Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A Compact With A Big Heart: Leica X1

This baby has a sensor BIGGER than Canon 50D!


Following the breakthrough trend of digital imaging in 2009, things are looking to be more interesting than ever.

The current kapow! as I've mentioned before, is making the mirrors in SLR looking like a disgusting piece of useless junk. The tech of feeding images direct on the sensor 'live' has evidently made us rethink of how imaging tool should look like.

The interesting bit is, who's bold enough to redefine it?

Most traditional camera makers are... well, traditionalist. What keeps them selling is their heritage. And they would not be willing to risk losing that by offering groundbreaking breakthroughs. As such, their approach will always be baby-steps of improvements as well as keeping up with the current needs by deploying existing available technologies.

So, the answer to above is: makers that has NOTHING to lose.

Enter mediocre or niche manufacturers. Makers such as Olympus, Panasonic, Leica and Sigma in particular. For 2009, they are truly the leaders in redefining how future cameras SHOULD look like.


A Small Man, With A Big Heart (and no mirror to speak of too)

Sigma was among the first to put this principle to the mass market. In a compact form factor, they deployed a DSLR sensor. But due to exploration stage, the DP1 had a lot of rough edges. But, it was a step in a special direction. Their forthcoming DP2 is set to be a success.

Olympus followed suit armed with their existing 4/3 technology. With ques from the classic PEN series, the E-P1 was a phenomenal success. Panasonic too joined the fray and produced the awesome GF1 (earlier, there were G1 and GH1).

And the next maker to join the party is one that makes my heart melt. Leica, a niche imaging specialist, has produced a truly special compact camera with a 1.5x DSLR sensor.

Go to www.dpreview.com for more images!

I'm planning to get the GF1 next year. And the Leica X1 probably... ermm... in my dreams.

3 comments:

Rizal said...

Fil, gimme reasons why we shud even phanthom the very idea of buying the lumic gf1. The intro price is at rm3k, I was blown away. That is alredi nikon d90 territory. The in between market of compact and dslr is a real anamoly , at least for a od-joe like me. Hope yoda can shed some light. - I am not worthy: jai.

Rizal said...

yoda...pls give your thought of the micro 4 third ni..apa yg hebat pasai mft ni - form factor mmg best, iso pun melampau, tapi harga mmg kow cow.

--iffil-- said...

Jai, OK, i shall give you my tots via a blog of its own (nampak sgt aku takdak modal nak blog). Only for you bro!