Luxury can mean different things, and have negative connotations. But the OP is talking in terms of Luxury=very high quality and finish.
So the M240 in those terms is a luxury camera, though not a compact, and neither in my mind is the Leica Q compact, except in relation to bigger cameras. The Q does not easily fit in many pockets.
As to the RX1rii:
The perfect should not be the enemy of the good. It is an incredible camera. Period. It is the best compact camera ever made by anyone bar none. In fact there is nothing else remotely close. It has probably the sweetest 35 lens ever made. I have 6 35s. 4 for the M9 and 2 great famous SLR 35s. None I prefer to this one. And close focus is 14cm. You are not going to do that with an 8 element cron v1 LOL, not that would not like a copy of that lens
🙂
Yes the MF could be done better, and it should be weather proof, and the lens is stupidly large in outside diameter, and the batteries are eaten like popcorn. It is not perfect.
But it is way beyond good.
No edit here from uncompressed RAW ISO 6400 and no noise reduction.
DSC00801 by
unoh7, on Flickr
The files are huge like 80mb. The payoff is unbelievable ability to deal with highlights and shadows. I've never seen anything like it.
I was struggling with using the various AF modes and methods and getting input on how to use them. Jeff Kott at FM came to the rescue and boiled it down:
"I have a very simplistic approach to focusing my RX1Rii.
If I'm going to be shooting people, focus area is set to wide with Face Detect on with continuous AF. Done.
AEL button is set to Eye AF and when I'm at portrait distance I use Eye AF. If it can't lock on an eye, it defaults to Face Detect.
For shots without people, I use AF-S, flexible spot medium for all distances short of infinity. For infinity, I switch to Manual Focus and use focus magnification to nail infinity focus.
That's it. "
5 days in, with Jeff and other's help the RX1rii is much more fun to use, and absolutely deadly. There is no better digital 35 at any size, let alone a compact, in terms of image quality.
My hair dresser snapped this, using Jeff's method:
DSC00758-2 by
unoh7, on Flickr
Could the RX1rii be better? What camera could not, and especially, what ground breaking camera could not?
For all the imperfections, this is the real thing, and the only digital "real thing" in compact form. Take a lesson, Leica. Improve it.
Barnack would have one of these, were he alive today, I promise you.
Oh, and did I mention: you cannot hear the shutter? That and it's very small size means the camera is disarming to it's subjects who have no idea the amount of technology pointed at them
🙂
I sort of wish all this were not the case, as I must return the camera at some point and do not have the money for one.
It's a luxury I can't afford
🙂
