Z2X- a bit long sorry

[firkin@netconnect.com.au (Alastair Firkin)]

I thought some of you may be interested and add to my initial impressions
of the new Leica p/s Z2X. The camera is a small, light, full 35mm compact
camera with passive auto focus, and automated exposure/flash. Firstly lets
see what you cannot do. Unless you have sticky labels of bar codes to
attach to the film canisters, you cannot change the automatic setting of
the ISO [50 - 3200]. There is an exposure 2+ EV mode, but this is otherwise
fixed, so that you cannot choose to underexpose at all. You cannot focus on
one zone, and meter on another. Once you depress the shutter release part
way, the camera will focus on the central area, and store the light reading
and focus information till the release is fired, or pressure removed. With
a little practice, it is relatively easy to "hold" the settings. Despite
storing the focal and exposure settings, the camera does not seem to
actually focus till the shutter is depressed, causing a delay in exposure
somewhat longer than I had expected. You have no control over the relative
benefits of shutter speed versus DOF except when using a flash on "slow"
mode, where the ambient exposure is also given to "fill" in the background.
You cannot set a mode as your default, so that whenever the camera is
activated, the fully auto mode is chosen.

Good points;
- - the camera is quite. So quite that when Helen took her first shot she
stood waiting for the "noise" of exposure and ran off 4 frames ;-)
- - the focus mechanism seems to be quite fast, though there may be little in
the way of focal change as the camera seems to rely quite heavily on great
DOF.
- - The flash settings are not too bright and deliberate underexposure needed
with most other cameras I've had or used, is unnecessary [when we found
that we could not deliberately underexpose flash I began to dream up all
sorts of ways of "tricking" the cameras DX coding, and when Helen asked me
"should we still buy the camera?" my only response was to say- let's hope
Leica have got it right!]
- - The exposure measurement will suggest timed exposures of up to 99
seconds, but it will not actually give that exposure. The shutter release
must be held down and the timing made manually. This trapped me as I'd not
understood the instructions, and had expected this "fully" automatic camera
to have shut off the exposure once the recommended time was reached.
- - The camera will not fire if the subject is too close to focus on.
- - easy self resetting self-timer
- - Vario-elmar

Experience;
We used the camera with 200 and 400 ISO print film on a number of subjects
ranging from night scenes with long exposure to bright sunshine and from
still life to "sports" action. Of the first 4 rolls there was about a 10%
failure rate. These were either focus or exposure failures and most of them
occurred in the vertical format, where it seems to be too easy to obscure
one of the sensing ports, or the camera is inaccurate. Framing was the
other major failing with the camera seeming to give too much to the R of
the scene and cut off the L side of the image. This will require closer
attention before I am confident that it is not just us. The slowness of
response seems to be worse than the pictures would indicate, suggesting
that the shutter is firing earlier than the "noises" I associated with
exposure. It is easy to leave the "date" turned on without thinking about
it. The lightness off the camera does make it easy to shake, but motion
artifact of the subject was perhaps the greatest failing. Here I presume
the camera is more determined to set long DOF than to stop the action, and
this even with fast ISO film. Closer focus is reasonably accurate, though
as mentioned focus seems less accurate in the vertical format, and can be
fooled quite often. It is not always easy to "hold" focus by partly
depressing the shutter release. It is easy to fall away from the viewfinder
and loss the scene if the eye is not held carefully in the centre. The
viewfinder is otherwise bright and varies with the focal length, though its
accuracy as discussed may be less than ideal. The focal range is "standard"
at 35-70.

The resultant prints are bright, contrasty and the detail and sharpness
extends right out to the edge of the frame. Helen was delighted with the
fill in flash and flash exposure when she used it to "brighten" an
otherwise dull day at the Market.

Conclusion; I will not be handing in my M6. There are too many limitations
in the control of the camera to really satisfy me as a "primary"
photographic instrument. For me the camera will be used for family
gatherings where I like to include the date and the snaps are really more
to record an event than an expression of artistry. It will also act as a go
every where do anything device, and will hold mainly colour print film. For
Helen we will have to wait and see. She is less concerned with the process
of photography and more in the final result. In terms of lens quality and
versatility this may suit her as an everyday camera, which will give
results of outstanding quality iff the conditions suit the moment ;-)

Alastair Firkin,

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/AGFhmpg.html