focus will be good with hyperfocal but with a firmware tweak. The distance from 2 meters to infinity is so small that you really can't tell where you are. I think they need to spread out the scale a little bit. That being said I haven't actually looked at the hyperfocals at different apertures to see how simple it will be at about f8.
Terry

i made a small test a couple of days ago,results were more than ok.

The following settings of camera
Camera set to shutoff at 10 min
Camera on MF and set on 2m (just set at 2m no focussing)
Then took pictures with opening 2,8 - 4 - 5,6
Result at 2,8 sharpness from 1,8 m to 3 m
4 " " 1,8 m to 4,5 m
5,6 " " 1,8 m to 7 m
Sharpness by 100% enlargement
I DID NOT TRY f 8 since above distances are ok for me.
The camera shutoff after 10 min,suggest to make a extra picture after lets say 8 - 9 min, and delete that pic afterwards.

Hope this is a help for you

Regards

Harry
 

jonoslack

Active member
I think manual focus will be good with hyperfocal but with a firmware tweak. The distance from 2 meters to infinity is so small that you really can't tell where you are. I think they need to spread out the scale a little bit. That being said I haven't actually looked at the hyperfocals at different apertures to see how simple it will be at about f8.
Hi Terry
I wonder if it's changed since I had one - my problem was that the manual focus took about 5923 turns to get from 2 metres to close up, and that every time you switched to manual it reverted to infinity - which meant it was really pretty useless.

My other big bugbear was that if you wanted to do manual exposure, the (very nice) little exposure meter didn't come up on the screen until you had half pressed the shutter AND achieved focus, and if you didn't watch it it promptly disappeared again!

Those pictures look great - - - - I hope you're going to do a direct comparison between the GF1 with the 20 f1.7 and the Leica. (same scenes etc.)

all the best
 

Terry

New member
Hi Terry
I wonder if it's changed since I had one - my problem was that the manual focus took about 5923 turns to get from 2 metres to close up, and that every time you switched to manual it reverted to infinity - which meant it was really pretty useless.

My other big bugbear was that if you wanted to do manual exposure, the (very nice) little exposure meter didn't come up on the screen until you had half pressed the shutter AND achieved focus, and if you didn't watch it it promptly disappeared again!

Those pictures look great - - - - I hope you're going to do a direct comparison between the GF1 with the 20 f1.7 and the Leica. (same scenes etc.)

all the best
Jono,
Your first two points are spot on and haven't changed. I know Sean went through the AF/MF in great detail and want to reread his set-up suggestions. The other bit that disappears too quickly when you stop making the 5000th turn is the magnified area for MF.

The files do look really nice coming right out of the camera. The operation of the camera is worth the effort to figure out.
 

Terry

New member
Terry

i made a small test a couple of days ago,results were more than ok.

The following settings of camera
Camera set to shutoff at 10 min
Camera on MF and set on 2m (just set at 2m no focussing)
Then took pictures with opening 2,8 - 4 - 5,6
Result at 2,8 sharpness from 1,8 m to 3 m
4 " " 1,8 m to 4,5 m
5,6 " " 1,8 m to 7 m
Sharpness by 100% enlargement
I DID NOT TRY f 8 since above distances are ok for me.
The camera shutoff after 10 min,suggest to make a extra picture after lets say 8 - 9 min, and delete that pic afterwards.

Hope this is a help for you

Regards

Harry
Harry, this is super helpful. :thumbs: I will use this and then try what happens right in the middle between the 2m and infinity mark.
 
T

terryc

Guest
Greetings,

I managed to take the X1 out yesterday - a rather cold wet day on the west coast.

I shot exclusively with manual focus set at 2 meters (zone focusing) and I am using a Voightlander 28/35 mini viewfinder, as an aside - it would nice to have the hand grip but I have a feeling that will prove to be as illusive as the camera itself. The mini finder works well and keeps the camera foot print small.

In my humble opinion - some things need a tweak or two. One that is really mystifying - when the camera goes to sleep or is turned off the manual focus reverts to infinity from whatever setting the user had it set to. I would concur with Terry's comments that the scale needs some refinement. Something Ricoh does well is "snap" or zone focus which can be added to a function key and you can quickly swap between auto focus and "snap" zone focus. This mitigates the "slow af" for some shooting situations. The X1 af is pretty close to the GRDIII af speed from my simple tests.

The IQ is outstanding - I shot primarily at 800 ISO and honestly could not believe how clean the images are. It is a fun camera to shoot and the interface is simple - some would argue to simple:) The images will size-up extremely well thanks to the APS-C sensor.

Best to all. Terry
 

monza

Active member
First X1 arrived today. The packaging is really slick, as mentioned above: magnetic doors, three levels, two drawers. :)

But the real test is in the field. More to come...
 

Martin S

New member
Saw an X-1 the other day. Packaging must be worth a good part of the $ 2K price.

Camera seemed moderately slow in focus. It was sold so I couldn't use a SD card to review the results.

Martin
 
D

DougDolde

Guest
Seems like a lot of money for a fixed focal length lens camera. But then I guess the whole thing is cheaper than the average Leica lens.
 

barjohn

New member
DPR has just posted their review of the GXR A12 and made comparisons with the X1. The GXR beats it in high ISO performance, JPGs, and greatly beats it in dynamic range. It is also faster, has movie mode, and is more customizable to the individual user with much better MF. Finally it costs about $800 less. You might want to read the review and check it out.
 

jpmac55

New member
Personally, I think the GXR A12 competes with DSLR's, Micro Four Thirds or even the M8. I base that solely on the fact it can change lenses where as the X1 cannot. All and all though, the Ricoh does look like a nice camera.

It will be interesting to see what direction they take in lens development and whether consumers will support such a proprietary camera.
 

mtomalty

New member
Took an X1 out for a 5 minute spin yesterday and, of course, didn't take any time
to read the manual.
Files very impressive up to 800 though there seems to be noise reduction
being applied in heavier doses as the iso setting increases.
Af seemed very accurate, and quick, even for close subjects.

Did find that Raw files were taking 5-6 seconds to write during which time the
camera seemed unresponsive.
Perhaps, there are settings that deal with this that I did not discover.
Visually, the camera looked slick but, in hand, felt somewhat plasticly.
Better value would have been spent adding a touch of, or a touch more, metal
to the camera housing instead of dedicating such an effort to the packaging.

Mark
www.marktomalty.com
 
T

terryc

Guest
At the risk of sounding defensive, but more to clear-up a few points;

The Leica X1 has an aluminum top and bottom plate, magnesium body and aluminum dials.

SD card speed is important (for most cameras). The X1 will not write DNG only files and must include a JPG (fine or Super fine as they call it). As a result it becomes that much more important to use a very fast r/w spec'd card and preferably something like the SanDisk 'Extreme' with up to 200x read/write speeds. From my experience - the faster the card the better in the X1.

As for ISO and noise reduction - I will leave that to others to debate - I have shot at ISO 800 and have been pleased with the relatively clean images. I am not likely to shoot beyond 800 ISO anytime soon so we can leave that for my purposes.

It is a very small very capable bundle. Albeit it is expensive. Most important it is NOT a GRX :deadhorse:

Best to all. Terry.
 

mtomalty

New member
The Leica X1 has an aluminum top and bottom plate, magnesium body and aluminum dials.

What ? No steel !

Guess not as then the magnet on the packaging would get stuck
to the camera :>))

Regardless of the materials used in the camera it is a very capable
little device.

Mark
www.marktomalty.com
 

Paratom

Well-known member
DPR has just posted their review of the GXR A12 and made comparisons with the X1. The GXR beats it in high ISO performance, JPGs, and greatly beats it in dynamic range. It is also faster, has movie mode, and is more customizable to the individual user with much better MF. Finally it costs about $800 less. You might want to read the review and check it out.
One question would be how usefull is a 50mm FOV prime lens compared to the 35mm FOV of the Leica.
 

barjohn

New member
Well 50mm equates to the normal human eye field of view. Anything else is greater. That is why back in the old film days most cameras came with a stock 50mm prime lens as the basic lens. I like the wider field of view of a 35mm but really a 28mm is the handier field of view when shooting interiors and the 50 allow you to not have to get quite as close to your subjects when street shooting so there are pluses and minuses. #5mm is sort of a compromise so you don't need a 50mm and a 28mm but like any compromise you give up something, either not quite wide enough or you must get closer and suffer the distortive effect on people's faces of makeing their noses more prominent.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
For 1 lens use I find 35mm most flexible. Plus its easier to crop a little vs having to paint around the image.
The other thing I dont understand why does one have to change the sensor with the lens? Why to buy a new sensor with each lens you have? Anyways, the Ricoh looks like another great option, I just thought that a 35 mm prime would have been more attractive to me.
On the other side a 28-50 combo could be all one needs.
Overall I really hesistate to pay so much money for an x1. In film times yes, but today, when new models and sensors appear each year or 2nd year its more difficult for me.
If focus was faster and mf better usable it might look different.
 
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