rover, thank you for the link, that’s just what wish I had this morning before I went lens shoping 🙂
JJW, wow, these are some sharp pics; the Ultron is certainly on my radar now, will need to take it for a test drive (btw, testing lenses with the RD1 is a blast – instant satisfaction).
(if you have a minute, please read about my dilemma below)
Here is the rest of the story – I am in the middle of putting together a documentary book for my family at large, retracing our footsteps across a few generations, mostly in Europe. but some in Canada and in the US. My Dad is writing and compiling most of the “European” text while my job is illustrations (yep, I volunteered for this job 😉). This September, I will be taking the long overdue trip back to France and Poland to shoot as many pics of places and people on my list as possible.
So now I am trying to prepare my camera kit for this adventure and frankly, have been stressing about it a lot, mostly because I don’t want to miss any potentially great shots due to not having the best lens for the job that I can afford. The funny thing is, not so long ago – before I joined the RFF – I would have been perfectly happy with a pocket digicam…
The 28mm Elmarit, the one I tested this morning on my RD1, produces amazing pics. I took a few shots wide open of the guy who is selling it, inside a poorly lit camera store where he works, and OMG!, I still get week in my knees just looking at the images on my 17” screen. I simply love the way it takes people pics.
So this is what I am thinking, hope this makes good sense:
1. The RD1 is a good candidate for the trip because:
(a) it’s digital, i.e. I can check for any bad shots right away
(b) All I would need is (from what I already have)
- 15/4 Heliar for those wider shots inside churches
- 35/1.7 CV for most every other type of shot
- 50/2 M-Hexanon as the short telephoto
- 75/2.5 CV for the “super-telephoto” if needed (would need to approximate the frames somehow on the RD1)
(c) I could take the M7 as the film backup
In this kit, I am thinking I would want to get rid of the 35mm CV but add the 28mm Emarit, mainly because I think it could serve as the main walkabout lens on the RD1. Since many of the images I plan to capture will be of people, the Elmarit would give me more confidence in the final quality of the pics. I am still very much an amateur and understand that perhaps the reason I might not be able to take as good a pic with the 35/1.7 CV as I think I took this morning with the 28mm Elmarit is my skill level. But, for all practical purposes, if the lens does the job for me, why struggle? (I am only half joking on this).
2. Alternative #2 would be the Contax G2 with 28/35/90 mm lenses. The good thing about this one is that, at least in my case, I have a hard time taking a really bad (in terms of exposure and focus) picture with this camera – it kind of provides photo smarts where I still lack them. The bad thing is – film, development, not knowing until I get back home or back to a large city.
3. Finally, I could take my Pentax DS, for which I have some amazing primes and a couple of good zooms. But this outfit is much bigger/heavier than anything else I can take, mainly due to the lenses.
So here I am, a month before my trip, not a clue what I will end up taking with me. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
