I'm honestly surprised someone hasn't made an updated version of the Epson R-D1. It was such a unique experience and the design is perfect for people longing for an analog-meets-digital camera.
R-D1 is built on a real film camera that was solidly engineered by a company that built many other manufacturers "oem" bodies. To prime the shutter you have to cock with the film wind on lever. Ie one is built on an analog camera using a well known and regarded film range finder, the other is a built from scratch to an evolving vision (this is V2) which might be losing a lot of the historical camera DNA that didn't make it into the final vision. That's why this is V2. I'm glad they have an update path built in the program, but the Bessa used for the R-D1 was very mature already. This makes the pixii NOT an updated version of the Epson which was analog camera with digital media, but the pixii is mostly a digital creature and fundamentally different, even if they both take pictures and focus manually. The experience is [very] different.
During the past month I have had the opportunity to borrow the latest version of the Pixii, comparing it to the M10M/R's that own. The Pixii does have some unique selling points: price, upgradable, and the ability to create a RAW DNG in black and white, even though the sensor is a color sensor. And its shutter is very quiet - pleasingly so. But in every other tangible way it is a failure - its ergonomics are terrible. It is like holding a brick and no 3rd party accessories exist to rectify that. It's viewfinder is nowhere as good or clear as a Leica one. The lack of a memory slot makes it impractical for news and event, which is what I use my M10's for among other things. If the internal memory fills up, you need to stop and deal with that vs. just popping in a new memory slot. It is not a full sensor - so focal lengths are treated and behave differently due to the crop factor. Material fit and finish is nowhere near as nice as a Leica - and it is oddly delicate and cheap at the same time. And here's the biggest thing - what is Pixii's potential as a company and a brand with such a niche solution? It is certainly possible they can survive on selling hundreds / year, but it is equally possible they fail, whereas Leica is more likely to remain. So, that brings you back to price - in my opinion for a more superior experience with less risk, you are better of buying a gently used M10 of some variation than buying a new one of these. Better ergonomics, comparable material results, more accessories, memory cards, brighter viewfinder, less risk.
The thing is that they should try CFE cards instead of SDs, they are more reliable and the slots are better, I don't see argument againts this idea in 2023. It's a bummer for anyone considering one professionally, they should listen and fix this concern, I want to own my camera, no being dependent on their upgradibility program or whatever idea they have.
Personally I think Pixii should be applauded regardless of whether anyone likes it or not. A lot of people bang on about it only having internal storage (as does the Hasselblad X2D) even though you can attach a usb-c flash drive to it if you needed to free up space. I haven't used one but I have seen a set of 20x24" prints shot on the Pixii side by side with same size prints shot on a Leica M10 (same paper and same Epson P8000 printer) at the same time and with the exact same lens (28mm Zeiss ZM) and guess what, the Pixii prints knocked spots off of the Leica prints. Its a very Zen like camera, in some respects its very limiting (maybe a handful of usable focal lengths) but its also very liberating. If its not for you then fine but from what I know they have a waiting list, so somebody likes it.
Great overview and wonderful camera. Aesthetically it is beautiful! I have a few film rangefinders and I can see the appeal over a slr. The more cameras ( good cameras) that are made the better, We need a bit of spice in the mix sometimes! Thanks for sharing and always great content. The money is secondary to the enjoyment that camera will bring!
This is a serious question,if you had the money,could this be the camera you keep forever. I would really like to know if the build feels like a lifetime in your hand. Thanks
My *only* criticism about this camera, is the fact that it does not have a mechanical shutter. I don't mind the APS-C sensor, or the lack of removable storage, or other criticism, but *electronic shutters generate banding under artificial light, and rolling shutter*, this limits my usage of this camera. I currently use a Leica M240 which I purchased used, less expensive that the PiXii and more versatile for my usage, and I can upgrade to 64GB without paying an arm and a leg for the upgrade. This camera is very interesting but is niche within a niche. It is a great concept, but I feel it was too "young" to be sold in the market. I think most people will buy it out of curiosity and resell it soon after. I'll wait for a mechanical shutter version.
His reasoning for internal memory I'm not buying it. Memory can go bad at anytime. I know there was a report about Nintendo Wii U bricking because they are no plugged in for over a year. And Nintendo said the Switch needs to be plugged in once a year or the memory can go bad. SD cards go bad all the time. Come on how hard is it to make a SD slot and if the SD goes bad the worse is you put in another SD card. It would be best for dual card slots.
"What happens when the internal memory fails?" - "It probably won't. YOLO!" Not the answer I was hoping for. But that's what you get when you pay 3k for a hipster-toy-camera. Rangefinders were neat for film due to the smaller size - but for digital any mirrorless camera with an EVF does the trick - only better. No guesswork when focussing, no calibrating lenses, no "Oh I wish this was in focus" or "Oh no, that was over/underexposed." This is re-inventing a square wheel. The fact that they had to add "auto-ISO" shows that this "point-and-hope" method quickly gets old and people just want usable results.
Would love one but the price !!!! which i can understand as its a niche camera, much as i like my OM1 its just got too clinical, perhaps not the right word but hey ho, ive recently gone back to film plus shooting with an old E1 and an old E3 which i love and the OM1has taken a back seat, i just want a basic digital manual camera, yes i know you can set a moderdigitsl to manual but its just not the same as shooting with an old film camera
Excellent video, thank you. I am intrigued by this camera and its point of difference. What wide angle would you prefer on it? I was reading that the Zeiss 28mm ZM Biogon is a good match for the Pixii Plus. What are your thoughts? Greetings from New Zealand, Birgit
Yeah bullshit response from the CEO on the memory question. Massive props to you for acknowledging and taking it up to them with the platform you have! Sassy camera overall still, I'm half hoping that Fuji X-Pro 4 ditches the screen too - since Leica and Pixii have shown that it can be viable and desirable. X-Pro 3 is near perfect, but the flip down screen is a failure point (specifically the display ribbon cable) and one of the common issues with it. Fuji can't make a half decent mobile app though, so probably not happening.
3:00 just because one says it's a good idea, doesn't make it so. Anyone can call themselves a King. While I have no intention of buying this camera, I do worry about the built-in memory. But! If you get a good five-ten years out of it which I'm sure you will, no problem. It's the resell value many years down the road that's iffy especially if Pixii goes belly up with no one being able to service it.
yeah would think that card slot would be point of failure but also it would be there if internal memory fails. Even micro sd slot for peace of mind would be better than no slot.
I just realized that I rarely ever change sd cards on my cameras. Even when doing family sessions. Just wish this was full frame for the price . A used m10 is going as low as 3600.
External VFs, framelines limiting focal length. More proof that the only rangefinders that matter have leaf shutters. Seriously though that's way too much for apsc.
Integrated memory can be more reliable than removeable, it also can be faster... But at the same time there are pretty reliable and fast removeable memory options... The idea that it simplified the engineering seems like a half truth. Its not like working with SD cards is harder from an electrical or software perspective.
Well being a crop sensor renders it pretty much unuseable if you want to use your M glass at native focal lengths. Maybe they didn’t want to step too much on Leica’s toes.
I asked him about that too, but he seemed unbothered by the crop and just said he thinks about it differently. I was hoping for a more practical answer about why APSC over FF (I would assume prize, access to sensors, etc) but that was it.
Nope. Still just change my mind about the built-in memory. XQD or CFE Type B are plenty good. This camera is cool, but, why not just get a Leica Typ240?
Something has caught my curiosity. Maybe I missed something. But it looks like you have at least two different lenses for this thing. How would a range finder without a screen be able to focus both of them? Or was it 2 different cameras?
I'm not great at explaining, but they are rangefinder coupled lenses, so there is a connection between the focus and the focus patch that changes the focusing patch lens to lens (as long as it is an RF coupled lens)
aye good camera. i would buy one if you could out a wide angle lens on it. but as its a cropped sensor apparently wide angle lenses block the rangefinder which is kind of stupid for something that people prob want a 28mm equiv lens on. people dont always want to zone focus
I really like the concept but I think that I'm a bit extreme when it comes to photography. When I want the vintage experience then I go all in and use vintage cameras with film and do a darkroom session afterwards. When I shoot digital then I want all the benefits of modern technology. I definitely want a Pixii but I fear that it would just collect dust on my shelf after a while. I already have a 100F sitting on that shelf and that's a shame.
if they dont like SD cards (wich are fast enough for 4k video at this point) why not use M.2 storage? or a Sata Interface like the 8k+ film cameras do? seriusly if he wants reliable fast storage there are so many options that are industry standards and have been for decades
The CEO's responses don't really mitigate the obvious problems people have with the internal memory situation. And honestly I get creeped out when you mentioned at 5:33 being a part of a company by buying their product, it says it all. They are doing the same thing that sells consumer products that apple does. They are selling a lifestyle and self image and you're identifying yourself as part of their success and will therefore advocate and sell their products for them. frankly disgusting.
They are losing customers over the card slot thing. I would not buy this camera and I have the money to buy it, and the m lenses to use with it. That decision makes an already niche camera even moreso.
@@jw48335also the relatively small number of framelines and the APSC crop most people's existing set of lenses completely different focal lengths. Cool idea that needs refinement
😂 card or integrated mem... You are concentrating on superficial technical stuff, instead of creating. If that's what makes you choose a camera, than it's not art that you wanna make, but indulge your sense of owning specs... I love the idea of integrated memory and I have only used as cards and many have failed. I agree that both options would be nice, but it's far from important thing in life
@@windvI own cameras going back to 1946. I'm not buying a $3k luxury camera with a built-in death sentence. This is exactly the type of camera where these details matter. If I just cared about "art" I would never be looking at this camera.
For $3000, it should really have a full frame sensor. From what I gather it is a crop sensor. For anybody looking for a tactile quirky compact interchangeable lens camera, I highly recommend looking into a Sigma fp or fp-L. The kind of people that this camera is aimed at are also interested in vintage lenses, which work how they were meant to when used with a full frame camera. (The image sensor being the same size that 35mm film used to be.
Couldn't agree more! if it's full frame, it's a half-price M10/M11, It would be so competitive, making them the true budget Leica M. I can use my M lenses and get the full experience. But only crop? I don't know... for that price I rather get a Leica CL, which I can get L glasses and also adapt M lens, more options. plus CL has a screen...(Ultimately I want to take pictures with it, not just look cool with it, and having a screen makes it so much easier). They market it as it's competing with M10/11, but it's more like competing with the CL. which for me, for the price I rather get a CL(at least it's a Leica.....)
@@snappiness I have owned the FP-L for over a year and I love it. I customized it with a wood grip, I have a small collection of prime lenses. It has really motivated me to take my photography to the next level. It's been around for a while and I'm pretty sure its still the smallest body with a full fame 61mp sensor.
Given the chonk of the body I assumed it was FF. But yeah, you are right its APSC! Nothing wrong with that but like you say for the price and for the use case it seems like a bit of an own goal.
@@JimIBobIJones I think the sensor size may be influenced by the electronic shutter performance. Too big a sensor increases the rolling shutter distortion. It can happen at APSC but rarely.
To me that’s big time CEO speak that does the thing I’ve seen as I’ve worked in the tech industry for 15 years. It doesn’t actually address the question/concern but focuses on the benefit of the choice they as a company have made. Like what ACTUALLY happens if this gets bricked? Can you send it in for a memory recovery fix? Is there a viable warranty that states its real world cycles number? Does the he partition off a portion for recovery mode options? No concrete answer just a “we believe internal HD is a more robust solution that has a lower likelihood of failure so we went that route”
Yeah it is completely unreasonable of them to assume that someone who buys a camera for this amount of money won't have a fast enough SD card for it. Besides that, replacing an SD card slot on a device is trivially easy and cheap so I assume that's why they do it; to milk you of an extra couple hundred bucks in case this thing fails for some reason. Also, the way they dodged the question is very dishonest and Apple-esque. #righttorepair
Yeah his reasoning is complete bs. How is something that bricks the camera when it fails “more reliable.” At least when my sd cards die I can just swap it instantly. Not to mention I also have redundancy with a 2nd sd card. Imagine telling a client that all their photos might be gone and that you have to send the camera in before you can keep shooting.. “Can you do your wedding again in 2 months so I can shoot it completely?”
I was looking for this. Kinda sus to me, he answered it like real politician. And the consumer are tied up with the maintenance scheme, uh, "upgrade" scheme. 4:18
Even with swapable storage like SD cards, the camera is still going to have internal storage for the camera's operating system, and probably some space for buffering (or is that done purely in RAM in most cameras? I kinda doubt it). So you still have that internal storage that does get a bunch of read and writes and could fail and brick the camera. So your argument is that making that internal storage bigger and using it to read/write DNGs is going to make it much more likely to fail. I don't buy that argument, personally. Sounds like FUD. The concerns about warranty and repairs with a small startup are super valid, but then it's just buyer beware. If you can't take that risk, do go with a large established brand with a good repair program.
I'm not a fan of built in storage, it's awful from a usability and repairability standpoint. In order to replace the memory, you must disassemble and replace either the main board, or a daughter board. This board likely has more components than just memory, so you end up replacing working parts so the board is going to have to cost more. It'll be expensive for the parts and having to mail it in and have them do it for you. How do you get the pictures off the device? Do you do this by plugging in a usb port? USB ports also have a rated lifetime, so this will increase the strain on it if that's the only way to copy your photos off. If it's via Wi-FI, that will drain your battery and be fairly slow and incompatible with some peoples workflows. This also introduces a new problem in the field if you fill your memory since you can't just put a new card in, so you have to copy all your photos off to another device, then clear the memory before you can begin shooting again. I also don't think the write speed performance increase is necessary for this style of camera, the main advantages for that are in video, outside of that it would be in being able to flush the memory buffer at a higher rate when using a burst mode. So if you held a burst shot until the memory buffer is filled, the write speed would allow it to flush to storage quicker, and theoretically allow higher sustained rates of frame capture. The main benefit for removing sd cards in phones was to eliminate the back panel and improve water resistance which I don't think is applicable here as I'm guessing there's a tray for a removable battery, and if not, yikes. In my experience, the SD card slot has never been a reliability problem for me, so this solution introduces more problems than it solves. I've gone through many sd cards to the point where they fail, but I also buy stacks of them at a time so I never run out. If the slot itself were to fail, I would feel a lot more confident repairing that myself than integrated storage.
I really admire pixii for their work on this camera. Personally, I can't bring myself to buy it. The fact that the pixii has a cropped sensor (I like my 28mm too much) and isn't compatible with several m-mount lenses I own is unfortunate.
I'll take a 32 bit APSC over 14bit full frame, all day every day. Theoretically i can do a very natural looking picture without blown out tones without putting the camera on a tripod and doing 5-7 stops of exposure.
@@mrfuzzy2954 You're confusing the processor bit and bit depth of the sensor. There exists no 32 bit sensor. The highest bit depth sensors now are those found in medium formats that go up to 16 bit. This sensor is literally the same cut/architecture as the a6700, X-T3/4, and a 1.5x crop of the A7R4/5 sensor. The marketing fluff from Pixii doesn't make sense at all cos it basically means the processor is capable of 64 bit processing. It *doesn't* improve image quality. Just like how chucking a i9 processor into the computer won't turn your photos into a higher quality one in Lightroom.
@@SlashCampable It's inherently bad design. The camera is for rich people who enjoy expensive toys, like a dentist who shoots on leica. The internal flash memory WILL fail, and the customer has no idea who provides it and what is the terabytes written spec of it (how long it will last.)
@@SlashCampable Lol I just checked their website and see they're releasing a 4336 dollar full frame camera which STILL does not have a card slot. And the storage only goes up to 128gb (which will cost more than 4336 dollars.) Literally the smallest SD cards I own are 256 gigabytes, and they cost less than 20 dollars. OMG AND IT STILL USES MICRO USB, over 8 years after it was deprecated and replaced with USB C. On a 5000 dollar product, they are saving 50 cents of a connector on a 5000 dollar product. It's rare I feel this way but I kinda hope this company goes under, what a shit show. They hate their own customers.
Damn, I feel the exact same way about my Sigma SD Quattro H - blew quite a lot of money on it - it's unpractical as f, autofocus doesn't really work so manual focus is the name of the game - I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for an averagely good camera - as a camera nerd though, this is by far the coolest cameras I've ever bought and I don't think I would ever sell it, the images are just beautiful Of course Sigma isn't exactly a small company where you can get the CEO on the horn, but looking at the number and philosophy of Sigma cameras I think it's fair to assume it's not super far!
@@matthewsisson1234 I was super fortunate to catch a pretty big error on MPB's part, otherwise I couldn't afford it either ! It was listed at 640€ as a regular SDQ, while the SDQH generally commands prices upwards of 1300€ as imports from japan. that being said, 640€ is still the most money I've ever dropped on a camera lol
The internal storage being more performant is nice, except I doubt that users of the pixii will shoot at high framerates. getting it off of the camera is an argument, but i think when the failure rate of the embedded storage is being mentioned, yet the fact that when an sd card fails you can buy a new one. While it is nice that they have the upgradability stuff it still means you rely on pixii themselves to fix broken memory. if they ever go out of business and your memory fails? good luck. you're in an even tougher situation than dead memory formats. Don't get me wrong, I would love a proper rangefinder, unlike the fuji digital rangefinder found on the xpro1 (which i own and do like) but hearing the reasoning from the ceo just make me think i should just save up for a leica instead, or heck even try to put a sensor in a film camera. I wish them the best and hope they will make a camera that would tick my boxes eventually. but for now there is 0 chance i'd even consider them.
Sensor in a film camera? That's just about every earlier generation DSLR. The Canon 5D is a great place to start. As for Leica, I think their most compelling product is the SL line. Mirrorless makes all the difference. If you can do without the Leica branding, checkout the Panaonsic S.
@@RobertLeeAtYT I owned a 5D mk2 (loved it, gave it to a friend who wanted to go to school for photography) and i currently own a Panasonic S1, I recommend against the leica SL for the simple reason that it is the same camera as the S1, more expensive and on top of that there is a solid alternative for both the SL and the S1 that is the S5. That aside, all of those cameras are not rangefinder cameras. and i'm not pointing at rangefinder style, actual rangefinder cameras as shown in the video.
Coming from a hardware guy POV you are right. The internal storage claims are BS, it simply just makes them more money doing it this way, it's exclusively fueled by greed. We have seen it before in the tech industry, this is nothing new but company greed.
Kudos to pixii for providing the only affordable alternative to Leica's rangefinders. Would love to play with this camera, even though I wouldn't pay this much for a toy I might use for a couple of weeks :)
@@GabrielSykes I'd like to own this camera but it really isn't affordable enough for my wallet. Will keep using my X-E2 for my poor "leica-ish" experience.
Honestly, I’ve seen used M10s go for less than the Pixii, and you get both a rear LCD as well as the option of an EVF! And if you can deal with APS and the Russian sensor oxide roulette, M8s are quite cheap these days…
@@FPSakari I have an x-e1 is the x-e2 much better in handling do you know. It took me a while to figure out how to get it to impersonate P shift mode which might be fixed on the e2. The e2 is supposed to have better af than the e1, but for purer leica experience we are meant to switch to manual af and my xf lens are focus by wire, so do you use manual focus lenses via adapters and how's the experience?
As a technician I will say I have seen plenty of failed soldered SSDs. Soldering the storage on such a device is not a good idea for longevity. The camera is pretty cool, I just don’t think it’s a good idea because most consumers can’t replace the flash chip should the company go under.
Idk an SD slot, at least for redundancy, makes the difference for cameras. Especially as the camera gets older, you can always buy new memory. Maybe next time Pixii, lots of good ideas here!
I would love to try one of these, such a beauty. I recently picked up an Epson r-d1 and there is definitely a magic and charm to a camera thats digital but uses a rangefinder focus system.
@flagger2020 So far, I am impressed with the amount of thought behind the camera. When I received it, the dial on top that corresponded with battery life was very badly out of alignment to the point where it was useless for checking the remaining battery life. Luckily, there is an option in the settings to calibrate the needles on the dial. Now it's spot on. The highest focal lens Ive tried on it so far is a 35mm (53mm after crop factor) and even though the rangefinder base length is short I had no issue nailing focus at the same speed as other rangefinders I've tried. Other mechanics such as shutter and shutter winding lever are all pretty solid and seem reliable! As far as build quality, the only weak point really is the frameline selector is plastic and a tad flimsy. But im almost exclusively going to use the 35mm so not too bad for me.
As the owner of several rangefinders like the Yashica Electro GSN, Canon Canonet QL17 GIII, and Minolta Hi-Matic F, I absolutely love that feel you described. I am surprised this is your first rangefinder. The Argus C3 is a classic one especially that has weathered the years nearly flawless and I recommend buying one for pure enjoyment. Kudos on joining into a new system from the ground up, sounds like that was one of the bigger appeals.
Minolta CLE, Yashica GT/GS/GTN/GSN user here, also others. I have to say, i do really *love* a real focus patch into the middle with two overlapping images, like the way it should be - whereas usually a other "cheap" rangefinders are just using a square or diamond patch, to align into place, whileas focusing your rangefinder.
Without a global shutter (mechanical would be ideal) you will get banding in artificial lighting. Factor in the price and it makes the Pixii one of the worst values on the market.
The only issue with this camera is the APS-C. I know pixii is very high-tech and boutique item but it still is too much for small sensor. Considering how niche this is, its most probable and realistic competitor will be used leica bodies such as M8, M9, M240. They are old and slow in every possible way compared to pixii, but target audience of pixii probably would not care about that kind of stuff at first place. Digital leicas from 00's-early 10's have much better viewfinder/rangefinder and better color output.
After taxes, it's almost the same price as a used M10, they need to add a proper mechanical shutter and a full frame sensor(not for IQ reasons, just so M lenses retain they're original focal length)
Yeah I totally agree, I would def consider this camera if it had a full frame sensor (so i can use the same M lenses i use on my sony and bessa) but id rather just wait a couple years and save up for a used leica at this price point
Your entire channel is built on using early digital cameras. In many of these I’m sure you’ve gotten newly manufactured batteries to help them run again back to their old glory. Memory cards have a defined lifecycle. (Good ones could be 5000 cycles). But in the life of a camera, some of the ones you use are pre 2000s. It would be a shame to have a fail point like internal memory to keep the camera from being run. It should also be noted, most manufacturers using internal memory are still offering removable media in conjunction. 5000 cycles may sound like a lot (and this is a generous number) but that’s just 200 cycles per year if the camera lasts the next 25 years. That may sound like a while (because it is) but it has planned obsolescence in a way
Nah that answer about the built in memory is absolute bull SHIT. Sounds like they either wanted to capitalize on the markup, or they couldn't figure something out during engineering to get an SD card slot in a good location. Never, and I mean NEVER have I ever heard of a photographer saying "man, these SD cards are so unreliable and slow I wish someone would force me to have internal memory ONLY." I would understand some internal memory like on the leica M11 series, but only internal and starting at 64gb with large markups for each option above it? That's just thievery. At the camera's measly 5 fps shooting capability with an apsc sensor there's no reason internal memory would be needed for speed. With that kind of answer there's no chance he's getting my money ever.
I have nothing against the idea of a more "analogue feel" digital camera - but the price is ridiculous and seems predatory when you consider that every omission is a major cost saving for Pixii. Its got a good sensor, but everything else is manual and they have intentionally cut out a lot of what you would expect in a high end modern interchangeable lens mirrorless camera. It has no autofocus. It has no rear display. It has none of the accompanying hardware and software elements. It only has a "dumb" viewfinder (i.e. not a hybrid like Leica's). These are all major cost savings. And yet this is 3x the cost of a top of the line, "everything and the kitchen sink" APSC camera like the Sony A6700. Build quality? I haven't seen a Pixii in the flesh so can' say - educated guess though I doubt it would justify a $2k price gap. It is full machined aluminium, which is a plus - but premium APSC mirrorless cameras have full magnesium alloy bodies and much more complex designs to accommodate more features. The Pixii is just a box. Economies of scale? Here I can see a more valid argument but I really can't imagine any economies of scale being so aggressive that it would cost Pixii 3X the cost to make a camera compared to Sony when what they are making lacks so many of the features that make modern mirrorless cameras expensive. Basically I think Pixii is using hipster street cred and artificial nostalgia to take its customers for a ride...
*If i purchase a beautiful Car and treat it correctly but after 7-10 years i have 200K miles regardless if the inside of my car and how nice it looks outside the engine will need major work eventually. Internal Memory is written over and over it will start to corrupt data. Even in 10-15 years when this camera is nostalgic you kill re-sell value when we know its no reparable*
Their explanation about external memory is ridiculous. Even if this piece of... thing require such high performance, durability is always should be over it, not vice versa.
I would buy this in a heartbeat if it wasn't so anti-repairist with it's non-removable storage etc. I get that everyone wants to be the Apple of *industry* but that is just an asshole move. SD card slots are easy and cheap to replace. I guess "cheap" is why they don't want those in their camera but I'm only assuming they will be anti third-party repair, hope I am wrong. Are they really assuming that people who buy a camera for $3000 don't know to buy faster SD cards? Is this really the argument? "performance"? Pfft.
This honestly feels like a really good niche alternative to owning a Leica. You get a hybrid experience of shooting both digital and film, all for half the price of an actual Leica.
Except for the fact that Leica has shown strong pro-consumer intent with things like their L mount while this camera gives strong anti-consumer vibes with its non-user-operatable integrated soldered memory.
@@PooMonkeyMan I know. But it is a status item. And a Leica doesn't offer anything unique for me although their mirrorless cameras look very capable. I feel rangefinder cameras limit my capability...inaccurate focusing and framing. Slow and very limited lens choices. (E.g. I use TSE and zoom lenses.) Even the old Sony A6000 with lowly 16-50 is very capable when images are processed via DXO. An old relatively inexpensive full frame A7R2 produces amazingly good results. Most improvenents in recent years are in AF, video and burst speed/duration. (Which matter very little to me.)
It comes with 32gb and costs quite a bit of money to upgrade the internal storage. Where it costs a whopping $482 to upgrade to 128gb. Which is probably the main reason they don't allow external storage. A used Leica M (typ262) can be found cheaper and has a 24mp full frame sensor. Love to hear about rangefinder alternatives to Leica, but the CEO response, the way they market it on their website, etc sorta leave a bad taste in my mouth.
All of what you say is true. And it is not a camera for everybody. It is a bit quirky. But, it has great color and image. Pixii has tuned the sensor well. I have one and have had it for a few years. I got the CPU upgrade when it was offered. I am happy with the camera. I will be trying the native RAW B&W. David Barth and his crew have a gem here. A special gem. Thanks for you great review.
Could you post examples of the supposedly true B&W RAW vs the colour RAW converted into B&W? Cos from what I understand, it seems impossible to reconstruct the true B&W values once light has already passed through the bayer filter. I wonder if anyone has a M11 Monochrome to shoot in APS-C mode vs the Pixii to test this out.
I can see the theoretical advantage of upgrading and replacing parts, but other than pricing I don’t see really anything valuable vs Leicas. I use them professionally, including two Ms. Some cameras are going the way of built in memory in addition to cards, but memory only means that you lose redundancy and add complication. And finally I believe liveview or an EVF is necessary in a rangefinder when you go below 35 or over 50 mm. It looks just like lack of space in the box driving such decisions and impacting performance Anyhow interesting to know and good that you asked their CEO, regardless of the (poor) quality of the answers he came back with.
There is only one reason to not put upgradable memory on a camera and that is greed: They get to sell you the built-in memory at a much more expensive price than its worth, just like in laptops and phones. And the memory on a camera sees a LOT of write operations, so it will last only a few years before the flash memory gives the ghost and you have an expensive repair, or you have to buy a new camera. Any company that does this deserves to fail and burn imo. No love from me whatsoever here.
@@patrickjclarke the flash memory writing cycle is dependant on the size Vs what's written to it. The more writing cycles go by, the worse it gets, just like charging cycles on batteries. Idk what you use your laptop for but I never filled my 512 GB on my Lenovo in 6 years of usage. Yes the OS will use temporary files in storage and apple was famous for killing the early M1 Ssds due to this, but as a user I don't write heavily to an SSD on a laptop. However, I regularly fill my 128gb SD card on my cameras and I don't even use video. If you have a camera for video then the problem is 10 times worse obviously. Besides the timeframes are different: a laptop from 2015 is old and can be seen as needing replacement. But a camera from 2015 can still do almost everything a modern camera can. I bought a used camera from 2016 last year and it still looks and works like new! I just bought it a new battery and a new SD card and it was good to go. I use DSLR cameras from 2010 now and then even. You wouldn't be able to do that if a camera had built-in storage as that is just a wear part. Imagine a camera with a built-in battery and you'll see what I mean. I don't get people defending such companies, do you actually prefer that Microsoft limit what you could have done with your laptop? You know how cheap modern SSDs are? You could fit a 2 TB SSD in your old laptop for 80 bucks if Microsoft didn't decide to be greedy. So why are you actually happy about it?
@@TheRoadrunner11 I edit videos, do after effects, and photo stuff so constantly filling and using the SSD. And yes, by the time (on a computer) it fails I’m needing a newer faster model so I don’t want to go back to the janky days of everything can be user upgraded. I want reliable and performant. Cameras, yeah you could argue against that as I still have my first Sony A100 from 2006, but if it died tomorrow I wouldn’t cry. I can see an argument against battery being inside, but that’s not the case with the Pixii.
@@patrickjclarke Even if you will upgrade the laptop soon (I understand, I upgraded my 2014 Lenovo in 2021 too), I don't understand why you wouldn't want to have the option to upgrade things? The SSD and Ram won't be less performant or janky if you were allowed to replace them yourself. These are standard parts, especially the SSD. Soldering it on the Mainboard makes almost no difference to performance. They only did it so they can offer multiple tiers to sell you the storage at double the price. And it keeps getting cheaper with time. As a practical example from my laptop, in 2015 I bought it an upgrade to the previously mentioned 512 GB SSD and it cost 150 bucks. That same 150 bucks today could get me 3 TB of SSD! So while I understand laptops get old and needing to be replaced faster than cameras, I still don't support the argument that we don't need replacing abilities in them. And as for built-in batteries, it's only a matter of time once people accept the sealed in storage. The new insta 360 action camera came with both a built-in storage and a built-in battery and people seem to love it! Yes that is built-in everything on a video camera and no one is saying a word. I think people just aren't too diligent about the longevity of the things they own these days.
@@TheRoadrunner11 I get your points, and I used to be that way too, but now I just buy what I need and by the time I outgrow it, I need an upgrade anyway. My old Android phones, I HAD to have an SD option, and hated when I would get an iPhone (I use both for work) and it didn't have it...but now? I just want to set it and forget it. My latest iPhone is 512 GB and my iPad Pro is 1TB...I have options that meet my needs for a LONG time...and I guess I don't mind the price to just not worry about it anymore. And yes, it's less common to have janky ram modules that cause kernal panics, or a "removable" HD (true story) in a laptop that would lose it's connection and corrupt data (it also would do that on the DVD drive too. I agree there should always be options both ways, and think forcing companies to put in removable batteries, or use USB-C is the same thing as ONLY having proprietary things for everyone.
I have a Pixii and the Fujis, XPro 1, Xpro2, and XPRO3. I had and sold my X100V. I also have a Leica Q2 Monochrom. The Pixii is a really amazing and incredibly frustrating camera. As a camera, the experience is similar to film or the Leica M-D or M10-D. I agree that the appeal includes being part of a very small and innovative group of users. It can be frustrating with the development issues. Inconsistent white balance, freeze ups, etc. The problems seem to be reducing as new software updates become available. It certainly isn’t my main camera, not even my 2nd camera, but I am happy to have purchased it.
Hey, the Pixii is awesome and all, but what I really want you to talk about are those soviet lenses! The Russar 20mm specially, I've always wanted a copy of that one. Also the Jupiter 12... Anyway, just in case you want to make videos nobody will want to watch! 🤣
Wow--it's great to see innovation and it's very cool that you're supporting it! I'm especially intrigued by the Pixii's monochrome mode. After reading about it on their website it seems like an interesting alternative to just discarding the color information of an image...
You hit the nail on the head at the end. It's absolutely fine to enjoy the existence of products ... while also acknowledging they are not for you. People have a really, really hard time with this concept. We have options for a reason. Buy the one for you, let others do the same.
@@kalinmir I don't see how that relates to my point unless you somehow misunderstood me. My point is simply: people judge products based on their needs instead of the solution the product offers, and often extend that judgment all the way to those who choose such a product. A nonsense take that's made many photography communities very toxic.
@@SourPlanet I'd say that a need for ease of repair (regarding internal memory) is quite universal even beyond photography...It is true that saying that a particular camera is bad based on its general categorization is nonsense...but I don't see people having issue with that here
@@kalinmir I don't really know what people have issue with, as I tend to steer clear of comments these days. Self care lol. I'm just going by a particular thing he said in the video. But yes, you won't catch me buying a camera that relies on internal storage. I've had enough storage of all types bite the dust to know better.
I have been a photographer since 1965. I've worked commercially since 1975. I have owned hundreds of cameras including many rangefinders. (Canon, Nikon, Linhof, Leica, Zeiss.) I never liked rangefinders and see them a a crude antiquated way to try to achieve focus and roughly frame an image. Their drawbacks are so numerous that by choosing to use a rangefinder you are handicapping your ability to focus and frame accurately...two critical functions. Using a camera with a good EVF will give you way more capability than any rangefinder camera provides. Being able to instantly review the image on an LCD or EVF to confirm it and shoot variations is absolutely rudimentary in getting better images. As for removable storage...dual slots provide critical redundancy for pros. But you all know this.
What appeals: rangefinder focusing, LCD up top for basic settings, no LCD screen, weight (around 500g), M mount (lens choices), no card slot (guys we been using phone cameras in the same way for years) What doesn't appeal: no full frame (but just saw new announcement), maybe battery life, price
For less than this thing, I got the Sony A7CR. Full frame with APSC crop mode if that's what you REALLY need. Non-rangefinder pulls you out of the moment? Please. Yeah, better to look for frame lines to make sure you're actually getting the shot than looking in the viewfinder and seeing the actual shot.
With 7 employees and about $1 million value, this is a company making very specific toys for very tiny niche markets. More like a collectable oddity than a real photography tool for mass market. So whatever they want to make is fine.
Having no SD card and having the lower storage option be just 16gb is very telling of what a money grab they're trying to make it. The replies you got were typical mumbo jumbo. The camera looks ok and the idea too, but 16gb in 2023-24? Nope, that's not a thing anymore unless you're trying to rip people off.
Love the Pixii! People who are hung up on specs can keep buying boring uninspiring Japanese cameras. They will never understand cameras like the Pixii or the Leica or why someone would use a film camera anyway.
I wish my Fuji had firmware where I could just turn off all the features I don't need(like all the video stuff). With the Pixii, I was hoping that they would offer open firmware or at least develop it openly on Github. I see unfortunately nothing of it. The camera also does not meet my ideas of minimalism (No LEDs, especially not next to the viewfinder! M bayonet, but only APS-C?), I do not really know who the target audience is. Except tech bloggers and hipsters who are still waiting for their Leica.
May I suggest as a professional image maker for the past 55 years - why not cut to the chase, and get yourself an old Nikon or Canon analog camera and shoot some film? You would be faced with understanding shutter speeds -iris settings ISO's values etc...to perform a correct exposure. You won't have a 14-stop diaper/latitude to cover your butt for potential screw-ups. What this $3000 camera offers makes no sense at all, unless you could load it with a roll of film. I love cameras, but this version does not add to anything related to photography, sorry.
All this fuss about storage ignores the fact that it’s easy to back up from the Pixii to a computer or usb drive-and backing up is what we all should be doing with any digital camera. By way, what is that silver 35mm on yours? Looks Russian?
I don't buy the argument about the in-built flash. If they actually need the extra performance, they could have modularized their flash storage, flash chips are CHEAP. It's fine to say they wanted as minimal a design as possible, but this is an argument that doesn't hold well IMO. Also, the other components will far outlive the storage as they themselves said, so this objectively means they're be e-waste prematurely.
I like the design of this camera but I can't reward companies for taking out integral features like an SD card slot. Losing the LCD is cool but losing the SD card slot makes it seem like a toy camera. The last video you did made that part sound like SOOOO much cope tbh, like if the SD card dies you can replace the SD card but internal storage dies and you're screwed. If it were half the price and had an SD card slot I'd probably get it but idk if I care enough about digital to do that. Analog is just more fun
trank you - although I won't buy in this system (Leica M Glass too expensive and with a bad price/value relation), only fine for Voigtländer lenses.. interesting out of the box thinking concept though
I just don't get, even if I try. A cropped sensor, non removable memory, no option for screen (could have been fordable or hidden).....and a 3k price tag. It's not even a collectors camera. I own about 45 digital cameras and this completely stands out as in no way Id pay even a hundred bucks.
Another difference between this and the Fujifilm is possibly the user experience in its interactions with its app. I own a Fujifilm xt-20 and getting it sync'd with the Fujifilm app does my head in. It is so bonkers annoying that I don't use it as much as I would like, for that reason. Also since the Pixii so seemlessly connects up with your phone or other device then onboard storage is not all that big a deal is it?
"The desire is manufactured just as the product itself is manufactured". Novelty, simplification, throw back to the past + a few other ingredients = some people will pay $3K for the feeling they need this.
....and just as I finished shit talking the Pixii, my wife gave me a Pixii for my birthday on the advice of someone in our photo club. Well, I guess I'm stuck with it!
It has way too many compromises for the money. Using APSC in the M mount ecosystem is really not ideal. Going Fuji or Leica would allow access to a much better experience and ecosystem.
Still don't buy the memory explanation. Performance wont matter since it's basically only relevant for video and sports, something this camera will probably not have as a main focus point. As for reliability I'm pretty sure all serious photographers have dual memory cards for the very reason to not have a single point of failure, i.e. the built in flash memory. I suspect the real reason was simply to cheap out on designing and producing extra slots, and perhaps even a bit more sinister to increase profits by upselling more memory, like modern laptops and phones do. I do think the camera is interesting though, and it certainly is a good thing that start ups making weird cameras such as this can get some traction.
Nah... if I'm paying that much for a camera it HAS to have multiple memory card slots. I'll take the risk on myself. It's a cool camera but that's absolutely a no go...
Yeah his reasoning about internal memory is pure bs. CF express cards are as capable as any internal memory. Aftet watching this video, it makes me more skeptic about this company.
I love this camera, the only reason what made me chose Leica over the Pixii was full frame VS APSC. If the Pixii was full frame I would have bought it easily.
I almost bought this camera but didn't for one sole reason that you have noit covered in this video. The sync to Android phones does not happen as it should. The whole concept of not chimping on the screen and seeing the photo on your phone was a bit selling point but despite 3 versions of the camera this is still not fixed. Surprising to be honest. Some clever high school kids with IT knowledge can fix this issue
![Leica M10 vs Fujifilm X-Pro3 | The Best Digital Rangefinder [style] Cameras](/img/1.gif)
I'm honestly surprised someone hasn't made an updated version of the Epson R-D1. It was such a unique experience and the design is perfect for people longing for an analog-meets-digital camera.
Epson would break the photography world if they came out of nowhere again with an absolutely steller fullframe rangefinder.
Don't think cosina has enough bessa bodies left to do it.
Someone has: Pixii.
Erm, the Pixii pretty much *is* the updated R-D1 😅
R-D1 is built on a real film camera that was solidly engineered by a company that built many other manufacturers "oem" bodies. To prime the shutter you have to cock with the film wind on lever. Ie one is built on an analog camera using a well known and regarded film range finder, the other is a built from scratch to an evolving vision (this is V2) which might be losing a lot of the historical camera DNA that didn't make it into the final vision. That's why this is V2. I'm glad they have an update path built in the program, but the Bessa used for the R-D1 was very mature already. This makes the pixii NOT an updated version of the Epson which was analog camera with digital media, but the pixii is mostly a digital creature and fundamentally different, even if they both take pictures and focus manually. The experience is [very] different.
During the past month I have had the opportunity to borrow the latest version of the Pixii, comparing it to the M10M/R's that own. The Pixii does have some unique selling points: price, upgradable, and the ability to create a RAW DNG in black and white, even though the sensor is a color sensor. And its shutter is very quiet - pleasingly so. But in every other tangible way it is a failure - its ergonomics are terrible. It is like holding a brick and no 3rd party accessories exist to rectify that. It's viewfinder is nowhere as good or clear as a Leica one. The lack of a memory slot makes it impractical for news and event, which is what I use my M10's for among other things. If the internal memory fills up, you need to stop and deal with that vs. just popping in a new memory slot. It is not a full sensor - so focal lengths are treated and behave differently due to the crop factor. Material fit and finish is nowhere near as nice as a Leica - and it is oddly delicate and cheap at the same time. And here's the biggest thing - what is Pixii's potential as a company and a brand with such a niche solution? It is certainly possible they can survive on selling hundreds / year, but it is equally possible they fail, whereas Leica is more likely to remain. So, that brings you back to price - in my opinion for a more superior experience with less risk, you are better of buying a gently used M10 of some variation than buying a new one of these. Better ergonomics, comparable material results, more accessories, memory cards, brighter viewfinder, less risk.
The thing is that they should try CFE cards instead of SDs, they are more reliable and the slots are better, I don't see argument againts this idea in 2023. It's a bummer for anyone considering one professionally, they should listen and fix this concern, I want to own my camera, no being dependent on their upgradibility program or whatever idea they have.
Personally I think Pixii should be applauded regardless of whether anyone likes it or not. A lot of people bang on about it only having internal storage (as does the Hasselblad X2D) even though you can attach a usb-c flash drive to it if you needed to free up space. I haven't used one but I have seen a set of 20x24" prints shot on the Pixii side by side with same size prints shot on a Leica M10 (same paper and same Epson P8000 printer) at the same time and with the exact same lens (28mm Zeiss ZM) and guess what, the Pixii prints knocked spots off of the Leica prints. Its a very Zen like camera, in some respects its very limiting (maybe a handful of usable focal lengths) but its also very liberating. If its not for you then fine but from what I know they have a waiting list, so somebody likes it.
Great overview and wonderful camera. Aesthetically it is beautiful! I have a few film rangefinders and I can see the appeal over a slr. The more cameras ( good cameras) that are made the better, We need a bit of spice in the mix sometimes! Thanks for sharing and always great content. The money is secondary to the enjoyment that camera will bring!
So the CEO basically didnt give an answer to "what if the internal memory fails and your camera is bricked". He just said "nah it'll be fine" lol
At that price i hope the usb-c is a thunderbolt 3 or 4 at least. And a 1tb nvme ssd in the internal storage…
This is a serious question,if you had the money,could this be the camera you keep forever. I would really like to know if the build feels like a lifetime in your hand. Thanks
My *only* criticism about this camera, is the fact that it does not have a mechanical shutter. I don't mind the APS-C sensor, or the lack of removable storage, or other criticism, but *electronic shutters generate banding under artificial light, and rolling shutter*, this limits my usage of this camera. I currently use a Leica M240 which I purchased used, less expensive that the PiXii and more versatile for my usage, and I can upgrade to 64GB without paying an arm and a leg for the upgrade. This camera is very interesting but is niche within a niche. It is a great concept, but I feel it was too "young" to be sold in the market. I think most people will buy it out of curiosity and resell it soon after. I'll wait for a mechanical shutter version.
His reasoning for internal memory I'm not buying it. Memory can go bad at anytime. I know there was a report about Nintendo Wii U bricking because they are no plugged in for over a year. And Nintendo said the Switch needs to be plugged in once a year or the memory can go bad. SD cards go bad all the time.
Come on how hard is it to make a SD slot and if the SD goes bad the worse is you put in another SD card. It would be best for dual card slots.
Cudos to Pixii for even making it to the market! Respect!
"What happens when the internal memory fails?" - "It probably won't. YOLO!"
Not the answer I was hoping for. But that's what you get when you pay 3k for a hipster-toy-camera. Rangefinders were neat for film due to the smaller size - but for digital any mirrorless camera with an EVF does the trick - only better. No guesswork when focussing, no calibrating lenses, no "Oh I wish this was in focus" or "Oh no, that was over/underexposed." This is re-inventing a square wheel. The fact that they had to add "auto-ISO" shows that this "point-and-hope" method quickly gets old and people just want usable results.
I don't know if the camera is interesting for me, but I really like the philosophy of the CEO behind it.
Hi ))) Cool camera! This camera sounds very interesting. Thanks for the video!
Would love one but the price !!!! which i can understand as its a niche camera, much as i like my OM1 its just got too clinical, perhaps not the right word but hey ho, ive recently gone back to film plus shooting with an old E1 and an old E3 which i love and the OM1has taken a back seat, i just want a basic digital manual camera, yes i know you can set a moderdigitsl to manual but its just not the same as shooting with an old film camera
Is that camera the latest Model A2572?
Excellent video, thank you. I am intrigued by this camera and its point of difference. What wide angle would you prefer on it? I was reading that the Zeiss 28mm ZM Biogon is a good match for the Pixii Plus. What are your thoughts? Greetings from New Zealand, Birgit
Yeah bullshit response from the CEO on the memory question. Massive props to you for acknowledging and taking it up to them with the platform you have!
Sassy camera overall still, I'm half hoping that Fuji X-Pro 4 ditches the screen too - since Leica and Pixii have shown that it can be viable and desirable. X-Pro 3 is near perfect, but the flip down screen is a failure point (specifically the display ribbon cable) and one of the common issues with it. Fuji can't make a half decent mobile app though, so probably not happening.
I do think the Xpro3 is pretty dang sweet. Loving the risks Fuji is taking with some of their models.
3:00 just because one says it's a good idea, doesn't make it so. Anyone can call themselves a King.
While I have no intention of buying this camera, I do worry about the built-in memory. But! If you get a good five-ten years out of it which I'm sure you will, no problem.
It's the resell value many years down the road that's iffy especially if Pixii goes belly up with no one being able to service it.
yeah would think that card slot would be point of failure but also it would be there if internal memory fails. Even micro sd slot for peace of mind would be better than no slot.
@@FPSakari 100%
These cameras are so cool. Id love to own one.
I just realized that I rarely ever change sd cards on my cameras. Even when doing family sessions. Just wish this was full frame for the price . A used m10 is going as low as 3600.
External VFs, framelines limiting focal length. More proof that the only rangefinders that matter have leaf shutters. Seriously though that's way too much for apsc.
Integrated memory can be more reliable than removeable, it also can be faster... But at the same time there are pretty reliable and fast removeable memory options... The idea that it simplified the engineering seems like a half truth. Its not like working with SD cards is harder from an electrical or software perspective.
Doesn't the x-pro line have a real RF?
Well being a crop sensor renders it pretty much unuseable if you want to use your M glass at native focal lengths. Maybe they didn’t want to step too much on Leica’s toes.
I asked him about that too, but he seemed unbothered by the crop and just said he thinks about it differently. I was hoping for a more practical answer about why APSC over FF (I would assume prize, access to sensors, etc) but that was it.
@@snappinessThank you for the response. That’s a shame though you didn’t get a better answer.
Nope. Still just change my mind about the built-in memory. XQD or CFE Type B are plenty good. This camera is cool, but, why not just get a Leica Typ240?
Something has caught my curiosity. Maybe I missed something. But it looks like you have at least two different lenses for this thing. How would a range finder without a screen be able to focus both of them? Or was it 2 different cameras?
I'm not great at explaining, but they are rangefinder coupled lenses, so there is a connection between the focus and the focus patch that changes the focusing patch lens to lens (as long as it is an RF coupled lens)
I don’t have to like (or afford) this camera to like the idea of this camera. Watching it’s development closely
aye good camera. i would buy one if you could out a wide angle lens on it. but as its a cropped sensor apparently wide angle lenses block the rangefinder which is kind of stupid for something that people prob want a 28mm equiv lens on. people dont always want to zone focus
the only reason they don't have removable storage is so they can sell you 112gb extra for 450€. and only having 128gb as max is also laughable
I really like the concept but I think that I'm a bit extreme when it comes to photography. When I want the vintage experience then I go all in and use vintage cameras with film and do a darkroom session afterwards. When I shoot digital then I want all the benefits of modern technology. I definitely want a Pixii but I fear that it would just collect dust on my shelf after a while. I already have a 100F sitting on that shelf and that's a shame.
A really nice camera but too expensive. Nothing justifies such a price.
Could get a Canon P and 71 rolls of portra 400 including development for 3k
if they dont like SD cards (wich are fast enough for 4k video at this point)
why not use M.2 storage? or a Sata Interface like the 8k+ film cameras do?
seriusly if he wants reliable fast storage there are so many options that are industry standards and have been for decades
The CEO's responses don't really mitigate the obvious problems people have with the internal memory situation. And honestly I get creeped out when you mentioned at 5:33 being a part of a company by buying their product, it says it all. They are doing the same thing that sells consumer products that apple does. They are selling a lifestyle and self image and you're identifying yourself as part of their success and will therefore advocate and sell their products for them. frankly disgusting.
Yeah, not buying performance and failure arguments. At least give SD slot as a redundant memory and write photos to both at once.
They are losing customers over the card slot thing. I would not buy this camera and I have the money to buy it, and the m lenses to use with it. That decision makes an already niche camera even moreso.
@@jw48335also the relatively small number of framelines and the APSC crop most people's existing set of lenses completely different focal lengths. Cool idea that needs refinement
Until it's full frame and with a mechanical shutter it's kinda pointless anyway. No M lenses to compensate for the crop factor at all.
😂 card or integrated mem... You are concentrating on superficial technical stuff, instead of creating. If that's what makes you choose a camera, than it's not art that you wanna make, but indulge your sense of owning specs...
I love the idea of integrated memory and I have only used as cards and many have failed.
I agree that both options would be nice, but it's far from important thing in life
@@windvI own cameras going back to 1946. I'm not buying a $3k luxury camera with a built-in death sentence. This is exactly the type of camera where these details matter. If I just cared about "art" I would never be looking at this camera.
For $3000, it should really have a full frame sensor. From what I gather it is a crop sensor. For anybody looking for a tactile quirky compact interchangeable lens camera, I highly recommend looking into a Sigma fp or fp-L. The kind of people that this camera is aimed at are also interested in vintage lenses, which work how they were meant to when used with a full frame camera. (The image sensor being the same size that 35mm film used to be.
The Sigma FP is a really cool setup (I love quirky, as you probably guessed). Maybe I'll try it someday.
Couldn't agree more! if it's full frame, it's a half-price M10/M11, It would be so competitive, making them the true budget Leica M. I can use my M lenses and get the full experience. But only crop? I don't know... for that price I rather get a Leica CL, which I can get L glasses and also adapt M lens, more options. plus CL has a screen...(Ultimately I want to take pictures with it, not just look cool with it, and having a screen makes it so much easier). They market it as it's competing with M10/11, but it's more like competing with the CL. which for me, for the price I rather get a CL(at least it's a Leica.....)
@@snappiness I have owned the FP-L for over a year and I love it. I customized it with a wood grip, I have a small collection of prime lenses. It has really motivated me to take my photography to the next level. It's been around for a while and I'm pretty sure its still the smallest body with a full fame 61mp sensor.
Given the chonk of the body I assumed it was FF. But yeah, you are right its APSC! Nothing wrong with that but like you say for the price and for the use case it seems like a bit of an own goal.
@@JimIBobIJones I think the sensor size may be influenced by the electronic shutter performance. Too big a sensor increases the rolling shutter distortion. It can happen at APSC but rarely.
To me that’s big time CEO speak that does the thing I’ve seen as I’ve worked in the tech industry for 15 years. It doesn’t actually address the question/concern but focuses on the benefit of the choice they as a company have made. Like what ACTUALLY happens if this gets bricked? Can you send it in for a memory recovery fix? Is there a viable warranty that states its real world cycles number? Does the he partition off a portion for recovery mode options? No concrete answer just a “we believe internal HD is a more robust solution that has a lower likelihood of failure so we went that route”
Yeah it is completely unreasonable of them to assume that someone who buys a camera for this amount of money won't have a fast enough SD card for it. Besides that, replacing an SD card slot on a device is trivially easy and cheap so I assume that's why they do it; to milk you of an extra couple hundred bucks in case this thing fails for some reason.
Also, the way they dodged the question is very dishonest and Apple-esque.
#righttorepair
Yeah his reasoning is complete bs. How is something that bricks the camera when it fails “more reliable.” At least when my sd cards die I can just swap it instantly. Not to mention I also have redundancy with a 2nd sd card. Imagine telling a client that all their photos might be gone and that you have to send the camera in before you can keep shooting.. “Can you do your wedding again in 2 months so I can shoot it completely?”
Very good point, at least the assurance of warranty and parts for servicing was needed.
I was looking for this. Kinda sus to me, he answered it like real politician. And the consumer are tied up with the maintenance scheme, uh, "upgrade" scheme. 4:18
Even with swapable storage like SD cards, the camera is still going to have internal storage for the camera's operating system, and probably some space for buffering (or is that done purely in RAM in most cameras? I kinda doubt it). So you still have that internal storage that does get a bunch of read and writes and could fail and brick the camera.
So your argument is that making that internal storage bigger and using it to read/write DNGs is going to make it much more likely to fail. I don't buy that argument, personally. Sounds like FUD.
The concerns about warranty and repairs with a small startup are super valid, but then it's just buyer beware. If you can't take that risk, do go with a large established brand with a good repair program.
I'm not a fan of built in storage, it's awful from a usability and repairability standpoint.
In order to replace the memory, you must disassemble and replace either the main board, or a daughter board. This board likely has more components than just memory, so you end up replacing working parts so the board is going to have to cost more. It'll be expensive for the parts and having to mail it in and have them do it for you.
How do you get the pictures off the device? Do you do this by plugging in a usb port? USB ports also have a rated lifetime, so this will increase the strain on it if that's the only way to copy your photos off. If it's via Wi-FI, that will drain your battery and be fairly slow and incompatible with some peoples workflows.
This also introduces a new problem in the field if you fill your memory since you can't just put a new card in, so you have to copy all your photos off to another device, then clear the memory before you can begin shooting again.
I also don't think the write speed performance increase is necessary for this style of camera, the main advantages for that are in video, outside of that it would be in being able to flush the memory buffer at a higher rate when using a burst mode. So if you held a burst shot until the memory buffer is filled, the write speed would allow it to flush to storage quicker, and theoretically allow higher sustained rates of frame capture.
The main benefit for removing sd cards in phones was to eliminate the back panel and improve water resistance which I don't think is applicable here as I'm guessing there's a tray for a removable battery, and if not, yikes.
In my experience, the SD card slot has never been a reliability problem for me, so this solution introduces more problems than it solves. I've gone through many sd cards to the point where they fail, but I also buy stacks of them at a time so I never run out. If the slot itself were to fail, I would feel a lot more confident repairing that myself than integrated storage.
I really admire pixii for their work on this camera. Personally, I can't bring myself to buy it. The fact that the pixii has a cropped sensor (I like my 28mm too much) and isn't compatible with several m-mount lenses I own is unfortunate.
You have that kind of money to drop? That blows my mind.
Yeah, I can see that. I did ask him about that too and why they landed on APSC, but I didn't get a clear answer.
I'll take a 32 bit APSC over 14bit full frame, all day every day. Theoretically i can do a very natural looking picture without blown out tones without putting the camera on a tripod and doing 5-7 stops of exposure.
same issue here. i am not married to my digital M body but i am married to a 50mm 1.4 lens.
@@mrfuzzy2954 You're confusing the processor bit and bit depth of the sensor. There exists no 32 bit sensor. The highest bit depth sensors now are those found in medium formats that go up to 16 bit. This sensor is literally the same cut/architecture as the a6700, X-T3/4, and a 1.5x crop of the A7R4/5 sensor. The marketing fluff from Pixii doesn't make sense at all cos it basically means the processor is capable of 64 bit processing. It *doesn't* improve image quality. Just like how chucking a i9 processor into the computer won't turn your photos into a higher quality one in Lightroom.
The lack of SD card port shows some genuine spite towards the consumer base.
That's probably the weirdest take I've read on this camera.
@@SlashCampable It's inherently bad design. The camera is for rich people who enjoy expensive toys, like a dentist who shoots on leica. The internal flash memory WILL fail, and the customer has no idea who provides it and what is the terabytes written spec of it (how long it will last.)
@@SlashCampable Lol I just checked their website and see they're releasing a 4336 dollar full frame camera which STILL does not have a card slot. And the storage only goes up to 128gb (which will cost more than 4336 dollars.)
Literally the smallest SD cards I own are 256 gigabytes, and they cost less than 20 dollars.
OMG AND IT STILL USES MICRO USB, over 8 years after it was deprecated and replaced with USB C. On a 5000 dollar product, they are saving 50 cents of a connector on a 5000 dollar product.
It's rare I feel this way but I kinda hope this company goes under, what a shit show. They hate their own customers.
Damn, I feel the exact same way about my Sigma SD Quattro H
- blew quite a lot of money on it
- it's unpractical as f, autofocus doesn't really work so manual focus is the name of the game
- I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for an averagely good camera
- as a camera nerd though, this is by far the coolest cameras I've ever bought and I don't think I would ever sell it, the images are just beautiful
Of course Sigma isn't exactly a small company where you can get the CEO on the horn, but looking at the number and philosophy of Sigma cameras I think it's fair to assume it's not super far!
I couldn’t afford the Q-H, but did pick up an old SD15. It’s clunky and slow yet takes wonderful pictures. Don’t think I could part with it either.
@@matthewsisson1234 I was super fortunate to catch a pretty big error on MPB's part, otherwise I couldn't afford it either !
It was listed at 640€ as a regular SDQ, while the SDQH generally commands prices upwards of 1300€ as imports from japan.
that being said, 640€ is still the most money I've ever dropped on a camera lol
The internal storage being more performant is nice, except I doubt that users of the pixii will shoot at high framerates. getting it off of the camera is an argument, but i think when the failure rate of the embedded storage is being mentioned, yet the fact that when an sd card fails you can buy a new one. While it is nice that they have the upgradability stuff it still means you rely on pixii themselves to fix broken memory. if they ever go out of business and your memory fails? good luck. you're in an even tougher situation than dead memory formats.
Don't get me wrong, I would love a proper rangefinder, unlike the fuji digital rangefinder found on the xpro1 (which i own and do like) but hearing the reasoning from the ceo just make me think i should just save up for a leica instead, or heck even try to put a sensor in a film camera.
I wish them the best and hope they will make a camera that would tick my boxes eventually. but for now there is 0 chance i'd even consider them.
Sensor in a film camera? That's just about every earlier generation DSLR. The Canon 5D is a great place to start.
As for Leica, I think their most compelling product is the SL line. Mirrorless makes all the difference. If you can do without the Leica branding, checkout the Panaonsic S.
@@RobertLeeAtYT I owned a 5D mk2 (loved it, gave it to a friend who wanted to go to school for photography) and i currently own a Panasonic S1, I recommend against the leica SL for the simple reason that it is the same camera as the S1, more expensive and on top of that there is a solid alternative for both the SL and the S1 that is the S5.
That aside, all of those cameras are not rangefinder cameras. and i'm not pointing at rangefinder style, actual rangefinder cameras as shown in the video.
Coming from a hardware guy POV you are right. The internal storage claims are BS, it simply just makes them more money doing it this way, it's exclusively fueled by greed. We have seen it before in the tech industry, this is nothing new but company greed.
My only issue with the Pixii is that it's not full frame. I own Leica glass for my MP. It feels wrong to use it on APSC.
Yep. If this was FF I'd be mighty tempted by it.
I am guessing the cost difference between sensor sizes is big.
@@ChadWilson Most likely. It's already in a luxury class, so might as well go all in.
Lmao what a useless waste of money.
I love the concept of the pixii but for 3000 there's way more cameras that I'd rather buy with the money
Yeah, I definitely get that 😆
Kudos to pixii for providing the only affordable alternative to Leica's rangefinders. Would love to play with this camera, even though I wouldn't pay this much for a toy I might use for a couple of weeks :)
In what world is 3 grand affordable?
@@GabrielSykes I'd like to own this camera but it really isn't affordable enough for my wallet. Will keep using my X-E2 for my poor "leica-ish" experience.
For now I'm happy to stay in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-L1 club for a weirdly satisfying rangefaker experience.
Honestly, I’ve seen used M10s go for less than the Pixii, and you get both a rear LCD as well as the option of an EVF! And if you can deal with APS and the Russian sensor oxide roulette, M8s are quite cheap these days…
@@FPSakari I have an x-e1 is the x-e2 much better in handling do you know. It took me a while to figure out how to get it to impersonate P shift mode which might be fixed on the e2. The e2 is supposed to have better af than the e1, but for purer leica experience we are meant to switch to manual af and my xf lens are focus by wire, so do you use manual focus lenses via adapters and how's the experience?
As a technician I will say I have seen plenty of failed soldered SSDs. Soldering the storage on such a device is not a good idea for longevity. The camera is pretty cool, I just don’t think it’s a good idea because most consumers can’t replace the flash chip should the company go under.
Idk an SD slot, at least for redundancy, makes the difference for cameras. Especially as the camera gets older, you can always buy new memory. Maybe next time Pixii, lots of good ideas here!
I would love to try one of these, such a beauty. I recently picked up an Epson r-d1 and there is definitely a magic and charm to a camera thats digital but uses a rangefinder focus system.
Congrats, how is it mechanically? Have you tested the RF alignment on longer lens? I'm still looking for a good one here.
@flagger2020 So far, I am impressed with the amount of thought behind the camera. When I received it, the dial on top that corresponded with battery life was very badly out of alignment to the point where it was useless for checking the remaining battery life. Luckily, there is an option in the settings to calibrate the needles on the dial. Now it's spot on.
The highest focal lens Ive tried on it so far is a 35mm (53mm after crop factor) and even though the rangefinder base length is short I had no issue nailing focus at the same speed as other rangefinders I've tried.
Other mechanics such as shutter and shutter winding lever are all pretty solid and seem reliable! As far as build quality, the only weak point really is the frameline selector is plastic and a tad flimsy. But im almost exclusively going to use the 35mm so not too bad for me.
As the owner of several rangefinders like the Yashica Electro GSN, Canon Canonet QL17 GIII, and Minolta Hi-Matic F, I absolutely love that feel you described. I am surprised this is your first rangefinder. The Argus C3 is a classic one especially that has weathered the years nearly flawless and I recommend buying one for pure enjoyment. Kudos on joining into a new system from the ground up, sounds like that was one of the bigger appeals.
Minolta CLE, Yashica GT/GS/GTN/GSN user here, also others. I have to say, i do really *love* a real focus patch into the middle with two overlapping images, like the way it should be - whereas usually a other "cheap" rangefinders are just using a square or diamond patch, to align into place, whileas focusing your rangefinder.
Without a global shutter (mechanical would be ideal) you will get banding in artificial lighting. Factor in the price and it makes the Pixii one of the worst values on the market.
The only issue with this camera is the APS-C. I know pixii is very high-tech and boutique item but it still is too much for small sensor. Considering how niche this is, its most probable and realistic competitor will be used leica bodies such as M8, M9, M240. They are old and slow in every possible way compared to pixii, but target audience of pixii probably would not care about that kind of stuff at first place. Digital leicas from 00's-early 10's have much better viewfinder/rangefinder and better color output.
After taxes, it's almost the same price as a used M10, they need to add a proper mechanical shutter and a full frame sensor(not for IQ reasons, just so M lenses retain they're original focal length)
Yeah I totally agree, I would def consider this camera if it had a full frame sensor (so i can use the same M lenses i use on my sony and bessa) but id rather just wait a couple years and save up for a used leica at this price point
Your entire channel is built on using early digital cameras. In many of these I’m sure you’ve gotten newly manufactured batteries to help them run again back to their old glory. Memory cards have a defined lifecycle. (Good ones could be 5000 cycles). But in the life of a camera, some of the ones you use are pre 2000s. It would be a shame to have a fail point like internal memory to keep the camera from being run. It should also be noted, most manufacturers using internal memory are still offering removable media in conjunction.
5000 cycles may sound like a lot (and this is a generous number) but that’s just 200 cycles per year if the camera lasts the next 25 years. That may sound like a while (because it is) but it has planned obsolescence in a way
Nah that answer about the built in memory is absolute bull SHIT. Sounds like they either wanted to capitalize on the markup, or they couldn't figure something out during engineering to get an SD card slot in a good location. Never, and I mean NEVER have I ever heard of a photographer saying "man, these SD cards are so unreliable and slow I wish someone would force me to have internal memory ONLY." I would understand some internal memory like on the leica M11 series, but only internal and starting at 64gb with large markups for each option above it? That's just thievery. At the camera's measly 5 fps shooting capability with an apsc sensor there's no reason internal memory would be needed for speed. With that kind of answer there's no chance he's getting my money ever.
I have nothing against the idea of a more "analogue feel" digital camera - but the price is ridiculous and seems predatory when you consider that every omission is a major cost saving for Pixii.
Its got a good sensor, but everything else is manual and they have intentionally cut out a lot of what you would expect in a high end modern interchangeable lens mirrorless camera.
It has no autofocus. It has no rear display. It has none of the accompanying hardware and software elements. It only has a "dumb" viewfinder (i.e. not a hybrid like Leica's). These are all major cost savings. And yet this is 3x the cost of a top of the line, "everything and the kitchen sink" APSC camera like the Sony A6700.
Build quality? I haven't seen a Pixii in the flesh so can' say - educated guess though I doubt it would justify a $2k price gap. It is full machined aluminium, which is a plus - but premium APSC mirrorless cameras have full magnesium alloy bodies and much more complex designs to accommodate more features. The Pixii is just a box.
Economies of scale? Here I can see a more valid argument but I really can't imagine any economies of scale being so aggressive that it would cost Pixii 3X the cost to make a camera compared to Sony when what they are making lacks so many of the features that make modern mirrorless cameras expensive.
Basically I think Pixii is using hipster street cred and artificial nostalgia to take its customers for a ride...
*If i purchase a beautiful Car and treat it correctly but after 7-10 years i have 200K miles regardless if the inside of my car and how nice it looks outside the engine will need major work eventually. Internal Memory is written over and over it will start to corrupt data. Even in 10-15 years when this camera is nostalgic you kill re-sell value when we know its no reparable*
Their explanation about external memory is ridiculous. Even if this piece of... thing require such high performance, durability is always should be over it, not vice versa.
Fuji Xpro III seems like a better buy. 🤷🏽♂️
They should've went full frame to compete against Leica. That to me would've been a more compelling offer to a lot of people.
Pixii is out-Leicaing Leica at being the Apple of cameras.
There is a lot here that feels Apple-esque, I think that's a fair comparison
When I first moved to Germany I was told it's important to have a hobby and spend as much money on it as possible. So let the haters hate. 😅
David's argument on memory and performance is the dumbest thing i ever heard
I would buy this in a heartbeat if it wasn't so anti-repairist with it's non-removable storage etc. I get that everyone wants to be the Apple of *industry* but that is just an asshole move. SD card slots are easy and cheap to replace. I guess "cheap" is why they don't want those in their camera but I'm only assuming they will be anti third-party repair, hope I am wrong. Are they really assuming that people who buy a camera for $3000 don't know to buy faster SD cards? Is this really the argument? "performance"? Pfft.
literally people have used sd cards to shoot sports but now suddenly they are too slow for rangefinder camera...
Will it gain value or devalue? It does seem useless but i understand you're a collector. Respect.
This honestly feels like a really good niche alternative to owning a Leica. You get a hybrid experience of shooting both digital and film, all for half the price of an actual Leica.
Except for the fact that Leica has shown strong pro-consumer intent with things like their L mount while this camera gives strong anti-consumer vibes with its non-user-operatable integrated soldered memory.
People buy Leicas to own a Leica.
@@Goldsteinphoto Not everyone can afford a Leica…
@@PooMonkeyMan I know. But it is a status item. And a Leica doesn't offer anything unique for me although their mirrorless cameras look very capable.
I feel rangefinder cameras limit my capability...inaccurate focusing and framing. Slow and very limited lens choices. (E.g. I use TSE and zoom lenses.)
Even the old Sony A6000 with lowly 16-50 is very capable when images are processed via DXO. An old relatively inexpensive full frame A7R2 produces amazingly good results. Most improvenents in recent years are in AF, video and burst speed/duration. (Which matter very little to me.)
It comes with 32gb and costs quite a bit of money to upgrade the internal storage. Where it costs a whopping $482 to upgrade to 128gb. Which is probably the main reason they don't allow external storage.
A used Leica M (typ262) can be found cheaper and has a 24mp full frame sensor. Love to hear about rangefinder alternatives to Leica, but the CEO response, the way they market it on their website, etc sorta leave a bad taste in my mouth.
I agree!
All of what you say is true. And it is not a camera for everybody. It is a bit quirky. But, it has great color and image. Pixii has tuned the sensor well. I have one and have had it for a few years. I got the CPU upgrade when it was offered. I am happy with the camera. I will be trying the native RAW B&W. David Barth and his crew have a gem here. A special gem. Thanks for you great review.
Could you post examples of the supposedly true B&W RAW vs the colour RAW converted into B&W? Cos from what I understand, it seems impossible to reconstruct the true B&W values once light has already passed through the bayer filter. I wonder if anyone has a M11 Monochrome to shoot in APS-C mode vs the Pixii to test this out.
Do you still have the camera? I would love to see a video from a long-term user. Most of the videos i've seen are initial reviews.
I can see the theoretical advantage of upgrading and replacing parts, but other than pricing I don’t see really anything valuable vs Leicas. I use them professionally, including two Ms. Some cameras are going the way of built in memory in addition to cards, but memory only means that you lose redundancy and add complication. And finally I believe liveview or an EVF is necessary in a rangefinder when you go below 35 or over 50 mm. It looks just like lack of space in the box driving such decisions and impacting performance
Anyhow interesting to know and good that you asked their CEO, regardless of the (poor) quality of the answers he came back with.
There is only one reason to not put upgradable memory on a camera and that is greed: They get to sell you the built-in memory at a much more expensive price than its worth, just like in laptops and phones.
And the memory on a camera sees a LOT of write operations, so it will last only a few years before the flash memory gives the ghost and you have an expensive repair, or you have to buy a new camera.
Any company that does this deserves to fail and burn imo. No love from me whatsoever here.
Internal memory on a camera writes more than say, my 2015 Surface Book 2 SSD that’s still working just fine?
@@patrickjclarke the flash memory writing cycle is dependant on the size Vs what's written to it. The more writing cycles go by, the worse it gets, just like charging cycles on batteries.
Idk what you use your laptop for but I never filled my 512 GB on my Lenovo in 6 years of usage. Yes the OS will use temporary files in storage and apple was famous for killing the early M1 Ssds due to this, but as a user I don't write heavily to an SSD on a laptop.
However, I regularly fill my 128gb SD card on my cameras and I don't even use video. If you have a camera for video then the problem is 10 times worse obviously.
Besides the timeframes are different: a laptop from 2015 is old and can be seen as needing replacement. But a camera from 2015 can still do almost everything a modern camera can. I bought a used camera from 2016 last year and it still looks and works like new! I just bought it a new battery and a new SD card and it was good to go. I use DSLR cameras from 2010 now and then even. You wouldn't be able to do that if a camera had built-in storage as that is just a wear part. Imagine a camera with a built-in battery and you'll see what I mean.
I don't get people defending such companies, do you actually prefer that Microsoft limit what you could have done with your laptop? You know how cheap modern SSDs are? You could fit a 2 TB SSD in your old laptop for 80 bucks if Microsoft didn't decide to be greedy. So why are you actually happy about it?
@@TheRoadrunner11 I edit videos, do after effects, and photo stuff so constantly filling and using the SSD.
And yes, by the time (on a computer) it fails I’m needing a newer faster model so I don’t want to go back to the janky days of everything can be user upgraded. I want reliable and performant.
Cameras, yeah you could argue against that as I still have my first Sony A100 from 2006, but if it died tomorrow I wouldn’t cry.
I can see an argument against battery being inside, but that’s not the case with the Pixii.
@@patrickjclarke Even if you will upgrade the laptop soon (I understand, I upgraded my 2014 Lenovo in 2021 too), I don't understand why you wouldn't want to have the option to upgrade things?
The SSD and Ram won't be less performant or janky if you were allowed to replace them yourself. These are standard parts, especially the SSD. Soldering it on the Mainboard makes almost no difference to performance. They only did it so they can offer multiple tiers to sell you the storage at double the price.
And it keeps getting cheaper with time. As a practical example from my laptop, in 2015 I bought it an upgrade to the previously mentioned 512 GB SSD and it cost 150 bucks. That same 150 bucks today could get me 3 TB of SSD!
So while I understand laptops get old and needing to be replaced faster than cameras, I still don't support the argument that we don't need replacing abilities in them.
And as for built-in batteries, it's only a matter of time once people accept the sealed in storage. The new insta 360 action camera came with both a built-in storage and a built-in battery and people seem to love it!
Yes that is built-in everything on a video camera and no one is saying a word. I think people just aren't too diligent about the longevity of the things they own these days.
@@TheRoadrunner11 I get your points, and I used to be that way too, but now I just buy what I need and by the time I outgrow it, I need an upgrade anyway. My old Android phones, I HAD to have an SD option, and hated when I would get an iPhone (I use both for work) and it didn't have it...but now? I just want to set it and forget it. My latest iPhone is 512 GB and my iPad Pro is 1TB...I have options that meet my needs for a LONG time...and I guess I don't mind the price to just not worry about it anymore. And yes, it's less common to have janky ram modules that cause kernal panics, or a "removable" HD (true story) in a laptop that would lose it's connection and corrupt data (it also would do that on the DVD drive too.
I agree there should always be options both ways, and think forcing companies to put in removable batteries, or use USB-C is the same thing as ONLY having proprietary things for everyone.
I have a Pixii and the Fujis, XPro 1, Xpro2, and XPRO3. I had and sold my X100V. I also have a Leica Q2 Monochrom. The Pixii is a really amazing and incredibly frustrating camera. As a camera, the experience is similar to film or the Leica M-D or M10-D. I agree that the appeal includes being part of a very small and innovative group of users. It can be frustrating with the development issues. Inconsistent white balance, freeze ups, etc. The problems seem to be reducing as new software updates become available. It certainly isn’t my main camera, not even my 2nd camera, but I am happy to have purchased it.
Hey, the Pixii is awesome and all, but what I really want you to talk about are those soviet lenses! The Russar 20mm specially, I've always wanted a copy of that one. Also the Jupiter 12... Anyway, just in case you want to make videos nobody will want to watch! 🤣
Wow--it's great to see innovation and it's very cool that you're supporting it! I'm especially intrigued by the Pixii's monochrome mode. After reading about it on their website it seems like an interesting alternative to just discarding the color information of an image...
You hit the nail on the head at the end. It's absolutely fine to enjoy the existence of products ... while also acknowledging they are not for you. People have a really, really hard time with this concept.
We have options for a reason. Buy the one for you, let others do the same.
products don't exist in a vacuum and if one manufacturer gets away with anti consumer practices the others will see it and adapt them as well
@@kalinmir I don't see how that relates to my point unless you somehow misunderstood me.
My point is simply: people judge products based on their needs instead of the solution the product offers, and often extend that judgment all the way to those who choose such a product. A nonsense take that's made many photography communities very toxic.
@@SourPlanet I'd say that a need for ease of repair (regarding internal memory) is quite universal even beyond photography...It is true that saying that a particular camera is bad based on its general categorization is nonsense...but I don't see people having issue with that here
@@kalinmir I don't really know what people have issue with, as I tend to steer clear of comments these days. Self care lol. I'm just going by a particular thing he said in the video.
But yes, you won't catch me buying a camera that relies on internal storage. I've had enough storage of all types bite the dust to know better.
I have been a photographer since 1965. I've worked commercially since 1975. I have owned hundreds of cameras including many rangefinders. (Canon, Nikon, Linhof, Leica, Zeiss.)
I never liked rangefinders and see them a a crude antiquated way to try to achieve focus and roughly frame an image.
Their drawbacks are so numerous that by choosing to use a rangefinder you are handicapping your ability to focus and frame accurately...two critical functions.
Using a camera with a good EVF will give you way more capability than any rangefinder camera provides.
Being able to instantly review the image on an LCD or EVF to confirm it and shoot variations is absolutely rudimentary in getting better images.
As for removable storage...dual slots provide critical redundancy for pros. But you all know this.
What appeals: rangefinder focusing, LCD up top for basic settings, no LCD screen, weight (around 500g), M mount (lens choices), no card slot (guys we been using phone cameras in the same way for years)
What doesn't appeal: no full frame (but just saw new announcement), maybe battery life, price
For less than this thing, I got the Sony A7CR. Full frame with APSC crop mode if that's what you REALLY need. Non-rangefinder pulls you out of the moment? Please. Yeah, better to look for frame lines to make sure you're actually getting the shot than looking in the viewfinder and seeing the actual shot.
With 7 employees and about $1 million value, this is a company making very specific toys for very tiny niche markets. More like a collectable oddity than a real photography tool for mass market. So whatever they want to make is fine.
Having no SD card and having the lower storage option be just 16gb is very telling of what a money grab they're trying to make it. The replies you got were typical mumbo jumbo. The camera looks ok and the idea too, but 16gb in 2023-24? Nope, that's not a thing anymore unless you're trying to rip people off.
I love it! Didn't know PIXII had one without LCD, I own a Leica M10-D myself so I know why this exists.
Love the Pixii! People who are hung up on specs can keep buying boring uninspiring Japanese cameras. They will never understand cameras like the Pixii or the Leica or why someone would use a film camera anyway.
I wish my Fuji had firmware where I could just turn off all the features I don't need(like all the video stuff). With the Pixii, I was hoping that they would offer open firmware or at least develop it openly on Github. I see unfortunately nothing of it.
The camera also does not meet my ideas of minimalism (No LEDs, especially not next to the viewfinder! M bayonet, but only APS-C?), I do not really know who the target audience is. Except tech bloggers and hipsters who are still waiting for their Leica.
May I suggest as a professional image maker for the past 55 years - why not cut to the chase, and get yourself an old Nikon or Canon analog camera and shoot some film? You would be faced with understanding shutter speeds -iris settings ISO's values etc...to perform a correct exposure. You won't have a 14-stop diaper/latitude to cover your butt for potential screw-ups. What this $3000 camera offers makes no sense at all, unless you could load it with a roll of film. I love cameras, but this version does not add to anything related to photography, sorry.
All this fuss about storage ignores the fact that it’s easy to back up from the Pixii to a computer or usb drive-and backing up is what we all should be doing with any digital camera.
By way, what is that silver 35mm on yours? Looks Russian?
I don't buy the argument about the in-built flash. If they actually need the extra performance, they could have modularized their flash storage, flash chips are CHEAP. It's fine to say they wanted as minimal a design as possible, but this is an argument that doesn't hold well IMO. Also, the other components will far outlive the storage as they themselves said, so this objectively means they're be e-waste prematurely.
I like the design of this camera but I can't reward companies for taking out integral features like an SD card slot. Losing the LCD is cool but losing the SD card slot makes it seem like a toy camera. The last video you did made that part sound like SOOOO much cope tbh, like if the SD card dies you can replace the SD card but internal storage dies and you're screwed. If it were half the price and had an SD card slot I'd probably get it but idk if I care enough about digital to do that. Analog is just more fun
trank you - although I won't buy in this system (Leica M Glass too expensive and with a bad price/value relation), only fine for Voigtländer lenses.. interesting out of the box thinking concept though
I just don't get, even if I try. A cropped sensor, non removable memory, no option for screen (could have been fordable or hidden).....and a 3k price tag. It's not even a collectors camera. I own about 45 digital cameras and this completely stands out as in no way Id pay even a hundred bucks.
Another difference between this and the Fujifilm is possibly the user experience in its interactions with its app. I own a Fujifilm xt-20 and getting it sync'd with the Fujifilm app does my head in. It is so bonkers annoying that I don't use it as much as I would like, for that reason. Also since the Pixii so seemlessly connects up with your phone or other device then onboard storage is not all that big a deal is it?
"The desire is manufactured just as the product itself is manufactured".
Novelty, simplification, throw back to the past + a few other ingredients = some people will pay $3K for the feeling they need this.
....and just as I finished shit talking the Pixii, my wife gave me a Pixii for my birthday on the advice of someone in our photo club. Well, I guess I'm stuck with it!
Luckily, I'm a 2 hour drive from this company. It is located in a world capital of precision watchmaking, hence its rangefinder. I trust.
It has way too many compromises for the money. Using APSC in the M mount ecosystem is really not ideal. Going Fuji or Leica would allow access to a much better experience and ecosystem.
On the site, you can only get 128 gigs of storage, which is pretty pathetic. Should be AT LEAST 1TB if you're stuck with internal storage.
The internal memory is justifications doesn't fly with me. Specially when it starts with 16gb and is a $200 bump to 32gb.
Still don't buy the memory explanation. Performance wont matter since it's basically only relevant for video and sports, something this camera will probably not have as a main focus point. As for reliability I'm pretty sure all serious photographers have dual memory cards for the very reason to not have a single point of failure, i.e. the built in flash memory.
I suspect the real reason was simply to cheap out on designing and producing extra slots, and perhaps even a bit more sinister to increase profits by upselling more memory, like modern laptops and phones do.
I do think the camera is interesting though, and it certainly is a good thing that start ups making weird cameras such as this can get some traction.
Nah... if I'm paying that much for a camera it HAS to have multiple memory card slots. I'll take the risk on myself. It's a cool camera but that's absolutely a no go...
No memory card???? Big no! Specially if you’re using this for paid work and want to start downloading your work and put in a fresh card.
Yeah his reasoning about internal memory is pure bs. CF express cards are as capable as any internal memory.
Aftet watching this video, it makes me more skeptic about this company.
I love this camera, the only reason what made me chose Leica over the Pixii was full frame VS APSC. If the Pixii was full frame I would have bought it easily.
I almost bought this camera but didn't for one sole reason that you have noit covered in this video. The sync to Android phones does not happen as it should. The whole concept of not chimping on the screen and seeing the photo on your phone was a bit selling point but despite 3 versions of the camera this is still not fixed. Surprising to be honest. Some clever high school kids with IT knowledge can fix this issue