barjohn Posted November 18, 2009 Share #1 Posted November 18, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm not sure if this has been posted before but thought it worth posting. The following site is free but the comprehensive review requires a paid subscription to DAP. If you are considering an M9 it will be well worth it because you won't find as comprehensive a review anywhere else. It includes the coverage of a whole host of lenses and various recommendations as to lenses and a hiking/travel kit. Sean's reviews are a little more technical and this one is a little more aimed at the new user that has not owned an M8/M8.2 and is unaware of the pluses and minuses which he covers in some depth. diglloyd.com blog: November 2009 P.S. I am just a subscriber with no connection to him or his site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 18, 2009 Posted November 18, 2009 Hi barjohn, Take a look here New M9 Comprehensive Review + Lenses. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
mby Posted November 18, 2009 Share #2 Posted November 18, 2009 Thanks John. BTW, there's some discussions of this in on the German side of this forum: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/forum-zur-leica-m9/106540-kritischer-review-der-m9.html Best regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_dernie Posted November 18, 2009 Share #3 Posted November 18, 2009 I'm not sure if this has been posted before but thought it worth posting. The following site is free but the comprehensive review requires a paid subscription to DAP. If you are considering an M9 it will be well worth it because you won't find as comprehensive a review anywhere else. It includes the coverage of a whole host of lenses and various recommendations as to lenses and a hiking/travel kit. Sean's reviews are a little more technical and this one is a little more aimed at the new user that has not owned an M8/M8.2 and is unaware of the pluses and minuses which he covers in some depth. diglloyd.com blog: November 2009 P.S. I am just a subscriber with no connection to him or his site. I too am a subscriber to this site and when he makes comparisons using Nikon and Canon cameras I trust it a lot, and I have had great confidence in the site. I have been reading his M9 review as it develops. Unfortunately his M9 review has been disappointing. He has little experience or knowledge of RF cameras and lenses, and most of his lens comments are based on his perusal of the published MTF data, he has not used most of them yet. He has a whole section on the mismatch with the 21mm f4.5 Zeiss which he finds baffling, despite it being clearly an interaction between the almost symmetrical design of this lens and the IR filter, visible with other lenses of this type. He is clearly an expert on reflex cameras, lenses and Mac computers. He has a lot to learn about RF systems before he can be a credible reviewer of the M9 IMO. Frank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barjohn Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share #4 Posted November 18, 2009 I think he raises points that many reviewers miss precisely becasue they are experts. What he points out are the things that are often overlooked such as the challenges for obtaining sharp focus in lenses beyond 50mm, especially for those with less than perfect vision. Given that the group that is most likely to have the disposable income needed to buy and M9 and associated lenses are precisley the age group that is likely to suffer presbyopia (at a minimum) if not other eye sight issues it is important to make potential buyers aware of these issues. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonoslack Posted November 18, 2009 Share #5 Posted November 18, 2009 Hi John What he points out are the things that are often overlooked such as the challenges for obtaining sharp focus in lenses beyond 50mm, especially for those with less than perfect vision. Given that the group that is most likely to have the disposable income needed to buy and M9 and associated lenses are precisley the age group that is likely to suffer presbyopia (at a minimum) if not other eye sight issues it is important to make potential buyers aware of these issues. I'm always confused by this long sighted argument. I'm an old fool with long sight. If I'm taking pictures I wear contact lenses (strong in the left eye (for looking at the camera), weak in the right (for long distance through the viewfinder) . . . but I can focus a rangefinder even without them . . I think it's simply practice - it has a 'feel' about it when it's in focus (even when you can't focus on it). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenerrolrd Posted November 19, 2009 Share #6 Posted November 19, 2009 I was very disappointed in this review..even though I am a big supporter of Diglloyd and his reviews. Obviously he didn t like the camera as applied to his preferred subject matter(tends to be adventure/landscape oriented). Every review needs to be read understanding the context of the reviewer.....Diglloyd has as many biases as any of the other reviews. It is obvious that he has little if any experience with RF equipment and it distorts his perspective. I do a lot of street shooting 25K per year 10-12 trips ..an M9 is by far the best tool for this type shooting. Maybe I should take a MF camera out to try and do some night shooting? and then write a review complaining about the weight, the dark viewfinder, the crappy ISO ? What he plans to do with a Noctilux is beyond me? As to the difficulty in focusing lenses beyond 50mm... ..no kidding? I would tell this to anybody considering a RF camera.....if your eyesight is weak ....it maybe just too difficult. At the same time ...you may need a diopter they make a big difference (and its not your prescription for your glasses). For 50mm I use the 1.25Xmagnifier and for the 75/90/135 I use the 1.4x. And you have to either practice or shoot frequently. This is a review he should not have attempted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeitz Posted November 19, 2009 Share #7 Posted November 19, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm 62 and wear trifocals. I use the longer lenses (75, 90, 135) on an M8 with no trouble focusing. If the reviewer can't focus, he better go see an eye doctor. The review is as bad as the one in Popular Photography where the reviewer tells us that 6 bit sets the frame lines in the viewfinder. These guys aren't photographers; they count the number of menu entries to rate a camera because they don't know how to use any of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barjohn Posted November 19, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted November 19, 2009 Because you don't like his review is no reason to say he isn't a photographer. Having owned an M8 and having difficulty with focusing longer lenses, especially in low light or low contrast situations I can fully appreciate what he is saying. While it may be true that there are a few of you that are so good that you can accurately focus a RF camera despite having poor eye sight you are in the very small minority. With digital's demanding 10 micron tolerance for focus the majority of images taken with longer focal lengths will be soft for most users with less than perfect vision. The reviewer acknowledged that fact and questioned Leica's lack of modern technology to assist photographers with less than perfect vision by providing magnified live view for manual focusing. He also questioned the inaccuracy of the framing lines which is a known fact here, hence all of the complaining about the M8 framing lines versus the M8.2 and why did Leica go back to the M8 framing lines. Again, with live view you would know exactly what would be captured, especially on wide angle lenses where people with glasses can't even see the framing lines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenerrolrd Posted November 19, 2009 Share #9 Posted November 19, 2009 The issue I have with this review is that he rehashes many of the known problems with a digital CRF camera......and gives only passing credit for its advantages. He convinced me that the M9 is not substitute for MF in Landscape Photography. In fairness .....misfocusing is by far the number one issue with a RF system(and is inherent in the design). This is contributed to by at least three factors: 1. Calibration of a mechanical system requiring both the camera and the lens to be either ..near perfect or individually adjusted to work together is complex , expensive and problematic. 2. Fast wide angle lenses designed for three dimensional subjects aren t suitable for subjects better rendered with lenses designed for flatness of field ,close camera to subject distances,edge sharpness. . 3. Photographer error possibly contributed too by either weak eyesight ,inexperience or poor technique is always a factor in manually focusing a RF camera. So while there is nothing wrong with the findings individually they are biased toward his specific photographic interests . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_dernie Posted November 19, 2009 Share #10 Posted November 19, 2009 I think he raises points that many reviewers miss precisely becasue they are experts. What he points out are the things that are often overlooked such as the challenges for obtaining sharp focus in lenses beyond 50mm, especially for those with less than perfect vision. Given that the group that is most likely to have the disposable income needed to buy and M9 and associated lenses are precisley the age group that is likely to suffer presbyopia (at a minimum) if not other eye sight issues it is important to make potential buyers aware of these issues. I generally like his site and as a subscription site had not seen it as a place where novices try to make camera buying decisions. I have been aware of the problem of focussing since I started taking photographs in 1961. There is -nothing- new in the difficulty of manual focus, or the relative merits in manual focus of reflex v rangefinder cameras. Certainly being able to immediately check the picture on the monitor shows when you have erred in a way which would be forgotten by the time you got the film back from processing. Maybe live view is a good thing for critical focus for a tripod user, but I do not often use an M on a tripod. I have medium format film or a big digital SLR for that sort of thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagsiva Posted November 19, 2009 Share #11 Posted November 19, 2009 I was looking for a Noctilux 0.95 review and noticed he had one listed, so I paid my 30 bucks and signed up. Was quite disappointed with the 2 pages I found there, particularly when you read the hoopla about the indepth reviews available under subscription. I do have a subscription to sean's site, and his reviews are in a different league. Unfortunately, he has not reviewed the Noct. Jag Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.