Leica M9: Photographers Ditch Dslr Cameras. Amateur Photographer Uk!!!!

Pickett Wilson said:
A PJ without a wide zoom and a long zoom lens is at a competitive disadvantage in breaking news situations. If things are happening fast, and you're the guy with a fixed 35mm on your camera, you lose. Especially if the guy 100 feet down the road has a gun.

He's also not going to cover a political figure from 100 feet away.

Trading in the DSLR doesn't sound like a good career move to me. Go figure.
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To all please for one last time I shall NOT be trading in my Nikons
I shall be using them less when I get my M9s thats all.
Horses for courses simply that.
Going down the pub for sunday lunch now .
 
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parsec1 said:
I use mine mostly for publication so from what I have seen of them they will be more than good enough . . . for. .
Regards
P
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This reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago in a computer shop. One of the other customers was telling me that my computer was hopelessly outdated, and that I needed this, that and the other thing.

He was nonplussed when I asked why, and started blustering about games. I replied, "Ah, well, there's the difference. You need the extra power to play games. All I do with mine is earn a living."

Cheers,

R.
 
parsec1

Totally OT but I admire your sense of humour and the fact that you know what you need for your own use. I wish you the best of luck. I don't really believe that most people using DSLRs will be dumping them en mass for the M9. I will put up with the bulk and weight of my D700 simply because I cannot afford the M9 even though I would like one for use as a travel camera. I am guessing that I am not alone in this. I hope Leica finds enough customers that can afford them for whatever reason so they can continue to exist.

Bob
 
parsec1 said:
Richard,
Firstly I'm told I wont get mine until Christmas so there's time yet but secondly if as I am told Leica has listened to those that use Leica's for what they designed for then I should have little worry having been a Leica user and for a long time. But I have Nikon Ds and Member of NPU as it is now for 35 years and also Canons F1s etc but not an EOS D yet although many of my collegues use them but are switching over to D3s when their time to change comes around

Regards
P
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Well certainly by Christmas we should be a bit wiser. What worries me is that it does rather look as though the same basic M8 design has been continued but with a full frame version. I am not particularly heavy handed but had two separate fractures of the body associated with tripod mounting. The base plate slot has a very thin piece of metal on its upper surface and this is a weak point. On the film versions there is a raised heal and a circular pin which is reinforced and much stronger. The body shell is actually very thin and not particularly strong. You may say that film M's are not really tripod cameras, but if you want to do HDR landscape work its pretty essential. I did write to leica UK about this but they never replied.

The original grip coating wore through to the metal just with the process of removing the leather case repeatedly. the first leather case had a design flaw and the under surface of the stud scratched the body.

Finally my LCD screen develpoed brown discolourations.

I also have significant reservations about the TTL flash
Others have drawn attention to the noise issue which does not look to be substantially improved comared to the M8.

The other issue regarding my 3 repairs was that turn around time for each was around 8 weeks. if we say theproducct life time is 3 years then I have lost 6 months of shooting time.

I am not sure why your membership of NPU or indeed your arsenal of equipment is necessary to the point that I raise. I simply need reasurance that there is a camera worth shelling out £5k for.

Very good luck with your M9's

Richard
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parsec1 said:
Say again, RAW is what photography it is all about ? !!!
There you go and I have thought for the last 35 years it was about producing an image.

My M9s when they get to me will provide more help to enable me to do that than half a ton of DSLR s and lenses lugged about through the bush in Africa and I am certain they will provide the right sort of images that my 2 D3s and D700 do now as I say without the weight and size which is so important . Did you see the size comparisons between the Canon 50 and 40mm Voigtlander not to mention the weight.
I can only think of one reason 'the bigger the better' although there are some who feel that the way its used is far more important.
When I was shooting with a couple of contax G2s on the Essex coast a couple of years ago two Gentlemen approached me with the usual Chunk Dslrs and long lenses sticking out of their guts and said "Wow thats a couple of 'oldies' you got there ", I replied " yes" as I couldn't be bothered to say anything to them and they both 'promenaded' along their way.
One even stopped a few yards away and heaved his DLSR up to his eye and zoomed his 100 to 400 zoom on a seagull which turned and flew away probably fed up with having its picture taken again. Meanwhile a dozen fire crew were saving the lives of two boys on the beach which both of these 'gentlemen' had ignored or more likely hadn't even seen. Maybe they didn't care and were just taking the dogs and the dslrs 'out for a walk' ...............
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Sorry, I should add 'digital' after RAW processing. That said I still have reservation with the image quality coming from the M9 at it's present incarnation.
 
parsec1 said:
Say again, RAW is what photography it is all about ? !!!
There you go and I have thought for the last 35 years it was about producing an image.

My M9s when they get to me will provide more help to enable me to do that than half a ton of DSLR s and lenses lugged about through the bush in Africa and I am certain they will provide the right sort of images that my 2 D3s and D700 do now as I say without the weight and size which is so important . Did you see the size comparisons between the Canon 50 and 40mm Voigtlander not to mention the weight.
I can only think of one reason 'the bigger the better' although there are some who feel that the way its used is far more important.
When I was shooting with a couple of contax G2s on the Essex coast a couple of years ago two Gentlemen approached me with the usual Chunk Dslrs and long lenses sticking out of their guts and said "Wow thats a couple of 'oldies' you got there ", I replied " yes" as I couldn't be bothered to say anything to them and they both 'promenaded' along their way.
One even stopped a few yards away and heaved his DLSR up to his eye and zoomed his 100 to 400 zoom on a seagull which turned and flew away probably fed up with having its picture taken again. Meanwhile a dozen fire crew were saving the lives of two boys on the beach which both of these 'gentlemen' had ignored or more likely hadn't even seen. Maybe they didn't care and were just taking the dogs and the dslrs 'out for a walk' ...............
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Sorry, I should add 'digital' after RAW processing. That said I still have reservation with the image quality coming from the M9 at it's present incarnation.
 
Bigger Sensor=more $ OR Bigger Sensor=less $

Bigger Sensor=more $ OR Bigger Sensor=less $

Even though many would like to think the economy is bottoming out and recovery is in sight (hopeful thoughts from fantasyland), it it is depressing to see Leica give many the bigger sensor, and at the expense of a ridiculous price increase.

Sony has whacked a $1000 off their FF camera with the A850. The Sony gets mixed reviews admittedly, but offers a $2000 Full Frame. Nikons D700 is FF and at a price a bit over 1/3rd the M9.

And, we don't even know yet whether the M9 will perform equivalent to either of those offerings.

The other MFRs seem to be operating more in tune with real world economic considerations.
 
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Lecia Rangefinder vs. DSLR

Lecia Rangefinder vs. DSLR

I shoot both digital rangefinder and DSLR, and would never compares them directly, because I treat my camera/lens combination as I do with my pens and brushes. For example, a photo taken at small open aperture can never look or feel the same when shoot at wide open.

I find that if I need to shoot fast subjects or need to use long lenses or extreme wide angle including fisheye then I would use the DSLR with auto focus lenses.

When I need to shoot street photography, I use the rangefinder as I know I'm being forced to hunt for my image and/or preset my focus way ahead before I aim and fire the shutter.

No serious creative photographer should tie themselves to only a single camera, lens or format unless they are deliberately wanted their photograph to a certain look or feel.
 
Roger Hicks said:
This reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago in a computer shop. One of the other customers was telling me that my computer was hopelessly outdated, and that I needed this, that and the other thing.

He was nonplussed when I asked why, and started blustering about games. I replied, "Ah, well, there's the difference. You need the extra power to play games. All I do with mine is earn a living."

Cheers,

R.
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Roger,
Couldn't agree more .I don't play 'games' with either my computers or my cameras but I do like to have the best equipment for the commissions I receive although this is not that an easy purchase for me under present financial circumstances. My son (landscape photographer ) has 7 grands worth of Hi Fi, valve amps, preamps, electrostatic speakers gold wire connections et al. I have an Ipod.
Pays your money and takes your choice.

Regards
Peter
 
"she wished that the newspaper would let them shoot film..." What a smart business idea, since newspapers are already doing so well financially. They should implement it right away. Maybe even go back to M3s.

"My M9s when they get to me will........." Sounds like a sure thing, for sure :).

And at the Canon and Nikon booths, they've been shaking in their boots for the past 50 years. Maybe that's why they've had to develop that image stabilization technology?
 
Funnily enough, i had a phone conversation five minutes ago which exactly mirrors the Amateur Photog story. A Vogue/Dazed and Confused photog ordering an M9 to replace his Canon "because he wants to think more."

And the friend who told me is similarly thinking of ditching the Canon (plus Zeiss etc lenses) and relying on the combination of Leica for the field work, band photos etc, and Phase One for large format-style work. I'm trying hard not to encourage him... if he bites I think I'll be forced to plunge back in, maybe buy another R-D1, in solidarity.
 
I waited a long time for the FF Nikon D700 to arrive. When I picked one up at Ritz, my first response was, "What a tank." I set it back down and walked out of the store. M8 and M9 is as large as I'll ever go. I'd have to use the D700 on a tripod with wheels. For tele, zoom, and macro, I'll use the tiny Panasonic G1, also a nice backup for Leica lenses. Who thinks photographers want to carry around a tank to take pictures with. The old Nikon film cameras should have been the upper limit on size and weight.
 
The size of the D700 was not a shock to me having used an F90x. They are both large if compared to an FM2n without MD. Add the MD and all bets are off. I'll put up with the size because it gives me what I have wanted for a long time. So does the M9 but not in my price bracket.

Bob
 
Pickett Wilson said:
parsec1, I don't doubt what you are saying. But it obviously clearly doesn't apply to most PJ's. PJ's shot with crop sensor cameras for many years (especially if they shot Nikons). The fact is that, over a period of several years, Leica managed to sell fewer than 20,000 M8's. Most of those were sold into the Japanese market,
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I am not pleased when people peddle outright desinformation as facts - Leica sold over 20.000 M8s in the first year -maxing out the production capacity.
Actual figures for the whole run are unknown, but best guesses are in the order of 50.000, making it the fastest selling M camera since the M3. The remark about the Japanese market is a distortion of Leica statements that most *FILM* M cameras are sold to the far East.
 
Didn't someone point out in a thread recently that Nikon have consistently sold more film F6's per year than Leica have managed to sell M8's per year since the M8 was released?

Makes you realise that the F6 still has a lot of 'chutzpa' in the market to outsell a digital ... albeit a rangefinder.

Horribly OT I know! :p
 
Keith said:
Didn't someone point out in a thread recently that Nikon have consistently sold more film F6's per year than Leica have managed to sell M8's per year since the M8 was released?

Makes you realise that the F6 still has a lot of 'chutzpa' in the market to outsell a digital ... albeit a rangefinder.

Horribly OT I know! :p
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In the 15th century you could be burned for that … actually, thinking about it, it could still happen

:D:D
 
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