Vintage Digital is my favourite section in Measuring Light. Old digital cameras that were once outstanding, but for some reason did not get the popularity they deserved… Here they are revisited and get a fair judgement!

In this iteration, I’m going to talk about a distanced relative from the Leica family, a weird single child that nobody really cares about: the Leica X Vario.

Marketing disaster?

Yeah. Whatever you read these days retrospectively about the Leica X Vario, Leica’s missteps with the camera’s teaser campaign is always part of the story.

So what happened?

Roll back to 2013

Back then Leica had the M system, which had expanded to digital with the M8 (2006) and the M9 (2009). Then there were the X fixed-lens cameras, with the X1 (2009) and successor X2 (2012), both sporting the same 35mm equivalent lens.

All these cameras – real Leicas from Wetzlar, not rebranded Panasonics – had one thing in common: they carried Leica’s DNA and prestige, were crazy expensive, yet somehow a step behind in specs compared to cameras from other brands.

As such, Leica became a polarizing brand. Some admired the uniqueness of its cameras, while others hated it for delivering flawed products at a premium price. Mention Leica in any online forum and bullets would fly around in no time.

Mini M

It was under this bellicose backdrop that, in 2013, Leica started a high-profile teaser campaign showing a black box labelled “Mini M“.

It got everybody excited. To the point it triggered something unexpected: wishful thinking for a product that was not about to happen.

Blame the Mini M campaign for setting enthusiasts expectations so high. Rumours started circulating about an affordable APS-C rangefinder that could utilize the legendary M mount lenses.

A Mini M, in other words.

But not the Mini M Leica was about to launch.

Own goal

As a reviewer brilliantly put it, Leica scored an own goal with the Mini M campaign.

When the Mini M was unveiled as the Leica X Vario, the response was overwhelmingly negative. Reputable reviewers cautiously expressed their disappointment, while haters lambasted Leica with the best of their repertoire, Bob Marley’s Burning and Looting playing in the background.

Maxi X2

As it turned out, instead of a revolutionary compact rangefinder, the market received a fixed-lens camera with a relatively “slow” Vario-Elmar 28-70mm lens (full-frame equiv.).

The f/3.5-6.4 aperture was particularly criticized, seen as inadequate for a premium camera priced at USD$ 2850. Critics argued that the camera was essentially a “Maxi X2” rather than a “Mini M.“

Furthermore, the X Vario had no built-in EVF. Fujifilm’s X100, X-Pro1 and X-E series had been around for quite some time with EVFs. In fact, Micro 4/3 cameras from Lumix as far back as 2009 had EVF. Just to name a few. And they were much cheaper.

Both Leica’s X1 and X2 had no EVF, generating disappointment over the years. Still, Leica launched the X Vario with no EVF again, further infuriating the photo community.

Adding insult to injury, Leica’s solution for this was the external Leica Visolflex EVF 2 that would add another USD$ 600 to the equation. This was, in fact, the similar remedy previously applied to the X2.

While it had an exquisite name, it was no other than a rebranded Olympus VF-2. A product dating back from 2010 that was designed for Micro 4/3 Pen series cameras. And oh, the Olympus version was much cheaper at USD$ 250!

What were they thinking

Only Leica can explain. For sure, the X Vario was no Mini M. Not even close.

How everything backfired is a perfect case study for a marketing campaign that successfully created unachievable expectations, ending up harming the product it was supposed to elevate.

Controversy is good

A good product must be surrounded by some controversy, right? To me, this Mini M saga actually makes the X Vario special.

So special I ended up getting one.

From the Japanese second hand market I found one in mint condition, Visoflex EVF 2 included. Altogether I shelled out around USD$ 1250. Less than half the price at launch date.

Using the X Vario

I’ve been shooting with the X Vario in the past weeks.

This is not a camera review, but I’m going to share my views using this camera and determine if the criticism it received was fair or not.

The X Vario solidly built, it feels like a Leica. It’s actually smaller than I was expecting. I’ve seen it in camera stores before, but never had the chance to hold one. Since I have a Q2, sub-consciously I was expecting something similar.

To me, for my small hands, the X Vario feels perfect. It’s comfortable and easy to hold. The camera is not front heavy like the Q2. It feels balanced. Much of this is due to the Vario-Elmar lens’ perfect size and weight.

Oh yes, the lens

The target for all the criticism. I understand a variable aperture lens may not be the most exciting thing around. Even less so when sporting moderate apertures. But a faster zoom, either fixed or variable aperture, would be at the expense of portability.

And, if you ask me, I wouldn’t sacrifice portability because, as said, to me this Vario-Elmar has the perfect size. It’s the reason the X Vario feels so comfy and well balanced.

Look at it as a kit lens. Most kit lenses feature f/3.5 – f/5.6. That’s been the industry standard for ages. The f/6.4 from the Vario-Elmar is only 1/3 stop slower than f/5.6. I know f/6.4 sounds horrible, but objectively it makes no difference in real world shooting.

Especially when you start looking at the outputs. You will just forget the specs, as I did.

The Vario-Elmar lens is a real hidden gem here, the unsung hero. It’s sharp across the entire zoom range. It has enough resolving power to extract the maximum from the 16MP CMOS sensor. Colour rendition is excellent. Leica did a great job here, finding the perfect balance between size and performance.

And the lack of EVF?..

Sure I’d have preferred a built-in EVF, who wouldn’t?

I’d also agree that paying a premium for a camera with an external workaround EVF, while so many cameras already featured a built-in one, feels obnoxious. Some reviewers argue that in lieu of the flash, Leica should have put an EVF there. Well, only Leica knows if that would be technically feasible or not.

Having said that, the Visoflex EVF 2 works fairly well. It’s obsolete – it already was in 2013 – it’s laggy in low light and colour reproduction does not make justice to what the camera is capturing.

But you can positively use it to compose and manual focus. It’s good enough to check focus in the magnifying screen. Start shooting and it doesn’t matter that the EVF is a clip-on. You will just shoot and forget about it.

And actually I think it looks cool attached to the X Vario, perfectly integrated with the black camera body (not so much in the silver chrome body…). By the way, I like the big L E I C A letters, reminiscent of big brother SL.

Image quality

In one word: excellent.

I’m uploading some photos I took in different conditions. They were all processed to taste in Lightroom. You can click for full resolution.

Two outdoor scenes below, taken from the same spot and taking advantage of the zoom lens on hand.

Below in a cloudy day. Perhaps more suitable to black and white? The photos lack punch, still I think the X Vario did a good job. White balance erred to the colder side, adjustments had to be made in Lightroom. I also realised under these conditions most photos came out overexposed. Luckily the RAW files are good enough to recover details.

And now on a sunny day. The right conditions for the X Vario to sing.

In the three photos below all colour sliders were left untouched in Lightroom. I pulled the shadows and highlights and got this pleasant result. I love the warm colours.

A bit more from a Chinese New Year flower market, also with good weather, good directional sunlight.

And my favourite one below.

Almost straight out of the camera: original colours and a smooth shadow.

The X Vario’s greatest shortcoming is shooting indoors in not so well lit scenarios. And I mean not really dark, like the three photos below? The AF failed to lock and kept hunting forever. The solution is very simple: switch to MF. And then realise it all works quite well in MF.

Focusing aside, the camera handled well this indoor scene. Again, colours were spot on.

Last but not the least. Below, shot inside an elevator with a spotlight on top. I managed to nail focus with MF and the result looks amazing to me.

All in all, I’m positively impressed with the image quality from the X Vario.

Remember, this is a 13 year old camera, it’s not even full frame. It’s a fairly small package, yet it comes not with a fixed focal lens, but a zoom with a useful range. This camera is actually very small for what it delivers.

Is it a good camera then?

Yes, a good camera. It’s slow by 2026 standards – startup, AF, DNG writing to card – and probably not the fastest back in 2013. But if you can get used to it as I did, the X Vario is a very good camera for your everyday shooting.

You can carry it around all day. It’s solidly built like every Leica, it’s stylish, every detail feels premium.

It has a very useful zoom lens. Most importantly, it delivers superb images. All in a small APS-C sized package, which is quite impressive.

When the conditions are right, straight out of camera JPGs are outstanding. If editing DNGs is more to your liking, you won’t be disappointed by the latitude on hand. Expect some noise in low light (remember, 2013), but nothing Denoise tool from Lightroom won’t take care of.

So the X Vario is a good camera. But not an outstanding one.

Why not?

Because as a product it is what it is. It’s not groundbreaking, it has no Wow! factor. There’s nothing in this camera that will make you think I desperately want one and sell a kidney.

Sure, the Vario-Elmar is a brilliant lens. But that’s within the confines of variable aperture lenses, which are a bit meh by nature.

In fact, this camera as a whole feels meh. It’s a good camera and that’s it. I’m shrugging my shoulders. The Maxi X comment is spot on. The X Vario is no other than an X with a zoom lens, in the process Leica fixing almost none of the previous flaws.

There’s a reason I didn’t get an X Vario back then. In 2013, I was happy shooting with a Fujifilm X-E2. Faster than the X cameras from Leica, retro-styled with classic controls and EVF, plus much cheaper. Not that I had a problem shelling out the money to own a Leica, I had an M-E as well.

But the X cameras never sparked any interest on me. They were quirky and expensive.

Leica’s bizarre path

Following the X Vario, in 2014 Leica released the X Typ 113. This was the successor to the X2, with similar 35mm fixed focal, but a new selling point: a faster lens, a highly respectful Summilux with f/1.7 max aperture. Both X1 and X2 had an Elmarit limited to f/2.8.

However, it was soon discovered that in focusing distances under 1 meter, the lens would automatically stop down to f/2.8. According to Leica, this was to maintain the image quality of the lens. Meaning that f/1.7 was not always available… As a reviewer put it sarcastically, this was a variable aperture Summilux lens.

And oh, the X Typ 113 had no EVF – again. All things considered, people started questioning the very existence of this camera. As the successor of the X2, it had the same 16MP sensor, same no EVF and a almost the same lens that was faster, but not always faster. What’s the point?

Well, since the X Typ 113 borrowed the X Vario‘s body… Some would say X Vario‘s sales were so poor, Leica had to do something with the leftover bodies in the factory.

Q the saviour

It was not until the release of the Q, in 2015, that Leica finally delivered a convincing product. Many experts agree that the Q was the point where Leica finally got it right with a fixed-lens camera, considering it a defining moment for the brand.

Before that… Half-baked cameras like the X Vario were produced. It was a one-off from the weird X family, a long forgotten freak child that no one cares to ask about now.

Perhaps this is what makes it so special.