Sony Senior Technology Manager Mark Weir must have mentioned “decisive moment” during his presentation of the RX1R Mark II at least three times – and in spite of my best efforts, each time he did a little chill of excitement ran down my spine. A modern interpretation of Cartier-Bresson’s Leica? Yum-bo!

A little piece of industrial art (photo by Hugh Brownstone)

We didn’t know what to expect at Sony’s press briefing last Wednesday morning, so the announcement of the RX1R Mark II was a surprise to most of us.

Especially me, since I generally don’t pay attention to expensive, single focal length fixed lens cameras.

I think maybe this is because I’m an interchangeable lens, hybrid video/stills kind of guy, and my frame of reference for specialty cameras like this is Leica.

And that means: while I’ve loved the Leica brand for decades and owned a IIIa with collapsible 50mm Summar and M8 with 35mm Summicron and 90mm Elmarit, the last time I looked at a single focal length fixed lens camera – Leica’s X2 (since replaced by the Typ 113) – I was non-plussed....

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