Fuji xPro1 for digital AND Leica for film

[JayC]

Answers to my question may be buried in the many threads here. I have tried to read them all...... I currently have a Leica m8.2 and 2 totally awesome Leica film cameras (M6TTL Millenium and an original black paint M2). I feel drawn to the Fuji for a few different reasons - mainly the less noise at higher ISOs. I am trying to control the m8 noise with ACDSee. My questions is this:
Does it make sense to have an XPro1 for digital and keep a Leica for film use? Or does it make sense to keep the M8 as the digital since it shares the same lenses. I am not interested in using non-fuji lenses on the fuji. I would probably just keep the M2 and a 35mm Summilux as the lone Leica/film gear. If I kept the M8, then it would be a 28 and 50 (with IR filters) for digital and the same M2/35 for film. The M6TTL Millenium is a question mark, but I would really ahte to part with it.
Maybe just "upgrading" to Lightroom or a different noise reduction software would take the m8 noise away so much that I would be over the fuji...

 

[david.elliott]

While lightroom's noise reduction is good, it is not a cure-all. The more you reduce noise, the more detail you lose. I dont think it will make up the difference between the noise present at say iso 800 on the m8 and the same on the fuji.

 

[GaryLH]

In general I use digital for color and film for BW. It is not to say that I don't do BW from digital files, but mainly a post process when I think the shot will work better in BW.

If u intend to use the Fuji with your existing m lenses, the following thread maybe f interest to u...

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121360

I don't own any digital Leica rf, but this other thread that Joe started may interest u

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122876

Gary

 

[JayC]

Thanks. I guess it is no different than asking: "does anyone here shoot a Nikon d300 AND use a Leica for film." I am just trying to sort out stuff in my head, and sometimes it makes it onth the web is the form of a question. The Leica M8 and Fuji Xpro1 are more head to head than the d300 is, though.

 

[kshapero]

I use a Nikon D7000 and a Leica M3 at shoots. I often take over 1000 exposures with the D7000 and about 2-3 rolls with M3. Most of my best shots are from the M3, but I need the D7000 to be taken "seriously".

 

[ironhorse]

I would wait and look at the new Fuji XE-1 which is less expensive and reported to be faster than the X-Pro1.

 

[david.elliott]

I would wait and look at the new Fuji XE-1 which is less expensive and reported to be faster than the X-Pro1.

It is less expensive, but the autofocus speed should be the same. The x-pro1 has a firmware update coming out on the 18th to bring it up to speed with the yet to be released xe-1.

 

[bruce@kerner.co.nz]

Leica and X-Pro1

Leica and X-Pro1

Answers to my question may be buried in the many threads here. I have tried to read them all...... I currently have a Leica m8.2 and 2 totally awesome Leica film cameras (M6TTL Millenium and an original black paint M2). I feel drawn to the Fuji for a few different reasons - mainly the less noise at higher ISOs. I am trying to control the m8 noise with ACDSee. My questions is this:
Does it make sense to have an XPro1 for digital and keep a Leica for film use? Or does it make sense to keep the M8 as the digital since it shares the same lenses. I am not interested in using non-fuji lenses on the fuji. I would probably just keep the M2 and a 35mm Summilux as the lone Leica/film gear. If I kept the M8, then it would be a 28 and 50 (with IR filters) for digital and the same M2/35 for film. The M6TTL Millenium is a question mark, but I would really ahte to part with it.
Maybe just "upgrading" to Lightroom or a different noise reduction software would take the m8 noise away so much that I would be over the fuji...

Jay,

I have done what you are thinking of doing in that I am using the X -Pro 1 for digital work, and have kept the M2 ,and others, for film work. Very happy with the Fuji rig. I never really shot digital before until this camera came out. I'm having blow ups made from JPEG files that are superior and at around 17X25 inches - and can go higher. Next to experiment in raw. I think that the combo of cameras will be they way. Sold a 645 Contax rig to get into the X-Pro1 game. Looking forward to the new lenses. Very much like shooting with a Leica, and the quality all around is great.

 

[willie_901]

Noise is really the uncertainty or errors in the interpolated estimated value for a particular pixel. Noise can not be reduced or eliminated. The noise is intrinsic to the data. However you can guess the real, but unknown, value of noisy pixels by averaging them with less noisy pixels. But every time you decrease the uncertainty in a noisy pixel you increase the uncertainty of a pixel with more signal. This is why noise filtering in post processing has practical limits and why you only have limited "control" of the noise using software.

If the M8's inherent signal to noise ratio is unsuitable for your work, then all you can do is switch to a camera with a better signal-to-noise ratio. Unfortunately this means spending a lot more money or not using an optical rangefinder body.

The X-Pro 1 is a great choice if you decide to switch to a camera with a higher signal to noise ratio. Well-exposed ISO 1600 raw files can be printed in color. A minimal amount of noise filtering in Lightroom 4 does not degrade the image quality. If you use the optical view finder you can see outside of the framelines as you would with an optical rangefinder.