A Conversation with the CEO of Pixii Cameras
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- Опубликовано: 17 окт 2024
- In this episode we are speaking with David, the CEO of Pixii. Pixii is a new camera startup (well, a few years old now!) that creates digital rangefinder cameras. Leica is the only other camera currently doing this, so having another player in that space is a big deal.
We chat about the birth of the Pixii camera, and some of the challenges a camera startup faces. We also discuss the history of photography in France (where Pixii is based) and the importance of focusing on the photographers control and experience with a camera.
Thanks for the patience waiting for me to get this one out! Let me know who we should talk to next, and what topics you would like discussed. Until next time, happy snappin'
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Apologies for the long break! Let me know some people you'd like to chat with, and the topics you'd like to hear about :)
Paulie B
David Barth is a class act. I lived in France and have been back and I see him as what the French are, well educated, able to exercise critical thinking and emotionally mature. And some make great cameras. Thanks for arranging the interview with him.
I am a fairly early adopter Pixii owner and have even been through the upgrade process to the plus model recently. Early on, David, himself, hopped on a call with me and connected directly to my camera to make a real time software update! Can you imagine the CEO of any other camera manufacturer taking the time to make sure your specific camera is fixed that way? It’s a challenging camera but in the exact way David explained it - you really have to know your stuff and be willing to shoot like a film camera where things will not always happen exactly the way you predict. You learn a lot and have to think a lot. The camera demands that you pay attention. In a world where so many experiences are presented to us that actually reduce our direct involvement or filter the inputs down to nearly nothing, the Pixii is a breath of fresh air. It’s not my only camera, but it’s always fun to pick it up when I need a kick in the pants to get deep and creative. I love supporting a project like this as they just don’t happen often enough in life. The passion is infectious. I hope more folks get to try one out now that they are at B&H to see what it’s all about.
Awesome! Thanks for having David on your channel. I've been following this camera company for a while. I'm very interested in potentially buying one of these cameras in the future. David seems like a great guy.
Thanks for listening in :)
I had a pixii and sold it used for one reason only. That the rangefinder adjustment is behind the hotshoe and must be done via screws. Leica’s adjustment is simply in front of the sensor and can be done with an allenkey. Additionally, the screws for the pixii are extremely finicky. I had to adjust 2 screws, 1 screw to looosen, and another to adjust, and then tighten the first again. When tightening the first the second would often turn and move. It made rangefinder calibration change from a quick 2-3 minutes to 30-1 hour. Which is crazy when in the field. If they changed that i would hop right back unto the bandwagon
Don't apologize for the frequency of your videos. You're the working father of three!!! Love your channel and videos, James.
Thanks!
Eye Focus detection (Like a light meter but for iris focus) would be an amazing feature for the Pixii.
That plus the app working.
Perfect timing!! I just ordered a Pixii+ :-)
Cool, enjoy!
2 Months later how are you finding the camera? I am currently looking into getting one, and would love to hear what owning one is like
@@creativefun1758 I bought this camera to replace my film rangefinders (because I'm too lazy to develop and scan my film now) and for that purpose it's fantastic. It has it's problems, it's a bit glitchy, and I always bring 2 extra batteries at least (it's very power hungry). It's not super FAST, I will always half click the shutter as i'm focusing to make sure that the auto exposure is going (it goes into a sort of sleep/eco mode). For my purposes, I love the camera, I wish I could give you some specifics, but there ya go. As far as the good points: i LOVE shooting B&W raw (as a bw film shooter) because it frees me from color editing, the sensor is great, I shoot it up to 12800ISO quite happily (especially bw). If you have any particular questions let me know!
pixxi has been on my radar for so long and I love your interview with David sharing the Pixii story and its direction. I have an M240 now and sometimes hope I had chosen the Pixii over it.
Wonderful video and interview. Makes me even happier to have bought a Pixii. I bought mine a little over a year ago. Mine is currently in France and has been upgraded to the new range finder. It is fun that David emails and helps with issues etc. It is a fun community and unique experience. The camera has its issues and challenges but anyone considering the camera needs to understand how few have been manufactured and how special it is to be part of this development. Don’t buy one and expect a Sony.
Great interview, I simply love the design philosophy behind Pixii and the passion exacerbated from David, one of the reasons I purchased the Pixii is to have a camera that can do both colour and black and white without having to buy two cameras. The other major factor is I want a camera without the LCD as I have been a film shooter for many years and I still prefer to shoot without the need to check what I shot until after the file is processed 'afterwards'. I have thoughts of buying a Leica MD body (two models) before buying the Pixii, but nowhere can be found unless you are willing to pay over the odds because of the limited availability and seriously more expensive than the Pixii by far. To me, the Pixii killed THREE BIRDS with one stone, on top of this, only Pixii users know this new sensor offers great dynamic range and the files are absolutely beautiful.
I'm now waiting patiently for notification from David to collect my camera for the viewfinder upgrade because this means I can use much larger aperture lenses without the focusing issues.
The comment aboout how the photographer engages with reality via an optical viewfinder is one that rings true to me. Looking through an EVF is looking at an illusion of reality. I hope they one day reproduce the viewfinder from the Contax G2 which could zoom to the focal length of the lens but to do this they'd need to work with Voigtlander or Zeiss. I still use a Rolleiflex 2.8F and dream of a digital version, something with the sensor from the GFX, I wonder if this is where Pixii might go when the rangefinder camera matures all it can.
Fuji had something similar in the x-pro 2, it's viewfinder had two different magnification options
Love the video! Quick question about the Fuji with the Nikon lens. How were you able to mount it on the Fuji? I have the same lens and couldn’t figure out a way to do it. Thanks so much!
I made an adapter - shoot me an email (under my about me) :)
Great interview James! Awesome to hear some of the insights on Pixii as a company. Am still working my way to acquire one of these some day.
Thanks for listening in! I wish them the best and hope for many more innovations and iterations!
I really, REALLY like the vision and direction of this new start-up.
I would like to buy the product, but I need the storage to increase. I think the 128GB should be where the storage options start.
100%, especially if they don't have expandable storage
Somewhere I read that there was an deactivated option to download images to a thumb drive. Maybe that‘s working now. The article mentioning that was from a year ago.
David, if you are reading this, some suggestions for the Pixxi.
1. Work with Cosina and get them to issue some of their VM lenses (Zeiss, Voigtlaender) modified to match the design language and size of the Pixxi.
2. Electronic shutter only with a somewhat slow readout speed causing issues with banding and rolling shutter is the one blocker for me considering the Pixxi. Either add a proper mechanical shutter or speed up the sensor readout to mitigate banding in artificial light and rolling shutter issues with faster moving subjects.
I have owned Pixii since December 2021, 17000 pictures: not a single one with a rolling shutter or banding! Have you read the sensor specifications? Have you studied DXOMark's tests on the Pixii?
@@laurentbouchard6897I have seen images taken with that camera that show banding in artificial light and rolling shutter on faster moving, human subjects. I don’t know how you are taking images and of what, but I know my photography and it would be an issue. Another thing: no support for flash thanks to electronic shutter only, which is probably why they didn’t even bother with a hotshoe.
Still, super tempting camera - just not for me. Which is fine. I still enjoy my Leica M10.
I know the Pixii bashing. These pictures were taken with the first industrial sensor that had a global shutter ( less than 80 cameras). Show me images of Pixii 1571 or 2572 with a rolling shutter please.
@@laurentbouchard6897you can find these examples yourself by watching enough reviews of the camera by people who bought it. That’s how I found these examples. The reviewers were honest about the limitations of the camera. Do your own research, I did mine.
Show us pictures with rolling shutter since the 26 Mo BSI sensor ( Pixii 1571 … since more 2 years …).
Don’t look at the bad tests of the 1st sensor (exchanged to owners by the way) but rather the DXO mark tests (90 far ahead of M240 and M10) it’s more serious!
A really interesting view of the challenges they have worked through!!😊
A digital camera with an analogue soul, love it.
Are they considering releasing a film camera? That would have been a home run for sure
I got my pixii a couple months ago and I'm currently out shooting it in India and it's been rock solid even in the sweltering heat. I'd love to join the user forum but I really don't want to have to use facebook (yuck). You mentioned there are other pixii forums out there?
There's a website called rangefinder forum that has a section for Pixii users, and I can't remember where else I saw people lurking. The Facebook group is definitely the most active, but I understand your reservations.
if it were full frame… but that amount of money for an APSC sensor might as well get a fuji or just go full blown Leica. appreciate the effort, but hopefully that will be their next step.
I wish they offered a 1:1 viewfinder
So this is the man, ok!
Really liked this interview
Thanks for tuning in. David is a cool guy.
New fujifilm camera on ur table? Maybe the X-H1? And what about that weird looking lens? So many questions haha
If you mean the one in front of him, that’s the Pixii.
Yes, an X-H1! A future video on some weird lenses :)
In the beginning clip it's a Fuji X-H1, but during the interview it's the Pixii. I just like to confuse people I guess xD
@@snappiness Do you plan on making a video about the X-H1? I’m running the X-T1 right now but was planning on getting the X-H1 to try and play around with the video features, would be cool to hear what you think about the H1
@@luiskoga-sd6zk I might. I just noticed the price low for them (hard in the Fuji world haha) and needed another mirrorless camera, so went for it. Even though I just sold off my XT1 and other lenses haha. I do really like it. Bigger than the XT1 for what it's worth, but I like feature set so far. Can't really comment on image or video differences, other than obviously video is much improved.
If possible would love hear you chat to the Pentaxian Landscaper photographer Matt Bishop 🙏
Good suggestion - I would love to talk to a fellow pentaxian
Pour la prochaine décennie l'éducation nationale devrait mettre le paquet et faire un énorme effort sur l'apprentissage de l'anglais si on veut vraiment être performant économiquement à l'international !
Hipster nonsense
I hope they fail miserably because if they have success other camera will be developed on this orrible "apple" scheme, exactly like their camera. It's disgusting even if they try to tell you that they care about quality, because the only think that I can see is that they want to sell you the 128gb non extendible camera
I wish there was a question about potential to go fullframe (or maybe I missed it). I mean I can kind of guess the answer because obviously the camera would be very hard to upgrade to a bigger sensor and even getting the current APSC sensor was such a big challenge. I would have just liked to know if going FF was a wish or potential goal or if goes against some principal of his.
Yeah I would guess it's a cost thing, we can dream though