Leica X1 is a compact fixed-lens, large-sensor
digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...
by
Leica. The pre-production model was released to reviewers in September 2009.
Leica X1 uses an
APS-C (23.6 mm × 15.8 mm) format
CMOS sensor with 12.2
megapixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...
s (4272 × 2856 pixels, 3:2
aspect ratio). Fixed 24 mm/2.8
prime lens
In film and photography, a prime lens is a fixed focal length photographic lens (as opposed to a zoom lens), typically with a maximum aperture from f2.8 to f1.2. The term can also mean the primary lens in a combination lens system.
Confusion be ...
, equivalent to 36 mm focal length for a 35 mm camera, contains 8 elements in 6 groups. The lens extends to working position on power-up and retracts on power-down.
The camera is
retro
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...
-styled, mimicking Leica
rangefinder camera
A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder, typically a split-image rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus. Most va ...
s of the past and the digital
Leica M9, in a substantially smaller package sized 60 mm × 124 mm × 32 mm and weighing approximately with battery. It is equipped with a flash
hot shoe
Canon EOS 350D Hot shoe
Proprietary hot shoe used by Minolta and older Sony cameras (Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D">Sony.html" ;"title="Minolta and older Sony">Minolta and older Sony cameras (Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D)
A hot shoe is a mounting poin ...
and a manually operated built-in flash, although the latter has
guide number of only 5, considerably smaller than that of built-in flashes of entry-level
DSLR
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor.
The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between a ...
s.
Image stabilization is neither lens-based nor sensor-based, but relies on a unique method Leica developed for this camera – combining two images into one.
The Leica X1's image stabilization (combining two images into one) has the effect of improving the percentage of acceptably sharp images when taken handheld in low light at shutter speeds of 1/30 second, or slightly less if a very steady hand is used. On the other hand, those "acceptably sharp" images will show a slight blur when viewed at 100 percent, as compared to sharp images taken with the image stabilization turned off. This very slight blur is due to the unavoidable small movement of the camera as it takes the two images it needs to combine for image stabilization purposes.
As of July 13, 2010, the Leica X1 was the first compact camera to be approved by
Getty Images for submissions to their image library,
and remained the only compact camera ever on that list, as on April 27, 2011, Getty published a revised wording of its technical requirements that no longer dictated what cameras could be used.
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References
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External links
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{{Leica Camera
X1