Frankly, I'm a bit surprized that you would have invested in such a camera as the M8, already aware of it's limitations with MF, and decided afterwards that it wasn't for you. I had assumed that you already had prior experience with MF cameras, and knew what you were getting into. And now it just seems you are getting overly sensitive and defensive about Leica's pricing and what they offer in their products, even going to the point of calling people who buy the X1 as having a deficiency of brains.
I don't know why that surprises you. The best thing about the M8 is not the camera itself but what you can hang on it.
Mark, you can look back on my posts regarding Leica and their pricing for almost as long as this forum has existed. I have never been a fan of Leica's pricing nor their penchant for creating "collectible" cameras at even more ridiculous pricing.
When I bought my M8 I assumed I would do more work with it than I did. I was well aware of the MF trade-offs but also believed that I would be able to use hyper-focal settings to offset the lack of AF. I was wrong. After one very bad week of using the M8 and missing shot after shot and a lot of OOF images I realized that the M8 could not be my main camera and as such I could not afford the amount of money I had in it to slowly depreciate.. so I sold it and basically I ended up "renting" it for a year at the cost of $1,000.
On my website and on this forum and others I have stated that I would have liked to have kept the M8 but for the amount of money involved. The M8 is a wonderful camera for some of what I shoot but not all. As you know, I like to shoot a variety of subjects.
I just thought it was a little out of character for you to describe someone as lacking in brains if they decided the camera would be right for them, only because it isn't for you.
My opinions about ANY camera are strictly my own and I will never knock someone for deciding to buy any particular camera. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa but I do have strong feelings about the X1.
You've heard the phrase
"He has more money than sense." ... that was a general reference to the X1. The X1 is a $2000 point and shoot. It is not versatile by any stretch of the imagination. It is not in the same class as an M camera made in Solms. It is, in my opinion, a camera that could have been a class leader but instead was crippled by Leica to protect the M system. It's short-comings being hidden behind a smoke screen of alleged simplicity of design.
With the X1 Leica had the opportunity to create something very special and potentially lead the pack. Instead they created an M look-alike with no ability to use their fine lenses. They created a high dollar digital point and shoot that is outdated right out of the box.
Speaking of the box... they also made the packaging part of the "Leica Experience". Let's really think about this for a moment. The only experience I have ever desired from Leica was the absolute best images possible in a small format camera. I don't care about packaging.. but I assure you that every buyer is paying for that fancy packaging. They're also paying for Lightroom, whether they need it or not. So take away all the things you are paying for with the X1 that you really don't need and you have a camera that really should cost much less when you consider what the X1 really is.
We know Leica is going to charge a premium for everything that bears their name. That's Leica living off of their laurels, nothing more. The $150 battery that bears their name is no better than the $50 battery that bears the Panasonic name. Justify that kind of price gouging for me.
The X1 lens is nowhere near the quality and build of an M lens. By all accounts I've heard so far the X1 build does not feel very substantial either. Yes, it's cute and retro and minimalist but outside of that and APSC sensor does not justify the $2000 price tag and neither does the Red Dot and don't try to tell me the lens is of the same quality as it's M variant.
I love my D-Lux 4. It's a Panasonic wearing a Leica skin. Here's what should have been done as far as the X1 is concerned in my opinion. If Leica wanted to produce a point and shoot they should have taken the D-Lux 4 and up-scaled it to contain the APSC sensor. Keep all of the DL4s current functionality, make it look like a Mini-M if they wish or keep the same black box, spartan look it has now... Produce THAT camera as their X1 and I would have gladly paid $2000 for it... because that camera would have been versatile and have great image quality and it would have been the best point and shoot on the market today.
The ONLY thing that the X1 is offering is the APSC sensor in a small form factor box that looks like an M. With the current pricing of used M8s I think a used M8 would be a better buy in the long run than an X1.
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Jim Radcliffe
http://www.boxedlight.com
http://www.oceona.com
The ability to 'see' the shot is more important than the gear used to capture it.
