Finally an interesting camera from Leica: APS-C underwater point-and-shoot

The digital age has not been kind to Leica, especially with the killjoys at DxOMark showing the technical inferiority of their products to Sony’s and Nikon DSLRs equipped with Sony sensors.

The new Leica X-U may be an exception, however. It seems to be the first purpose-built underwater point-and-shoot camera with an APS-C sensor (same size as the popular Canon Rebel). The lens is a fixed 35mm equivalent, where “fixed” means that there won’t be any water leaking in through the lens mount. The cost is no worse than taking the family for a week at Club Med: $3000. The big missing feature is image stabilization.

The closest competitor is the Nikon 1 AW1, which has a smaller 1″ sensor and interchangeable lenses at a tiny fraction of the price. Customer reviews on the Amazon and B&H Photo mention problems with the water-sealing, which is not a great thing in an underwater camera…

Let’s hope that Olympus, which has a tremendous track record in rugged cameras, makes a four-thirds competitor to this Leica with image stabilization and a price under $1000!