The Leica X2 in 2025 – Old is still Gold

Introduction

It is a fact that the now 13-year-old Leica X2 is regarded as a camera from Leica’s yesteryears, a release from the era before Leica’s collaboration with Panasonic, which gave rise to the current models of the D-Lux, T, CL and Q series for their fixed lens compact cameras.

Call it foolish nostalgia, or even just that I have aged, but recently I felt a longing for the Leica X-E which I regretted selling a few years ago, and so, a search on eBay soon yielded a Leica X2 in decent condition and today’s a visual-story about this little APS-C camera which paved the way for Leica’s fixed lens compacts.

Above is the Leica X-E that I kinda regretted selling a few years back. You can read up on it here, but basically, the Leica X-E is a Leica X2 in a different shell.

I digress, but let us get back to the topic on hand.

Technicalities and design

The specifications of the Leica X2 hardly impress in 2025, where even the Leica M rangefinder has hit 60 megapixels. The Leica X2 sports an Elmarit 24mm ƒ2.8 fixed lens paired with a 16.2 megapixels APS-C sized sensor that provides the user with a very useful 35mm equivalent frame.

Though on paper, ISO performance goes up to an ISO 12,500, I would never go above ISO 3200 on this camera. The Leica X2 comes with a 2.7-inch LCD with 230,000 dots, decent for playback and chimping one’s shots, but hardly visible under bright daylight.

The size of the camera, though, is one of its most attractive points, coming in at the size of a Ricoh GR and most of all, a paltry 345 grams and 124 x 69 x 52 mm in dimensions.

Often missed and seldom mentioned is also the very handy built-in flash on the Leica X2, which is something harder and harder to come by in modern-day releases.

Controls are as functional and distilled to what is necessary and lovely in this way. Nothing too complicated and just all that one needs with physical dials to adjust aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, ISO and even White Balance, all simply a button press away.

In fact, typical of Leica’s well thought out designs; once menu options are setup right, there is hardly any need for another to revisit the menu system again.

Performance

The Leica X2 surprisingly isn’t a slouch autofocus-wise. Obviously, it will not match the speed of modern cameras, but its autofocus is reliable, in that if a ‘green box’ shows up, it is simply that it has caught the shot; unlike some other modern cameras, which may be fast but not as reliable autofocus-wise.

The hard to explain thing is, the Leica X2 draws me to take it out once a while for a spin, it is a camera I look forward to using once in a while, looking forward to how its excellent optical output can awe me when everything in the frame comes together right.

But what is most important is that the optics on the Leica X2 do not disappoint with their sharpness and ability to reproduce details, and actually better than some of the more modern fixed-lens cameras.

Despite the paltry 16.2 megapixels sensor by 2025 standards, the Elmarit 24mm ƒ2.8 lens on the Leica X2 is still phenomenal and capable of producing excellent pictures.

Colour reproduction is natural, with a good amount of saturation that pleases. There are a few built-in colour filters going from Natural to Vivid to High Contrast Black and White, which is actually really good.

Of course, this is not to say the Leica X2 is without its frustrations; the camera takes about two seconds to power up and extend its lens. One must also remember to remove the lens cap before this; if not, an error message reminding one to do so will show on the back LCD. 

Another common complaint is with the design of the battery door, where one can actually lose the spring catch quite easily.

With these out of the way, though, the Leica X2 loyally fulfils its role as a compact everyday carry camera, capturing everyday moments dutifully.

Of course, the availability (or the lack) of servicing options should come to mind if something breaks, but then this is the same issue the classics like the Leica M9 and Leica M8 face and is inevitable.

Conclusions

The Leica X2 is not a camera most people will seek out deliberately in 2025 or later, but those who own one and makes the effort to work with the camera will be able to see what makes traditional Leica, as opposed to the modern Leica nowadays (nothing wrong with either – just different philosophies I guess)

While there are many more modern options, what attracts me to the Leica X2 is simply how it is the essence of how a compact high-quality fixed lens camera should be – uncomplicated, minimalist and packed with an excellent set of optics that one yearns to take out of a spin once in a while.

After all, there can only be so many bells and whistles one can stuff into a camera before it becomes… meaningless or a distraction.

And one last thing, all the samples here were from the JPEGs, not the DNG files of the Leica X2.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimers:

1. All product photos and samples here were photographed by me. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos. 

2. All images were shot with my personal set of the Leica X2.

3. This review is not sponsored.

4. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support me by contributing to my fees to WordPress for the domain using the Paypal button at the bottom of the page.