Erwin, part 6...

[sean_reid]

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You might consider a 1-year subscription to Sean Reid's site, http://www.reidreviews.com/. He answers a lot of these questions. He is wordy, but there is a lot of good information in them. I subscribed for two years, until my kit stopped changing so much.

 

Thanks Carsten. I actually don't see that work as wordy but the articles often go into depth and are written for people who have a serious interest in whatever camera, lens, subject, etc. is being discussed. It's definitely not the current breezy buzzword-laden, read it at a glance style that is popular in many magazines right now. In other words, I've made a conscious choice to write for photographers who need more than entertainment from this kind of reviewing.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[ulrikft]

I have to admit that I already have a subscription, and have read quite a few of the articles! It is a bit annoying that i can't read it on my iphone, but I can live with that. Right now, I'm thinking about getting an used zeiss ikon, pair it up with a fast 35-50 something prime, and go to town on a few rolls of film. The problem is that if I want color, 50 or so rolls would pretty much buy me a M8 used... Prices are great in norway I could get film online, but developing color film is so insanely expensive here. Is that a solution maybe? CV 35 1.2 + M8? that would not be _that_ much more than a M6, but no fullframe of course.

[Guido]

I subscribed for two years, until my kit stopped changing so much.

How on earth did you manage to accomplish that??

[carstenw]

Sean, I didn't mean to offend you; your articles are tremendously useful. You do tend to take the long way when you describe something though, including all the "his or her" type of thing which just makes everything longer Here's a challenge: post a typical 10-line paragraph, and I will re-phrase it with all the same information intact, but shorter.

[carstenw]

How on earth did you manage to accomplish that??

 

Erm, what?

[ulrikft]

Erm, what?

 

He wants to know how you managed to stop the Gear Aquisition Syndrome

[carstenw]

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I have to admit that I already have a subscription, and have read quite a few of the articles! It is a bit annoying that i can't read it on my iphone, but I can live with that. Right now, I'm thinking about getting an used zeiss ikon, pair it up with a fast 35-50 something prime, and go to town on a few rolls of film. The problem is that if I want color, 50 or so rolls would pretty much buy me a M8 used... Prices are great in norway I could get film online, but developing color film is so insanely expensive here. Is that a solution maybe? CV 35 1.2 + M8? that would not be _that_ much more than a M6, but no fullframe of course.

 

Now, having seen your work, and loving your B&W portraits and other shots, why would you suddenly go to colour? Pick up some Tri-X or whatever you like, develop at home, and then scan. That is what I do.

[ulrikft]

Now, having seen your work, and loving your B&W portraits and other shots, why would you suddenly go to colour? Pick up some Tri-X or whatever you like, develop at home, and then scan. That is what I do.

 

Hehe, well, I do 90% color, but I also have this recent fascination for cross processing color, old-looking color film etc. I guess I could live without it. My main question remaining in this "trying out RF"-quest is M8 + 35 1.2 vs M6/Zeiss ikon + 50 1.1. I have a darkroom at the uni (i partially run it ) so developing BW is simple, but scanning is expensive (expensive to buy a scanner, expensive to scan at someones place). So the price of those two kits are quite similar. So if you had to choose.. what would you do?

[carstenw]

He wants to know how you managed to stop the Gear Aquisition Syndrome

 

I bought everything Just kidding. My kit has included at various points:

 

WATE, 28 Cron, 35 Cron ASPH, 35 Lux ASPH, 50 Lux ASPH, 75 Lux, 90 Cron ASPH, 90 Macro, 135/2.8 I and the 280/4.8 V. I sold the 35 Cron ASPH, 90 Macro and 280/4.8 V, and finally the WATE (due to the workflow on the M8), so my final lineup is: 28/2A, 35/1.4A, 50/1.4A, 75/1.4, 90/2A. These lenses cover pretty much everything I want to do, I am missing only a wide, and am eyeing the 18mm. I also always wanted a Noctilux, but realistically, that can wait, and in fact, once I get the M9, the 75 Lux might cover my needs.

 

On the M8, the 35 Lux ASPH was by far my most used lens for the longest time, and the 28 Cron the least used. On the M9 this will likely change around. I like the 35mm focal length only for working crowds, and otherwise never find myself using it, so I might sell the 35 Lux ASPH. It is a nice chrome minimally focus-shifting copy though, so I will give it a lot of opportunity to redeem itself before deciding.

[carstenw]

Hehe, well, I do 90% color, but I also have this recent fascination for cross processing color, old-looking color film etc. I guess I could live without it. My main question remaining in this "trying out RF"-quest is M8 + 35 1.2 vs M6/Zeiss ikon + 50 1.1. I have a darkroom at the uni (i partially run it ) so developing BW is simple, but scanning is expensive (expensive to buy a scanner, expensive to scan at someones place). So the price of those two kits are quite similar. So if you had to choose.. what would you do?

 

Good question! I envy your easy access to a darkroom, btw. I love developing, but living with my girlfriend and tiny daughter in a small apartment, I have no room for one, and develop in the kitchen sink late at night or when everyone is gone.

 

I bought the Epson V750 Pro, after having seen how close it can come to the Nikon 5000/9000 in a very thorough test. It is quite good, and does really well with medium format, where I do most of my film. I can get 25MP scans from 645 with about the sharpness of a Canon For 35mm you have to scale your expectations back though. In the best case you might be able to get close to 10-12MP. Others will give you different numbers, but with my setup, that is my experience. The V700 is a bunch cheaper, and is probably almost as good, btw.

 

So, to answer your question: M8+35/1.2 or M6+50/1.1. Hard choice. Consider M6+Zeiss 50/2 as well, especially since you seem to like contrasty looks. My heart says that the M6+50/1.1 is more likely to be a setup which you might want to keep when the M9 arrives. You will have more experience with FF, and film+digital is a nice setup to have. It depends strongly on your psychology though: are you likely to use it as much, and develop all the film? The M8 is a heck of a lot more convenient, and you will develop every shot

 

How is your relationship with film?

[ulrikft]

Good question! I envy your easy access to a darkroom, btw. I love developing, but living with my girlfriend and tiny daughter in a small apartment, I have no room for one, and develop in the kitchen sink late at night or when everyone is gone.

 

I bought the Epson V750 Pro, after having seen how close it can come to the Nikon 5000/9000 in a very thorough test. It is quite good, and does really well with medium format, where I do most of my film. I can get 25MP scans from 645 with about the sharpness of a Canon For 35mm you have to scale your expectations back though. In the best case you might be able to get close to 10-12MP. Others will give you different numbers, but with my setup, that is my experience.

 

So, to answer your question: M8+35/1.2 or M6+50/1.1. Hard choice. My heart says that the M6+50/1.1 is more likely to be a setup which you might want to keep when the M9 arrives. You will have more experience with FF, and film+digital is a nice setup to have. It depends strongly on your psychology though: are you likely to use it as much, and develop all the film? The M8 is a heck of a lot more convenient, and you will develop every shot

 

What is your relationship to film?

 

Hmm, that is the thing, when i get around to developing my film i like some of it, some never turn out as i want it to. Part developing skill, part.. hmm... film not being my thing? I don't know. I have 5-6 rolls of film un-developed right now, and they have been standing on the shelve for a few months. I kind of WANT to be better at developing my films, but in practice, I don't do it.. Maybe a M6/Zeiss Ikon would make me more inclined to do it? hard to tell. with a M8, I would be certain.

[carstenw]

Hmm, you are a bit like me then, but with more pressure I have developed a bunch but have even more standing around waiting for me. I do love the results when they come in.

 

Well, the M8 is a damn good camera. I love my M8u, and I am still wondering if I should just hold off on the M9 for now. One thing that stops me from removing my name from my dealer's list is the exposure bracketing. I have wanted this forever, and the M9 implementation is really good, better than all Nikons and Canons except possibly for the very top models. I did a 5-shot bracket with 2-stop gaps in the shop. That covers almost the whole possible range Okay, small exaggeration, but then it also has 7-shot brackets, and that really does almost cover the entire range (which goes from 8s to 1/4000s).

 

The M8 is a bit loud. It is okay, but probably louder than most DLSRs, which bothered me. The M8u solves that, but then, it isn't a cheap camera, and the step from M8u to M9 is not that great. You would buy different lenses though, and then there is the whole IR filter thing, so if you decide to move to M9, you would probably want to sell the M8, possibly the lenses too, and you would likely take a hit there, at least on the camera. With the M6 you would not.

 

I guess there is the financial angle to consider, in addition to the FF vs. 1.3x crop difference, and then of course film vs. digital. Why don't you meet ovredal for a coffee and convince him to lend you his hated M8 for a while? Except, I have a sneaking suspicion that it is slowly converting him to a fan. His vicious attacks have waned somewhat in recent days, and he isn't posting so many opinions on it any more...

 

There is of course another option: stick with the D700 until you have the money for the M9. It seems like a strange opinion perhaps, but it would allow your thoughts on the D700 to reach a conclusion, which would probably crystalize the M9 thoughts a lot too. You do seem to have regular, if not constant, access to Leica Ms, so maybe you don't really need your own for now?