dee
Well-known
I have become dees'enchanted with Sony .
Firstly , I find it dee'ficult to connect to things - they can seem intangible , unreal .
OK , I love the richness of the 14mp CCD sensor in the basic A290 with my old Minolta 35-80 and the handling seems 'right' , maybe it's the simplicity and shades of my old Minolta 7000i .
The Leica Digilux 3 is my fave vintage camera , but it's a little outdated now !
The Sony A35 , with the EVF never worked for me , and although I have a Panasonic G2 , the EVF never quite works for me , so it seemed like technology had left me in limbo .
I considered a Panasonic LX100 which seemed to promise compact with hassle free fixed lens of my preferred range and reasonably fast ... but neither the handling , or price appealed .
Salvation came, a year ago , in a chance encounter with a NEW Fuji X-Pro 1 body @ £168 , just in time for a rare holiday in Malaysia , I quickly added a 27mm having sacrificed a Leica II .
It was perfect for street shots and sea / land photos . Was an instant hit with hands and eyes combining to make it real . Retrospectively , it's very similar in size and weight to my black Minolta SRT .
OK , it was downgraded to an advanced fixed lens point and shoot , with the exposure compensation dial working with auto , but it was good for me .
I love the IQ and colours of the 16mp sensor .
But I still missed out on the SLR experience , until I came across a boxed , new customer return Pentax K-S1 / kit lens plus a new 35mm f2.8 @ £214 total .
There is some logic in this as I have some Pentax lenses from my retired K10D.
It blows away my Sony offerings with a clear viewfinder and 24mp sensor .
The quirky handling , also seems to work for me .I am back in the SLR world .
One element was missing - a zoom for the X-Pro 1 .
This was solved by a new Fuji X-M1 with 16-50 @ £162 .
It did not bother me that all the ancillaries were missing as i went back with the X-Pro battery and SD card to try it out , and , with a new 16-50 costing around £300 , I just needed an inexpensive lens .
it did not work out quite that way in that the X-M has a flip down screen which I love for waist level viewing and it has twin dials making manual exposure a delight ... so I have upped the cost to £200 with battery , lens cap , SD card - and close out leather case !!
Three cameras which will probably see me out , with IQ and handling which suits me in three categories ; Rangefinder style , SLR , advanced compact .
How much did this indulgence cost me ?
In total £630 , enough for a reasonable new camera with the latest technology - but I am content with the flexibility and the picture quality of these outdated rejects - I also have more toys to play with !
dee
Firstly , I find it dee'ficult to connect to things - they can seem intangible , unreal .
OK , I love the richness of the 14mp CCD sensor in the basic A290 with my old Minolta 35-80 and the handling seems 'right' , maybe it's the simplicity and shades of my old Minolta 7000i .
The Leica Digilux 3 is my fave vintage camera , but it's a little outdated now !
The Sony A35 , with the EVF never worked for me , and although I have a Panasonic G2 , the EVF never quite works for me , so it seemed like technology had left me in limbo .
I considered a Panasonic LX100 which seemed to promise compact with hassle free fixed lens of my preferred range and reasonably fast ... but neither the handling , or price appealed .
Salvation came, a year ago , in a chance encounter with a NEW Fuji X-Pro 1 body @ £168 , just in time for a rare holiday in Malaysia , I quickly added a 27mm having sacrificed a Leica II .
It was perfect for street shots and sea / land photos . Was an instant hit with hands and eyes combining to make it real . Retrospectively , it's very similar in size and weight to my black Minolta SRT .
OK , it was downgraded to an advanced fixed lens point and shoot , with the exposure compensation dial working with auto , but it was good for me .
I love the IQ and colours of the 16mp sensor .
But I still missed out on the SLR experience , until I came across a boxed , new customer return Pentax K-S1 / kit lens plus a new 35mm f2.8 @ £214 total .
There is some logic in this as I have some Pentax lenses from my retired K10D.
It blows away my Sony offerings with a clear viewfinder and 24mp sensor .
The quirky handling , also seems to work for me .I am back in the SLR world .
One element was missing - a zoom for the X-Pro 1 .
This was solved by a new Fuji X-M1 with 16-50 @ £162 .
It did not bother me that all the ancillaries were missing as i went back with the X-Pro battery and SD card to try it out , and , with a new 16-50 costing around £300 , I just needed an inexpensive lens .
it did not work out quite that way in that the X-M has a flip down screen which I love for waist level viewing and it has twin dials making manual exposure a delight ... so I have upped the cost to £200 with battery , lens cap , SD card - and close out leather case !!
Three cameras which will probably see me out , with IQ and handling which suits me in three categories ; Rangefinder style , SLR , advanced compact .
How much did this indulgence cost me ?
In total £630 , enough for a reasonable new camera with the latest technology - but I am content with the flexibility and the picture quality of these outdated rejects - I also have more toys to play with !
dee
kuvvy
Well-known
Disregarding pure GAS, where you buy for the sake of it, I find it amazing the difference between what I think I want and what I actually enjoy using. Had Fuji for some time and currently enjoy the X70 especially with the 21mm adapter fitted. My XE-2 doesn't get as much use as it should but I'm finding my older cameras more enjoyable to use. My RD1, Ricoh GR, are fun to use. Yesterday I bought a Sigma DP3 Merrill to accompany the DP2 I already own. Slow cameras for the most part but the image is superb.
I'm also going back to the X100 series as my main camera. Love the quality, size and I can manage with a fixed lens. Just got the X100T version and will probably sell my original X100. Just sold my Fuji 18-55 and gonna sell other stuff like the 18mm, flash etc.
Think I'm finding small camera with high quality images are good enough for me.
May be famous last words eh?
I wish all my purchases amounted to £600 dee instead of the thousands I probably have spent.
Paul
I'm also going back to the X100 series as my main camera. Love the quality, size and I can manage with a fixed lens. Just got the X100T version and will probably sell my original X100. Just sold my Fuji 18-55 and gonna sell other stuff like the 18mm, flash etc.
Think I'm finding small camera with high quality images are good enough for me.
May be famous last words eh?
I wish all my purchases amounted to £600 dee instead of the thousands I probably have spent.
Paul
dee
Well-known
I was convinced about the X-Pro1 plus 27mm and the Pentax / 35mm , but the X-M1 surprised me , I had no need of a compact with screen viewing - I have a Fuji XF1 , small sensor camera as a 'notebook '.
I should not have been surprised my the X-M1 - it was a £650 camera after all .
It's now a keeper .
dee
I should not have been surprised my the X-M1 - it was a £650 camera after all .
It's now a keeper .
dee
Axel
singleshooter
Interesting to read about your prepositions. Indeed the individual categories under the big banner of photography can be very diverse.
In may case a small digital pocket cam with huge bag full of functions and zoomrange gives me the feeling not to miss one shot when I´m out.
So I feel free to go with a fixed lens, a film cam or just nothing additional. My gear table is filled with cams and lenses for many special tasks.
But when I´m out taking photos the table is at home...
The question of "the right photographing tool..." is like searching the holy grail in my opinion. Look what fits to you and the task
you just want to go for - and shoot!
In may case a small digital pocket cam with huge bag full of functions and zoomrange gives me the feeling not to miss one shot when I´m out.
So I feel free to go with a fixed lens, a film cam or just nothing additional. My gear table is filled with cams and lenses for many special tasks.
But when I´m out taking photos the table is at home...
The question of "the right photographing tool..." is like searching the holy grail in my opinion. Look what fits to you and the task
you just want to go for - and shoot!
David Hughes
David Hughes
But, but, um, they are digital aren't they? ;-(
Regards, David
Regards, David
Axel
singleshooter
Indeed they are, David.