After a month of using the X typ 113 only, I pulled out the X2 for a few days. The X2, even with half case fitted, is noticeably smaller and a trifle lighter. The Voigtländer 35mm OVF fits it a bit better too. But then I picked up the X again and ... Ah, Satori!
Honestly, if your interest is in buying a digital M body on which you'll fit a 35mm Summilux and nothing else, buy the Leica X instead. Put the OVF on it, set it to Face Detect AF, and just go shooting. If you want to, fit the EVF for more precision in framing and exposure preview, etc, or just use the LCD for that. Despite the format and DoF differences, you'll likely find few differences in your photographs, you'll have spent a fraction of what the M+Summilux costs, and you'll likely carry the camera more as it is smaller and lighter.
Now, the negative side of the X after using it, using it as I would my only camera, for a month:
- I've completely given up on the GPS feature with the EVF until a firmware update. No matter how long I have the EVF fitted and the camera powered up, the GPS unit in the EVF never connects with the satellites or embeds other than all zeros in the EXIF data. If anyone else has see it connect, I'd be interested to know.
- I like the EVF, and find it occasionally useful. But, it adds a lot of bulk to the camera and tends to get caught on the bag as I take the camera in and out. It also consumes a healthy bit of battery power. I use it only infrequently as a result, preferring to use an OVF.
- My OVF for the X switched from the Voigtländer to the Leica unit. The Leica unit is easier to get my eye behind with glasses on and presents a larger, clearer image. But it's a bit wider apparent FoV, closer to the actual lens FoV, so framing with it is a bit more critical. In particular, you have to watch the 'near distance' marking at the top of the frame and make sure that nothing critical runs over that at any distance below 6' or so or it will be clipped out of the frame. Easy to get used to, but also easy to mess up occasionally. The Voigtländer 35mm shows a tighter apparent FoV (the lens is probably 15% wider coverage) so this rarely happens with it.
- All of the controls on the X take a very light touch. And despite the camera being a bit larger than the X2, it's a bit easier to accidentally press the menu button now and then. (Sorry Leica, but that should be the center button on the four way controller or a separate button in a different location; it's too easy to hit it by mistake and accidentally change a setting without even knowing which one you changed.) Ideally, the controls should all have slightly heavier springs and detents. When my Arte di Mano half case arrives, this will get better as the additional size of the half case and the finger rest it provides will let me handle the camera more easily without hitting buttons by accident. (That's what I find with the X2's A&A half case too.)
I didn't mention the other three bugs I found, but still ... that's a pretty short list of negatives; the positives are far longer.
I'm very pleased with this purchase. A small bag with it and the M4-2 + Color-Skopar 35mm lens will make a light, handy, digital+film traveling kit.
G
