Help with new camera with 50mm lens

[Godfrey]

I thought a lot the last time and also tried cameras of friends. After all the size is for me a very important factor and i am between the ricoh griii x and the leica x2. Has anyone experience with the x2 ? I tried it at a used shop but didnt have much time to have a whole day experience. The settings are really ahead from everything so small i have tried but its also an old camera.. but leica colors and leica lens canot be so bad.

I used an X2 for quite some time. It's a lovely camera and a fine performer ... but it has the equivalent of a 35mm lens, not 50mm lens. If you can work with that, an X2 with a 35mm optical finder is a super 'carry anywhere' shooter. The slightly larger X typ 113 is similarly excellent, and has a faster lens, with even nicer controls IMO.

The Ricoh GRIIIx is another one that has great potential, if my past experience with the Ricoh GXR and original GR are any measure. I haven't yet seen a GRIIIx in person however.

G

 

[jsrockit]

I used the X2 when it came out and now own the GR3x. Both are fine cameras, but the GR3x is more modern by today's standards and is probably priced about the same as a used X2 (being a Leica). I have no hesitation in saying that the GR3x is the only really pocketable digital camera made today with a 40mm lens. I love mine. The sensor is good, it has IBIS and a leaf shutter and the lens is a typically sharp Ricoh.

 

[cboy]

I'd suggest an fp which imo undervalued. It's compact, fullframe , modular, lens interchangeable, so you can accessorise to what suits you and lends to future expansion. The banding for led can solved using 1/50 or 1/100 @50Hz or otherwise 1/60. The gr has issues with low light anyway and would require a third party software like topaz, unlike the fp which works great at higher iso due to its dual gain iso. You can also add an evf if required or slap on an adhesive cold shoe mount to use a OVF.

​​​​​It also works well for street photography despite its rolling shutter at times. Just need a steady hand and not pan before triggering the shutter. It works great with m mount lens along with sigma lenses. YMMV

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[jsrockit]

I'd suggest an fp which imo undervalued. It's compact, fullframe , modular, lens interchangeable, so you can accessorise to what suits you and lends to future expansion. The banding for led can solved using 1/50 or 1/100 @50Hz or otherwise 1/60. The gr has issues with low light anyway and would require a third party software like topaz, unlike the fp which works great at higher iso due to its dual gain iso. You can also add an evf if required or slap on an adhesive cold shoe mount to use a OVF.

​​​​​It also works well for street photography despite its rolling shutter at times. Just need a steady hand and not pan before triggering the shutter. It works great with m mount lens along with sigma lenses. YMMV

​

Which issue does the GR3x have in low light? With IBIS (a few stops) and a relatively modern APSC sensor (usable at 6400), I have not seen any issues. Your solution will be twice the size and is no longer pocketable. No ibis either.

 

[seany65]

Have you looked at the Pentax ME-F? Even though it was AF camera (not a great one at AF apparently) it does have "focus assist" with manual focus lenses, it is aperture-priority and manual, though you have to press up/down buttons to change the shutter speed. If you find a suitable pancake 50mm lens to go with the small camera it could be of some use.

 

[Godfrey]

I'd suggest an fp which imo undervalued. It's compact, fullframe , modular, lens interchangeable, so you can accessorise to what suits you and lends to future expansion. The banding for led can solved using 1/50 or 1/100 @50Hz or otherwise 1/60. The gr has issues with low light anyway and would require a third party software like topaz, unlike the fp which works great at higher iso due to its dual gain iso. You can also add an evf if required or slap on an adhesive cold shoe mount to use a OVF.

​​​​​It also works well for street photography despite its rolling shutter at times. Just need a steady hand and not pan before triggering the shutter. It works great with m mount lens along with sigma lenses. YMMV

One reservation I have with the Sigma fp is that they didn't put any kind of accessory shoe on the camera. That makes it a real pain to fit an optical accessory finder to, which is usually what I do with these "LCD only" cameras in order to get an eye-level viewfinder. And the Sigma EVF for the fp is an expensive accessory ... And I always want at least the option of an eye-level viewfinder.

G

 

[cboy]

I just added a third part cold shoe with an adhesive to attach an ovf. Otherwise there's an optional evf that allow to swivel to make it a quasi waist level finder vs the tiltable LCD screen. Horses for courses, but the stick on cold shoe can applied to any camera

 

[oftheherd]

Keep in mind that a 50mm lens is a very different lens on each sensor size. You may have loved 50mm lenses on 35mm cameras, but on a micro 4/3 camera, it has the angle of view of a 100mm. I shot m4/3 and Olympus makes a 45mm f1.8 that is a wonderful portrait lens. On APS-C cameras, the 50 acts like a 75mm.

If you want the 50mm look on a m4/3 camera, you want a 25mm. Olympus's 25mm f1.8 is tiny, light, fast, and SHARP. On APS-C a 35mm lens will be the closest thing to the look of a 50mm lens.

I expect I will try digital in the future. That is good to know. Thanks.

 

[pvdhaar]

There's more to a 50mm than just the equivalent field of view. Many are constructed as double-Gauss, 6 elements in 5 groups, that give a rendering that a 25mm on 3/4 will not.

 

[retinax]

There's more to a 50mm than just the equivalent field of view. Many are constructed as double-Gauss, 6 elements in 5 groups, that give a rendering that a 25mm on 3/4 will not.

Why wouldn't they be constructed the same way?