I was lucky to have the chance to play a bit with a lovely little camera for several days - Leica X1. It is a camera that has been introduced back in 2009 along side the M9 and the S2. It was the camera that no one expected and that came as a surprise. Looking at the current second-hand market, it must have been popular enough. In the past 3 years there must have been a number of them sold (I wonder if there are estimates) and they are now coming around to the second-hand market. And they are quite well-priced still performing lovely and available often at 50% off the original retail price, they are quite attractive entry into the 35 mm photography. There are a number of great reviews on this little camera (DP Review, Luminous Landscapes, and others) and I wouldn't venture into writing another one.

The few observations I have about the camera refer to the ever-so-discussed auto focus and the potential function as a street photography camera. I haven't dealt with auto-focus for some time and it was strange coming back to it - the feeling of lost control was almost overbearing and I often felt the pulls of my muscle memory to rotate the ring around the lens. The way I shoot the M9 allows me to oscillate between focusing and composing, multitasking between the two until I press the shutter. With the autofocus one can also do it. But in my tests, I felt that it requires some mental and muscle adjustments. I think I didn't spend enough time with the camera to manage this myself (I did get the X2 recently and will write about it as well) but I imagine that it will make for a lovely back-up camera (and if you are one of the owners of the new black-and-white Monochrom, the X1 or X2 would be a suitable colour back-up).