Get rid of my Leica? Help me make a decision.

[chris00nj]

That's my instinct too...

You're instincts are wrong. 😉

Option 3: Sell the Contax , but the D700.


Diversity in camera gear is good. You have one higher quality albiet slower camera, the M6. You also have an autofocus / easier camera, the Contax. That balance is good and allows you to pick the right camera for the right situation.

If you get rid of the Leica, you are loosing that diversity. The Contax also has some limitations in amount of glass you can get for it. Say, at one point, you want to take some photos with a vintage look? The M6, you can use older LTM glass.

 

[mfunnell]

Do what I do. Buy more stuff. Never sell anything.

GAS rules! 😀

...Mike

 

[sirius]

Can you afford to get your Nikon digital first and decide what to sell to pay off debt afterwards? I looked at the first few pages of your Flickr stream, and the subjects and style you photograph look well-suited to an SLR. You never know, you may like the easy workflow of digital better and sell all your film cameras.

Is the picture taking the most important to you, or the love of beautiful and famous equipment? It's not a sin to like equipment for its own sake, but I think it helps if you admit the fact to yourself...it makes deliberations like this less cloudy in your mind.

Good luck and fun.

 

[maddoc]

Sell everything, buy a Pentax 67 + one lens and an iPhone ... 😉

 

[Pablito]

Listen to all the advice here, ignore what your gut tells you.

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

Listen to all the advice here, ignore what your gut tells you.

Hahahaha


Jack, I'm actually in a similar situation right now. My M6TTL and Hex 50 hasn't been used much in the last six months since I bought a Nikon F100. The siren song of the D700 (or the D90, less so) is calling me: "You spent nearly $1000 on film and processing last year!"

I figure I'll give it another six months and see how I feel.

 

[chilohm]

Thanks y'all. A lot to think about here. I think I will at least wait until the M9 comes out so that I can see what happens to prices. I'm off on holiday for a couple of weeks and will take both my RF kits. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks for all of your input - much appreciated as always!

 

[mfogiel]

Sell the Elmarit M and buy a film scanner plus a changing bag. Go to macodirect.de and buy Rollei Retro 100 and 400 plus the chemicals, and you are set for cheap. OR if you want to shoot colour, sell everything, buy the D700 plus a couple of Zeiss ZF lenses, and enjoy the new paradigm...

 

[marke]

If you're going digital, then your film gear will just sit idle.

Not always. I've went from film to DSLR about 10 years ago. But 3 years ago, I began shooting film again, and now I shoot both. I like the options.

 

[chilohm]

So. Ive decided to get rid of my Leica kit. The Rolleiflex 2.8F that I picked up for a song sort of helped me to make my mind up... I can do slow and smooth (and square!) now with the Rollei, so I will keep the Contax for street stuff/candid portraits where a smaller camera is useful and try a D700 for other general stuff. Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

[naruto]

So. Ive decided to get rid of my Leica kit. The Rolleiflex 2.8F that I picked up for a song sort of helped me to make my mind up... I can do slow and smooth (and square!) now with the Rollei, so I will keep the Contax for street stuff/candid portraits where a smaller camera is useful and try a D700 for other general stuff. Thanks for all the advice guys.

dibs on the Elmarit. 🙂 I have WTB Ad.

 

[nobbylon]

not so fast!!!! keep the M and the 35, sell everything else and get a D700. I made the mistake of selling all my M bodies and missed using them. I got a D700 which is really good and for the times I feel like film I got an M2. Seriously, you'll miss the M

 

[newsgrunt]

Whenever I'm at the point of needing or wanting to move gear, I try to take into consideration what will be easiest to replace if I change my mind down the road.

So sell the M6ttl and G2 but keep the Cron ASPH. The D700 isn't that large and really isn't that distracting to subjects.

Just saw your updated post. I'd still keep the cron and sell the G2.

Have fun with the D700, you're gonna love using it.

 

[Ronald_H]

If you use the Contax more, get rid of the Leica. That I wouldnt doesn't matter.

I would keep the Leica, sell the Contax and buy a Panasonic G1. Yes you have the 2x crop factor on that, but it is such a lovely camera and indeed, using MF glass on it is a pleasure.

If you need low light excellence, get the D700.

And cost of processing is killing you? How many rolls do you shoot? Ever figured how many rolls you can shoot for the price of a D700 + Nikon glass? Or comtemplated developing your own (B/W is easy)?

There is no right answer. Good luck with your choice.

 

[Paddy C]

I'm very late in on this.

But I would have sold the G2 kit (I sold mine in the spring and haven't felt even a twinge of remorse) and the M6 and bought an M8.2 (assuming you have the cash after all was said and done).

I dislike SLRs (both film and digital) and would much rather use a digital RF despite it's disadvantages. Especially given that you have some nice lenses already.

 

[nobbylon]

2 great reasons to keep the m6, CRON AND HEX. Out of all the M's i've had I regret selling the ttl the most. Yes you can replace in time but if you can swing the cash without selling you won't have to find out how much you will miss them. I'm so glad I didn't sell my 35 asph, it's the one lens that keeps me having M's.......oh ok, and the 50 cron!
I'm sticking with my original advice, sell everything apart from the ttl and 35.

 

[johannielscom]

If the Leica is gathering dust, don't keep it. Yes you'd lose the Leica glass, but since youre not shooting it now, that is only a perceived loss. Then: sell the G2 kit as well. THEN get a D700, with a 105mm f2.0 DC lens. That lens is great for portraits AND it can compete with Leica glass.

 

[chilohm]

Thanks everyone. I know it might sound daft of me to get rid to some people, but I'm not using it, am not a collector, and love taking pictures. It makes sense to get rid of what I'm not using.

I have found to IQ of the Rollei easily as good as the Leica, the Contax lenses to be super sharp and the camera easier to operate in a hurry. I do really like the Leica setup, and know that others think I'm mad for selling up (for A DSLR!!) but I just think that it will fit in better with my style of photography. I will keep a rangefinder, have a fully manual, MF camera, and a decent DSLR.

If you're interested, you can see pics and details of my Leica stuff here.

 

[ron1945]

oh dear

oh dear

being leica and contax poor i cant feel sorry for your dilemma,but sell them to buy digital! 😀 oh dear oh dear 🙁

 

[chilohm]

BTW, apart from here, where would you guys put WTT ads? I've not had much interest, so may consider selling too.