Shutter speed and aperture are controlled by dials on the top plate, and all other major shooting settings are directly accessible from buttons on the back. The X1 has clearly been designed as an instrument for taking photographs, pure and simple, and features a pared-down, traditionalist design in service of that goal. Viewing is via a 2.7", 230,000 pixel LCD on the rear - there's no built-in optical finder. It sits in front of a 12Mp CMOS APS-C (1.5x crop) sensor, giving an angle of view equivalent to a 35mm lens on full frame. Of course this being a Leica the lens is all - the Elmarit 24mm 1:2.8 ASPH is made up of 8 elements in 6 groups, and includes an aspheric element to minimize aberrations. It follows in the tradition of the company's premium compacts for 35mm film such as the CM, offering a fixed prime lens, analogue-style controls and premium build quality. Perhaps with a mind to providing an 'entry-level' option that is more affordable and attainable, the X1 promises to make Leica's inimitable design and quality accessible to more digital shooters than ever before. Unfortunately though, this quality is (inevitably) accompanied by heart-stopping prices, meaning such aspirations are often left unfulfilled for many years. The company's long-running reputation for sheer engineering quality and optically-superb lenses is legendary - many a budding snapper has aspired to own a 'real' Leica, eventually. The mere mention of the name 'Leica' causes certain photographers' hearts to beat just a little bit faster this sole survivor of the once-mighty German camera industry is one of the very few genuine 'heritage' brands left. But then Olympus launched its retro-styled Micro Four Thirds E-P1, Panasonic replied with the GF1, and into a sector which, if not yet exactly crowded, is at least starting to look like if can be described as 'burgeoning', there now comes the Leica X1. For a long time Sigma seemed to be the only company willing to take a gamble on there being a genuine market for such beasts, starting with the slightly rough-and-ready DP1 (released in March last year), which was followed up by the much-improved DP2 earlier this year. If there's been one welcome development in 2009, it's the rise of relatively compact cameras with large sensors ( i.e. Leica informs us that the differences between 0.73b and 1.0 relate only to 'bug fixes and performance improvements'. Note: Some of the tests in this review were carried out using firmware 0.73b (the final development version).
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