A Very Good Idea For Summer - Leica

If you plan to be a tourist this summer, you need a camera. If your plan also envisages style, sophistication, and impeccable images, then you need a Leica camera.

Let us suggest the perfect one - the Leica X series. I currently have a Leica X2 on the desk in front of me and I know there is an X1 downstairs in the Leica cabinet. The X2 is in silver and black and the X1 is all over black.

The other difference that people notice right away is a slightly higher casting that holds the hot shoe on the X2. If you slide the plastic cover off it you see why it is higher - it conceals a port for an electronic viewfinder. X2 users can use the Leica EVF for precise framing and information even in the harshest environmental light.

Another difference that people might discover happens when they wish to use the on-board flash. The X1 flash is concealed in a round tub that pops up when you press it - rather like a pillbox on the Maginot Line. The X2 flash is actuated by a conventional button at the back of the body and pops forward on an articulated stalk.

Difference in the lenses? Don't think so. They are both superb Leica Elmarit 24mm 1:2.8 and they both pop out when you turn the camera on.

Difference in the operating dials? Nope.

Difference in price. Yep. The X1 is currently on special - ring us up and ask for it.

Both of these models are close to the classic Leica A, B, or C models that made the Leica reputation in the 1930's. M. Cartier Bresson would be instantly at home were he alive to handle one today - it is just the sort of discrete but serviceable device that he chose for the best of his candid photography - so can it be for you.

One thing that also has not changed for Leica - perhaps has even become more important in the 21st century. Leica is recognised as the pinnacle of small camera development, particularly in regard to the performance of the lenses. This means that it carries a prestige - and MAINTAINS that prestige - long after other cameras have been forgotten. A Leica owner is never disregarded.

Perhaps this is the time for you to become that Leica owner.