Image Quality

The Leica X1 produced images of outstanding during the review period. Noise is very well controlled, not becoming obvious until the relatively fast speed of ISO 800 and then becoming progressively worse at the faster settings of ISO 1600 and 3200, which are still both perfectly usable. The X1's RAW files also don't exhibit too much noise, even before any noise-reduction processing has been done.

Chromatic aberrations were also very well controlled, with very slight limited purple fringing effects appearing only in high contrast situations. The 12.2 megapixel images were a little soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpen setting and require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera sharpening level.

Macro performance is poor, only allowing you to focus as close as 30cms away from the subject. The built-in flash worked fairly well indoors, with no red-eye and adequate overall exposure. Anti-shake works very well when hand-holding the X1 in low-light conditions at slower shutter speeds. The maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds allows the camera to capture enough light for most after-dark situations.

Noise

There are 6 ISO settings available on the Leica X1. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting:

JPEG	RAW
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a little soft at the default sharpening setting. You can change the in-camera sharpening level if you don't like the default look.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The Leica X1's lens provides a focal length of 35mm in 35mm terms, as demonstrated below.

35mm

File Quality

The Leica X1 has 2 different JPEG image quality settings available, with Superfine being the highest quality option. Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

12M Superfine (4.86Mb) (100% Crop)	12M Fine (2.51Mb) (100% Crop)
12M RAW (17.5Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The Leica X1 handled chromatic aberrations extremely well during the review, with very limited purple fringing mainly present around the edges of objects in high-contrast situations, as shown in the example below.

Example 1 (100% Crop)

Macro

The Leica X1 offers a Macro setting that allows you to focus on a subject that is 30cms away from the camera when the lens is set to wide-angle. The first image shows how close you can get to the subject (in this case a compact flash card). The second image is a 100% crop.

Macro Shot	100% Crop

Flash

The flash settings on the Leica X1 are Auto, Auto+Red-eye reduction, Forced on, Forced on+Red-eye, Slow Sync., Slow Sync.+Red-eye reduction, and Studio first curtain. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (35mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (35mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Auto setting or the Red Eye Fix option caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Red Eye	Red Eye (100% Crop)

Night

The Leica X1's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds in the Manual mode, which is great news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 15 seconds at ISO 100.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Anti Shake

The Leica X1 has an anti-shake mechanism, which allows you to take sharp photos at slower shutter speeds than other digital cameras. To test this, I took 2 handheld shots of the same subject with the same settings. The first shot was taken with anti shake turned off, the second with it turned on. Here are some 100% crops of the images to show the results. As you can see, with anti shake turned on, the images are much sharper than with anti shake turned off. This feature really does seem to make a difference and could mean capturing a successful, sharp shot or missing the opportunity altogether.

Shutter Speed / Focal Length	Anti Shake Off (100% Crop)	Anti Shake On (100% Crop)
1/15 sec / 35mm

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Leica X1 camera, which were all taken using the 12 megapixel Superfine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Leica X1 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Leica RAW (DNG) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.

Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera / Turned On

Front of the Camera / Flash Raised

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Turned On

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Viewfinder

Viewfinder

Handgrip

Handgrip

Conclusion

The Leica X1 is a camera of extremes, offering a compelling blend of stunning design, fantastic handling and superlative image quality, but ultimately suffering from a pared-back feature set, sluggish responsiveness and a sky-high price-tag.

The combination of a fantastic prime lens and large APS-C size sensor result in outstanding image quality that easily beats most other compacts and also most other entry-level DSLRs. Low-light images are excellent too, with the X1's faster ISO settings delivering low-noise results. Add the ability to shoot DNG RAW files as well as JPGS, and it's clear that the X1 is a real class-leader.

The design and handling of the X1 are also a real highlight for more experienced photographers, with the innovative twin control dials for shutter speed and aperture making it a cinch to quickly dial-in your required exposure. The cute pop-up flash is certainly a talking-point, while the rest of the camera follows a tried and trusted design that won't scare off newcomers.

The X1's general lack of responsiveness means that it doesn't score full marks in the ease-of-use department. Indeed, the slow auto-focus system and image processing times may be enough to completely put off some photographers. This is a camera that rewards a slower, more considered approach - don't expect to be able to consistently capture moving subjects with it.

It's also certainly not a camera for the faint-hearted thanks to the the extraordinary cost of ownership. £1395 / $1995 / €1550 is simply a lot of money for what is essentially a compact camera with a fixed lens, Leica badge or no Leica badge, with the optional accessories like the viewfinder and handgrip and further increasing your outlay.

Having said that, if you can live with the X1's deliberate lack of bells and whistles and more importantly its general sluggishness, it is undoubtedly a delightful camera that takes superb pictures. Highly recommended if that description fits you, but otherwise steer clear and consider one of the more responsive and crucially much cheaper Micro Four Thirds cameras.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	3
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	5
Value for money	2.5

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Leica X1 from around the web.

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