Leica X Vario: Ten-year-old underdog continues to confound its critics

We often go through multiple attempts to find a camera that’s the right fit for how we want to create images. Call it the Goldilocks Experience. If we are fortunate, we find the camera that’s “just right”, and put aside the wanderlust and further frustrations of attempting to understand yet another new camera. My “Goldilocks” camera is the Leica X Vario: much criticised and much misunderstood in the media, but which, for good reasons, has become my faithful companion. The journey starts here:

For more than 45 years, I shot exclusively with prime lenses. When I started photography in the early 1970s, the standard lens was a 50mm. Third-party zoom lenses were of poor quality, rather bulky and heavy.

As I built up my photography equipment, I bought prime lenses. I did acquire a couple of Leica R quality zooms, but quickly sold them. Zoom lenses made me feel clumsy, and I did not enjoy the experience at all. I promised myself that I would buy no more of them.

Fixed focal lenses were so straightforward. With zooms, I did not know what I was doing. I used a 35mm lens exclusively for almost 20 years. When the digital camera matured, the combo included 28, 35, and 50mm lenses which covered all my photographic needs.

Click on any image to enlarge and to view a slideshow of all photos in this article

From a love affair with the Leica X2 to Leica X Vario

Thanks to fellow Macfilos author John Shingleton, I discovered the Leica X2 and enjoyed using it for five years before it succumbed to the twin maladies of battery clip and internal battery exhaustion. The X2 had an incredible lens and imagery to my eyes.

It is purely subjective, but I just loved what the camera could do in terms of imagery. And I was always amazed at the way in which the X2 rendered colours.

When my X2 eventually kicked the bucket, I turned to the Panasonic GX9 with its 12-32 zoom (24-64mm full-frame equivalent) and a couple of primes. It was a fine kit and for the first time I thoroughly enjoyed the small zoom lens. However, I missed the Leica signature.

I set out to search for a small Leica with a zoom lens. Eventually, I set my sights on the much maligned Leica X Vario. Just 18 months ago, I traded in the Panasonic kit and carried home an almost-new X Vario.

Introduced in 2013, the X Vario got off to a shaky start because of Leica’s misguided “Mini M” pre-publicity. This raised unrequited expectations and resulted in disappointment. Much was made of the slow Vario-Elmar f/3.5-6.4 lens, although the 35mm-equivalent 28-70 mm range was welcomed.

As it happened, behind all the chatter, that lens is a real gem. And these days, considered alongside high-resolution sensors, such an aperture range is not a grave disadvantage.

Macfilos opinion

Despite the many negative reviews, I had read many positive articles on Macfilos which convinced me that was what I needed. The Leica X Vario suits perfectly my needs and, with the accessory handgrip, is extremely comfortable to use.

The tilting EVF is a great addition, and the images the camera produces are stellar. Except for a few situations (background blur for portraits or street photography) it has been my go-to camera since I bought it. So what do I like so much about this camera?

Colours

I am lucky enough to live near a forested park right in the centre of town. It’s only five minutes’ walk from home. And, if summers and winters are less inspiring for nature photography, spring and autumn provide some decent lights and colours. 

Nature is at its best with early flowers or leaves turning gold. This is where the XV shines. The colour rendering is simply stunning to my eyes. Despite the complaints about the slow aperture, you can get decent background blur when getting close enough and shooting wide open.

Since buying the camera, I also started shooting skies. Normandy skies were famous among impressionists painters, who often visited the region. J.M.W. Turner also enjoyed these skies when travelling along the Seine river. Most of his drawings can be seen at the Tate Gallery in London. 

Leica X Vario capturing the seasons’ colours

The zoom lens

I thoroughly enjoy taking the XV when walking along the local beaches. The camera is relatively light (about 800 grams with the handgrip and EVF). Although there is no weather sealing, the fixed lens prevents dust from getting on the sensor, a problem I did encounter with my X2.

The zoom and manual-focus rings are as smooth as butter. I use it just as I would use the original Tri-Elmar with the advantage of offering the additional versatility of that 70mm maximum-reach equivalent. I like the experience of being able to change the focal length. It offers me more versatility when shooting.

As soon as you stop down, the lens is sharp corner to corner. The way the lens renders various plants is simply remarkable. As Peter Karbe once said, it is one of the best lenses Leica made. 

Leica X Vario and the attraction of the ocean

Reflections and transparency

Over the past two years, whatever camera I use (Ricoh or Leica) I have started taking pictures of reflection and transparency. I truly enjoy Saul Leiter and Harry Gruyaert’s street images taken through glass and windows. So I was determined to give it a go.

The X Vario manual focus implementation is a pleasure to use for this purpose, and the crop magnification is totally usable despite its old technology. The camera turns out to be really stealthy as well, despite its relative bulk.

Reflections everywhere you look

Black and white conversion

I haven’t tried the camera’s black-and-white high-contrast mode. So far, I have shot only colour images. But I have converted a few images to monochrome. I found the rendering to be really good. The various shades of grey and the gradation from white to black is really pleasing.

Here are three converted images. The abstract one is the ice from my rainwater reservoir, while the other two were taken while walking on the shore. 

Shades of grey

Deauville

Deauville, in common with any French seaside resort, developed in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries with the increasing popularity of sea bathing. However, it is a special case along the coast of Normandy. Only 120 miles (ca. 193 km) from Paris, the area is often nicknamed the 21^st arrondissement.

It is renowned for its racecourse, casinos, five-star hotels, and the American film festival which takes place every year in early September. The names of American stars are painted on the concrete railings that separate beach cabins on the wooden beach promenade. Apart from lay people, actors, singers, politicians, and VIPs frequently visit Deauville.

It is a wealthy town, but the price of a cup of coffee or even a sandwich are rocketing higher. However, one of the advantages is that they’ve turned a former convent into a cultural centre with a magnificent media library and an exhibition centre which presents paintings and photos exhibitions all year round.

Capa exhibition

We were lucky to attend a Magnum talk on the opening day of the Robert Capa exhibition (only image taken with the Ricoh GXR and 50mm module). As an anecdote, Raymond Depardon was born four miles from my grandfather’s home.

Life in Deauville

Just as with my old X2, I have bonded with that “vintage” digital camera, the Leica X Vario. It is straightforward to use, you don’t have to spend ages digging in the menus, and the images the camera produces are always excellent. Have you ever owned one? If yes, what do you think of it? 

More from Jean Perenet

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Read all about the Leica X2

Macfilos coverage of the Leica X Vario

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