Alex Krasotkin
Well-known
I have M6 0.85 and M7 0.85 with 35/1.4 and 50/1.4 pre-asph and do not consider any digital at all. Plus film is still cheap in my country.
Leica anything over fuji anything.
Well once again, just like the X100, people seem to be upset they are not getting a M9 clone for $1700.
To be honest I, and others I think,werent waiting for a clone of an M9, we were waiting for a cheap copy with a proper rangefinder and some small ish manual focus lenses.
(i) I like manual focusing and the X1 has is not really geared for manual focusing
My point is that people are placing hopes for mechanical digital rangefinders in the wrong cameras (i.e. nex7, xpro1, etc)... and then getting upset when they don't deliver. It's silly.
Unfortunately no digital camera currently in production is geared for manual focusing, only the M9. In every other camera (and I mean all of them) manual focusing is only a secondary concern, sort of a half arsed added bonus, and it will always suffer from the fact that the camera is primarily designed for AF. For example FF DSLRs are sort of OK for MF but still their viewfinders will never be as big and bright as they could (and should) be for MF because the mirror has to be half-silvered to allow some light to the AF sensor located behind it. Means less light in the VF.
It's not a design problem though, it is primarily a financial one. The MF following is small and attached to leica, zeiss and CV who make quality MF glass for all budgets. To grab that market you'd have to allow them to use their lenses, which means nobody would buy yours. So the only ones with an interest in making a camera for manual focus lenses are the makers of such lenses: zeiss (who are out of the digital game for their own reasons) and CV/epson (who got burned with the RD1 and I dont think they're going there again anytime soon). Which means we're stuck with Leica, which is awesome, except for one little detail.
Or, to be precise, 6,995 little details 😛
Not in the short term since there will not be enough supply to meet demand.
Interesting thing about this camera - it ends up that supply is more than enough to meet demand ( with the exception if that 60mm lens), but I see a number for sale at full retail or even more. Maybe there were a lot of speculators who got burned?
I chose the M8 because:
(i) I like manual focusing and the X1 has is not really geared for manual focusing, having to spin the focus dial a long way to get from one end to the other. In any case its autofocus is sluggish (according to the reviews).
(ii) I like the rangefinder focusing, it allows me to get into really low light focusing.
I may have been persuaded with the X1 if it had good video functions though, not unfortunately it does not.
You can manually focus manual lenses on the X-Pro if you care to adapt them, and they will focus as quickly as they ever did.
In Auto, it focuses more quickly and with greater accuracy than any manual focus camera.
As for low light focusing, the X-Pro can literally see in the dark.
As for video, can you mention any manual focus digital camera, rangefinder or SLR which does it?