Let's chat about the new Pixii Plus digital rangefinder camera!
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- CHAT MODE ON! I shot this segment interview-style so I could be the first on RUclips with a look at this new evolution of the Pixii digital rangefinder camera from France. The Plus has a significantly improved rangefinder and viewfinder that also can be installed as an upgrade to existing Pixii models. Time to get serious about the Pixii? Watch and find out!
Disclosure statement: This is my personal Pixii, purchased with my own money at full retail price back in October 2021. I didn't have to pay for the Plus rangefinder upgrade, because it was installed as part of a warranty repair of a previously-existing issue. Thanks, guys! 
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Hello James, thanks for sharing your impressions on the Plus. I really enjoyed watching your video. I'm adding this to the comment for details about the processor and shutter. The new ARM64 processor is actually more efficient, but we call the sensor more frequently, so it may appear like it is the one using more power. More specifically, it is the bridge that consumes the most power and taxes the battery. The reason behind this may also be interesting: we are driving the sensor at full speed, specifically to avoid rolling shutter artifacts. What the Z9 does with a stacked sensor, we do with our bridge. The Z9 runs at 20FPS in RAW and 30 FPS in JPEG, while we run at >30FPS in RAW & JPEG. As a result, Pixii should have less or equal levels of shutter artifacts compared to the Z9.
In case anybody doesn't know, David Barth is the CEO of Pixii and principal designer of the camera, so this info is coming straight from the source! Thanks!
the two things that i thought went against your camera was the inability to use a wide angle lens like a 18mm (around 28mm equivalent) due to the blocked rangefinder window and the problem with rolling shutter. it looks like youve addressed both these and I'm impressed you seem like a company who listen and care about critique. it definitely makes ur camera tempting. cheers
Thank you for taking the time to create these Videos. I recently bought a Pixii myself and I think you are very much part of the reason I took the plunge and ordered it.
i like how you debunk it and support such a cool startup! Even pixii themselves on facebook are good too clash boring people :)
Great video. I love the way you showcased the positives as well as the cameras shortcomings. Very honest and as such, very trustworthy.
I appreciate your discussion of this intriguing camera. I got my 1st 35mm camera in 1964, and it was a rangefinder. I have 2 older Leica ff digital cameras that are quite dear to me, so I know what I'm getting into with an rf camera. I'm sure I'll be getting one of these Pixii+ cameras early next year ... for no good reason other than my love of rf cameras.
I just ordered the upgrade to my Pixii rangefinder. Thanks again.
Great to see a new Pixii vid and thanks for the details (especially the CV f/1 fitting now). With the new extended rangefinder and Black Friday-Cyber Monday sale I finally took the plunge. If anyone is on the fence, now may be the time. I still have my APS-C concerns, certainly not on quality, but my m-lens focal lengths weren't bought with a 1.5x in mind (and other bodies will still require them), but excited to get my hands on in a few weeks.
I can't say for 100% sure that the CV f/1 will fit, because I haven't personally tried it, but it seems feasible (maximum diameter is 73.6mm, which is just a bit over Pixii's quoted 72mm max, so there may be a bit of cutoff.) If you have one, post up and let us know how it works out!
Always excited to see a new pixii video.
Thanks!
Beautiful pictures !
Many thanks!
Good one thx. The only thing have reservations about is the wider lenses, but may go for one. I have an old contax ii so do not mind using additional viewfinders
Great update. The Pixii is very intriguing and your videos are very helpful for those in the market.
“No way bro” - loved that! 😅
Oh, and you’re right about APSC being good enough. The only drawback is the conversion to all existing M lenses, particularly on the wide end (ie hard to get a small 28mm f2 or 2.8 equivalent).
Lastly, were all the images shared from the Pixii? I assume so. Many great photos in there. Really love the one at 10:25 - beautiful light and moment captured.
Yes, all those are Pixii pics (although not all from the Pixii Plus... have only had it for a week) Thanks for the appreciation! The pic at 10:25 was a fun moment... I had asked professional ballet dancer Amaris to collaborate on some photos in the arts center where we both work, and her little boy decided we needed an "art director"! One advantage of using an RF camera is that you can see outside the frame, so when he decided to run in, I knew it was going to happen and could be ready for the moment...
Great update video! Do you know of anywhere I can view some action shots? Between your ballet shots and mattais' equestrian and moving train pics I'm almost sold, I'd like to see more action shots close up (doesn't need to be I person)... On their site they have pics of skateboarders, but I can't find those anywhere... Mahalo in advance
Thanks for detailed breakdown of RF improvements. I notice a black grip on the side of the camera is that another addition to the new Pixii ? I also wanted to ask how does shutter actuation button feel, does it provide some haptic feedback ? Does lack mechanical feedback on actuation takes time to get used to is that something never bothered you (I find lack of feedback on xpro-3 when shooting with electronic shutter bit dull and wonder if same is true with Pixii). Thanks
As noted in another reply, that black grip is an Ikelite 4077.92 stick-on silicone grip made for their underwater housings. It just provides a little more grip area so my fingers don't get tired holding the camera. It's only $10 in the US and is an easy-to-make improvement (might help a lot of other cameras also!) Re the shutter button, the travel is very short but it's easy to feel the difference between half-press (locks AE) and full press (saves the photo.) There's no haptic feedback as there is on (e.g.) an iPhone, though... would be a nice idea but the lack of it doesn't bother me. You do get confirmation that you've taken a photo by a very subdued "croak" from the camera and the fact that the finder framelines and readouts flash briefly. Cheers!
The haters : I dont’care.
JL Williams : i love this guy !
I have been on the fence about the upgrade to the new RF but your video about it has pushed me to thinking I should put my name on the list to send it off for an upgrade. It has been quirky and auto ISO has been kind of weird but overall this is still a machine which makes great images. And that is what I bought it for. Thanks for the review.
I think the new RF is a huge improvement because I do a lot of documentary photography in which I watch the subject through the viewfinder for a long time, so the clearer RF image is a big advantage. For (e.g.) street photography, though, where you're mostly bringing the camera up to your eye, focusing quickly, and taking the picture, the original RF still may be completely satisfactory. If you're basically happy with it, that's a good reason to keep your euros in your pocket! You can always have the upgrade done later if you change your mind.
I almost never use auto ISO on my other cameras that have it, but I like the implementation on the Pixii and use it a lot. What I like to do is set the metering to spot mode and set the in-finder display to show shutter speed and ISO. When I want to take a picture, I lock exposure on a medium tone of the subject (by half-pressing the shutter button) and then check the shutter and ISO numbers on the in-finder display to see if they seem appropriate. Usually they do, and I can go ahead and take the picture. If not, I switch to manual mode. It's not effortless, but it gives good results under a wide range of conditions without having to change any camera settings.
I got my pixii+ last week too. My last camera was a Ricoh gr1 so I can’t compare to the old pixii viewfinder but I agree that it’s extremely big and clear. I’ve paired mine with a voigltander 28mm ultron ii, any recommendations for a 40mm or so lens?
I don't own any 40s (yet) so can't recommend anything personally, although I really like the idea of pairing a 28 and a 40 (I like using focal lengths that are 1.5x apart because that way one covers horizontally the same angle that the other covers vertically.) I shoot indoors a lot and like to do natural-light portraits and headshots, so a wide maximum aperture appeals to me -- so, if price were no object, I'd probably spring for the Voigtlander 40/1.2, which has a great reputation. Its maximum diameter is only 60.8mm, so there shouldn't be any worries about it getting in the way of the Pixii+ rangefinder. For more of a walking-around lens, the 40/2.8 Heliar sounds appealing... it's very compact and has been getting positive reviews. I probably wouldn't bother with the older 40mm f/1.4 Nokton or the "vintage" 40s made for the Leica CL and Minolta CLE; these are older designs that probably wouldn't measure up to modern notions of performance. Good luck with your choice!
I think the main sticking point for me is the combination of minimum 28mm frame lines and 1.5 factor crop meaning no convenient wide angle view.
Right, if you want framing guidance for wide lenses you need to use an auxiliary viewfinder… although I know some street shooters just estimate the view field and then crop to get the framing they want. Built-in support for wide lenses has always been limited on RF cameras except for Cosina's discontinued Bessa R4 film cameras, which have finders for lenses down to 21mm (81 degrees angle of view.)
Please did you try flickerfree photo LED lighting like Rotolights, does it make banding or not ?
Hello... sorry for the slow reply, but I was curious about this myself and wanted to perform an experiment before I gave you an answer. I don't have access to any of the Rotolight lights (although they sound excellent) but I do have a Godox ML60Bi, which is advertised as a flicker-free photo and video LED light. I also have a Godox M1, a small dual-mode LED light which can be operated either in color-temperature mode over a narrow color range using bicolor LEDs, or an HSV (hue/saturation/value) mode which gives a wider range of colors using RGB LEDs.
For my experiment I set up a simple scene in which banding would be easy to spot. I made test photos with the Pixii at shutter speeds of 1/4, 1/60, and 1/3000 (the highest speed for which the lights were bright enough to get a good exposure.) The purpose of this choice was to see if banding was more likely at a slow, medium, or fast shutter speed.
I also made test photos with each light set to 20% power, 50% power, and 100% power. The purpose of this choice was to see if power levels affected the risk of banding. I don't know how much you have examined this, but LED lights can't be dimmed just by reducing the electrical supply, the way "hot" lights can... the LED will dim slightly, but once the voltage drops below the LED's minimum value, it will simply go out instead of dimming smoothly down to 0.
To get around this, LED lights are dimmed using "pulse width modulation" [PWM]. The power supplied by the light is controlled by a PWM clock -- the speed of this clock may be anywhere from ~50hz all the way up to 25kHz for special video-safe theater lights. Within each cycle of the clock, power is supplied to the LED only part of the time, called the "duty cycle": a 100% duty cycle means power is applied all the time, a 50% duty cycle means power is applied only half the time, etc. (Duty cycle doesn't correspond exactly to the output of the LED -- a 50% duty cycle may not produce exactly 50% light output because LEDs aren't perfectly efficient.) The concept of duty cycle explains where the risk of banding comes from: an LED with a slow PWM clock rate and using a short duty cycle may produce "blank spots" in the light output that produce bands in the camera image. I have even taken photos under old "deejay-style" LED lights in which banding, or a stroboscopic-type multiple image, appeared even with a camera using a mechanical shutter!
After all that explanation, the results of my experiment are going to come as an anticlimax. With the ML60Bi light, I got NO banding at any combination of shutter speed and LED power setting! With the M1, I did see some banding in either color-temperature mode or HSV mode, ONLY at a 1/3000 shutter speed. I should note, though, that the M1 wasn't bright enough to give a good exposure at 1/3000, so it's possible that some of the banding may be a noise effect caused by underexposure.
Another thing to keep in mind about dual-mode lights such as the M1 was that I did my HSV mode experiment with the light set to zero saturation, which produces a white light. These lights also can be set to produce light in deeply saturated colors; I didn't test all the choices here, but based on experience I think this scenario would be more likely to produce banding, since only a single color channel is used and its PWM clock rate may be lower.
Sorry for making you read so much to reach the conclusions, but based on my experiment I feel you DO NOT have to worry about LED banding at all when using the Pixii at any shutter speed, AS LONG AS the scene is lit by photo/video LEDs. The situations in the past in which I have run into banding are scenes lit either by old-style fluorescent lamps or by inexpensive household-type LED lamps, which flicker at the household current frequency (60hz in USA, 50hz in Europe) instead of having PWM control.
In particular, a situation which constantly drives me crazy in my practice of theatrical photography is that the newer stage lights are usually high-quality, photo-safe LEDs using PWM control, while the white "work lights" are the cheapest possible white LEDs made for use in garages, warehouses, etc. In this type of situation, any area lit only by the stage lights will look fine, but any area into which the work lights intrude will exhibit absolutely ferocious banding! There isn't much which can be done about this situation except to be aware that it's a potential problem.
I hope you've gained some helpful info from your investment of time reading through this long reply!
[PS -- Oops, I thought of one more thing: another thing that affects the risk of banding is the type of LED used. It's impossible to make an LED that directly emits white light; from what I've read, the only options are red, blue, green, or a purplish-red that LED enthusiasts call "blurple." To make a white-looking light that's cheap and efficient, it's common to combine a red, a green, and a blue LED within a single envelope. These direct-emission LEDs can switch on and off very rapidly, raising the risk of banding. To gain a more naturally-colored white light, photo/video LEDs are coated with phosphors -- chemicals that are stimulated by the direct light of the LED and then phosphoresce (glow) over a wider spectrum that can simulate daylight or incandescent lights. The phosphors continue to glow briefly even when the PWM cycle is off, which is another reason photo/video LEDs are less likely to cause flicker problems.]
Can i use a 21mm lens like the voigtlander 21mm f3.5 and use the 28mm framelines? Are the framelines compensating for the crop? like 28mm is really 42mm? how does it work? Thanks!
A lens with a marked 21mm focal length will cover an angle of view of about 62 degrees horizontally on a Pixii Plus. That's quite a bit wider than the angle shown by the 28mm framelines, which cover about 48 degrees. The framelines are designed to show the area covered by that lens ON THE PIXII, so the 28mm frame shows what a 28mm lens will see.
If you want a more accurate guide for your 21mm lens, you could find an auxiliary viewfinder that's designed for FILM cameras and is marked "28mm". A 28mm lens on a 35mm film camera covers about 66 degrees, so it shows a little more width than a 21mm lens will "see" on the Pixii Plus; you can try to allow for the extra room when composing.
Because of all the confusion among different format sizes, I find it easier to think of lenses in terms of their angle of view rather than in terms of their focal length; if you watch the video I just posted about the forthcoming Pixii Max, there's a LOT more info in it about that!
Anyone care to explain why you can't have flash photography with the electronic shutter in the Pixii? The Z9 doesn't have a mechanical shutter either but it still can shoot flash photography. I do admire the gumption it takes to enter a realm where the big players have very deep pockets and many of them have decades of experience in the world of cameras and optics. I'd be surprised if Pixii makes any money on these bodies given the cost of R&D and the economy of scale. I'm certainly not in the market for a rangefinder camera ( there's a reason they fell out of favour once the SLR was invented) but I can appreciate those who find the charm in them.
I enjoy my Pixii and have wondered about the range finder upgrade. Can you give more examples of how the finder window is improved? Thank you
I'll try to give a little more detail:
-- The viewfinder section is basically unchanged... same magnification, and same LED-illuminated framelines for 28mm, 35mm (normal), 40mm and 50mm focal lengths. I still find the lower frameline corners tend to flare out a bit, but I suspect that's mostly because I wear glasses to use the camera.
-- Rangefinder improvement #1: It's not as picky about having your eye perfectly centered behind the eyepiece. With the original RF I found that if I didn't center my eye carefully, the patch would be less clear and the subject would be harder to see. That's much better now.
-- Rangefinder improvement #2: The uniformity of focus within the patch is better. It used to be that the edges would be slightly out of focus vs. the center or vice-versa (a lot of RF cameras have this problem, but it was especially noticeable on the Pixii.) Again, much better now.
-- Rangefinder improvement #3: Almost every RF camera is susceptible to having the alignment of images within the rangefinder patch drift over time, so almost every manufacturer provides a means for a technician to adjust this without major disassembly. On the original Pixii RF, there was a user-accessible adjustment for horizontal alignment, but none for vertical alignment (I was told this required a special tool.) The new RF has user-accessible adjustments for both horizontal and vertical. It takes a very delicate touch and a couple of specific screwdrivers, but if you're careful and experienced, you can do it yourself. More to the point, I'd think any local repair technician would be able to do it easily using the instruction PDF that Pixii will supply on request.
That's all in addition to the big change of moving the rangefinder's secondary-image window outward, so the base length is longer (for more accurate focusing) and fat lenses are less likely to cut off the rangefinder patch.
Thank you for such a detailed explanation. Very helpful!
This camera continues to intrigue me.
Any advice or recommendations as to the storage options? 16, 32 GB? Or spring for the full 64 GB?
Just wondering, thanks. 🤙📷
It depends a lot on how you work: Do you shoot a lot, and wait a long time between photo dumps? Or do you stroll around, shooting a photo here and there, then maybe stop for lunch and see what you've gotten? Or something in between? I often shoot fairly large documentary projects, and was afraid I might get into a situation where I was shooting a lot and there wasn't time to stop and download the images, so I sprang for the maxed-out 128gb model... but I've never come even close to filling it up, so I probably would have been fine with 64gb. The 32gb or even 16gb versions probably would be fine for a very selective shooter, the one who goes out all day with a film camera and comes back with six frames exposed. If you plan ahead, you'd never need to worry about being caught short... you could drop one or two 128gb USB-C sticks in your pocket and just empty the camera into one of them when it started getting full (there's a built-in utility for this.) No matter what, at least it's not like buying an iPhone... you're not locked into your choice forever. If you get one of the smaller ones and later wish you had the full 128gb, you can send your camera back to Pixii's upgrade service with a stack of euros and they'll goose it up for you...
@@jlwilliams Hey, thanks!
Great advice. I would probably go for the 64 gb since I am a casual shooter. Mahalos! 🤙📷
Finally placed my pixii order last night. Is Sony AG-R2 Attachment Grip the one you have attached to your camera? What’s been your favorite lens so far?
That grip is actually an Ikelite 4077.92 "silicone grip" made for Ikelite's underwater housings. It's just a stick-on piece of molded silicone rubber. In the US, it's available from B&H Photo-Video for about ten bucks. When I'm doing documentary shooting I often view through the camera for 20-30 minutes at a time, and the Pixii's smooth exterior gave me finger cramps from grasping it that long; the grip gives a little more area for my fingers to grab onto without drastically increasing the size of the camera.
@@jlwilliams I will pick that up I’m in the USA. When doing street I wear a strap and usually hold the camera by the grip. This should give a little more resting points. Thank you
Yes, a hand strap might be another good solution. Maybe post back once you've got it and let us know how it works out...? Seeing more of my pics... thanks, glad you like them, but I'm really terrible about keeping my image posts up to date! Something to work on for the New Year...
Great commentary, and I especially like how you dismiss the so called "criticisms"! I'm very intrigued by the rangefinder ethos, but know little about them. For the Pixii, what would be a recommended lenses that would give equivalent 35mm view and roughly 70-90mm view? And preferably a decent brand that won't cost an entire mortgage! Thanks for any advice.
A 35mm focal length on a 35mm film camera covers 54 degrees horizontally, which for the PIXII’s Super 35 sensor would require about a 24mm focal length; there's no frameline for this, although some people use the unframed outer edge of the finder to approximate it. Closest you can get with the built-in finder frames is 28mm, which covers 46 degrees horizontally. The longest focal length for which there are finder frames is 50mm, which covers about 27 degrees on the long side and makes a nice headshot/portrait lens; it's a bit “looser” than an 85mm lens on a 35mm film camera, which covers about 24 degrees on the long side. Of course you can use just about any lens if you can find an accessory viewfinder for it, but with any rangefinder camera I personally prefer to stick with the frames available in the finder and just adjust my framing habits a bit.
The bird elbow auto focus is a deal breaker... 😬
Yeah, and there's no fish detection AF either, 😭
Rolling shutter is the drawback.
Yup, if I get hired to photograph the Formula I season next year, it's not the camera I'm going to use for track action. On the other hand, for normal human-speed activities, I don't typically notice any issues. And since it doesn't shoot video, no worries about the "jello effect"!
the only deal braker for me is the non existent weather sealing, because where i life its rainy af
Until recently NO cameras had weather-sealing, and people managed (plastic bags, standing under awnings, there was even a clamp thing that let you attach your camera to an umbrella!) But if you do shoot in the actual rain -- which I agree is a great way to get distinctive photos; I've done it occasionally with a Fujifilm X-Pro 2 -- then that would definitely be a good reason the Pixii would not work for you.
I want one. I just care about photography and don't need all the blah blah blah. But weather sealing would be nice.
I don't disagree that it would be nice, but I can't think of a time when I've ever actually needed it for the kinds of photography I do with the Pixii. I shot a lot of photos in the rain when I was in Chicago last summer, but I just stood under hotel awnings, shot out open windows, etc. and was fine. Obviously an outdoor or wildlife photographer would want a more weather-sealed camera!