Leica Z2X

Yes, it's a Leica. Yes, you can buy it new. No, it does not cost US$1000 or more.

I don't care about brand names. I don't care about a manufacturer's history, other product lines, or the cost of their products. I do not need to have the largest, newest, most expensive camera around my neck to feel good about myself or my camera. I believe one thing makes a great camera a great camera: how much you end up using it.

I have an old Pentax with several lenses, an ancient range finder from Japan, and a few other cameras lying around, but my Leica Z2X with date back and 35-70 mm f/4-7.6 lens is the one that, by far, receives the most use. It's small enough to fit in a decent-sized pocket (~125 mm x 70 mm x 45 mm), but not so small that it is difficult to use. The optional soft leather carrying case has a belt loop on the back of it, the usefulness of which can not be overstated.

This camera has several modes you can manually set, such as red-eye reduction, no flash, force flash, infinity mode, and +2 EV. Lightly pressing the shutter release button stores exposure and distance information. The viewfinder is fine for those of us who have to wear glasses, and the rocker that controls the zoom is so natural to use that you don't even have to think about zooming the lens, it just seems to happen.

I used this camera almost exclusively with slide film (mostly Kodak E100SW and E200, and Fuji Velvia) and occasionally with print film (Kodak 160NC, Ilford Delta 400 Pro) and I have never had a problem with exposure levels-- except when I make a dumb mistake.

My Z2X fell from about 1.25 meters onto a hard tile floor a few weeks ago and, of course, it landed right on the lens. The damage looked bad and the US$210 repair estimate from Leica confirmed my worst fears. A few days ago I received my latest, or should I say last, set of slides back from Kodak and Fuji that I had taken with this camera. While looking through these slides I was once again amazed by the Z2X. I could almost reach out and touch the wrapping paper on the Christmas presents, and the Florida sandhill cranes that I photographed looked like they were ready to walk off the screen and into my apartment.

After seeing those final slides I simply had to buy another Z2X. Its ease of use and portability (with or without the carrying case), along with its great lens and exposure system, made this a very easy decision. Searching the web, I found a new one for only $15 more than Leica wanted to repair my old one, so now I am the proud owner of an old broken Z2X (ordered sight- unseen, right after they first came out) and a new working Z2X. Just like the old one, I'll take the new one everywhere and I'll use it often, knowing that it will provide me with sharp, well-focused, correctly-exposed pictures. That is what makes the Leica Z2X a great camera.

More

• Leica's product page for the Z2X