I bought this camera in May 2010. Given the price, it took a while for me to take the plunge (I am not rich). Prior purchasing this camera, I was using DSLRs including Nikon D40, D90, Pentax K100D Super and others. I wanted something light and small without sacrificing image quality. While M4/3 format has quite a few capable offerings (Panasonic GF1, Olympus Pen) I was/am not quite convinced that this is something I wanted to invest in. With Sony Nex, the range of small cameras with DSLR like image quality has increased and this is good for all of us.

Now on to the Leica X1:

I have used this camera heavily in the past four months and have taken over 4,000 shots. In my recent trip to Europe I took over 2,000 pictures in 8 days. If you want to stop reading at this point and get to the bottom line, here it is: This camera's image quality is stunning. The details, sharpness, colors and tonality is astounding. It surpasses my Nikon D40/ + Nikon 35mm f/1.8D... Read more

I have been looking at purchasing some form of Leica camera for the last year or so. Originally I was going to get a D-Lux4, but wasn't sold on the idea. The X1 was pushing my pricepoint but something about it intrigued me. I didn't know what to make of the fixed lens, the slow speed, the high price or the varying reviews. I read everything I could, watched everything on Youtube and finally decided on Friday I had to have one. I ordering with one day shipping and paced all morning long on Saturday until the doorbell rang at 11:30.

I should preface this review by saying I am a professional architectural photographer and use a Canon 5DMarkII with a variety of L glass for my day job and have been a very satisfied Canon customer for many years and will continue to be. I was looking for a walk about camera for being creative and restoring my love of photography for the sake of loving photography. I bought a Canon G11 recently and like it a lot as a tool for holidays, snaps of... Read more

In mid-March 2010 I spent a week abroad with the Leica X1 and the Leica M9. The X1 competes well with the superlative M9 and among the results of my trip the photos taken with the X1 -- many in the fog and at night, all hand-held -- are among the best of some outstanding photos being requested by people who see them. Charging the battery using the (provided) European plug inserted in place of the American plug was (contrary to one review) much better than using a hinged American plug, which would require a separate adapter, spacing the charger too far from the bathroom wall receptacle. At home, also, photos of family and little kids moving around fast indoors at birthday party and similar events yielded an unexpectedly large number of superior photos which coulc be cropped aggressively to get a no-noise individual portrait out of a group shot. This little camera is more fun to use than most any other camera I've ever owned. I would compare it with the superlative Rollei TLR... Read more