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Pixii Digital Rangefinder


Colin O

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There's a new digital rangefinder available, coming out of France, from a company called Pixii. I can't remember where I first came across this, but I started following them on social media after their development announcement, and it seems that the camera is finally available to order. It's a digital rangefinder with Leica M Mount. It seems to be designed around a usage scenario where it is used alongside a smartphone (seems sensible, IMO). Launch price is €2700.

 

Just curious to know what other forum members think of this. A challenging time to be launching a new camera.

 

PIXII - Digital rangefinder camera

 

And for full disclosure - I have no affiliation with them whatsoever.

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It is a courageous project and I wish them luck. It is not for me, but I could see some people would enjoy it.

Lots of people will probably complain about sensor size or price, but I think it is nice that it exists and I'll be looking forward to hearing about how it performs.

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Niels
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I saw a writeup on the L-Camera Forum a couple of weeks ago. The concensus there seemed to be that it was way overpriced for what it promised. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what its acceptance rate is at the advertised price.
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I'm all for new ways of thinking, but you actually have to provide some kind of improvement. This is different without being better. And I don't have to try the camera to say that.

 

If I had to design a digital RF camera, and let's say I worked for Panasonic or something like that, here is what I'd do as far as the hardware was concerned:

 

- M mount

- Two sensor choices, 24mm and 36mm

- IBIS, at least for the 24mm sensor

- Focus on DR first, then resolution, then frame rate

- Large buffer (I'm looking at you, Leica)

- Dual SD slots

- Electronic shutter only

- RAW and JP2K

- Custom projected frame lines for each focal length to allow for windowing

- Distance data relayed to camera via RF cam

- No video

 

And a few other things.

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Why wouldn't you mate your Leica lenses with something like a Fuji X camera.

I tried to. It did absolutely not work out for my use case;

  1. rather small products,
     
  2. at f16,
     
  3. in a studio,
     
  4. hand held.

I put the DR 'cron on a X-E1 and was unhappy with the EVF refresh rate / dimness at shooting aperture and the comparably hard stops of the aperture ring meeting a light camera / lens combo, that made "frame, stop down by hand, shoot" imposible. I ended using M8 primary and SLR when needed.

Modern Fujis might have improved but

  • Who wants a rangefinder could maybe get settled on a press camera but nothing else invented so far.
  • Aperture preselect SLR lenses seem more fun on MILCs than their RF counterparts.

Disclaimer: I am absolutely not talking about the wide open bokeh shot in bright sunlight, where MILCs might be excellent

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I tried to. It did absolutely not work out for my use case;

  1. rather small products,
     
  2. at f16,
     
  3. in a studio,
     
  4. hand held.

I put the DR 'cron on a X-E1 and was unhappy with the EVF refresh rate / dimness at shooting aperture and the comparably hard stops of the aperture ring meeting a light camera / lens combo, that made "frame, stop down by hand, shoot" imposible. I ended using M8 primary and SLR when needed.

Modern Fujis might have improved but

  • Who wants a rangefinder could maybe get settled on a press camera but nothing else invented so far.
  • Aperture preselect SLR lenses seem more fun on MILCs than their RF counterparts.

Disclaimer: I am absolutely not talking about the wide open bokeh shot in bright sunlight, where MILCs might be excellent

 

That generation of Fuji were slower in every regard. I've been using them on a X-Pro2 and it works perfectly. I don't feel a problem with the camera being what, unstable because to light? Not the X-Pro2. I've not heard that problem before, but that's not relevant. If it didn't work for you, its not a good solution. The camera you're looking at is heavier? Modern EVFs are basically as good as optical, but some cameras offer both. Also the WYSIWYG on modern EVFs are very useful and simple to use.

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Why wouldn't you mate your Leica lenses with something like a Fuji X camera. X-Pro series feels like using a rangefinder and the latest one is a very well worked out camera and a thousand less expensive. Sony's as well.

 

I've played with Leica lenses on one of my Fuji X series. I think the major drawback is the crop factor that takes out quite a bit out of those lenses. In addition to that, I found out that with X-series, XF lenses work the best and I thought Leica to be a bit of a pain to use. But with Sony, it's a different story. It's a full frame and you can really exploit those lenses to their full extent.

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There's a new digital rangefinder available, coming out of France, from a company called Pixii. ... It's a digital rangefinder with Leica M Mount. It seems to be designed around a usage scenario where it is used alongside a smartphone ... Launch price is €2700. ...
I've been thinking about this camera since it's release. For me, personally, it holds no appeal whatsoever. Sensor is small (12mp), cropped (1.5x), No ability for lens identification, limited internal memory only (how ridiculous is that!?). This camera makes the M8 look really good!

 

373746234_LeicaM8-2andTE.jpg.ebc82de762fa3ef9c53b3c20dcc503b5.jpg

I simply don't get it!

When you come to a fork in the road, take it ...” 

– Yogi Berra

 

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if i read the website correctly, the RF feature doesnt actual deal with getting the image in focus, says something bout how the aperture selection is used to control the focus and bokeh.... WTF............

 

collapsible lenses? can only use primes..... gah..... Shutter speed: from 2s to 1/32000..........Native gain: ISO 320, up to ISO 2560 with the current software

 

RAW (DNG) and JPEG format (4080x2732)

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if i read the website correctly, the RF feature doesnt actual deal with getting the image in focus, says something bout how the aperture selection is used to control the focus and bokeh.... WTF............

 

collapsible lenses? can only use primes..... gah..... Shutter speed: from 2s to 1/32000..........Native gain: ISO 320, up to ISO 2560 with the current software

 

RAW (DNG) and JPEG format (4080x2732)

 

I think it's just poorly written and a bit confusing. The rangefinder looks to be working as you'd expect.

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if i read the website correctly, the RF feature doesnt actual deal with getting the image in focus, says something bout how the aperture selection is used to control the focus and bokeh.... WTF............

 

collapsible lenses? can only use primes..... gah..... Shutter speed: from 2s to 1/32000..........Native gain: ISO 320, up to ISO 2560 with the current software

 

RAW (DNG) and JPEG format (4080x2732)

 

Link to their explanation of the Rangefinder

 

Seemed like they were describing a typical rangefinder to me.

 

The way it was written implies that they are targeting this camera at people who aren't used to manually focusing or rangefinders.

 

Wealthy people who don't know much about cameras and that want something similar to a Leica without having to deal with film?

 

I like the concept but the likely quality of the images doesn't match the price

Edited by tomspielman
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