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 p.6 #15 · Official: Leica APO-Summicron-SL 28mm F2 ASPH lens ($5,195) | |
wolfloid wrote:
I'm here because these things interest me - I hope that's ok.
Obviously, you should build the system that suits you, and clearly you are looking for ultimate IQ. I have no doubt that the GFX and Leica SL systems can provide that. For me though, I find your reasoning puzzling.
For my own purposes, I never need the very demanding levels of IQ you seem to be chasing. That's just me though, and no doubt others will differ. But even if I did want to chase the ultimate, I don't understand your route.
The only situations where I can think it might be important to get the level of IQ you require would be for landscape photography and printing VERY big, or cropping severely. However, I would also be thinking about carrying the stuff (unless of course you never leave your car) and I would therefore be looking for lightness combined with high quality. I can't see any reason in such a scenario for AF. On that basis, I'd go for an M11, plus APO lenses, and the odd non APO M lenses, which are all excellent.
The only other scenario where I see such ultimate quality might be needed would be for wildlife photography where there is a need for severe cropping. Here you may well need AF, in which case I'd choose a Sony A1, or Canon over anything that either Fuji GFX or Leica SL has produced, precisely for the much quicker, more reliable, and more flexible AF, and excellent long glass.
Of course there might well be another reason for your need for the ultimate in IQ, but for the moment, it escapes me....Show more →
I'm older and a semi retired working photographer who is technically capable and quite fussy about the cameras I like. I do print big, regularly. I have a 24" printer in the studio. I send out for larger prints than that. But 24 x 100" is a good size for a big wall.
My main interests are travel photography and for that I know how much I am prepared to carry all day, every day. That's a bout 5-6 kg plus bag, tripod and filters. Sure, lighter can be better but I know I'm good with that for about 10km with zero complaints. Then I build my kits around that depending on what will work best. Generally I like primes in my main range but I'll switch to zooms for dynamic scenes or places changing lenses is dodgy.
I have lots of cameras covering lots of systems. I'm lucky that way. I cherry pick what I want to shoot with for a particular job or trip. Currently I have systems from Leica, Fuji, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, Hasselblad and Pentax. I shoot from m43 to medium format although I garvitate to the larger sensor, mostly.
Generally I like *dense* cameras. Probably because that's what I grew up with. I shot Canon A1's and a 501C when I stsrted. Lot's of modern cameras feel hollow and flimsy. As much as I might want to shed the weight, I don't want something that feels cheap.80% of my shooting is between 28 and 90mm. I do shoot longer and wider but that's my core kit. I have a 600mm zoom but it's for occasional use. That's the lens I'd leave in the car.
I have extensive experience with Sony. I still have my A7R3 and A9, although I intend to get out of Sony altogether (I think I've been saying that for over a year now!). While I marvel at the technology, I despise the cameras. The menus are awful. The build quality is meh and the weather proofing is questionable. The grips are too small for my fingers with some lenses and while the bodies are small the better lenses are not. A sony kit from 14-200mm is big and heavy. As heavy as systems with bigger cameras. All 135 format systems end up close to each other with equivalent glass. Well, close enough not to matter.
The other issue with Sony is the colour science. It's improving but it's all over the shop. Every camera is wildly different to it's predecessor and after 15 bodies in 5 years it's still a bit *off*. I spend more time working on Sony colour than any other system. Aslo the lenses almost all have some difficult to work with CA. The 50mm 1.2 is nearly perfect. Leica levels. The newer zooms are OK but the GM 85mm has gobs of CA wide open. The SL and X1D lenses have almost no CA at all. It saves ages in post and it's really in your face if you print.
An A1 costs the same as an SL2. So I'm up for the better lenses. I don't need to be using a camera system I don't enjoy. After nearly 30 years in the game I can shoot pretty much anything I want. I'm in it for the process of taking photographs, not just pulling frames from a burst. I also don't need the AFC of an A1 to get sharp images of moving targets like BiF. I can do that with a decent manual focus lens, let alone any AF system. Since I rarely, if ever use AFC I have no need for anything SOny provides. In AFS the difference between any of the systems is negligable. The SL2 does have one advantage I do use. It's slightly better in low light single shot AF than my A9.
I have an M11 and lenses including the 50 APO. It's fantastic but still not quite at the level of the SL versions or my X1D glass.
My main kit is a GFX100S. I have all the lenses but on a hike I carry a few. It's not my favourite system due to the menus but it's capable of pushing prints out at the sizes I work with with ease. It's also fast and flexible enough to use as a do it all system, with the exception of wildlife. The tri flip screen is fabulous. The glass is excellent, if not class leading (except to 110 which is epic.). Some of the lenses have some CA but generally it's well controlled. I like aperture rings on lenses where they belong. The system is relatively light without feeling flimsy. It feels like a DSLR which is good and bad.
My favourite system is my X1D and 907x. Best handling, menus and lenses are spectacular. Brilliant for long exposures. Leading colour science. Af is glacial. It's about as fast as using a Leica M but the results are stunning. Suits the way I like to shoot. I've travelled extensively with the X1D and have no plans to stop soon. These are the most fun to shoot, ever. Any they're beautiful to look at and to hold. The files are unbeleivable.
My M's are for when I want to travel light and my daily carry. I have a small bag with a body a 28 and a 50 APO. Sometimes I'll add a 90. I shot only M for a few years, so I'm comfortable. M's are about the shooting experience and I get it, so they work for me. Still seeing how the M11 differes from my M10R. The M10M is a heap of fun though and the files are something everyone should see, at least once.
My SL2 and S1R's don't get used as much any more, now I have the GFX. I prefer the SL2 body and lenses. The GFX works better at the sizes I print to. But the menus on the SL2 are second only to the X1D. The lenses are peerless. The joystick is perfect. The S1R is the best camera in the hand on the market, other than the X1D. Bigger and heavier than the Sony bodies but better grips. Better buttons. Better build quality. Better glass. The S1R is a joy with an adapted Canon TS lens on it. And I use the SL2 when I need something very long and very wide. I shot hundreds of weddings on the original SL's and hundreds more before that on M's. Anyone claiming they need an A1 for that needs to practice more.
So basically, I come to a place that likes cameras I enjoy using. I'm not bound by budget or brand. So each day I pick up the camera I feel like shooting that day and head out.
Gordon
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