Malkovic, he also seems to be a talented and commercially successful photographer - which is probably why he got more attention than any random troll. Perhaps he just blew a fuse or something. I don't know.
The funny thing is that no other than Ken Rockwell actually provided a sensible commentary on the subject. He said that you should not expect a Leica camera to be on the level of a pro DSLR when it comes to reliability. They're different types of cameras intended for different types of photographers. And he's right. You can't expect something being assembled by a small company in a shed in Hesse to perform like a product created by an industrial giant like Canon. Leica's whole production department has probably less of a budget than what Canon spends annually on toilet paper.
It reminds me of British sports cars from the 60's - beautiful to look at, wonderful to drive with random bits falling off them and starting only if you are lucky. Actually, I think in this one instance car analogies work well. Take the Lamborghini Murcielago – it will try to kill you every time you corner and if it doesn’t succeed the exploding gas tank may do the job instead. That’s a $400,000 car that is far less reliable, safe, environmentally friendly etc than a $40,000 Volvo. And most people wouldn’t expect it to be either. In fact, people were hugely disappointed by the new flag ship model, the Lamborghini Aventador because it is reliable and won’t try to kill you. It’s trying to be a Volvo, which it is at the expense of the unique Lamborghini character.
If you need reliability, get a Nikon D3X or a Canon 1Ds MkIII. You can use and abuse them as much as you want and they’ll keep on ticking. They won’t mangle your SD cards. They won’t stop focusing after a light bump. And they’ll withstand any weather. They are reliable tools for professionals. The M9 is not. Instead is a full frame manual focus range finder camera in a compact package with some magnificent lenses to go with it. The priorities are completely different.
No, I'm not defending Leica for the SD card mess or for the fact that my 75 Cron is in Solms for the third time being calibrated. I'm not saying that it is good that it is that way, but it is a fact and I doubt it will change any time soon. I’ve always said you have to embrace a certain degree of masochism when choosing Leica. It goes with the territory. And if you get an M9 without realizing that then you haven’t done your research properly.
Jerry_R wrote:
I've heard a lot of great feedback about 28mm SUMMICRON, especially color.
What about 28mm f/2.8 ELMARIT? Do you know if it gives similar picture?
A nice lens, but very different.
I wonder, how much quality would I gain by trading 90mm SUMMARIT for 90mm APO-SUMMMICRON APSH.
I know, that at f/5.6 probably nothing. But in f/2 - f/2.8 area?
Blue is the Summicron @ f/2.8 and Red is the Summarit at f/2.5:
So pretty big difference. Even at f/2 the Cron has a significant advantage.
Luka, wow...stunning shots! The last shot, the richness and colours are just amazing!!!
Dierk, very nice shot Not often you see the 18 Super ELmar. Beautiful detail in the clouds!
Jerry, I have both, and the 28 Cron and Elmarit. Both excellent lenses, but the 28 Cron is just amazing in colour and richness it brings to images! The Elmarit is excellent also. It very light and ergonomic, very sharp and contrasty in rendering, but it does not have the same personality as the Cron IMO
As I do not need f/2 for 28mm, I was thinking, that saving some money on speed could get me to results shared in the thread, seams that not. As was on screen when loading Atari \ Commodore games: Patience is a virtue - let it be ;-)
I do have Summarit 90mm, friend of mine is selling latest 90mm APO, so I need to meet with him and simply attach it to mine M9 and make some photos. So far - I am happy with Summarit at f/5.6, but at f/2.5 I have mixed feelings - when I photograph things, or architecture parts - results are OK. But when I photograph a portrait - I miss some sharpness, which I have on 50 Lux ASPH. I also thought it could be callibration issue, but I checked my Summarit on a "Lens Allign" and it is spot on...
Btw - do you know if 90mm APO silver is heavier than black?
Luka, excellent shots again!! Love that last shot
Jerry, yes the silver/chrome versions are heavier substantially. With the 50 Lux the chrome version is 150gms heavier. With the 90 Cron AA, it quite a bit heavier also. It is question of weight and ergonomics, and how good a copy is the chrome 90 AA. If it is an excellent copy, I would suggest getting it! It is easily sold, should you wish to move to a black version later
FWIW, I have experienced several (perhaps 4-5) instances where the M9 and SD card locked up and failed to save a given number of images to the card. I only use the Transcend SDHC Class 10 16GB cards, so it's not isolated to Sandisk. Every time it happened I was pushing the camera harder than usual by shooting rapidly (though usually not on continuous advance), filling the buffer and continuing to shoot as the buffer supposedly cleared. The first couple times I marked the cards and stopped using them in the M9, but other than one card which I more strongly suspect of being problematic, my feeling is it's less a problem of a given card than something with the M9.
Luka: Great work the latter is superb! I did notice that. He(Gil Lavi) had some pretty cool photos, esp in the urban section. Anyhow, I'm not sure why he's so pissed?
I suppose M9 failed somehow. If not... And oh Ken Rockwell, I regularly browse his website. A couple of months ago he basically said that the X100 was nothing but a rudimentary camera that no one should use. Now, it seems that it's his fav camera
Luka - wow that last shot in the first set on this page is excellent! The lighting is absolutely perfect. Also, the Yellowstone, prismatic spring shot is also excellent
Ron - not to dismiss that you have been having issues, but 1) have you tried using a different card reader and 2) a different brand card? I have used many generic cards in my days and then last year I bought a couple of Transcend cards...first time I have ever had issues with a memory card. I actually had issues with my D700 where it would act like it took the pictures yet when I go to the memory card reader it would show no images. I could take 100 images and nothing would show. I changed cards and never had issues again.
Ryan, the problem is in-camera. The red light continues to blink endlessly (many minutes) before I have to pull the battery and card to reset the camera. Later when transferring images to the computer there is usually at least one file that is zero bytes in size and corresponds to the batch of images that never made it to the card from the buffer.
Maybe it's a problem with the Transcend cards, but based on the user reports I read in that thread on the Leica forum, it's not a card specific problem (IMO). I've shot about 30,000 frames on the M9 since last November, all on the Transcend 16GB Class 10 cards (and one 8GB) and the problem has cropped up a handful of times (I don't wish to give the impression that it's a chronic problem). There is one card where the problem happened twice, so I've retired it to be the overflow card in my 1DIV, where it works just fine.
All we have is anecdotal experience to offer regarding card compatibility issues/failures. For example, I have yet to have a Transcend SDHC card fry on me, but two Transcend 8GB SDHC cards were fried by my GF. It might have been the camera (Panasonic LX3), but more likely the cheap card reader she used. Since getting a 'reputable' brand name reader she has not had a problem. I have yet to have a Transcend (CF) card fail on me in my 1D cameras since 2001 (one reason I like the Transcend cards - I've had about 10 years of good experience with them), yet I've had problems with Sandisk and Lexar over a span of about 1/2 million actuations. Some of those problems were resolved with Canon firmware updates, so it wasn't necessarily the fault of just the card, though at least one Lexar required replacement. So, based on the number of actuations, it would seem I've had more card related problems with the M9 than I've had with the 1D cameras. However, I'm not all that worried about it, perhaps because it has not yet happened in critical situations. I believe the problem is related to how the M9 is used when a combination of factors occur, which maybe aren't achieved by the majority of M9 users. It's perhaps unrelated, but the factors that have coincided with a lock-up for me (working quickly, filling the buffer, shooting additional frames as soon as space clears in the buffer, trying to review images when the buffer is full) are also what seem to coincide with the most visible banding issues. Therefore, I've modified my use of the M9 to try to avoid combining as many of these factors whenever possible.
And very nice images Ryan. The 50 Lux certainly has a beautiful way of rendering and blurring the background.
I'm back home after ~10 hours of driving yesterday... so will have some images to post soon, after I recuperate!
Nice set Ryan. I find the ZM 25 shots most intriguing - I almost always use that lens stopped down for traditional landscape shots. I see however that it's quite nice wide open at closer focusing distances.
Ryan, very nice set! I do prefer the 50 Lux, not biased at all Nice shots wide open with the ZM 25
Luka, great to see shots back home Very nice set! It is interesting to see the difference in rendering with the 50 Lux and 28 Cron. These two are are my favourites, with the 75 Lux for now!
Wilfredo, beautiful set of dreamy shots!! Excellent conversions
Ajay - no, I do not use an external VF. I use the entire viewfinder for framing. I think Luka uses one with the ZM 25, I hate them so much I don't. It's similar to using a DSLR...what you see in the viewfinder from corner to corner is pretty much what you get in the end. Several pages back Luka did a comparison between the 28 Cron and the ZM 25...the ZM 25 is by far sharper which is what the MTF charts show as well. Of course, the 28 Cron is a very special lens in many ways. It is sharp enough for 99% of the situations presented, the colors are fantastic and the rendering is just out of this world.
Luka - nice shots from home...though I don't mind seeing more from the US . Yes, I should have done a 100% crop but try the ZM 25 wide open near MFD....you will be surprised (maybe ). BTW...the first ZM 25 shot was f/4, the second one was wide open. It is unbelievable how sharp it is. I never really tried it up close like that as I considered it strictly a landscape lens but it is probably the sharpest lens I have ever used even at mfd
Wilfredo - great set....really like the book reading shot. It is a pain to post in multiple forums...this is by far my favorite for multiple reasons
charles.K wrote:
Jerry, yes the silver/chrome versions are heavier substantially. With the 50 Lux the chrome version is 150gms heavier. With the 90 Cron AA, it quite a bit heavier also. It is question of weight and ergonomics, and how good a copy is the chrome 90 AA.
I did compare that silver 90 APO, which weights about 660g. It didn't convience me vs my Summarit.
I still consider trying new one, black, when would be available at dealer shop.
Nice shots wide open with the ZM 25
