After losing my Leica X1 last month I have been in a bit funk. The X1 is a special camera, It’s not the fastest reacting, it’s not full of features, nor does it need to be, and it is priced at a point that doesn’t agree with everyone.  The one thing that most people agree on is the image quality, it’s outstanding for a APS-C camera.

After a little wheeling and dealing, I worked out a way to get an X1 back in my hands.  The Olympus E-P3 is out and the Leica X1 is back in.  This time in black instead of silver, a nice looking stablemate to the black M9. There are dozens of great reviews out there so I’ll just get right to the images.

For me, one of the biggest benefits of the X1 is its size.  There are too many small cameras out there that return this kind of image quality.

After several days of M9 shooting, the autofocusing X1 is such a luxury.

I love the M9, but there are times when I don’t want to carry it around, and that is when it’s time to grab the X1.