•Hands-On• Leica DMR

FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell	Search Used
1 2 3 … 8 9 end

Archive 2006 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

marbrink
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #1 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Regarding the Sigma I think that some Sigma lenses are just as good or even better than their Canon and Nikon equivalents..

Dec 24, 2006 at 09:54 AM

Lotusm50
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #2 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

marbrink wrote:
Regarding the Sigma I think that some Sigma lenses are just as good or even better than their Canon and Nikon equivalents..

That "some" lenses might be just as good as their Canon or Nikon lenses isn't good enough and is virtually irrelevant. A couple of decent lenses isn't going to cause a mass shift to Sigma cameras. Canon and Nikon make the occaisional lens that is a dog. Sigma occaisionally makes a lens that isn't a dog. That is the difference and that is the perception (even if it isn't totally accurate), and it will take a lot of time and effort on Sigma's part (that is apparently not forthcoming) to change that before their sales of cameras with the Sigma lensmount are anything more than a footnote.

Dec 24, 2006 at 12:06 PM

rico
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #3 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Based on images posted by others, I have to agree with Martin. Sigma is really pushing the design frontier, and improving the build quality at their high end. Some clearly superior lenses include the Sigmonster, the 150/2.8 macro, 50 macro, the FF fisheye, the 120-300/2.8 zoom. People also like those fast WA primes (f/1.8).

Dec 24, 2006 at 01:23 PM

Pondria
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #4 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

rico wrote:
Based on images posted by others, I have to agree with Martin. Sigma is really pushing the design frontier, and improving the build quality at their high end. Some clearly superior lenses include the Sigmonster, the 150/2.8 macro, 50 macro, the FF fisheye, the 120-300/2.8 zoom. People also like those fast WA primes (f/1.8).

Yes, I like their their 20/1.8, which probably is too cheap to be worth bring considered here

So, you like their Fish ? Tried on 1Ds ?

Dec 24, 2006 at 03:23 PM

tkozloff
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #5 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Well, this thing is going to die a pretty rapid death if all we have to talk about is using Sigma lenses on a 1Ds.

One more try - I'm looking for a Leica 280 f/4 with ROM in mint condition. Anybody have an extra one laying around? I'll take it even if it's dusty (so long as the dust is on the outside).

Dec 25, 2006 at 11:57 PM

Marco
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #6 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Finally I received my new DMR.

So far I like the beast a LOT, I'd say even better than the M8... ok I'm partial to SLR...

It does weight less than the 1Ds and the handling is actually better, despite the clumsy appereance.
Image quality is wonderful even at 400 ISO. Didn't test 800 ISO though.

The R-lenses I have (bought used) work great.
35-70/4, 50/2, 100/2.8 Apo and 180/3.4 Apo all are amazing.

The 280/4 Apo-Telyt though isn't up to my expectations.
It is not very sharp at f/4, it visibly improves at f/5.6 and it is quite good only at f/8.
It also flares in some situations, no ghosts but low contrast.

I know that this lens is rated very high, at least on par with the 100 Apo, but my 100 Apo wide open is probably better than the 280 at f/8...

Maybe a bad sample ? Could Leica adjust a so-so lens, or is it better to sell it and try a better sample ?

Dec 26, 2006 at 01:07 AM

marbrink
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #7 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Lotusm50,
I actually think that Sigma makes just as good lenses as Canon and Nikon. There's high sample variation but so has Canon and maybe Nikon too.

Dec 26, 2006 at 09:17 AM

tkozloff
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #8 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Marco-

The Leica 280mm f/4 is not so easy to find. I have been trying to buy one for a while with no success. Since the latest version of the lens gets unversally good reviews, assuming that yours is not an earlier version, it might be a good idea to send yours back to Leica and ask them to have a look at it.

Ted

Dec 26, 2006 at 11:37 AM

Marco
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #9 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Thanks Ted,

what do you mean with early version ?
My 280/4 Apo-Telyt is rather old, not ROM, but I thought that optically there's only one version of the lens.

The serial # is 36589xx

Dec 26, 2006 at 12:47 PM

robsteve
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #10 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Marco:

The old 280mm was a 4.8 and not APO. Your lens should perform better than you Canon 300mm f2.8is. If it doesn't, it should either be sent back to where you bought it or be sent into Leica for adjustments.

Dec 26, 2006 at 03:21 PM

Marco
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #11 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Need to call Leica then... my 300/2.8L IS wide open was actually better than this lens at f/8...

Anyway if you hear of anyone selling one in good condition, possibly ROM, I'd be grateful if you would send me a pm

Thanks all.

Dec 26, 2006 at 04:53 PM

jhellow
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #12 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Happy Holidays all:

I purchased my DMR just before Christmas and brought it up to Mammoth attached to my R8 hoping to post some knock out pictures of the Sierras. No such luck as the DMR and the R8 are communicating intermittently, and not well when they do. Any suggestions as to who I should contact at Leica about servicing the two together to get them talking? Any help is appreciated.

Dec 27, 2006 at 07:45 PM

carstenw
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #13 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

John, I am sure others will chime in here, but I recall early posts about such problems, and they were often caused by dirt on the contacts. Have you tried carefully cleaning the contacts on both sides?

Dec 27, 2006 at 07:53 PM

robsteve
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #14 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Marco wrote:
Robert,

how do you rate the 105-280 ?
Did you ever compare it to the 280/4 Apo ?

I have not shot with a 280mm f4 APO to do a comparison. The 105-280mm is a pretty good zoom and as good as zooms get in the 200-280mm range.

This was shot at 280mm on the DMR. I actually don't use the 280mm much on the DMR so I don't have a lot of samples to post.

I moved this from the M8 thread.

Dec 27, 2006 at 08:11 PM

robsteve
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #15 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

jhellow wrote:
Happy Holidays all:

I purchased my DMR just before Christmas and brought it up to Mammoth attached to my R8 hoping to post some knock out pictures of the Sierras. No such luck as the DMR and the R8 are communicating intermittently, and not well when they do. Any suggestions as to who I should contact at Leica about servicing the two together to get them talking? Any help is appreciated.

John:

Some of the older R8 had problems with the contacts. The newer style contacts have a hollow spot in the middle of them for the pin to nestle into. I have an older R8 (old style contacts) that did not work properly ( wouldn't wind) with the DMR, but after I cleaned everthing up it seemed to work fine. I only kept it as a backup, as I use a R9 on the DMR.

Send the combined unit into wither Leica NJ or Kindermann in Canada if the R8 is out of warranty. Kindermann will fix it quicker, but will charge. Leica NJ will probably fix the R8 for free or goodwill but take a while doing it.

Some R8 and R9 also have a camera software problem, but I think that was more related to filling the buffer on the DMR and the camera hanging.

BTW, when I had my R9 into Kindermann for a meter repair they set a global minus 1/3 stop for all the metering modes. This was done through the camera software via their repair equipment. It works much better this way with the DMR.

Robert

Dec 27, 2006 at 08:16 PM

Marco
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #16 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Thanks Robert,

that shot is amazing, beautiful separation from the background, typical Leica look.
Coming from a zoom this is even more impressive.
My 280/4 Apo has definitely someting wrong...

robsteve wrote:
BTW, when I had my R9 into Kindermann for a meter repair they set a global minus 1/3 stop for all the metering modes. This was done through the camera software via their repair equipment. It works much better this way with the DMR.

Robert

I can understand it, as my R9/DMR seems to slightly overexpose in most conditions.

Dec 27, 2006 at 08:44 PM

robsteve
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #17 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

With the R9, you can put the film back on and set an exposure comp for the matrix metering, but it will not affect manual, average and spot metering. With my camera, they turned down all the metering modes by 1/3. I think it is just in their meter calibration setup. The R9 is connected to a computer and the metering is programmed via the computer.

Dec 27, 2006 at 09:41 PM

robsteve
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #18 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Here is the 105-280mm on full frame slide film. These are just a straight scan of the slides with only spotting for correction. On the barn I did a bit of Photoshop work to darken a new tin roof panel to match the rest.

Dec 27, 2006 at 10:40 PM

jhellow
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #19 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

carstenw wrote:
John, I am sure others will chime in here, but I recall early posts about such problems, and they were often caused by dirt on the contacts. Have you tried carefully cleaning the contacts on both sides?

Carsten:

Did that and it worked well for one series of shots. The next morning I turned it back on and the viewfinder was not reading the f-stop set on the lens, the shutter would not engage and then exposures started disappearing from my memory card. Very strange behavior. Half the time the back won't wake up until I remove the battery, let it sit for a bit and reinsert.

John

Dec 28, 2006 at 12:51 AM

jhellow
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #20 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

robsteve wrote:

Some of the older R8 had problems with the contacts. The newer style contacts have a hollow spot in the middle of them for the pin to nestle into. I have an older R8 (old style contacts) that did not work properly ( wouldn't wind) with the DMR, but after I cleaned everthing up it seemed to work fine. I only kept it as a backup, as I use a R9 on the DMR.

Send the combined unit into wither Leica NJ or Kindermann in Canada if the R8 is out of warranty. Kindermann will fix it quicker, but will charge. Leica NJ will probably fix the R8 for free or goodwill but take a while doing it.

Some R8 and R9 also have a camera software problem, but I think that was more related to filling the buffer on the DMR and the camera hanging.

BTW, when I had my R9 into Kindermann for a meter repair they set a global minus 1/3 stop for all the metering modes. This was done through the camera software via their repair equipment. It works much better this way with the DMR.

Robert

Robert:

I will probably go the Leica NJ route as the DMR is new and under warranty and that could be the issue, although doubtful. The R8 needs a service at any rate as a switch is off the front. I justed wanted a contact at Leica so I could call before sending and have someone to follow-up with. I went through a dealer last year for a CLA on my 350mm and it took 6 months to get it back. I'm hoping for better service from them with the new DMR.

John

Dec 28, 2006 at 12:59 AM

zaknat
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.2 #21 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Rob,
The sailing boat and barn are fantastic, if I took them they'd both be on my wall. I seem to recall that you use ND filters on some of your shots... did you use them here ?

David

Dec 28, 2006 at 03:34 AM

Pauly C
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #22 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

I really like the Ship capture as well, it has a very 3D quality to it, it feels almost like its moving.

Dec 28, 2006 at 04:06 AM

robsteve
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #23 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

zaknat wrote:
Rob,
The sailing boat and barn are fantastic, if I took them they'd both be on my wall. I seem to recall that you use ND filters on some of your shots... did you use them here ?

David

The barn shot only had a warming polarizer. I think the ship may have had a polarizer too.

Dec 28, 2006 at 04:47 AM

robsteve
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #24 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Pauly C wrote:
I really like the Ship capture as well, it has a very 3D quality to it, it feels almost like its moving.

I have had a lot of comments on the ship shot. It is the Pride of Baltimore II during Tall ships 2000 in Halifax. I went out the night before the ship was due hoping it might come in at night and have some good light. I got lucky with the light and the sky. It was just before the sun went down.

I have posted a Noctilux shot of another boat that came in that evening. It was taken after the sun went down using the Noctilux on a M6.

Dec 28, 2006 at 04:52 AM

James To
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.2 #25 · •Hands-On• Leica DMR

Hi! I have had my DMR now for about 4 months, and enjoying it immensely! However, there is one annoying thing that I must be careful of: I cannot let the base of my palm rest on the battery. If I do, the battery occasionally gets pushed inwards and outwards - just enough for the DMR to shut down and start up again. If that happens, the file that is being written gets lost. I am also worried about corrupting the DMR if it happens too much...?!

Does anyone else have this problem? And if so, what suggestions? I am thinking of sticking a foam pad on the end of each battery to minimise movement. Thanks for your ideas!

Dec 28, 2006 at 04:54 AM


FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 3 … 8 9 end