I shot this lens extensively this weekend, and if I listened to the 'reviews' I would have been led to believe it is garbage. Instead, I found this lens as sharp as I could want on film, extremely flare resistant, tiny and yet delightful to handle (aperture ring easy and comfortable to use, metal tabbed focus ring like-wise - CV 50 1.5 v2 Vintage take note), and it looks great on the camera.
I shot this lens extensively this weekend, and if I listened to the 'reviews' I would have been led to believe it is garbage. Instead, I found this lens as sharp as I could want on film, extremely flare resistant, tiny and yet delightful to handle (aperture ring easy and comfortable to use, metal tabbed focus ring like-wise - CV 50 1.5 v2 Vintage take note), and it looks great on the camera.
Another lens I'd like to try. IMO it has an interesting look wide open, from what I recall. How did you use the lens, stopped down, wide open?
Desmolicious wrote:
I'm getting frost bite just looking at your pics!
Haha, it gets better. The flurries were the really lovely large soft & lumpy dry flakes that just float around. Therefore it was well below freezing with some windchill. Cold for our area, but nothing like the Prairies/Midwest. I love dry cold. As someone once said: 'there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices.'
Too often winter here it's just around freezing and wet. Since the second week of January we've had mostly well below freezing and dry weather, which has been great for ice thickness and snow retention. Not so great for home heating expenses.
But maybe it is all these things that makes the experience so great once mastered.
Plus I am not looking for convenience or technical perfection. I am looking for unique character in the experience, and images.
Am I a masochists or a wanna be artist? It remains to be seen.
If you were starting with the M9 (or even worse, the M8), then I'd say you're a masochist. If you go back far enough in this thread, maybe 10 years, I used that term to describe my M9 experience.
You need to know Bastian, the reviewer. He is quite abrasive when it comes to the whole "Leica experience" philosophy/marketing/belief/religion. He's a numbers guy and equipment seems to need to make sense from that perspective first. It needs to perform to a certain technical level and be a good value. Therefore nothing from Leica is worth getting. There are too many technical compromises due to the reluctance to ditch the old technology that holds it back. And it's too expensive compared to the technically superior competition.
The interesting thing is he still has and shoots with the M10 and produces really good images with it. He'll probably tell you he only keeps it because he got it for free and it lets him do M-mount lens reviews on a native sensor, for the blog. But I suspect there's probably some attachment to it now.
That review is one to read for a no-holds barred critical technical analysis, and to keep the writer's points in mind when you run into some technical hurdle with the camera. But IMO you need to come at Leica M with an open mind and use it for a while to determine if it will work for you, since that's all that matters. You also need to forget about how much money it costs. If that is a primary criteria (and I realize for you it's not), you'll always have doubts about the system.
rscheffler wrote:
If you were starting with the M9 (or even worse, the M8), then I'd say you're a masochist. If you go back far enough in this thread, maybe 10 years, I used that term to describe my M9 experience.
You need to know Bastian, the reviewer. He is quite abrasive when it comes to the whole "Leica experience" philosophy/marketing/belief/religion. He's a numbers guy and equipment seems to need to make sense from that perspective first. It needs to perform to a certain technical level and be a good value. Therefore nothing from Leica is worth getting. There are too many technical compromises due to the reluctance to ditch the old technology that holds it back. And it's too expensive compared to the technically superior competition.
The interesting thing is he still has and shoots with the M10 and produces really good images with it. He'll probably tell you he only keeps it because he got it for free and it lets him do M-mount lens reviews on a native sensor, for the blog. But I suspect there's probably some attachment to it now.
That review is one to read for a no-holds barred critical technical analysis, and to keep the writer's points in mind when you run into some technical hurdle with the camera. But IMO you need to come at Leica M with an open mind and use it for a while to determine if it will work for you, since that's all that matters. You also need to forget about how much money it costs. If that is a primary criteria (and I realize for you it's not), you'll always have doubts about the system....Show more →
This is both a perfect summary of the real merits of Bastian’s negative M10 review and of what motivated him to write it. The review really should be required reading for anyone who lands in this forum asking the question: “Should I buy a Leica M?”
