Why am I leaving my Leica cameras home?

I just have one camera so there's no need to worry about which to carry. And I find I seldom remove the 35mm lens off the front of it either.
 
Cannot coment on your Leicas. But putting my mirrorless Fujis on a table next to my Nikon DSLR, it's obvious why I don't carry my Nikon around any more.
 
I have been using two outfits for some time this year.
Camera Bag 1:
M8 with Canon 17/4 or Zeiss G 45/2 or Rigid Summicron
M9 with pre-asph Summilux 35/1.4

Camera Bag 2:
EP2 with Zeiss 85/1.4
EPL1 with Zeiss 35/1.4

I am using Bag 2 more often than Bag 1.
Why? The cropped view gives me 170mm and 70mm.
These are irregular focal lengths. Why am I favoring the second set-up?

I suspect that there are several factors:
1. The lenses are superb. I love using them so much that I adjust my photography for these focal lengths.
2. The EP cameras have IS in addition to 8x focus aid.
3. The sensors stay clean.
4. The cameras are light.


I just bought a Leica 1.25 magnifier to assist with critical focus with the M8 and M9. Maybe this will encourage me to use the first bag more often?

Do you have such a situation too?
Age does us all in sooner or later Raid. Your experience over the years teaches you that you want the best to use when it comes to our aging eyes. Olympus has been a long time leader in eye adjustment equipment in their cameras. Take a look back at what they built into the OM4 for eye diopter?. Your using bag 2 because your body/eyes are very comfortable with this system. Yes, the 35 Lux has it when it comes to glass, and so as you know the 50 chron. I had booth my eye lens changed, but still leave my sparkling clean IIIF at home when using a camera with all the eye assits available. I would not call you a newbie with your picture taking abilities. Carry on with what "you" are comfortable with.
 
such an interesting discussion. individual journeys are really informative. obviously raid you're not choosing m4/3 for size because those lenses make the rig pretty large. so really it must be for the lenses themselves. both are FABULOUS and i totally understand finding a camera as an attachment for favorite lenses. my favorite portrait lens is the zeis biometar 120/2.8 for pentacon 6. so recently i bought an old kodak slr/n just to use with this lens, because i thought it would mate excellently with that kodak sensor. i hate large rigs, but i love the results im getting, and am so happy to be using this lens again.

i'm also an original m4/3 person--ep1,2, omd and now epl5. they produce excellent results, and i highly recommend you thinking about updating to the more modern sensor as the AF and lowlight are much improved. for me, i just dont like any manual focus aid other than either rf or some kind of split screen. it just really hobbles my 'user experience', by either making focusing a multistep-button process with magnification or clutters up my view with colored pixels. compared to the purity of my rd1, i find it very difficult to enjoy manual shooting with m4/3 or old gxr etc. also, for me personally, i need at least one camera with a leaf shutter for silent discreet operation, so my main squeeze is the rx1. as member andy is fond of saying 'its horses for course', so ive gotten to a place where ive a few horses for different courses! enjoy!
tony
 
I just have one camera so there's no need to worry about which to carry. And I find I seldom remove the 35mm lens off the front of it either.

I tried that recently and came real close. My goal was a film kit and a digital kit. In current times it is really tough when there is SO MUCH kit to try for pennies on the dollar. I guess I enjoy the research, discovery, acquisition, and learning part of the hobby too much today, but I can certainly appreciate what you have done. One day, I will be there and part of me can't wait!
 
Question for the people using the EP and EPL series 4:3 bodies. Do you use the VF-2 or VF-3 with them? Or do you go with the 'stinky diaper' hold?
 
Question for the people using the EP and EPL series 4:3 bodies. Do you use the VF-2 or VF-3 with them? Or do you go with the 'stinky diaper' hold?

"Stink diaper hold" is perfect when not having a very bright and sunny day. Else, VF-2 that came with the E-P2. The good thing is that my EP cameras do not stink!
 
I used to look down on M4/3 cameras as being amateurish and sub par, but I don't this anymore. I will read up on new M 4/3 models.

I have photo enthusiast friends who maintain that even professionals in Asia are flocking to OMD as their replacement for big DSLRs because of the reasons you mentioned in this thread.
 
Raid, one tip if I may be so bold. I have found that the Huelight profiles (for Photoshop/Lightroom) work very nicely for EP-1/2 raw images.

As for myself, I moved on to the EM-5 long ago, it is a far more capable camera than the early Pens.
 
I tried that recently and came real close. My goal was a film kit and a digital kit. In current times it is really tough when there is SO MUCH kit to try for pennies on the dollar. I guess I enjoy the research, discovery, acquisition, and learning part of the hobby too much today, but I can certainly appreciate what you have done. One day, I will be there and part of me can't wait!

I do carry a 75mm lens but it seldom comes out of the bag while traveling for work. However, I did buy it to shoot at an indoor venue here where I live of musicians in combination with my 35.

If I bought a second camera it would be the same body so I wouldn't have to remember different menu settings, etc.

I found the KISS process has been working just fine for me these past two years.
 
Raid, one tip if I may be so bold. I have found that the Huelight profiles (for Photoshop/Lightroom) work very nicely for EP-1/2 raw images.

As for myself, I moved on to the EM-5 long ago, it is a far more capable camera than the early Pens.

I use LR5 to open RAW images, and I will try out your tip. Thank you, Gustavo.

For me, the lenses are the most important part. It is not the camera model.
 
I have photo enthusiast friends who maintain that even professionals in Asia are flocking to OMD as their replacement for big DSLRs because of the reasons you mentioned in this thread.

It boils down to what you want to do with images. If you need to get poster sized prints, then a MF or LF camera is better suited, or a high MP 35mm camera with very sharp lenses..
 
This is what I take everywhere. This is all and for me it works just fine.

IMG_4427.jpg
 
I just have one camera so there's no need to worry about which to carry. And I find I seldom remove the 35mm lens off the front of it either.

Duane: Your approach may work well for street photography or a style of photography where you want to capture what you see, and you want it to look like what you are seeing. I like to change perspectives, minute after minute. For example, we were at the beach yesterday, watching the sunset. A 35mm lens or a 17mm lens gives me a sweep of the sand and water and sunset. Using the 170mm perspective, I capture a setting sun that fills a third of the image, with very interesting looking circles and halos and colors around the setting sun. Then I turn away from the setting sun, and I use a 70mm perspective on the West side of the scene, with sand, water, and sky merging together in shades of blue.
 
"Stink diaper hold" is perfect when not having a very bright and sunny day. Else, VF-2 that came with the E-P2. The good thing is that my EP cameras do not stink!

Good one Raid, I'm sure they don't.
I have so ingrained in me to have my eye up against an eyepiece that I can hardly imagine holding it away from my face (with my +3 readers so I can see the screen!)

Right now I'm in a quandary. I've had an E-410 since 3/2009 but manual focusing has always been a problem. More important than that, the lens flange distance precludes using my M mount CV lenses or my Pen F lenses, all of which are very compact. At first I looked at the E-PL2 and a VF-2 but even used VP-2 units are still $180~200, add that to $130 for a used body you have over $300, (for rapidly receding technology) a bit much when used E-M5 bodies are now about $500, with a finder built in. So....perhaps in the spring I'll budget for an E-M5 and another $100 for lens adapters.
 
.. Brian mentioned the possibility of making the M8 a 16 bit camera for excellent low light photography.

I don't understand.

How does increasing ADC bit depth after the shutter closes improve the analog signal-to-noise ratio of the data?
 
Interesting question Raid, I cannot help my only digital is the x1 (german one) which is the most used of my cameras now. Why? Small size, excellent OVF, convenience of digital...
robert
PS: I have to admit that FF, aps-c, x-trans, m 4/3...I never was so confused (photographically speaking)...
 
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