Those photographers who enjoy macro or close focus photography will appreciate how important a sturdy tripod and well-made focus rail are. I have always held a particular fascination for macro work as I enjoy making images that illustrate the infinite patterns found in flowers, or alien like insect detail.
It seems rare today for a camera to come along that looks like it is designed by a photographer and not a by a consortium of IT orientated experts. Most cameras are bristling with buttons and their menu items allow users an almost infinite amount of configuration. Enabling/disabling some of the options can be frustrating to say the least, and having a copy of the manual close to hand is almost a pre-requisite in the early weeks of ownership.
It is into this world that Leica's X1 was born, its Spartan appearance making it stand out from the crowd. It is a beautiful example of minimization, devoid of all unnecessary controls and built to simply take still images.