What is it about the Leica X1 that keeps me returning to it time after time. It is antiquated, has a 12MP 2009-era sensor, a dreadful screen and is a bit of a slowcoach when it comes to saving files. Autofocus is equally leisurely and there is no viewfinder. What’s to like about all this?
Quite a lot, as it happens. I have other cameras of course, most of them far more competent on paper than the X1 (or its X2/X-E successors), but I tend to pick up the X1 if I am going out with no particular intention of taking serious photographs. It’s always there and, despite all its shortcomings, is still a lovely camera to handle. Invariably, too, someone will come up and ask what it is, complimenting it on its cuteness.
The small size, lightness and endearing appearance all have something to do with it. And with an optical viewfinder it definitely does look cute, like a vintage Leica. The one thing I dislike is the automatic push-pull lens which I compare unfavourably with the fixed lens of the X100 series. And, without a suitable thread, there is no way of fitting a protective UV filter unless you invest in some rather kludgy third-party gear. I have a cheap automatic flower-petal lens cap attached to my X1. It’s as ugly as sin but does the job.
Yet the Leica X1 is a camera that has already become a classic. Fans love it for its frailties rather than its ability to compete with modern gear. Wouldn’t it be great if Leica introduced another small fixed-lens APS-C camera to compete with the likes of the Fuji X100F?
The Fuji X100 came after the X1 and I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that the camera was named to trade on Leica’s ground-breaking reputation with the X1. I can’t prove it, of course, and I could be wrong. But is this where Fuji got the X from? If so, it has been a successful bit of poaching and they’ve done a lot with the letter.
A fixed-lens 35mm camera similar in size to the X100F (with viewfinder, of course) would go down well among Leica fans and I am sure it would be a great success for Leica. You could argue that the Leica Q fills this gap, but the smaller footprint of the X1 or X100 is still attractive to many. And the smaller sensor means that the lens, therefore the overall profile of the camera, can be smaller. Fuji has carved out a strong market for this format and, with the retro styling, the X100F is more Leica than Fuji in heritage. It is beautiful, just like the X1, pocketable and handy to have around.
What about it, Leica? Could we have a new X1 please?
Regulars readers will know that our Australian contributor, John Shingleton, is a great X1 fan and following are some of his articles featuring this evergreen camera. We will be publishing yet another article later this week, recounting his experiences with the camera on a trip to Paris.
- The perfect carry-around camera
- Visit to the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles
- Pure magic on a trip up the NSW coast
- Dogs of Paris
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Fuji got its X from the M42 system they’d use to make back in the 1970s.
Mike , you are totally right. It is a mystery why Leica has not developed the X1/X2 line.
An equal mystery is why they never introduced a lens hood or filter for them because the ring around the lens unscrews but there is nothing from Leica to screw on there. As you say the Chinese made lens hood,filter holders are just clunky.
Having said that last year I was walking down a street in Fremantle,Western Australia and I met an photographer using an X1 with a Voigtlander OVF and fitted with a Chinese lens hood and tube. We exchanged pleasantries and he was very enthusiastic about his X1 set up .When I subsequently Googled him I discovered that he was a highly acclaimed press photographer who has amongst many achievements worked for the British Daily Express and then as a staff photographer with Paris Match for 15 years. So enthusiasm for the X1 is not limited to a few eccentrics like you and me.
John – If I may — I use the olympus version of the finder on the X2 as I did on the M240 — it’s better on the X2 because one doesn’t expect so much – but it works just fine and tilts perfectly. Also the X2 has a number of improvements including speed over the X1 — and it’s possibly very cheap right now…
Tony,sadly there are very few used X2’s coming up for sale and when they do they are not cheap yet alone very cheap. The word is out.
I had a Fuji X100S, but I found it just heavier and clumsier for what it did than I wanted. My X1 on the other hand, I find just right for a fixed lens design. I like the colour of its OOC jpegs. I keep wondering whether to upgrade to the X2 for the possibility of an electronic viewfinder. I don’t want an internal non-tiltable one in any future reincarnation! And I absolutely agree: it is possible actually to LEARN 35mm photography from John Shingleton’s site.
The one thing I don’t like about the X2 compared with the X1 is the raised hotshot, added as an afterthought to accommodate the Olympus-made VF-2. I agree it is useful to have the EVF and I may be persuaded to upgrade the X1 at some stage despite the ugly bump. But as John Shingleton points out, there are no bargains out there. And the X1 is somehow more pure.
I have consistently traded up and up to, now, the Q, the TL2 and the M 10- but the only Leica I can’t part with is my X2 in its half case and "cheap petal" lens cover. It small, light, elegant and its files compare well with the T series. I love it and it goes out in the evening to events and parties and has never failed me even in partial low light. Thanks Mike for supporting the classic and good!
I gave my Fuji X100S to my daughter during a fit of pique one day, but I meant it and it was quite a surprise when she told me that she did not get along with it and gave it back, along with the implicit insinuation that I will "help" with its replacement.
In between this time, I bought an XE and both an Olympus EVF and a Leica OVF, somehow I never did gel with that camera in any configuration, so out it went… When the X100S came back, I had a play with it before selling it, and so enjoyed using it again that I will not be selling it now.
However, I don’t think that I will be upgrading in that area, I have the Leica T with its zoom lens, but I can’t stop myself from carrying old heavy contraptions around, currently we are toting a Nikon S2, hopefully for at least a year, unless I find a good Nikon SP in the meantime.
BRAVO! John S is the reason I chose my X’s, to me it is a classic camera and John S is the King of X, and I consider myself lucky to have obtained pointers from him on my photographic efforts. He is a Man of CLASS with CLASSIC CAMERAS ! Thank you for his articles.
John , many thanks for your kind words which are not deserved. I think of myself as an old man who has spent a fortune and countless hours on photography over 60 years and for whom it has come good rather late in life. Maybe practice does make perfect after all.