Leica X1 First Impressions Review

by Eric Kim on July 4, 2011

1x1.trans Leica X1 First Impressions Review

Although I am very sad to say goodbye to my Leica M9, I just received a Leica X1 in the mail to test and review for about a week. Check out my first impressions in the video above, and please leave me any questions you may have about the camera by leaving a comment below!

*Edit: The body is made out of magnesium, although the outside casing appears to be made out of plastic (thanks to tribalknowledge for the clarification).

Tagged as: first impressions, hands-on, leica, review, x1

  • Dean

    Hello from Australia!

    Eric, Whats the retail price for the Leica X1??

    Btw, I’m loving your photography blog! Keep up the great work.

  • Isoterica

    Eric I think they spoiled you with the M9. They should have started you with the D-Lux 5, then the X1 and then the M9 saving the best for last. Of course you wouldn’t have looked as decked out as you did at the convention if that was the case.

    If you are going to compare find a friend with Fuji’s X100 and put the camera through the paces. The x100 is the one there’s a lot of hype about lately.. they say the replacement for the X1 in those mid-range circles. Inquiring minds want to know :)

    Have a happy & safe 4th.

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Got a buddy with the X100– will try to give some of my comparisons soon when I check it out :)

  • http://www.weisserth.net Tobias W.

    I think the X1 is dead. The X100 killed it already.

    And once Panasonic and Olympus deliver a more professionally geared Micro Four Thirds body in rangefinder body format, it will be nearly impossible to sell the X1.

    Leica has already announced they are working on an APS-C based mirrorless system camera not unlike Micro Four Thirds. Once that arrives, the X1 will probably be removed from Leica’s product range.

  • http://novaphotog.blogspot.com Matt

    I, for one, can’t believe they didn’t let you keep the M9 and lens. Weak.

    I mean, I know it’s almost $15K worth of gear, but it’s freakin’ Leica! They can afford it…

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Hopefully I can get my hands on a Leica M9 soon again :)

  • Sgt93

    Can you say “ummmm” anymore!? Work on tour speaking skills and stop comparing the X1 to the M9 as it is not a 7k camera!!

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Apologies, I recorded this video really late at night so I was a bit tired. Thanks for the advice, and will try my best to review this as fair as I can ;)

  • http://jepowell.com Joshua Powell

    I know it’s no doubt hard to do, having just had an M9, but please review this camera for what IT is, and don’t compare it with an M9. It’s not an M9. It won’t have the build quality of an M9. It won’t have the picture quality of an M9. It also doesn’t have the price tag of an M9. Review it for what it is, a point-and-shoot camera with manual overrides from Leica.

    I purchased one only a couple of weeks ago and *love* it. It’s fantastic for street photography!

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Haha thanks for the advice Josh. I think that after shooting with the Leica M9, everything else doesn’t feel as nice.

      However still relatively speaking, the build quality didn’t feel quite as nice as other cameras I tried out (Olympus EP-2). But I will go out and take some photos, and see how it goes ;)

  • chispa

    The X1 is reviewed in the July issue of Popular Photography as well as the Fuji x100.

  • Collene

    I’ve had the X1 for awhile and am having trouble with action shots.
    Does anyone know a way to get the auto focus to work faster?
    It’s great for stills, especially with natural light.

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Hi Collene,

      I have been toying around with the manual focus– think it might be a good option to use that versus the manual focus

  • tribalknowledge

    The X1 is not made of plastic. It has an all metal body. No it is not partially brass like the M but Leica’s goals for the X1 were for a pocketable camera, which was why they didn’t include a viewfinder in the body. This has been mentioned in countless reviews already. Leica wanted to design a pocketable camera. Despite its compact size in comparison to DSLRs, the M9 is not a pocketable camera, nor was it intended to be. The X100 isn’t really pocketable either for that matter. When reviewing a sports car, is it right to complain that it isn’t a Hummer? First impressions are first impressions, but your awareness of the other (mixed) reviews suggests that you have not been living in isolation from these notions. A photographer is serious because she/he is serious, not because of the camera being worn.

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Thanks for the input Tribal– will definitely make sure to keep this in mind when testing and reviewing the camera. And thanks for the clarification about the body build as well!

  • 57Andrew

    I have an X1 and an X100. The X1 wins. The X100 has great high ISO performance but it’s overly complicated, mine consistently overexposes about half a stop and the X1 IQ is smoother. I also have an M9 and they are not comparable. You get what you pay for and the Leica lenses on an M9 are unbeatable for me. But dollar for dollar the X1 gives phenomenal IQ. Others may have different views / experiences but I just call it as I see it.

    • http://monoflop.blogspot.com/ monoflop

      From what I saw on the web, the x100 images looked very nice, but maybe too nice and clean – like clinically dead…don’t know how to say it really. Do you have similar feelings? Love the design of the x100 though…

      • http://krzysztofjankowski.com Krzysztof Jankowski

        I have the X100 for a while and well.. it’s all about setup the camera. The film siulation, wb shift, hghlight tone and shadow tone, color.. and the hdr! When I manage to known those settings the camera starts to shoot stoning quality photos, rally! Just check my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjankowski/sets/72157626601223769/ (they all jpeg’s from camera).

        And one pro tip: use ISO 800 and hdr 400% all the time (too much sun? use ND filter). It sounds crazy but the resoults are like processed RAW from 5DmkII ;)

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/LarryLarsen Larry Larsen

    Where did you get the H B-C tee shirt?

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