Zeiss ZX1

[ray*j*gun]

This video from B&H has some interesting information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUYw4e9DA68&feature=emb_logo

He says point blank that all of the design work for everything about the camera was done in house (meaning by Zeiss), and that there are no components of the produced camera that are sourced from anywhere outside Zeiss, and Zeiss is producing it.
If true, that means sensor design and fab are new and proprietary to Zeiss and this camera. If true. I can hardly believe that, as that would seem to be the biggest news about the camera, not the shape, or the Lightroom, or the size or anything else, and would explain why it took so long to show up. For the time being we don’t know any more than that and what Zeiss is saying. If it’s a proprietary sensor, that means it’s a new sensor design, so it could be a better sensor, or a worse sensor. We don’t know at this point. The lens design and glass formulas are different than any 35mm lens that Zeiss makes for any other mount, from looking at the Zeiss literature for all their 35mm lenses. So, it’s new and different, which means it could either be better or worse than other 35mm lenses. We don’t know at this point. So there is some potential there, possibly, for something quite nice.
There are some things about the limited number of sample photos available so far that look pretty striking to me; at the very least they are better than most of the sample photos that most manufacturers use with new releases, though that may say more about various marketing departments than it does about the cameras themselves.

Speaking only for myself, whether a camera is worth X amount of money to people who have X amount of money to spend has more to do with the quality of the files it produces, not to its form factor, or whether it’s a mirrorless or anything else. It keeps getting compared to a Q2, then slagged as being over priced. That’s a comparison based on form factor and is true as far as that goes. If we are comparing based on image quality, perhaps the more apt comparison will turn put to be with something like an M10 with a 50mm APO Summicron, in which case it would be a “bargain”. Nobody knows enough at this point enough to make a judgment. At least, I don’t know, perhaps I should phrase it that way.

I’m not in the market due to cost, but that’s a failing on my part, not Zeiss’. Other people have their own reasons, based on what little we actually do know, for not wanting this camera, but seems impossible to categorically state that this camera is a mistake, or isn’t great, as a photographic tool, based on what we know now, which isn’t much.

The possibility that this might be a proprietary sensor, and that Zeiss is doing all this in house, that’s the thing I find most interesting about this entire endeavor.

YMMV. IMO. ETC.

Thanks Larry very instructive and I agree we just don't know enough yet to compare etc.

 

[Darthfeeble]

I suppose if you take the tack that it's a camera and a computer preloaded with Lightroom that makes the price a little more acceptable. I can't see fiddling my pix on a 4" screen, so that makes half the deal a no go for me. It's a beautiful piece of equipment in my eye, though a bit bulky for a fixed lens camera. I'll keep waiting for the reincarnation of the Epson R-D1 in full frame and with sensor cleaning....... Leica, are you listening?

 

[Range-rover]

I suppose if you take the tack that it's a camera and a computer preloaded with Lightroom that makes the price a little more acceptable. I can't see fiddling my pix on a 4" screen, so that makes half the deal a no go for me. It's a beautiful piece of equipment in my eye, though a bit bulky for a fixed lens camera. I'll keep waiting for the reincarnation of the Epson R-D1 in full frame and with sensor cleaning....... Leica, are you listening?

That's what we all need and want, a full frame M mount rangefinder camera
at a great price, make it out of plastic who cares, they don't have to go
crazy!

 

[giganova]

Love the design and the fixed 35/2 fixed lens. If it were priced more competitively to the Leica Q2, then it would appeal to me.

 

[Archlich]

This video from B&H has some interesting information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUYw4e9DA68&feature=emb_logo

He says point blank that all of the design work for everything about the camera was done in house (meaning by Zeiss), and that there are no components of the produced camera that are sourced from anywhere outside Zeiss, and Zeiss is producing it.

Very curious. I can only wonder how such claim adds up with the camera using a Sigma flash protocol (which seemed to be the case when it was first announced).

 

[Archiver]

now am definitely not getting it!

even my Leica M240 is smaller.

Taller and wider than the M9!

I like the concept, and the execution looks decent, but making it partially dependent on a subscription is a complete turn off for me. A Leica Q or Sony RX1r with a grip makes a lot more sense for my purposes.