Leica X Typ 113 Review | 108 Data compared

The Leica X (Typ 113) delivers superb, crisp image quality featuring vibrant colors and excellent sharpness across the frame, retaining the distinct "Leica look" found in previous models. It boasts a gorgeous, classic design with simplified, user-friendly menus. The camera includes an improved LCD screen, a physical manual focus ring with a distance scale, and slightly improved autofocus speed. However, it utilizes an older 16.2 MP APS-C sensor that struggles in low light, showing noise and focus hunting at higher ISO levels starting at ISO 3200. The camera's biggest flaws lie in its lack of an integrated electronic viewfinder (EVF) and a heavily restricted lens system. Despite being advertised with a fast f/1.7 Summilux lens, the camera electronically overrides manual settings and stops down to f/2.5 or f/2.8 when focusing closer than four feet. Leica implemented this variable aperture scale to mask softness and maintain high image quality up close, but it severely limits shallow depth-of-field effects for close-up portraits. At a premium price of $2,295, the lack of an internal EVF forces users to look like tourists by shooting...

The Leica X (Typ 113) is a premium compact camera featuring a notably bright 23mm f/1.7 fixed prime lens and a large APS-C sensor that delivers detailed, high-quality images. It boasts a sturdy build, intuitive analog controls, a sharp 3-inch display, and an excellent manual focus experience, including compatibility with an add-on electronic viewfinder. Despite its strengths, the camera is hampered by a high $2,295 price point and slow autofocus speeds, making it less competitive against rivals like the Fujifilm X100 series. Other drawbacks include a lack of built-in Wi-Fi and EVF, a tendency for raw images to overexpose, and a lens that forces a narrower maximum aperture during close-up focusing.

The DPReview article "A second glance: two takes on the Leica X" highlights the Leica X (Typ 113) for its classic aesthetics, lightweight construction, and exceptional image quality produced by its APS-C sensor and 23mm f/1.7 lens. Reviewers praise the intuitive, traditional, analog-style controls that offer a satisfying shooting experience for enthusiasts. Conversely, the review notes a delicate build quality, slow autofocus that struggles in low light, and the lack of an integrated viewfinder. Further operational drawbacks include limited, non-true manual control, forcing aperture changes at close focus distances, and the omission of Wi-Fi.

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the Leica X Typ 113 as a premium compact camera with exceptional build quality, featuring a bright f/1.7 Summilux 23mm lens and an APS-C CMOS sensor that delivers excellent image quality with low noise. It is noted for its intuitive physical controls, appealing design, and unique, film-like image character. ePHOTOzine However, the review cites significant drawbacks, including a frustrating, automatic aperture override during close-up shooting and a high price point compared to its, more versatile, stablemate, the Leica D-Lux Typ 109. Because of these limitations and the restricted manual control, the camera is difficult to recommend over its competition.

The Amateur Photographer review highlights the Leica X (Typ 113) as a premium compact camera with stylish, analogue-style controls and a remarkably sharp, fast 23mm f/1.7 Summilux lens. It is highly praised for its excellent image quality, producing clean, detailed DNG raw files. Conversely, the review notes significant limitations, including the lack of a built-in viewfinder and a basic, underdeveloped video mode. Additional compromises include a restricted maximum aperture at close focus and a slow top shutter speed, hindering performance in bright conditions.

The Leica X Typ 113 is a fixed prime lens compact camera built with an aluminum top and bottom plate and a magnesium alloy center, providing a solid, precise, and premium feel with a minimalist layout. It delivers exceptional image quality using a 16.2 MP APS-C sensor that produces sharp, contrasty photos with faithful colour reproduction and organic depth, even performing admirably at higher settings like ISO 1600 to 6400. A major highlight is its 23mm f/1.7 Summilux ASPH lens, which offers excellent center sharpness, beautiful creamy bokeh, and a smooth mechanical manual focusing ring equipped with hard stops and automatic center magnification. Additionally, the camera features an intuitive user interface, an upgraded 3-inch 920,000-dot LCD screen, and functional depth-of-field previews when half-pressing the shutter button. However, the camera has notable physical design drawbacks, starting with its large, bulky frame (2.9 x 5.2 x 3.1 inches) and a lens size that makes it much less compact than its predecessor, the X2. Functionally, the back buttons and scroll wheel feel too light to the touch, and the overly soft Movie Record...

Based on the provided review, the Leica X (Typ 113) is a companion camera featuring a 16MP APS-C CMOS sensor and a fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.7 lens. The reviewer praises its exceptional image quality, highlighting its superb color rendition, realistic skin tones, high-ISO performance up to 1600, and impressive monochrome conversions. Operationally, the camera excels with responsive tactile dials, a familiar menu layout, effective in-camera image stabilization for slow shutter speeds, and a comfortable grip. Additionally, despite being a focus-by-wire system, the physical lens features reliable distance markers that prove highly useful for manual hyperfocal photography. However, the camera suffers from several notable design and functional drawbacks. Its primary limitations include the complete absence of a built-in viewfinder and a lack of built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. The reviewer points out that the manual focus throw is incredibly short between 3 meters and infinity, increasing the risk of back-focusing and making fine-tuning difficult. Furthermore, the camera has a controversial quirk where the maximum aperture automatically shrinks from f/1.7 down to f/2.8 as you focus closer to a subject. Finally, the autofocus...

The Leica X (Typ 113) is a fixed-lens compact camera that offers a simple, manual, and lightweight shooting experience for photographers looking to downsize from heavy DSLR setups. The reviewer, Dave Seargeant, dedicated a full year to shooting exclusively with this camera and found its full manual mode and button layout to be an absolute joy to use. The standout feature is its impressive 35mm f/1.7 Summilux lens, which delivers exceptional colour rendition and a pleasing bokeh that outperforms comparable DSLR lenses. Additionally, while the autofocus can be slow and prone to hunting, the manual focus system is highly praised as one of the best and most involving implementations the reviewer has ever used. However, the camera has several distinct drawbacks, particularly regarding low-light performance and electronic usability. Image consistency and quality drop off significantly once the sensitivity is pushed beyond ISO 800. The camera's rear screen is also highly difficult to see on bright, sunny days, making the lack of a built-in electronic viewfinder (EVF) a notable omission. Other complaints include a frustratingly slow maximum shutter speed of 1/2000s...

The Leica X (Typ 113) is a fixed-lens compact camera featuring a 16-megapixel APS-C sensor paired with a fast 35mm equivalent f/1.7 lens, making it an affordable entry point into the Leica ecosystem. It is highly praised for its classic M-series styling, solid manual physical controls, and a sharp, bright 3-inch LCD screen. The camera delivers stunning image quality with beautiful bokeh, great low-light performance up to ISO 3200, and a versatile focal length perfect for travel, portraits, and street photography. Additional advantages include future-proof DNG RAW file formats, a built-in flash for fill lighting, and a decent battery life rated for 350 shots. However, the camera comes with notable limitations, most significantly a macro restriction that forces the maximum aperture down to f/2.5 or f/2.8 when shooting closer than 4 feet (1.2 metres). Performance-wise, the autofocus system is slow and prone to hunting, making manual focus a better alternative. Furthermore, the video recording capabilities are weak, the camera lacks any built-in wireless connectivity or image stabilisation, and it does not feature an integrated viewfinder or a modern touchscreen interface....