New User: M8.2 and CV 50 f1.1 (Full size crops)

[roanjohn]

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Hi all,

 

Recently acquired a used M8.2!! My first foray into RF photography from shooting mostly Canon digital. Biggest challenge is focusing!! But all in all, it's a new way of taking pictures - which I like. Here are some first shots I took with the Voigtlander 50 f1.1 Nokton. The lens is somewhat heavy - blocks the VF and produces a low-contrasty image that is dreamy. The bokeh is a bit choppy - it shows good details wide open with a bit of (blooming?) on the edges - which lends to its dreamy effect.

 

Most of these shots are wide open (1.1), a few are 1.4.....but nothing above.

 

#1

 

#2

 

#3

 

#4

 

100% crops to follow.....

 

Ro1

[Nicoleica]

Well, it certainly looks as though you've got the hang of focussing a fast lens OK. Nice work.

 

Oh yes, and welcome to the forum. I wish you lots of pleasure from your M.

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[roanjohn]

As promised, here are the crops:

 

#1

 

 

#2

 

#3

 

I am satisfied with the sharpness..... this lens looks like a keeper (so far). If anybody is interested - they have quite a few of them available on Photovillage. This is also the new batch of lenses that fixes the focus shift and shows the grids lines (as per the person from Photovillage).

 

Ro1

[roanjohn]

Well, it certainly looks as though you've got the hang of focussing a fast lens OK. Nice work.

 

Oh yes, and welcome to the forum. I wish you lots of pleasure from your M.

 

Thanks Nicole!!! Will continue to post and learn from everybody here.....

[AlbertoDeRoma]

Welcome to the forum. I am in the same boat, I've had my M8u + 28mm cron for all of 6 days.

 

The manual focusing seemed like an impossible thing to get right at first, but it's getting easier - and more fun. Having just one lens makes it easier to get they eye-hand coordination (quite literally) right.

 

Now that I've had a lot of fun playing with (and probably overdoing) really short depth of field (pretty awesome how you can isolate subjects at 2.0) I am "relaxing" a bit and using f/5.6 to 8 with hyperfocal distance focusing. The latter works quite well for street photography where, by the time you have focused more carefully, the shot may be gone.

 

Again, welcome to this great forum. I was hesitant to get an M8; there are least as many mud slingingers around as there are fans, and I was not sure where I was going to end up. I had doubt for the first 2 or 3 days, but now I am pretty sure that I'm on the side of the fans. The camera is FAR from ideal in many respect, but there's something extremely addictive about working with and around its limitations.

 

 

Alberto

[Double Negative]

That's some good stuff there, John. Welcome to the rangefinder gang.

 

I too was a Canon shooter (A-1, D30, 1D Mark IIn) until about two years ago. Picked up an Ikon and a couple of ZMs... Later added the M8. These days I grab the Leica first - I just get nicer images out of it, and don't miss the size/weight of the DSLR one bit. Of course I'll never ditch the Canon gear, but my "go to camera" is no longer the 1D2N/24-70.

[dNorm]

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Yep, I am very much pleased with the copy I got from Photovillage, also from the second batch. I previously had bought one used from an individual, which had not only back-focus issues, but also focus shift on my M8.2 and ended up returning it. The new version is simply excellent, just love it. Cheers. -Norm

 

As promised, here are the crops:

 

I am satisfied with the sharpness..... this lens looks like a keeper (so far). If anybody is interested - they have quite a few of them available on Photovillage. This is also the new batch of lenses that fixes the focus shift and shows the grids lines (as per the person from Photovillage).

 

Ro1

[roanjohn]

Welcome to the forum. I am in the same boat, I've had my M8u + 28mm cron for all of 6 days.

 

The manual focusing seemed like an impossible thing to get right at first, but it's getting easier - and more fun. Having just one lens makes it easier to get they eye-hand coordination (quite literally) right.

 

Now that I've had a lot of fun playing with (and probably overdoing) really short depth of field (pretty awesome how you can isolate subjects at 2.0) I am "relaxing" a bit and using f/5.6 to 8 with hyperfocal distance focusing. The latter works quite well for street photography where, by the time you have focused more carefully, the shot may be gone.

 

Again, welcome to this great forum. I was hesitant to get an M8; there are least as many mud slingingers around as there are fans, and I was not sure where I was going to end up. I had doubt for the first 2 or 3 days, but now I am pretty sure that I'm on the side of the fans. The camera is FAR from ideal in many respect, but there's something extremely addictive about working with and around its limitations.

 

 

Alberto

 

Alberto - I truly agree with you about the camera being addictive yet frustrating at the same time. I was having brunch today and I had a hard time focusing on people when taking candids...... there must be some sort of trick somewhere that I need to practice on when shooting.

[AlbertoDeRoma]

Alberto - I truly agree with you about the camera being addictive yet frustrating at the same time. I was having brunch today and I had a hard time focusing on people when taking candids...... there must be some sort of trick somewhere that I need to practice on when shooting.

 

Today, I went with my wife to San Francisco. We walked 8 miles and took a lot of candids - some more candid than others (i.e. in some cases I asked people for permission - EVERYONE said yes) - but we were downtown and SF is a tourist town so cameras are expected.

 

In 80% of the shots, I set the aperture to f/8 and used hyperfocal distance (i.e aligned the infinity symbol on the focus ring with the 8 on the DOF ring. I set the shutter to A (Aperture priority ... or is it Automatic :-)) - one thing at a time, I'll let the camera help me with shutter speed for now. It worked GREAT!

 

I will post some pics today or tomorrow - look out for them to get an idea of what a fellow beginner can do :-).

 

Alberto

Edited February 1, 2010 by AlbertoDeRoma

[roanjohn]

Today, I went with my wife to San Francisco. We walked 8 miles and took a lot of candids - some more candid than others (i.e. in some cases I asked people for permission - EVERYONE said yes) - but we were downtown and SF is a tourist town so cameras are expected.

 

In 80% of the shots, I set the aperture to f/8 and used hyperfocal distance (i.e aligned the infinity symbol on the focus ring with the 8 on the DOF ring. I set the shutter to A (Aperture priority ... or is it Automatic :-)) - one thing at a time, I'll let the camera help me with shutter speed for now. It worked GREAT!

 

I will post some pics today or tomorrow - look out for them to get an idea of what a fellow beginner can do :-).

 

Alberto

 

Will do!!! Gotta learn hyperfocal distance - though sometimes I prefer a shallow DOF (so gotta practice how to focus fast).

[roanjohn]

That's some good stuff there, John. Welcome to the rangefinder gang.

 

I too was a Canon shooter (A-1, D30, 1D Mark IIn) until about two years ago. Picked up an Ikon and a couple of ZMs... Later added the M8. These days I grab the Leica first - I just get nicer images out of it, and don't miss the size/weight of the DSLR one bit. Of course I'll never ditch the Canon gear, but my "go to camera" is no longer the 1D2N/24-70.

 

Yeah - tried the m/4 format but it clips too much of the highlights - I think the Leica is perfect (for the moment).........just gotta get a smaller more compact lens for me.