mbilfield Posted June 11, 2011 Share #1 Posted June 11, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) For the past three years, I have resurrected my love of photography from many years ago. My current bewilderment is that I love to take my camera wherever I go. However, lugging around a large DSLR with an inconsistent quality 18-200 zoom lens or very heavy fixed focal length lenses is not my idea of enjoying the photographic experience. A relatively small digital is good ..just not good enough. Currently I have a Nikon D300 and a Canon G12. Both of which perform adequately. I'm ready to step up to Leica and would like to have some expert perspective on the pros and cons of a Rangefinder and which model Leica (digital) I should step up to. Also, should I consider buying a pre-owned camera froma reputable dealer or individual. Thank you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 11, 2011 Posted June 11, 2011 Hi mbilfield, Take a look here Leica Recommendations. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Jager Posted June 11, 2011 Share #2 Posted June 11, 2011 Welcome to the forum. You are quite correct that one of the great virtues of rangefinder cameras, and the small prime lenses which match with them, is their much diminished size relative to their DSLR cousins. I have a D3 and some stellar Nikon glass. It's a great system. But it's too big and too inconvenient to carry everywhere. My M9, on the other hand, is small (albeit not particularly light) and unobtrusive and it goes everywhere with me. To work every day. On trips. On vacations. When I go hunting. To the bookstore or coffee shop. Today I got up early and rode my R1200GS (that's a motorbike) 75 miles to the dealer for service. My M9 went with me. It goes nearly everywhere I go. That said, it's lovely, wonderful convenience aside, you have to consider whether a rangefinder camera is what you want. It's very different from a DSLR. You have to actually focus it. You have to pay a little more attention to light. And the viewfinder uses a paradigm of looking through a window versus looking through a telescope. Ultimately, you have to engage with the camera in a very different way. Most of us here love all that. Obviously. But it's not for everyone. An M camera won't hold your hand like a DSLR will. It won't give you lots of options. And it'll let you fail. But if you get on with it, and you spend some serious time with it, what you'll end up with is a camera which simply disappears. It changes from a machine for making pictures - something you have to think about and contemplate and work through - and becomes instead simply an extension of your eye and your heart. Just buy an M9 and a single lens. Either 35 or 50mm. Lux or Cron or Summarit - doesn't much matter. Or buy a second-hand M8. Or if you like film, buy a good film M body. It all works. Any of those will show you the ropes. Don't not expect a tinge of frustration. You're learning a very different way of making pictures. It's not hard. But it's probably very different from what you're used to. Hold to it, keep trying, and you'll know pretty quickly if it's for you. If it's not, you can sell your kit and move on, wiser for the effort. If it is, you may find your photography transformed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted June 12, 2011 Share #3 Posted June 12, 2011 Jeff, I second every last word. The dour old man from the Age of the Kine-Exakta Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Valdemar Posted June 12, 2011 Share #4 Posted June 12, 2011 I only buy my equipment from disreputable individuals. I save a lot of money. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earful Posted June 12, 2011 Share #5 Posted June 12, 2011 Also, should I consider buying a pre-owned camera from a reputable dealer or individual. Thank you. in the u.s., a reputable dealer usually gives you at least 90 days of warranty coverage. refurbs and demos may include more than that. there are also individual sellers with excellent reputations on various fora who cannot offer a warranty but whose word is good re the performance of their equipment during the time they used it. it may really come down to a question of your own finances and how risk averse you are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted June 12, 2011 Share #6 Posted June 12, 2011 M - Depending on how you use your 18-200 you might never be happy with a rangefinder camera. No zooms exist for them, and no prime lens over 135mm works with them without accessories that make the lens/camera into a jerry-riggered SLR. So, depending on what you shoot, hold onto that Nikon and zoom for for what tyhey can do and the rangefinder cannot, but use the rangefider for what it can do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikP Posted June 12, 2011 Share #7 Posted June 12, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) M - Depending on how you use your 18-200 you might never be happy with a rangefinder camera. No zooms exist for them, and no prime lens over 135mm works with them without accessories that make the lens/camera into a jerry-riggered SLR. So, depending on what you shoot, hold onto that Nikon and zoom for for what tyhey can do and the rangefinder cannot, but use the rangefider for what it can do. Totally agree! A DSLR is greate @ what it does but a rangefinder is outstanding for street, wide angle, and creative thinking, ( not leaving out a DSLR from beeing used creatively ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted June 13, 2011 Share #8 Posted June 13, 2011 I fully agree with everything Jager wrote except I would suggest going straight to an M9 rather than an M8 if finances allow. If the system suits you may well want to upgrade the M8 to an M9, but if you buy either camera and the system doesn't suit you it will be sold regardless, probably without losing too much money. Good luck to you, Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrewer Posted June 13, 2011 Share #9 Posted June 13, 2011 Just get an X1 and the handgrip It will set you up for an M down the road You may even wind up with a film M by that point Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted June 13, 2011 Share #10 Posted June 13, 2011 Just get an X1 and the handgrip It will set you up for an M down the road You may even wind up with a film M by that point EEEEk Get a M4-2 battle scarred dinks black chrome dissappearing, vulcanite missing and CV 35mm f2.5 LTM, LTM adapter. Cheap even from dealer. Load C41 mono film take to local mini lab for CD scan and prints until confident... You might want a M9 afterwards but you might like the mono signature. If you are in to camera findling a M2 is only a littl bit more expensive, but M9 owners will stop you in street and stroke your top plate script... Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickgrafixstop Posted June 16, 2011 Share #11 Posted June 16, 2011 Buy a Fuji X100. Excellent camera, rangefinder like operation, convenient size and it will get you accustomed to shooting with a single focal length lens. Master it, and then decide if the style is appropriate. If it is, save your scheckles for an M9 (probably an M11 by the time I've saved enough) buy a 35mm lens and start again. Add lenses as style and budget require/allow. If the X100 isn't your cup of tea, you can resell it with a minimum loss and go back to the Nikon. (Or just ditch the zoom, buy the very excellent 35mm f2.0 Nikkor which will solve your bulk and weight concerns and implement as above) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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