To make the camera less obtrusive there's a Silent menu option which turns off the speaker, flash, AF-assist lamp and most importantly the artificially-created shutter-release sound, instantly making the X-E1 perfectly suited to candid photography.

I think its shutter sound is closer to my Leica MP than the Leica M9 is.

One important consideration for the X-E1's target market is operational noise, and especially the shutter; one great attraction of this type of camera is that with no flapping mirror, it can in principle be rather quieter than an SLR.

You can choose for the M9 to display a review of the image taken immediately after shutter release, if enabled you can set the display duration (1 to 5 seconds, permanent or with the shutter release) and the display type (with or without a histogram).

In conditions where I had an f/2 wide open at slow shutter speeds the split image worked very well and, in my first few weeks, I find myself struggling with my M9.

The Fujifilm X-E1's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds in the Time shutter speed mode, and there's a Bulb mode which allows exposures up to 60 minutes long, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography.

for my travel companion I used to use my Contax G's the lens and the quality I got from 35mm were un-matched ... the camera itself was so clean and simple to use , the only problem was the batteries ...the Fujifilm X-E1 is the second coming of that Contax G2 ,in digital form ... the pictures quality is the best I have seen compared to any of my DSLR(D40 and D300).

There are a few plastic buttons and controls on the X-E1, most notably the memory card / battery compartment door and the flap for the HDMI port, both of which wouldn't look or feel out of place on a cheap compact, but other that that the X-E1 offers excellent build quality.

My favorites are: a B+W Kaesemann CPL especially for outdoors shooting, a one dollar Bower Pro Lens Cap Keeper - you're guaranteed to lose the 35 mm f1.4's lens hood cover without one of these, a Eye-Fi wifi SD card to compensate for the X-E1's lack of wifi and gps, and an Apple Mac AC power adapter duck head to replace the unwieldy cord that comes with the battery charger.

One major drawback to the HG-XE1 grip (see image above) is having to remove it to change the battery and card; it really provides that Leica M9 experience, but not in a good way.