carstenw wrote:
Yes, clearly we all have different reactions to various cameras.
Both before and after we own them
The A7 and M9 are complementary for me, but I prefer M9 now in every way up to 90mm. Way easier to shoot and all results are superior from M9: for the way I work, and for my taste.
The M9 build is way tougher too. But I would not have an M9 at all except for my frustrations with the A7. I'd always thought the footprint was too big for me, but it's the same or usually smaller than A7.
All that said there are many gorgeous shots being made with A7x and all sorts of glass.
@nico, TY so much for kinds words. Love that least set of yours I shoot everything dng, umcompressed.
@jojo last is my fav
That brings up another A7 issue, as Edward mentioned, the raws are way behind the Leica M9 raws. The M9 files are much bigger, so obviously the Sony raws are compressed: I find them super touchy in LR, very easily creating noise with levels changes. The M9 raws can take huge changes with little collateral noise.
For glass, "my precious" is still the Leica 28 Summicron, which I bought as a normal for the Nex-5, now use on the M9: L1021277 by unoh7, 28 cron f/5.6
No other lens I own comes close to the complexity and versatility of this lens. Incredible WO on the M9, it's better than the zm35/2 at f/11! It's the lens which most often drops my jaw at the first sight of a file, in unexpected ways. Now, it can also shoot some flat stuff when you think you had more. It's shot to shot sharpness is very good, but once in awhile you have the prefect light, and a file will come which is crazy sharp. It can make some beautiful colors. You can isolate a subject, make bokeh, or stop down to make huge DOF. I'm a long way from getting it fully under control, but that keeps things interesting
Gary, nice capture! Your shots with the ZM 18 have been amazing. Although I have never owned this lens, I love rendering as a UWW.
Charlie, thank you Very nice landscapes, and really like the rendering with the 28 Cron!
Nicholas, great set!
Phil, superb low key B&W shots! The 50 Rigid is great for B&W conversions.
Werner, very nice composition!
I think there is a definite place for both M9/M240 and A7/r/s, depending on your need and style of shooting. The M240 frustrated me when I needed the EVF or LV, together with the slow processor, and number of SD card crashes. The M240 file quality is superb, and second to none IMO. I will wait for Leica's next update to hopefully improve these issues. The other issue was having to send M240 back to Solms for the RF calibration. I was in the process to send my second M240 back to Solms again. This is unacceptable in this present market regardless of service centers not being setup. For this reason alone it is worthy to have the M9/MM, as the turn around is 3 days!!
The A7r and A7s, are unique, and far from perfect at this stage, with a number of issues too. In Australia you can buy a A7 for about 1K with the rebate they are offering. With the fast evolution of sensors, I don't mind keeping all my M lenses, and use the A7r/s for now. The A7s has had a number improvements, and feels more solid than the A7r. At a cost point, I would be very happy if the A7r just had some of the improvements of the A7s. I feel Sony at this time, is producing excellent FF cams albeit with a number of quirks still be resolved with the A8/9 version. Lenses are another issue!! I do think Zeiss also are embracing this direction with their Loxia range.
It does not matter which FF body we prefer or we gel with, but I do think that the Leica M lenses will be still here in another 20+ years
charles.K wrote:
It does not matter which FF body we prefer or we gel with, but I do think that the Leica M lenses will be still here in another 20+ years
+1
i do wish leica would build a camera around the 36mp sony sensor with an evf instead of rangefinder just for me though...
As mentioned earlier I’ve been trying out VSCO and Replichrome. It’s difficult to say that one is better than the other because I’m finding that individual presets work better with particular files — it’s a trial and error process and I cannot really predict which preset will work the best. After a while, though, one gets a sense which set of presets to try on pictures that are lighter or darker or have more or less dynamic range.
For the picture below I used the VSCO 5 “L-Kodak Gold --“ preset, which made the highlight tones in the background lighter than I had done in my processing in Lightroom 5. This provided better main subject separation, and was more “film-like” than my processing. However, in using these presets, my feeling is that one shouldn’t be concerned with how well they simulate a particular film, but should simply judge which gives the look that one likes for any particular picture.
When I started trying out all these presets, I generally thought that my own Lightroom 5 processing was better; but after gaining some experience in using them, I now find that I can get much quicker to the look I want by using the presets and adjusting them as needed. Also, using the presets provides one with alternative looks that one can judge more easily than just trying different things directly in Lightroom.
charles.K wrote:
Gary, nice capture! Your shots with the ZM 18 have been amazing. Although I have never owned this lens, I love rendering as a UWW.
Charlie, thank you Very nice landscapes, and really like the rendering with the 28 Cron!
Nicholas, great set!
Phil, superb low key B&W shots! The 50 Rigid is great for B&W conversions.
Werner, very nice composition!
I think there is a definite place for both M9/M240 and A7/r/s, depending on your need and style of shooting. The M240 frustrated me when I needed the EVF or LV, together with the slow processor, and number of SD card crashes. The M240 file quality is superb, and second to none IMO. I will wait for Leica's next update to hopefully improve these issues. The other issue was having to send M240 back to Solms for the RF calibration. I was in the process to send my second M240 back to Solms again. This is unacceptable in this present market regardless of service centers not being setup. For this reason alone it is worthy to have the M9/MM, as the turn around is 3 days!!
The A7r and A7s, are unique, and far from perfect at this stage, with a number of issues too. In Australia you can buy a A7 for about 1K with the rebate they are offering. With the fast evolution of sensors, I don't mind keeping all my M lenses, and use the A7r/s for now. The A7s has had a number improvements, and feels more solid than the A7r. At a cost point, I would be very happy if the A7r just had some of the improvements of the A7s. I feel Sony at this time, is producing excellent FF cams albeit with a number of quirks still be resolved with the A8/9 version. Lenses are another issue!! I do think Zeiss also are embracing this direction with their Loxia range.
It does not matter which FF body we prefer or we gel with, but I do think that the Leica M lenses will be still here in another 20+ years
L1021284 by unoh7, 28 cron f/6.7
big rock up there: L1021320 by unoh7, CV 90 f/5.6
Hyndman Peak, 12009ft, 9th highest in Idaho, highest in Pioneer Range
What do you guys think would be a good complement to the 40 'cron? Considering the Voigtlander 25/4 since I can use the 24mm framelines, or possibly a 28mm of some sort, maybe the Elmarit-M. Would just like something a tad wider for environmental portraits and such. (This is for the M8, so consider 1.3x crop if you think my choices of focal length seem weird!)
pingflood wrote:
What do you guys think would be a good complement to the 40 'cron? Considering the Voigtlander 25/4 since I can use the 24mm framelines, or possibly a 28mm of some sort, maybe the Elmarit-M.
If you get the CV 25, know that some are RF coupled and others not. As you know, the CV 21/4 and CV28/3.5 are similar, very small etc. But the 28 is hard to find, however some feel it's the best of all the skopars.
There's also the zm25/2.8 and CV 28/2 or 1.9 Ultron you might consider
charles.K wrote:
.... I do think that the Leica M lenses will be still here in another 20+ years
It has been around for 60 years, twenty more years is maybe too conservative?
zhangyue wrote:
I always have S dream, but their lens speed doesn't grab me. Shooting M is faster for me than any other system for most time, so I won't leave.
I agree, shooting the M is faster. The S system has to be looked at from a medium format or near medium format perspective, more suited to planned shots to get the most out of it, although its DSLR like size and design makes it currently the most ergonomic of digital MF cameras.
S2 prices are getting lower, so your dreams might come true soon Need fast lenses? Try the new Summicron-S 100 f/2. S2 and M9 has the same Kodak sensor, if you like the colors and look of M9 files, you should like the S2 colors and those S lenses, they are wonderful, all of them. Different from Zeiss Otus look. I did at one point consider moving from the S setup to Otus + D810, but I could not live with the tiny 35mm DSLR viewfinder or LV for manual focusing. Also, I don't shoot my S2 often, but when I pick up the camera even after a month away, it is so simple to use with just a few basic buttons. If I put a D8xx or 5Dmkx away for a month, I would either have to reset the camera or look for the manual.
