how long to acclimate to a new camera?

[gilpen123]

That's why DRF are much simpler to use. AF can be nice but when you miss shots it becomes frustrating that you go nuts with the camera and want to bang it on the floor (God forbids). Seriously, I think one needs to have a good read of the manual with camera in hand and practice the AF response to acclimatize your timing. For lowlight I almost always use shutter priority and auto ISO, this help me stabilize at a shutter speed I can handle i.e 1/60.

 

[robert blu]

Digital offers many options, most of which are not necessary to everybody. This is the main difficulty. As PKR says a new camera is not only an investment of money but also an investment of time: the time you need to learn it. I found the Leica x1 menu not so difficult to learn (but I'm always learning hoe to best use this camera). On the other side my wife's Nikon 5100 is much more difficult or at least complicated to have under control.
Too many options, some are hidden, and the organization is sometimes different than what you would think logic. Digital is good, it offers many possibilities but the price is that you have to learn it.
robert

 

[Pherdinand]

i don't get it, what exactly you mean by acclimatising.
From the first paragraph of your post i thought you mean getting used to seeing/predicting the image with the new camera. But then you talk about shutter lag and other technicalities which cerainly also need getting used to / "breaking in" but it is a totally different thing i think.

I myself have some cameras that i feel i can never "break them in" though i am perfectly mastering their technology, and i have some where i felt immediately at home shooting with them, like the x100 i just got, but i still miss / mess up some technical details (occasional misfocus or off exposure)...

 

[leicapixie]

Film cameras are as complicated as pulling on a pair of socks, dropping feet into shoes.. Digitals come with a monster book to use them or a heavily filled CD/DVD. The way out is find the green square, icon or letter..i see pro's doing that!
When i acquired my Leica-M3, it was not love at first sight! A year later my portfolio was nearly all Leica. The joy of the viewfinder, the feeling of capturing moments. It was all there in a small package.
The Leica is now 45 years old! The 50mm Summicron is 58 years old.
i was 10 when it was made!
The longer and more equipment is used, the better one can achieve results.
Carrying my P/S digitals these past 3+ years since my heart attack, has made me achieve really nice imaging! Sure, i still carry the M, but not all the time.

 

[gilpen123]

understanding and getting used to the timing needed to nail a shot with the camera

 

[tunalegs]

The only one that gets me is the Exakta... everytime I switch back to a "normal" camera I keep squeezing the left side of the camera expecting the shutter to fire!

Some companies simply settled for making their systems incompatible with the products of other companies... Exakta apparently aimed to make their customers incompatible with the products of other companies.

 

[Godfrey]

...
i think it's mostly shutter lag/actual time of image caught and what i want to capture that needs to knit.
today, all my people shots were a second after what i wanted.

i'm not saying that the xpro has bad shutter lag, but it is different from my other cameras and now i need to 'learn' it.

i assume this is the same for most folks?
have you noticed it?
how long is your 'break in' time?

This is exactly the thing I was experiencing after shooting with the X2 and GXR for a vp couple of months and then pulling out the M9 and E-1. The controls .. Not a problem at all: I learn menus and knobs/buttons very fast. But the release delay timing on the GXR and X2 are simply inconsistent compared to the M9 and E-1, which make the latter two much easier to learn and work with.

 

[Roger Hicks]

One M-series from another.... not very long.

Anything non-electronic... not very long.

If you can't figure out how to use it just by trying the controls, it's probably not designed right.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Vics]

Ha! Roger, I just sent that article from your site to my buddy who just bought a D300 and is having a LOT of trouble adjusting. But it took me A YEAR to adjust to my M3/ collapsible 'cron. Then one day, a print came up in the developer that showed me the way.

 

[Pete B]

I went out yesterday with a GXR; my first digital experience for 3 years. It was soul destroying. It's a blessed relief to pick up my Leica look at the lighting of the scene, think F5.6 for the set shutter speed, click the shutter and know it's in the bag. No surprise blown hightlights, no accidental exposure compensation, no inadvertent iso change, no accidental change of evf magnification, no inadvertent activation of focus peaking. Yes, I think it will take a long time for me to get used to using this digital camera. In fact I'm not going to waste my time with digital outdoors until either Portra ceases production or I can trial the new Leica M, which ever comes first.
Pete

 

[dave lackey]

went out shooting a bit today...so excited about new gear but could not see an image if i had a gun to my head.
my 'people' shots were all 'off' and i started to worry/think/realize that every new camera has a break in period where i have to get used to it before 'we' start to click.

i think it's mostly shutter lag/actual time of image caught and what i want to capture that needs to knit.
today, all my people shots were a second after what i wanted.

i'm not saying that the xpro has bad shutter lag, but it is different from my other cameras and now i need to 'learn' it.

i assume this is the same for most folks?
have you noticed it?
how long is your 'break in' time?

For me, a lifetime... seriously as I need to feel a complete oneness in which I don't have to think about the camera (film or digital). If I set a camera aside, say the FE2 or the D2X (gone now), for a couple of weeks or so, and find that it feels right but I forget to set something or have to read the manual to operate something, then, I consider myself either not on one with the camera or just plain getting old and there is no hope. I prefer to think the former.😛

That said, there are only two cameras right now that fit best in the "oneness" category but even with the M3, I still feel like it will take me the rest of my life to achieve ownership of it.🙂

 

[FrankS]

Dave, we don't own Leicas, we look after them for the next generation.


😉

 

[Mikeds80]

SLRs are pretty quick to pick up, especially more modern ones like my F100. I'm still getting used to my QL17 over a year later. Meanwhile my first roll with my XA2 was one of my best so far this year. It's been difficult acclimating to my RB67 but not as bad as I thought, I just move at a turtle's pace with it.

 

[wallace]

brilliant control layout: Ricoh GR Digital. Wish Fuji or Sigma could do that....