rscheffler
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 p.848 #10 · Leica M/X/T/S/Q/CL/SL Picture Thread | |
Just catching up on the last 5 or so pages since my last post and getting up to speed on the current discussions.
These Leica cameras are such a paradox, aren't they? They totally seduce you with their simplicity and nearly ideal style of operation. The image quality, particularly thanks to the lenses, is among the best. Then it suddenly comes to a screeching halt due to electronic gremlins, or RF out of whack, etc..
That said, I've had problems with my Canon gear too. Back ~10 years ago, Canon Canada's service was not where it is today, and I basically came to the conclusion that if I was to maintain a reliable system, I'd need duplicate cameras for the times when one went down. Unfortunately that's where I feel Leica is now, especially if you live outside the EU and can't take advantage of their premium fast and express repair services. Hopefully Leica can reinvest some of their profits into improving the overall service and support system. While I haven't really had any bad experiences when I've had equipment serviced, both in NJ and Germany, it's the turnaround time (outside of the EU) that is my major concern. If turnaround can't be improved, then some sort of an optional premium annual service plan might be acceptable.
Anyway, last Wednesday we had a nice little blizzard and went out for a walk in the woods to enjoy it...
M9 & 21SEM (GF shooting with the Sony RX10):
28 Cron:
50 Lux ASPH:
90 Summarit:
Sorry if these seem a bit crunchy...
The walk wasn't without incident. While the sensor temperature readout never dropped below -2C, and it took a long time for the camera to start to accumulate snow, rather than it just melting on contact, the lock-up problem I've been having while shooting out in the cold recurred, and did so quite early compared to other outings. And I still hadn't updated the firmware, so basically everything was still the same and I knew this would probably happen. But it was really annoying because to keep the camera usable during the walk, I could only shoot single frames and wait until the file was fully written to the card before making another image. Only then could I review the image to ensure it was actually on the card. While out photographing trees in the snow, you'd think one shot every 5 seconds is OK... but unfortunately my GF walks fast and I constantly fell behind or would miss the shot I wanted of her on the trail set at just the right spot in the frame surrounded by snowy trees...
Coincidentally (or maybe not), during the walk I received an email for an M240 at a very difficult to refuse price... I received it on Friday and have been out a few times with it now...
So far, so good. It certainly addresses some of the speed-of-shooting problems I had with the M9 and at least the buffer is 'reasonably' deep at 12 frames, though I'm disappointed it drops to ~1fps for 6 frames at ISO 1250 and higher. I've only been out in snowy conditions so far, therefore difficult to see if there are any banding problems with it. But color cast is perhaps a bit better than with the M9 and certain lenses, such as the 28 Cron (doesn't have green bottom corners). And I suspect it's going to take a bit of time to get used to the different ways in which the files look and respond to PP. Definitely flatter out of the camera, and I'm pulling back shadows rather than pushing them open with the M9. My feeling is that fine structure details are a bit smoother with the 240 than the M9. Perhaps it's a benefit of slightly higher sensor resolution? It seems there is less aliasing and 'false detail' based on looking at a lot of bare tree branches. 
Oh, and all my (regularly used) lenses back focus with it... but this is also the case with the M9... I'll live with it for now, but means I'll probably have to ship back all the lenses... something that having a second body doesn't really counteract when one only has a single set of lenses.
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) which is frustrating. (thanks god I did remember it happen before that I can do it through camera. otherwise, It could have freeze me up if I only have one body with me without knowing how to fix this issue.) still, you can imagine frustration when opportunity show up but you have to stop the process to deal with this kind of **.
