Why am I leaving my Leica cameras home?

For me live-view and EVF is a trade off I am willing to accept in return for small size in a backup body to be stashed in my luggage in case of emergency. I do not enjoy shooting with them. If not shooting my M, you'll find me with a DSLR.
 
raid said:
For me, the lenses are the most important part. It is not the camera model.
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I would generally agree with you, however, a built-in EVF and fast auto-focus are indispensable when the rug rats are bouncing off the walls!

(All jokes aside, camera responsiveness is very important for non-static subjects. Newer MILC cameras (from all manufacturers) are much improved in this regard.)
 
My walking around bag rarely contains my M3.
Instead, I tote:
Olympus 35SP
Olympus OMD + Zeiss 58/2 + Noritar 250/4.5 Preset
XPan + 30,45, and 90mm lenses
Widelux 7

I think I'm faster with the 35SP + ready and capable of a much wider range of opportunities.

Texsport
 
raid said:
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?
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Perhaps you have discovered you actually like long lenses?
 
This is very possible. From the start (with SLR) I liked the 50mm and I disliked the 35mm focal length. I love to compress space.
 
interesting thread. i've been trialing an X-T1 for most of the past year. what it gives me compared to an MM and M9 (both of which are in the shop for sensor problems):
1. most of the file quality of the M9 in good light
2. better file quality than the M9 in poor light
3. color or BW choice that the MM can't give (but off by 2+ stops versus the MM's high iso ability)
4. reasonable AF performance for my aging eyes and fingers
5. way less cost
6. reasonable handling (but still off M gear by a large margin for pure finger and finder fun)
i don't know where mirrorless will lead me, but I'm getting rusty with my M gear, not good.
 
This thread has rekindled in my head the wish to have the aperture system in the 85/1.4 repaired. I once sent it to DAG, but he could not do anything about it because he was unable to get the spare parts. I tried before Don two other trusted repairmen, but they failed. Getting a donor lens costs about $1000.
I am using this lens with my m 4/3 cameras now. Always wide open.
Any suggestions?
 
Hi Raid

It sounds to me like you have chosen your lenses rather than the camera.
One could really understand why. I've owned both of those lenses and still have their Contax mount cousins .... beautiful image makers.
If I can recomend one thing it's that you try using them on a full frame sensor.
The Zeiss 1.4/35 in particular. At wide open the fall off in the corners and broad oof area makes such a nice render.
I have the 5Dii for mine. The QBM mount may play more nicely with a Sony A7 since the qbm register is already very close to the eos (adapters become too thin to reach infinity).
If I was in your shoes I might seriously consider letting one of the digital leicas go in favor of a 24x36 sensor Mirrorless. You'll fall in love with those lenses again!
Plus you willl get another set of focal lengths when you pair a ff body with your 4/3 bodies and the two zeiss gems :)

Cheers!
 
You bring up an an interesting idea. I will give it some thought, and I will browse over the offerings for mirror-less cameras.
 
raid said:
This thread has rekindled in my head the wish to have the aperture system in the 85/1.4 repaired. I once sent it to DAG, but he could not do anything about it because he was unable to get the spare parts. I tried before Don two other trusted repairmen, but they failed. Getting a donor lens costs about $1000.
I am using this lens with my m 4/3 cameras now. Always wide open.
Any suggestions?
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Raid, interesting problem.
Maybe someone can fashion a waterstop aperture like the old barrel lenses (basically a detachable set of thin metal circles with varying size of hole in the middle).

The holes being perfectly round would produce a super-smooth bokeh :D
 
I sent this evening DAG an email about it, asking for his opinion on it since he once had the lens for repair.

Will: How would I get such a waterstop aperture, and who would install it?
 
I once asked them about some other lens repair, and they told me it would be "cost prohibitive"! Supposedly, if they can't fit it, nobody else can.
 
raid said:
I sent this evening DAG an email about it, asking for his opinion on it since he once had the lens for repair.

Will: How would I get such a waterstop aperture, and who would install it?
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Raid, the waterstop aperture is nothing but a piece of metal with an appropriately-sized hole to allow light according to the f-stop that you want.

You may have to find and make a connection with a metalsmith (is that even a word?) whose specialty is delicate / small enough to work on lenses. A local gunsmith may be able to point you in the right direction.
 
raid said:
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?
Click to expand...
In the last throes of getting ready to head out on my holiday trip, I found myself dithering between carrying the M9 and two lenses, and the Leica X. For this trip, I took the X. Because it is enough, it is smaller and lighter, and I'd rather test my vision with a single lens than have to decide between two lenses.

I acquired a new tiny camera ... a Nikon 1 v3 .. to try it out and see if it had value to my photography. Sans viewfinder and grip, with the standard zoom, it's easily pocketable. It has some neat capabilities that my other cameras don't. But ... when will I choose to use it rather than the X or the M? Don't know yet, don't even know if I'll keep it. Maybe I should send it back and pick up a complement in the other direction, like an FZ1000 super zoom.

There is all kinds of equipment out there. It is easy to get distracted by the cool stuff you can get. Use whatever makes you happy and gets the results you are after, whether that's one camera and one lens, or a capricious pick from a cornucopia of different cameras. Focus on furthering your vision and your photography, and don't worry too much about the equipment you use.

Onwards,
G
 
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