Bought a back-up for M8

[jrc]

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My M8 is broken, and on the way to Solms. I considered buying another M8 body, but decided I'd probably turn suicidal if that one broke before the first got back.

 

So, for $2500, I bought a new Pentax K10D (10mp) and three prime lenses -- a 43mm f1.9, a 70mm f2.4, and a 21mm f3.2. The sensor is a 1.5x. Since the camera has image stabilization, the 43 f1.9 should be somewhat comparable to a hand-held Nocti, but with slightly more depth of field (smaller sensor, smaller aperture.) Michael Reichmann on Luminous Landscape says the stabilization is good for two stops; Phil Askey says more like one stop. In any case, as soon as my M8 gets back from Solms, I'll run a comparison of the two at 1600.

 

Physically, the K10D is about the same size as the Leica from the front (a frontal view), but it's twice as thick. The lenses are smaller than comparable Leicas -- the 70mm, without the screw-in lens hood, is about half as long as a 50mm summilux. So with a lens mounted, the two cameras are about the same thickness. (The 40mm, without the screw-in lens hood, is about 1 3/8 inches thick, or ~3cm.)

 

I don't expect the lenses to perform as well as the Leicas; and I don't think the sensor will, either. We'll see.

 

JC