Leica X1 - Page 3

does an accessory viewfinder provide a meter display, focusing crosshair, distance readout, iso and exposure compensation settings, illuminated framelines, parallax- and field-size correction, or a flash ready signal?

if you weather seal the entire camera, you weather seal the entire camera. and image stabilization is useful even on a wide normal, and not just for slow shutter speeds. it lowers camera shake induced softness up to at least two stops faster than the reciprocal of the focal length. so the shots you take at 1/125+ will even have more contrast in fine detail. this is much more important in digital capture, btw.

all on the LCD, no? And don't tell me you need all this to be in the viewfinder- this is not supposed to be a pro camera, and the size tradeoff is worth it.

you mean the lcd that washes out in bright sun and whose refresh rate takes a dive in dim light?

I'm not saying use that LCD as a viewfinder- I'm saying use it for menus, like changing exposure. Even in bright light you can make out text.

I have no idea how anyone took a photograph before 1993!


If you have camera shake at 1/125 with a 35mm lens, you might want to cut down on the coffee.

There is a rumor that Nikon is going to come out with a similar camera with the same Sony sensor.

it doesn't sound like you actually do candid photography. most of the time, the camera is not held steady, and it can be hard to get sharp pictures at even 1/500. image stabilization is a game changing technology, which is why it's so desireable.

By "candid photography" do you mean holding a camera up a girl's skirt and snapping pics?

You don't have a clue what you're talking about, do you?

The GR II was all I used for about a year and I loved it. Still considering the GR III since I already have an E-P1. I had a look at some samples the other day, looks like the sensor got a pretty nice upgrade.

photographers are either pervs or terrorists, so yeah, that would be me.

i'll take that as a "no, i don't do much candid photography."

Uh, okay, I'll play along. Where did you get this 1/500 for sharp images, number, Mr. Fox?

Why does everyone else rely on the reciprocal of the focal length for 35mm equivalent cameras? How does the lack of mirror mechanism on a compact or rangefinder effect handholdability? Can you handhold a medium-format SLR and to what speeds? A large-format camera?

Just to save you the effort, and this is all very general:

1/500 is nonsense - in an APS-C (ala the X1) SLR, you can handhold with good sharp images down to the reciprocal of the focal length. I am worse with camera shake than many, so I usually try to stay one stop above that if sharpness is key.

If you're working with a compact or rangefinder (no moving mirror mechanism), you can get away with even lower speeds, by a stop or so.

Image Stabilization will get you, at best, a stop or two. With Canon IS lenses and the built-in Pentax IS, I tended not even notice. A couple billion photographs were taken before anyone had ever heard of it.

+1 I observed the reciprocal rule and went even lower with P&S since there's no mirror flapping around in there.