Charles, you beat me to the xpro pre-order! Do you know when it will be available? Seems very tempting. I pre-ordered the nex 7 but am somewhat worried about the color cast.
Ron, congrats on the GXR!!! Yes the GXR A12 module seems to be very well designed and integrates amazingly well with M mount lenses. I am looking forward to your shots
Joe, yes I beat you! I was speaking to Camera Exchange this afternoon, and they are expecting deliveries end of February. Pricing has not been finalised, but will be very close the Amazon price listings.
Carsten, love my M9's with my select lenses now! I was hoping the NEX 5N would fill in a niche with M mount lenses, but it has not gelled with me. The X-Pro1, seems to have a great sensor, with film like look, and lenses look very good too. Of course this needs to be tempered, and see how it performs in real life
In case of XP-1, that would be to replace my M8 rather than complementing it. I doubt that will happen though. I really dislike the idea of having two bodies, but I could see myself getting a used Nex 5N in the future for those occasions where high ISO matters.
The more I use EVF cameras with manual focus lenses, the more I come to appreciate the speed of accurate focusing with the M series... assuming the rangefinder is in calibration. Of course there are tradeoffs on each side, such as EVF offering precise framing, which for UWAs can be beneficial. The GXR also incorporates an electronic level, which I at first thought was kind of gimmicky, but has its uses. Looking back, many of my M9 images require leveling, sometimes a fair amount with the UWA lenses.
Despite the GXR's better ergonomics than the NEX-5N, after having tried all my M mount lenses on it, the heavier ones like the 50 Lux ASPH and 21 Lux reveal that the camera is still too small. It's a much more comfortable camera to use with smaller lenses, like the ZM50, ZM35C, CV40, CV15, etc. While the M9 is also a bit front heavy with the Luxes, its extra 1/2" of height means all three of my fingers, from middle finger to pinky, maintain good grip. With the GXR, my pinky slips off. In this respect, I anticipate the larger size of the X Pro 1 will make it close in handling to the M9 with larger lenses.
Perhaps a bit OT, but for those curious about the XP1 but don't want to wade through the current thread about it, an apparently independent photographer with early access to the camera has posted a few full rez images from it here: http://www.pbase.com/hpicckcy/full_size_originals
As with the official Fuji samples, there is promise in these, though I'll admit, I'm not blown away.
The more I use the M9 with fast lenses, the more I appreciate the ability to nail focus with fast lenses. My last 5DII with the 50L and 85L use to frustrate me, as the AF was close but never quite dead on and non repeatable. I tried calibrating, sending the lenses away, but never the same experience as having moved to the ZE series with MF.
Thx for the link Ron. Hugo Poon is very well known in HK and in Fuji circles - he's got some really great shots using Fuji compact cameras (since a few years ago).
Still very happy with my M9 and lens flavour of the month, my 35 Summaron
Here are some B&W shots from a trip last December - first 3 from M9 with Silver EFX2 and last one Kodak Tri-X on an M3 and scanned by Richards Photo Lab in the US:
Wow, love the techncal quality of these - clarity, colour, depth...
The artistic qualities are awesome too.
denoir wrote:
Charles, great shots, I particularly like the last one
I'm back from Salvador, Brazil but I did very little photography. There were a lot of interesting things to shoot but unfortunately the safety situation makes it very risky to go out with expensive camera gear. So I only took a shot now and then.
Nice one Edwin.
Great set KL!
Jochen - love the first one!
Coincidentally I'm also working through photos from December... Here are some from Munich, just out for a walk... didn't do it consciously, but ended up with a number of bicycle photos:
And one bike rack too:
M9 & CV35 f/1.2 II for the first three, 50 Lux ASPH for the last two.
Doug, Joakim and Ron, thanks Yes summer is upon us, and so is the humidity.
Joakim, very nice. My pick is #1. I really like how the 24 Elmar renders!!
Ron, very nice compositions!! Favourites here are #2 and 3
... i just thought it was scoobie doo running the marathon race 
