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Hi Guys My first post here on the forum. I have been a long time rangefinder user; I recently upgraded to the Leica M-P Typ 240 and needed some advise. I am not a professional photographer but I do take it seriously and enjoy it quite a bit. My main styles of shooting are street and portraiture. My current kit is an Epson R-D1 with a 40 Summicton, 15 Heliar and 90 Elmar-C. I have been using the Epson for nearly 8 years. It has serviced me more than well. I love shooting with it, limitations and all. However recently it has been showing its age 1. The sensor is only 6MP so sometimes when I need to crop the image it doesn't lend to a lot of flexibility 2. The APS-C sensor size meant DOF and wide angle challenges 3. Battery life and 2GB memory limit precludes any serious usage for mission critical stuff Summarily I felt it was he right time to realize a 10 year dream and move up to a Leica. I just purchased a Typ 240 M-P with a 35 Summicron ASPH a few days back. Here is the challenge..with the caveat that I have used the camera for only a few days, I am really struggling to bond with the camera or its images. Some of my gripes are 1. The M-P images don't look as pleasing to my eye as my RD1 images. They lack the film like feel I think I got from the Epson 2. The camera itself feels a lot less analog and detached from the minimalism gestalt of Leicas (I also have an M2 for film duties). My RD1 I bonded with right from the first moment and every time I pick it up its like meeting an old friend again 3. The menus are IMO overtly complicated. Just too many options and not structured well. The person who came up with the button layout needs a swift kick in the arse 4 Handling the camera is also a bit more of a focussed effort than my fits-like-a-glove RD1/ M2. Granted the price of the Leica plays a very big role in it. I have added a ThumbsUp grip and have a Luigi case with the wooden grip en route that's probably going to make things better and potentially bulkier as well So heres where I need advice from you guys.. 1. Should I give it more time to learn how to use the M and adapt to it? 2. I can make my peace with points 3, 4 (though for the price I feel really shouldn’t have to) but points 1 and 2 are my main sticking points. Can they be improved upon with better technique and time 3. Should I sell it and go for an M9/ M9P? Before buying the M-P 240, I did a ton of research and tried an M9’s hands on as well. I did like its images (somewhat similar to my R-D1 but a lot noisier) and the menus were a lot simpler. Once I held the M-P in my hand I didn’t like the M9s build and the shutter sound + action. Finally what pushed me over the edge on the M-P was the sensor issues. I plan to own and use the camera for a long time (~10 years) and I didn’t want something which could/ will conk out and Leica won’t support it 4. Should I stake it out with my R-D1 for a few more years until the right range finder comes along? DSLRs and faux RFs (Fuji/ Oly) are not an option for me. I like the gestalt and process of image making in an analog range finder. Please find below a few images. Direct Jpegs from the Leica with no adjustments, tweaked DNGs converted to Jpegs and some shots taken a while back with the Epson. One point to note is that all the Leica shots are with the 35 Summicton ASPH and all Epson images are with the 40 Summicron. Would love to get thoughts form you guys on what to do next.. Series 1 Leica M-P + 35 Summicron in morning sunshine: 1. Direct Jpeg from M-P 2. DNG -> Tweaks in LR3 -> JPG 3. DNG -> Tweaks in LR3 -> JPG Series 2 Leica M-P + 35 Summicron in morning sunshine: 1. Direct Jpeg from M-P 2. DNG -> Tweaks in LR3 -> JPG 3. DNG -> Tweaks in LR3 -> JPG Series 3 Epson R-D1 + 40 Summicron: 1. ERF -> Tweaks in LR3 -> JPG 2. ERF -> Tweaks in LR3 -> JPG 3. ERF -> Tweaks in LR3 -> JPG Many Thanks! PK.

I was hunting down some late night food yesterday and strolled the part of the city for some interesting scenes. I saw a police pickup, stopped at a mini van, officers checking papers of the van driver. I didn't pay much interest to what was going on, but liked the light of the scene, coming from bright flood lights from a super mall across the street and some fuzzy street lights behind me. I took a few frames of the van, to see, if I could get a special lighting and exposure. It looked boring. Only, when the driver finished his cigarette and opened the back of the van did I recognize, what I had there: "wagon" "pigs" "unload" "The Midnight Meat Wagon" EPSON R-D1 | Leica 28 Cron ASPH | ISO6400 | f2 | 1/15 - 1/30 After I had the second frame in the box, the driver unloaded half a pig onto the street, turned it over, making sure all the dog excrements, human spit, cigarette stumps, food rests and street dirt left a good layer of meat preservation all over the cadaver and pulled it into a warehouse. So if you ever pay Shanghai a visit, and wonder, where the meat comes from, you just had - beware of "The Midnight Meat Wagon". The R-D1 faired pretty well for the slow aperture and the very, very dark subject against extremely bright lights from the mall. Only, if you push the files in such scenes, does the underexposed areas show banding due to the heavy contrast. Pushed M9 files do not look better under such tricky light with heavy pushing. Anybody lend me a M9 for playing around with pushing ;-) ?

During a taxi ride through Shanghai, I took some winter impressions with me and found my ideal lens for the R-D1 - a Leica 28 Cron. "lost space" "heimkehr" "chatter" "…" These and more photographs are also on my website.

If anyone has compared these I would like to hear what you think.