Is the best digital Leica a Nikon 9000 plus any M?

Yeah, after thinking about it, the features of the M, like the faster shutter, adjustable ISO, and so on. But, I like negatives as my storage medium. Not hard drives.
 
Yes, the M8 was a sad attempt at a digital camera. The only thing going for it was that is IS A rangefinder design. The M9 is pretty cool today, but the M6 was made from 1984-2002, and they still kick ass. So you tell me what is the real investment camera. For 7,000 dollars you could buy:

M6 + 50mm Summicron: $3000 (at a high estimate, good shape)
Nikon 9000: $2000
Hasselblad 500cm with lens and back: $1,200
133 rolls of 35mm Tri-X
106 rolls of 120mm Tri-X

No this is assuming you didn't buy a Zeiss lens, or an Ikon, or a Voigtlander and a Leica lens, or do any of the cost saving moves available to you. Unless you sweat money it's pretty stupid to buy an M9. Anyways for my part I'd rather support a business that is actually supporting people who like taking photographs. These day's Leica only makes jewelry for the rich.
 
Interesting question. I have a pair of M8s and an M9 and just picked up my second M7 last weekend. I scan my Neopan 400 on a CS 9000 with Silverfast AI Studio. The film scans have oodles of atmosphere that either digital M lack. In comparison, the digital Ms are clinical, which works for some subject material, but my heart is still with film and anytime i show my colleagues the baryta prints from digital and film side by side, they always tend to gravitate to those generated from film.
 
If you are considering a 9000 as the scanner, then you may want to consider a MF film kit, IMO.

Any number of MF RFs - Fuji, Bronica, Mamiya, etc (if you really want an RF) - will handily surpass a Leica or Bessa film kit, or an M8 and probably an M9 (I have no experience with an M9). Of course these cameras are larger than an Leica M kit and fewer people will be jealous that you own it.
 
gdi said:
If you are considering a 9000 as the scanner, then you may want to consider a MF film kit, IMO.

Any number of MF RFs - Fuji, Bronica, Mamiya, etc (if you really want an RF) - will handily surpass a Leica or Bessa film kit, or an M8 and probably an M9 (I have no experience with an M9). Of course these cameras are larger than an Leica M kit and fewer people will be jealous that you own it.
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Agree with this. If you are going to spend all that money on a 9000 you might as well shoot MF and forget the Leica. Otherwise track down a used CS 5000 for a lot less money if you are going to just use 35mm.
 
Vickko said:
Is the best digital Leica a Nikon 9000 plus any M of your choice?


Vick
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That is one alternative. There are various combinations:

Leica D-Lux 3 or D-Lux 4 plus M of choice.

Leica D-Lux 3 or 4 plus IIIc with C-V lenses.

Leica D-Lux 3 or 4 plus IIIC with C-V lenses plus M of choice.

Nikon D-200 or D-300 plus Leica(s) of your choice.

I've done them all! Really getting to like the D-300! It is powerful!
 
This made me very curious. As a digital generation guy, I started with D-SLR and ending with no digital whatsoever. Now is only film, and RF only for streets. I have a Nikon 5000 (which btw, is a 9000 without MF option), but got broke because of the heavy dust environment. But still, I will try o make o comparison relevant for me: 400 USD Leica M2+ 1000 USD Biogon 35/2 + 300 USD Epson V700. I will borrow an M9 just to see the difference, for me.
Of course there will be a battle in terms of ”what is the better option for digital image files creation”. Sometimes you need those. As for the best option for creating ”photographs” as in beautiful objects, there is no competition. Film is winning because is the single runner.
I will scan the slide film directly, and not the cibacrhome print. 😉 Just to keep the competition tight.
 
jplomley said:
I have a pair of M8s and an M9 and just picked up my second M7 last weekend. I scan my Neopan 400 on a CS 9000 with Silverfast AI Studio. The film scans have oodles of atmosphere that either digital M lack. ...
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Interesting comment, but I don't fully understand.

I use both digital (Nikon D300 DSLR) and analog (Hexar RF) plus a Nikon Coolscan V ED plus Nikon Scan, Vuescan and Nikonn Capture NX2 & Photoshop , so I know both sides of the fence.

But I still fail to understand what you mean by "oodles of atmosphere".

I know how to use grain to my advantage, but most of the time I find it a nuisance - but not a problem, because there are ways to take care of it.

The other possibility of "atmosphere" is film gradation. Now that's no problem either because I can change gradation curves in my image editor to create drama or mystery at will. Of course, I also understand the implications of film development variations, but I take them as a prologue to my computer-based workflow.

Frankly, IMHO there's no better or worse, but only the question of whether one only understands the analog workflow or both analog and digital worlds. I think there's a draw in terms of IQ (with a slight penchant to digital).

To me, there never exists THE best camera type, only a camera type/system that's best suited for a certain purpose. Change the purpose and you might come to different conclusions.
 
Vickko said:
Yeah, after thinking about it, the features of the M, like the faster shutter, adjustable ISO, and so on. But, I like negatives as my storage medium. Not hard drives.
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I disagree. I can easily make 3 complete copies of every photo I've ever taken completely losslessly and in numerous formats in under a day and store them in three locations for less than $500. I cannot do this with negatives.

Every 5 years, I can format shift in an evening, just like DVD to BluRay of home videos. (How easy is it to format shift your 8mm videos?)
 
The best Digital Leica (that exists) is the m9. It takes huge photos at exceptional quality with no grain (at low ISOs) A scanned negative isnt going to be as good and slide is still behind.
It terms of technical image quality digital (even the 'sad attempt' m8) is better than 35mm film.
People may prefer the look of film however. High ISO b+w film is much visually pleasing than a high ISO digital image to me.

edit: digital archiving is 1000% easier than film. you can keep 1000000 photos in a drawer that will not degrade over time or get damaged. You can even back them up online and access them from anywhere in the world
 
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If you want to shoot 35mm film, get a Nikon 5000ED and a roll feed adapter so you can review an entire roll.

If you get a Nikon 9000, skip the Leica and Get a Fuji MF rangefinder. Bigger the better so a Fuji 690 would be the ticket if you want a rangefinder.

If you want to save a ton of $ just get a Nikon 35Ti and a Pacific image 7250 pro3. Its not at a drum scan level, but it certainly returns crisp images at 3600 dpi and can roll feed with a few quirks. That combo is about $700 vs $5,000 for a leica and a Nikon 9000 if you can find one. You can always send out those few special images for drum scans.

That said the only benefit I see of 35mm film over digital these days is for B+W film. I shoot bluefire and it has a lot of rez, and I just hate the look of digital B+W.

Actually for what a high end Leica setup plus a Nikon scanner cost, you could probably buy a Nikon 35Ti, 7250 pro3 scanner, Sony A850 and a couple of Zeiss lenses. The Sony is not a rangefinder, but it is 24mp.
 
Brian Puccio said:
If you want to throw away your money, otherwise just wire up the current negative feeder and it will do entire rolls for you too.
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The SA-21 and SA-30 (roll film feeder) have different gears and a different motor. For the occasional scan of a complete roll a hacked SA-21 may be OK but not really for heavy usage.
 
Vickko said:
Is the best digital Leica a Nikon 9000 plus any M of your choice?
Vick
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Nah, thats not a digital M anyway.

And even if the M9 was way cheaper, I´d still prefer the look of film.

My priority is this: Any funny compact cheap digital for eBay, documentation and snapshots. A film camera for anything serious. Works well.
 
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