The X Vario is a bigger X2 with a zoom lens
Leica certainly resorted to marketing hype in advance of today's launch of the X Vario. Speculation ranged from a fixed prime lens full frame special to a new compact system camera with interchangeable lenses. Leica did little to counter the latter idea, describing the then-secret camera as a 'Mini M'. Now we can see what the new camera is, 'Mini M' does seem like a misnomer. OK, it does bear a passing resemblance to an M-series camera, but 'Mega X2' is closer to the truth.
What we have with the Leica X Vario is a larger, more expensive, alternative to the Leica X2. They are both APS-C sensor cameras, can record video as well as stills and they even share the same optional 1.4 million dot Leica-branded electronic viewfinder sourced from Olympus. A key difference is that the X Vario (that means 'zoom') has a 28-70mm (full frame equivalent) f/3.5-6.4 zoom lens instead of the X2's 36mm (equivalent) single focal length optic.
It's tempting to think that Panasonic Lumix, Leica's partner which has provided lots of compact cameras for Leica to sell under its own brand, may have aided Leica in some way with the X Vario, just in the way that Leica has contributed to the success of Lumix. Leica does not have a reputation for making zoom lenses, while Panasonic does, so who knows?
The 16MP APS-C sensor core of the X Vario is hardly an ambitious state-of-the-art formula. I would be astonished if the X Vario didn't take very good pictures but there are a lot of very good cameras for a lot less than the £2,000 asking price of the X Vario that can take pictures just as good and in some cases, probably better than this new Leica. So what is the X Vario all about? It's clearly a camera that addresses the limitations - in the eyes of some prospective customers - of the X2, perhaps the most fundamental in being the inclusion of that zoom lens. But like the X2 and maybe even more so with the X Vario is the Leica style and exclusivity factor.
We've produced a picture gallery comprising all the Leica X Vario official product images we could get our hands on, including accessories.
To see a larger view of the the thumbnail, just click on the thumbnail image you are interested in to open a new page with the full-size view.
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