French startup Pixii’s first full-frame digital rangefinder camera, the Pixii Max, launched last year to significant interest. DxOMark reviewed the camera’s 24-megapixel BSI CMOS image sensor earlier this month, providing relatively rare insight into the camera’s performance.
As spotted by Leica Rumors, DxOMark’s review looks at how the 24.5-megapixel full-frame image sensor performs relative to the competition, including traditional interchangeable lens cameras and, more importantly, the Leica M-series.
Pixii, a French startup that earned its stripes with its debut camera, the APS-C Pixii in 2018, stands out in the camera industry for a few reasons. A startup releasing an interchangeable lens camera is extremely rare in and of itself, but so is a camera company based in France. While France has a rich photographic history, its current photo company list is quite short. Notably, DxO is on that list.
The Pixii Max boasts a 64-bit platform, native monochrome shooting, and a genuine rangefinder design. The M-mount camera is not cheap — it starts at $4,499 for the 32GB storage version — but it is much more affordable than the Leica M11, which starts at $9,195. That’s a big difference, and for photographers looking to get into full-frame digital rangefinder photography, the Pixii Max is a uniquely affordable option when it comes to brand-new cameras.
Of course, photographers could opt for a used Leica M10, which is available in the same price range as the Pixii Max and also come equipped with a 24-megapixel full-frame sensor.
As for the Pixii Max, DxOMark reports excellent image quality performance. The sensor’s overall score of 93 puts it in the same general ballpark as the Canon EOS R8 and Sony a9 II cameras. This score is well behind the 60-megapixel Leica M11, which sits in a tie for first place with a 100 score, but well ahead of Leica’s 24-megapixel M10, which scored an 86.
Digging into the nitty-gritty details, the Pixii Max’s 24-megapixel sensor delivers 25.2 bits of color depth in DxOMark’s “Portrait” test, 13.6 stops of dynamic range in the “Landscape” test, and a score of 3,108 in the low-light ISO “Sports” test.
The Portrait score is about a full bit behind the Leica M11 and about that far ahead of the M10.
Looking at dynamic range performance, the Leica M11 is tied for the top spot with an impressive mark of 14.8 EV. The Pixii Max’s score of 13.6 is still good, though, albeit just 0.4 EV ahead of the Leica M10. When it comes to high ISO performance, where the Canon EOS R3 is the current champion in DxOMark’s list, the Pixii Max is again behind the Leica M11 (3,376 versus 3,108) and ahead of the Leica M10 (a not-very-good 2,133).
The Pixii Max features Pixii’s best-performing image sensor and is a fascinating camera. An “indie camera,” if ever there was one, the Pixii Max stands alone as a digital rangefinder M-mount competitor in a segment solely dominated by the monolith that is Leica. The Pixii Max, on the basis of image quality at least, is an attractive alternative to a second-hand Leica M10 camera and a compelling “affordable” alternative to a Leica M11 for photographers looking to purchase a brand-new full-frame digital rangefinder.
Pixii still manufactures its APS-C digital rangefinder, the Pixii Plus, which starts at $2,999. Owners of the original Pixii can also send their camera to Pixii to be upgraded to the Pixii Max, although this option is currently “sold out.”
Image credits: Pixii unless otherwise noted.
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