A Meaningful Change or Just Bored?

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ktmrider

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I am giving serious consideration to selling all my M gear and going almost all digital (probably Fuji XPro). I am wondering if digital might give me a kick start. I enjoy photography but it is not the main hobby and I don't want to drop $7000 on an M9.

I started photography way back in high school in 1966 developing 4x5 and paying my way through college shooting for local newspapers. I became a pilot shortly after college but have owned nice film cameras since college and have had all the Leicas up to the M7.

In the past year I have acquired a Leica R system and Hasselblad. Well, in a year I took 1 roll of film with the blad so I just sold it and a classic Nikon F which sat in the closet as I tried to recapture the gear I used in college. I have also just sold a Leica Dlux 5 which I purchased for traveling but found I used the X100 much more.

I spent three months traveling in Asia last winter and was very happy with the Fuji X100. I have never scanned film and the idea of learning does not really turn me on. I am also amazed at how good the technology is in the new digital cameras. Even though the M2 may be the ultimate camera the new technology sure makes getting good exposure super easy.

So, my current M system would probably pay for a XPro and a couple lenses. I would probably keep the R6.2 as it is a beautiful manual SLR and would allow me to shoot film when I want. I am wondering if I will miss the M. I know the decision is mine but anyone else gotten rid of film and the M at the same time? Were you happy with you decision six months later?

Thanks.
 
I did the exact reverse. Cycled through more digicams than I care to admit - fixed lens, CSC, etc. I could never settle. Now that I have the M2 and the X10 on the side I'm feeling a little more settled. OK less photos taken but more contentment and keepers. For my money I find digital files a little lifeless...again just my opinion.

P.S., Also be very clear that nothing in the digicam world is like using a Leica...except a digital Leica...of course 😱 Many M-users I know from another forum, are still not quite satisfied with the faux-RF XPro1
 
I think what you propose is bang on ... particularly keeping the 6.2 as an available film option when the craving arrises!

That sounds like very balanced kit to me.
 
I just did the reverse as well...sold all my X-pro gear this a.m....and doubled down on some Zeiss lenses...and a second film body. I got so bored with the autofocus lenses that I ended up using my manuals on it, and the viewfinder, while great for a digital, will make you long for the Leica. Ultimately, though, just much happier with my film output. Slower, sure, but more fun and more keepers.
 
Well, I guess that is why I posted my indecision on this site. I just attended a seminar with a fairly famous fine art photographer and film no longer exists in his world. The seminar was the catalysis for getting rid of most of the film gear. And seeing some beautiful large color photos from the X100 did not help. And truth be told I was hoping that switching cameras would help spark a bit of creativity although I know from experience that it usually does not.

There are times when I really like the X100 just shooting away with it in auto (making sure the subject is in focus). It is so easy and the technology is so good. I learned with a 4x5 Graflex. Both the Nikon F and Leica M4 were pretty much state of the art back in the late 1960's (I remember when getting the FTN head was a big deal and we swooned if there was a motor attached as well).

Again, photography is something I enjoy but not my ruling passion. I can afford an M9 but don't really want to spend more money on cameras as I have a great kit. I think I can almost ride around the world on a motorcycle for the cost of an M9. And I could even take a Leica that shoots both color and black and white. Or I could get a new motorcycle for the same money. I just wish I did not have so many M mount lenses.

I am not making any decisions tonight. Have a photo shoot in a couple weeks at a ghost town in SW New Mexico and I have been giving serious thought to TriX in the M2 and color with the X100. And when I travel the X100 seems to fill the bill pretty well. I have been giving black and white some serious thought. I have not done much black and white since 1975. After shooting miles of TriX as a photojournalist I still know how to shoot and soup TriX but scanning?

It is an interesting problem but sure does not have to be decided immediately.
 
ktmrider said:
I just wish I did not have so many M mount lenses.
Click to expand...

What about a micro four thirds with an m mount? You can keep your lenses or your favorite ones at least and still have some ability to change focal lengths.

Definitely a good idea to keep one film camera too.. nostalgia isn't a bad thing.
 
If you do make the decision to stick with a healthy film output scanning can be a new challenge surely as can intigrating your photography with the hybrid process. It's really not that bad IMO and what you can do with a decent scan of a well exposed black and white negative is interesting in itself. Going fully digital is all very well but ultimately you become a slave to modern technology and although the hybrid process is basically just creating a digital file from film ... at least there's an anolog part of it that feeds that side of your photographic needs.
 
Good that you are keeping a film SLR, but if I were you, I would not sell off all your Leica M gear. I'd keep 1 M for sure, and a few lenses. I've read lots of posts where people express misgivings for selling off Leica M gear. They frequently rebuy.
 
ktmrider said:
I have been giving black and white some serious thought. I have not done much black and white since 1975. After shooting miles of TriX as a photojournalist I still know how to shoot and soup TriX but scanning?
Click to expand...
OK you've stumbled on the one digital camera to which I'd make a serious exception...the M-Monochrom 😉 Might serve you well too?
 
FrankS said:
Good that you are keeping a film SLR, but if I were you, I would not sell off all your Leica M gear. I'd keep 1 M for sure, and a few lenses. I've read lots of posts where people express misgivings for selling off Leica M gear. They frequently rebuy.
Click to expand...

Second that. Keep M gear.
 
You have skipped the central question: do you shoot colour or B&W ? If you shoot colour go all digital, if you shoot B&W buy back your Hasselblad.
 
I have considered selling my film gear too. I don't like the paraphernalia that it requires, the scanners, the boxes of negatives. Then there is the travelling, taking 20 rolls of film, instead of 2 SD cards. Then the processing cost etc. There are a million reasons to stop shooting film. But despite the benefits of digital, I just don't think I'd enjoy it half as much.

You have to do what feels right for you, and sometimes the clean simplicity of digital is very tempting indeed.

I've never used an XPro, only held one in a shop. It's remarkably like a "real" camera, it feels like a Zeiss Ikon crossed with a Contax G2. I was very surprised that a company would bring out a camera, so, well, camera-like. It does not feel like a bundle of electronics like most do. I'd never get one though, the size of a camera does not really bother me that much, so I'd spend the same amount on a full frame DSLR.
 
I've done the opposite. Pretty much shoot film nowadays, and I have an x100 for digital days. I'm shooting more contax G than x100 though, and I feel like I'm getting more out of it at the moment (even though I prefer the x100 as a camera to the contax). Film is good.
 
I say go for it!

I am currently selling off most of my film gear, slowly. I am getting married in August and the film gear will cover some of that cost. The only film camera I will keep is an OM-1 with three lenses that used to belong to my father. While I have loved shooting film all the time I do not currently have space for a permanent darkroom (as well as only having limited darkroom experience) and can't say that I enjoy scanning particularly.

More and more recently I have been shooting with my little GRD3 and really enjoying the quick feedback and simplicity. Once married, I plan to save up for an X Pro 1. It's the JPEGS more than anything that sell this camera to me.
 
Selling film gear is one thing, selling a well assorted kit of M lenses is another thing. If your kit has some highly sought after vintage lenses you can make a nice profit now but might have to pay twice the amount of money to buy everything back in case you realize that the decision was wrong for you. On the other hand, money spent for a digital camera can`t be recovered except you make money with photography.
 
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