I have had my XV for a week now. I was interested in this camera from the time of announcement. The reason is simple: Leica quality glass in a modest zoom and not a shoulder crushing camera body. I was a little disappointed in the zoom range… I’d have liked 90mm instead of the 70mm but that’s just me.
I tried this camera out at the new Leica store in L.A. They were very helpful in letting me take one of the floor cameras out for about a half-hour around the store. I put in an SD card I’d taken with me. When I got home I was very impressed with the image quality of the jpgs. I shot fully auto with whatever settings were in the camera. I did not change anything. The images were the first out of camera I’ve ever shot where I did not feel compelled to tinker even a little in Photoshop.
As for positives of using this camera…
1 AUTOFOCUS! Need I say more? I like my M9 and Leica lenses but sometimes it’s really nice not to have to be so methodical when taking a picture;
2 despite it being a little heavier than my X2 and certainly not heavier than my M9 (with either a 28mm Summicron or 75mm Summicron on the M9 to get the same range as the XV) this camera is very comfortable in the hand. I also bought the black leather protector and found it makes holding the camera better (the little extra size and grip improved my holding the camera);
3 this camera has to weigh around a pound and using my Canon 5DM2 and a similar lens the weight would be around four pounds… BIG DIFFERENCE! When traveling this is the difference between taking a single camera along or taking two cameras along. My M9 with Noctilux plus the XV are still lighter than the Canon 5DM2 and similar lenses (50 1.2L and 24-70 f4 L);
4 the lens speed has not been an issue AT ALL! ISO up to 1600 is the same as ISO at 200; I see no difference. Even at ISO 3200 the grain is almost unnoticeable;
5 finally, the EVF is a perfect substitute for me vs. using the viewfinder of a dSLR. I’ve read some people complain about the low dot-count of the Leica/Olympus EVF but I’ve not had any kind of issue with the EVF display.
There are a few negatives…
1 this camera is a little front-heavy. When I put it down on a table and particularly since I’ve put the black leather protector on, the camera tips forward. I have not felt this too much when holding the camera taking pictures but I am aware of it when holding it (if that makes sense);
2 the zoom ring should be the ring closest to the camera body. why? because most of the time this camera will be used with auto focus and not manual focus and using the zoom will likely be used much more than focusing; the ergonomics are more natural with the zoom ring closet to where one holds the camera. at least this is how I use the camera;
3 if the camera autofocus misses then it seems like the camera just tunes out. One has to let go of the focus/shutter button and start the autofocus process all over again. Typically on an autofocus camera such as my X2 you only have to move the camera a little left or right while still holding the button partially down to lock onto something. I find the XV behavior a little annoying;
4 i like to move the focus square around and I do this by pressing the Focus/Delete button. On my X2 with the EVF attached if I press this button, then in the EVF I see the focus square with the little red arrows and I can move the square around while still looking through the EVF. However, on the XV with the EVF attached and I press the Focus/Delete button to move the focus square around, the EVF goes dark and all the activity has to take place on the LCD, thus causing me to take the camera away from my eye and transition into futz-mode. Very distracting! Can we say firmware upgrade issue?!
5 Finally, here’s my #1 complaint… on my lowly (at least for Leica and not counting their Panasonic clones) X2 the ISO is displayed on the screen when I look through the EVF. On the XV it is not. It’s a freaking computer! I don’t like it when the programmers take something away! I can say this because I’ve been a programmer since 1974 and I know how users react when they don’t get what they expected. This is clearly a firmware upgrade issue.
All told, this is a pretty cool little camera. It’s Leica so price shouldn’t even be taken into consideration and all the internet commenters who focus on price and red dots and their aversion to luxury goods and other misinformed objections can curl up with a good Fuji manual and read themselves to sleep. Buy this camera and enjoy it or buy something else, but stop complaining about the camera.