The X1

[barjohn]

I thought 40 was the real "normal"

You may be right but I always heard it was 50mm and as I recall that was the popular lens back in the old film days.

 

[Chuck Jones]

Well, since I come from "back in the old film days" I'll take a shot at answering this one for you. Back then we didn't have nearly as many choices as you do today for focal length. Most of us were lucky to be able to afford one decent lens, as gear was also a lot more expensive relative to where it is priced today. Most decent systems came with a 50mm lens as a kit. The 35 was probably third, after buying yourself a telephoto.

 

[barjohn]

Well coming from the same era, as I recall, a 28mm was really expensive and out of reach for many of us.

 

[Bernard]

The 50 used to be standard because it was the cheapest lens to make. Anything shorter needed to be retrofocus (for SLRs), or at least a wide-field design, which means more lens elements, tighter tolerances and less speed. The speed thing was important, because ASA 100 was considered 'fast.'

Photons were scarce in those days, and color photons doubly so...

Of course, that's all before my time, so I could be wrong about that last bit.

 

[monza]

Kodachrome 10.

 

[kdemas]

My X1 will be arriving (San Francisco area) this Tuesday and I am excited to give it a nice strong workout. In the same basic niche I also have the GF-1 and a G1 so it will be interesting to compare/contrast.

I really struggled with the decision between the X1 and the GXR. I love my GRDs and the output I have seen from the GXR has been terrific. I decided to give the X1 a try as I really enjoyed their last real "pocket" 35mm camera, the CM, and look forward to seeing how my D300 sensor performs in a compact.

If I am not too taken by it I may make the move to a GXR... time will tell

Fun stuff!!

Kent

 

[Terry]

OK, This is too funny not to post. Went out to shoot the X1 before having to send it back to Leica. I had just walked up across the grass to an outdoor sculpture that I wanted to shoot. So, a couple of seconds later the police stop on their horses and I couldn't figure out why they were leaning forward. OK, I've never seen anyone get horses to pee on demand. I guess they listen to the police :ROTFL:

Now for image quality, this is pretty heavily cropped and pretty close to full size. Camera has great IQ.

 

[ustein]

OK, This is too funny not to post. Went out to shoot the X1 before having to send it back to Leica. I had just walked up across the grass to an outdoor sculpture that I wanted to shoot. So, a couple of seconds later the police stop on their horses and I couldn't figure out why they were leaning forward. OK, I've never seen anyone get horses to pee on demand. I guess they listen to the police :ROTFL:

Now for image quality, this is pretty heavily cropped and pretty close to full size. Camera has great IQ.

That is funny.

 

[stephengilbert]

Terry,

You may be confusing cause and effect. It's the horses peeing that cause the cops to lean forward, shifting their weight off the horses' hind legs. Now getting them both to pee at the same time; that's a trick.

Steve

 

[henricus34]

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.

Terry,

another test this time during a concert last Sunday.
iso 3200

slight noise reduction and some sharpening before conversion to jpg.
Found focus quickly to my suprise.
F4 - 60

 

[Johann Wolfgang]

lets have a look into LUF = LeicaUserForum
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica...115345-x1-schnappies-vom-einmal-ber-hren.html

a lot of X1 photos

Regards
Johann

 

[barjohn]

TEBNEWYORK,

What happened to your review? I haven't seen you posting much on this camera in a while now.

 

[Terry]

Here is someone doing a picture a day with the X1 and they are very, very good

http://www.blipfoto.com/damnsharp

 

[Terry]

TEBNEWYORK,

What happened to your review? I haven't seen you posting much on this camera in a while now.

John,
A couple of things. I got back from the workshop and immediately left town for some business meetings so I haven't had much time yet to get my thoughts in order.

Also, when I got to the Salton Sea workshop I started using the S2 and bonded with that camera. So, a lot of the time I would have devoted to the X1 got used up in medium format land.

What I can say right off the bat is that I can feel the difference between my GF1 and 20mm lens vs. the wideness of the X1. The X1 was a bit more out of my comfort zone for a single focal length. The IQ for the camera is very, very good. More to come over the weekend as I arrived back in SF midday yesterday.

 

[barjohn]

The problem I have with his photos is that they are 99% still shots with no moving subjects and the images are so small one can't really evaluate the IQ.

 

[wjlapier]

John,
A couple of things. I got back from the workshop and immediately left town for some business meetings so I haven't had much time yet to get my thoughts in order.

Also, when I got to the Salton Sea workshop I started using the S2 and bonded with that camera. So, a lot of the time I would have devoted to the X1 got used up in medium format land.

What I can say right off the bat is that I can feel the difference between my GF1 and 20mm lens vs. the wideness of the X1. The X1 was a bit more out of my comfort zone for a single focal length. The IQ for the camera is very, very good. More to come over the weekend as I arrived back in SF midday yesterday.

Seriously considering the S2?

Looking forward to the X1 review. I'm interested in the camera and curious to read your impressions.

 

[stnolan]

Just got mine today. Initially it takes a bit to get used to the focus and exposure, but I am really enjoying this camera. One observation is that sometimes images on the live view look soft or OOF, but after loading them on my computer the IQ is quite impressive. These are not great shots by any measure but just a couple of quick ones early this morning.

 

[johnastovall]

Popflash says they will have X1's next week and I'm 2nd on the list for the 5 incoming.

 

[Bob]

I played around with the X1, but it just seemed to me to be too delicate and almost prissy
The fixed lens and the Sloooooow operation convinced me to pursue it no further. I have a short attention span.:ROTFL:
OTOH, by contrast the GF1 is a blast.
-bob

 

[terryc]

I played around with the X1, but it just seemed to me to be too delicate and almost prissy
The fixed lens and the Sloooooow operation convinced me to pursue it no further. I have a short attention span.:ROTFL:
OTOH, by contrast the GF1 is a blast.
-bob

Just an amazing contribution to this discussion, articulate, clever, and insightful.

Thank you. Terry