Yet the X-E2 with a manual focus prime lens (used in the manner that I set out in this review) is the very closest you'll get to that experience without purchasing a Leica M.

What you see through the EVF is either what exposure settings are like (if exposure preview is enabled), or what the X-E2 “thinks” the settings should be. Now, I am not a snob, I don’t do it to look “cool” or “professional” or because I believe automated exposure modes are for “lesser” photographers – that’s rubbish. The X-Pro1 comes with a removable cover that you can remove and replace, but that costs extra and is not convenient if multiple people use the camera. Firstly, there's a handy blue distance scale along the bottom of the viewfinder (both the OVF and EVF) and on the LCD screen if you're using that for composition, with a red bar indicating the the focusing distance and a white bar showing the depth of field, which actually changes in line with the current aperture - very clever.From that standpoint, I really like the X-E1 / X-E2, because you can adjust the diopter to your needs and change it to a different setting if you are wearing glasses or hand the camera to someone else. Handling suffered with larger and heavier lenses which ended up being its weakness as a complete system camera.

second), so once you have set the focus, you'll never miss the moment because the camera can't fire the shutter quickly enough, shot-to-shot time of 0. First of all, I am quite selective with my exposure – I often tend to expose for highlights, or at least those highlights that I find to be the most subtle and beautiful to my taste. It is so bizarre to lift the camera to my eye and see a completely different view than I saw just a second ago, it throws me off completely.This last setting will only switch on the EVF when held up otherwise both screens are off but if you press the play you can review the last image without having to reset the camera to use the EVF for composing. If you mostly use auto-focus rather than manual then this one improvement alone is reason to upgrade from the X-E1.