Anyone have the new Pixii + ?

[TL7]

If they have enough time to modify every next years model..w/new models..
Then they have enough time to make sure QC and service as well as commucations are up to par.
They are a small company...they should be better at this than a big company...better at personalized service...not...worse..
Its time for photogs to demand great service...or make complaints..and/or move on to other camera companies.
Its really too bad there are not more rangefinders in the marketplace..
Leica has issues too as they are really w/Pixii the only game in town.
So..who cares about great QC and customer service..
Not us! Lol!

 

[JohnGellings]

If they have enough time to modify every next years model..w/new models..
Then they have enough time to make sure QC and service as well as commucations are up to par.
They are a small company...they should be better at this than a big company...better at personalized service...not...worse..
Its time for photogs to demand great service...or make complaints..and/or move on to other camera companies.
Its really too bad there are not more rangefinders in the marketplace..
Leica has issues too as they are really w/Pixii the only game in town.
So..who cares about great QC and customer service..
Not us! Lol!

Nobody said they do not care. However, we are not talking about catastrophic issues here are we? And everyone who buys this cameras knows it needs to be sent back to France for service. Should they be answering every email? Yes. Of course. However, they always refund if someone doesn't like the camera, etc. I'm not sure that being a small company helps with customer service. They probably don't have huge teams of people trying to deal with things. I mean, Leica customer service isn't great and they have huge buildings and staff in comparison. Look, I'm not saying I'd buy one. However, if we want new camera companies to come out, we have to expect not everything will be perfect at first.

 

[boojum]

Nobody said they do not care. However, we are not talking about catastrophic issues here are we? And everyone who buys this cameras knows it needs to be sent back to France for service. Should they be answering every email? Yes. Of course. However, they always refund if someone doesn't like the camera, etc. I'm not sure that being a small company helps with customer service. They probably don't have huge teams of people trying to deal with things. I mean, Leica customer service isn't great and they have huge buildings and staff in comparison. Look, I'm not saying I'd buy one. However, if we want new camera companies to come out, we have to expect not everything will be perfect at first.

Not every camera goes back for work. If you loiter on the FB page you will find that is not common. I had trouble with mine and that was firmware. I screwed it up and David Barth got on-line, hooked up to my computer and Pixii and fixed it. Other than that it has worked fine. And takes good pictures. But any survey with an observation of one is flawed. Pixii has problems. They have to fix them. The B&H deal may well involve B&H taking a position in Pixii which would mean a cash injection in exchange for some control. I am guessing. I remain hopeful that these folks can get closer to were they should be and want to be.

And take a look at the FB group to see what owners are doing.

 

[TL7]

Nobody said they do not care.

Leica doesnt care..months to get things resolved.
They just wanna sell cameras. Not service them in a timly manner.

Pixii may or may not care..this remains to be seen.
B&H will dump em if they dont get it together.
We are not talking about perfection here..
We are talking about e-mailing customers and getting their funds back to them in a timly manner for returns.
This is basic.
You get an e-mail..you answer it pronto.
Thats business.
Anything else..
Actions...speak louder then words.
But then again..they have your $$$..they have your return...you are in another country and wont show up at their door..
Let the customer send 20 e-mails to get 1 response..leave the cash in a high yield account for a couple more months..
Everyone...wins!

 

[JohnGellings]

I’d try to remember that one person’s experience does not equal everyone’s experience. I agree that what he went through was horrible. I doubt it’s the norm based on other responses in this thread alone.

 

[Godfrey]

Yeah. I jumped on it on the last day of discount, the 27th. My cost was US$383.91 after exchange rate and including postage back home. I have to pay the way out. JL Williams has the new RF in his and a review on YT:



The queue is starting in January. I am looking forward to the upgrade. I have kept up with the upgrades as offered, mechanical and firmware/software. That said, the Android app does not work on my Samsung A-14 5G but does work on the iPad. However I am on the developer channel for that. But the iPad does not fit in my pocket. Like everybody who writes soft/firmware it is never done soon enough or well enough to please the public. I expect that. You should read what the HB folks are whining about. LOL

Hmm. What are the "HB folks whining about"? I have been following the 907x/CFV 100c launch with some interest and most people I've read are excited and happy about it. There are always the dyspeptic grumbles from people who wanted some other specific feature or such, but eh? People are people.

I dunno ... I don't see much point to whining about anything. If something doesn't work, or doesn't work for me, I either work around the problem or decide to seek entertainment elsewhere. Not everything will work for me, and not everything always works as it was intended (and sometimes, the intent of a design is misread which leads to misplaced expectations...): these things are a given.

As my recovery from the car collision proceeds, I've gotten back the itch to make some photographs but holding a camera at eye-level is somewhat tiring and difficult just yet. The Hasselblad makes a nice alternative to this since I mostly put it on a tripod and use the waist level finder with it. And I'll post the latest HB silliness that has me chuckling Real Soon Now...

G

 

[powderhound2]

I had planned to write a much more comprehensive post here, but to be honest I've spent enough effort on the Pixii+.

As I mentioned above, my copy arrived severely front focusing. Here is a test shot.

View attachment 4832857

Pixii nicely offered to repair, but I had heard it was user correctable, so requested instructions and ordered the suggested tools. Once I opened I found a repair instruction drawing didn't match the camera internally (unless I completely misunderstood). By that time I had also found a slightly ill fitting lens mount, the disadvantages of the two displays being linked, and the compromises of keeping wifi off for battery life (it goes from a possible innovative phone app to basically exactly what Lieca, Fuji, etc. offers). So after a week I contacted them for a return. And although every response I received, when I received one, was kind/cordial, there were a ridiculous number of emails over the course of a full month from requesting the return to actually receiving instructions on how to return.

If I'm honest, there's a possibility that during that strange delay I would have adjusted my expectations and now been posting here as a happy Pixii+ user, however my model wasn't usable and I had barely shot it, so it had to go back anyway. The camera was sent and I waited for a refund. A few weeks after it was received I contacted them again. It was to be issued that day. Waited another week. They had forgotten. Then they issued about two months to the day from my original return request.

What does this mean for anyone else? I'm not sure. I could have been very unlucky, but from other comments (search for "Paper Weight" at New kid on the block: The Pixii rangefinder camera review gives you the full story for instance and rumored - I'm not on FB - there are other examples there) I'm not alone and considering the required number of emails to get a refund, I suspect many, at some point, give up. I am not sure if this is by design. There were at least four times I assumed all my money was lost (and with what I consider a non-functional body).

So consider my experience, or worse, as a possible outcome if you order. Plenty of examples of happy owners here and elsewhere to consider too. The above B&H news though may minimize some risks for US buyers.

I am happy it's worked out for others and I wish it did for me. It's an interesting concept and I'll continue to follow their development, but considering the money I lost, I'm unlikely to "donate" again.

On the plus side, I discovered this site in the process.

I waited about 5 weeks for my Pixii + after ordering. Opened it up this evening and a few things stuck out immediately about it. It really is a cool looking camera, feels like a high quality product, but after playing around with it, I don't at all like holding it. The body is slick, and where my thumb sits on the back, is right on the button area, it just isn't comfortable for me. But, that is just me.
Putting that aside, Importing my first 5 photos, shot with a Voigtlander 35mm APO-Lanthar lens (that is tack sharp, even on an M11), I found the same thing that @blessingx found, every single photo, was front focused. I thought I might have done something wrong, so I shot a series of shots, of a line of batteries, with the focus on a specific battery, the same one in each shot, from different distances, and each photo was between 7-8cm front focused. I've seen rangefinders off, but not even close to that amount. I tried three other lenses, 50mm, 28mm, and 90mm, and all where that far off. I've shot every one of these lenses on digital M, and film M bodies, and never had focus issues.
My excitement is gone. Something brand new shouldn't come this far out of spec. I will be sending this back. I'm not going to even mess with it. I'm a fan of underdog companies, but I've also been burned a number of times, and an hour after opening the box, I feel like I made a poor decision.
Someone else mentioned something on along the lines of "Everyone knows that if there's a problem they will have to send it back to France." I guess in my naivety I assumed that I wouldn't have to return a $3k camera back to France to make it functional immediately after receiving it. Nothing is perfect, but I don't think that's the expectation of many. I'd simply like to be able to take a photo that is in focus without having to return it on day one.

 

[JohnGellings]

I am very surprised that Pixii does not come to this group to respond and try to explain their side. It’s almost as if they aren’t calibrating the RF at this point. Are they relying on the customer to do it? And when I said send it back to France for repair, I was not thinking for RF alignment. I cannot imagine a group more important to rangefinders on the internet than this one.

 

[boojum]

I waited about 5 weeks for my Pixii + after ordering. Opened it up this evening and a few things stuck out immediately about it. It really is a cool looking camera, feels like a high quality product, but after playing around with it, I don't at all like holding it. The body is slick, and where my thumb sits on the back, is right on the button area, it just isn't comfortable for me. But, that is just me.
Putting that aside, Importing my first 5 photos, shot with a Voigtlander 35mm APO-Lanthar lens (that is tack sharp, even on an M11), I found the same thing that @blessingx found, every single photo, was front focused. I thought I might have done something wrong, so I shot a series of shots, of a line of batteries, with the focus on a specific battery, the same one in each shot, from different distances, and each photo was between 7-8cm front focused. I've seen rangefinders off, but not even close to that amount. I tried three other lenses, 50mm, 28mm, and 90mm, and all where that far off. I've shot every one of these lenses on digital M, and film M bodies, and never had focus issues.
My excitement is gone. Something brand new shouldn't come this far out of spec. I will be sending this back. I'm not going to even mess with it. I'm a fan of underdog companies, but I've also been burned a number of times, and an hour after opening the box, I feel like I made a poor decision.
Someone else mentioned something on along the lines of "Everyone knows that if there's a problem they will have to send it back to France." I guess in my naivety I assumed that I wouldn't have to return a $3k camera back to France to make it functional immediately after receiving it. Nothing is perfect, but I don't think that's the expectation of many. I'd simply like to be able to take a photo that is in focus without having to return it on day one.

I do not blame you. One has a right to expect a new camera to be a functioning camera. The cause of the problem is what puzzles me. Is it lousy QC? Or is the new RF sensitive to shock? Whichever it has to stop. I will hold off on sending mine back for an upgrade.

I am OK with the grip.