Jennifer Posted May 17, 2014 Share #101 Posted May 17, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I find myself in a quandary. Years ago, though apparently a logical step at the time but in what turned out to be an aberrant fit of madness, I sold my Leica M6 and the whole slew of Leica glass I'd built up over the years. More recently with a grown up family and hence more time on my hands, I found myself wanting to get back into my old hobby. My heart told me to go out and buy a Leica, but given I'd have to start from scratch, body, lenses and all, my head told me that getting the then new Sony A7R would be a more sensible, offer a similar RF experience with a far lower financial commitment. So I bought one along with the three dedicated FF Zeiss lenses. It has to be said that imo the Sony is a fine camera capable of producing superb IQ when used according to it's strengths, but it does have issues and quite apart from that it's certainly NO Leica. My main gripes are it's slow and often inaccurate AF (not that I wedded to AF at all but it's supposed to be designed for that) especially in anything less than good light coupled with a less than forgiving 36mp FF sensor all making focusing more than a bit hit and miss especially if you're in a hurry, and it's very noisy shutter all of which imo renders it pretty much useless for street photography. That being said as a landscape/architectural camera, assuming Zeiss pull their figure out and get some dedicated fast UWA glass on the market, I think it would be hard to better. So...... do I stick with the Sony, use it according to its strengths and learn to live with its other shortcomings and perhaps get my Leica 'fix' from a T with a couple of T zooms as a carry around for street/spontaneous/travel photography, or do I trade in the Sony + lenses, offer the bank manager my house, my car and my body , take a deep breath and go buy a Leica M? Quandary over................ I went to 'Red Dot' today and bought a new Leica M together with two lenses. A Summilux 35mm F/1.4 ASPH (FLE) and an APO-Summicron 90mm F/2 ASPH. Deal done and I have to say holding it in my hands it does feel like I'm back home after a 25 year absence . All that remains now, is one, what to do with an A7R and three Zeiss lenses and two, what story to tell the bank manager ? 13 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 Hi Jennifer, Take a look here The A7 went this morning and I'm taking the plunge. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Peter H Posted May 17, 2014 Share #102 Posted May 17, 2014 Well done Jennifer. Enjoy yourself and be happy! By the way, the 35mm you've bought is an astonishingly capable and versatile lens which I think matches the M astoundingly well. I find it inspiring. I hope you do too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 17, 2014 Share #103 Posted May 17, 2014 Quandary over................ I went to 'Red Dot' today and bought a new Leica M together with two lenses. A Summilux 35mm F/1.4 ASPH (FLE) and an APO-Summicron 90mm F/2 ASPH. Deal done and I have to say holding it in my hands it does feel like I'm back home after a 25 year absence . All that remains now, is one, what to do with an A7R and three Zeiss lenses and two, what story to tell the bank manager ? Sell the Sony/Zeiss stuff to the bank manager… Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 17, 2014 Share #104 Posted May 17, 2014 Sell the Sony/Zeiss stuff to the bank manager… He's a bank manager ..... he has insufficient imagination to be able to use it. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonoslack Posted May 18, 2014 Share #105 Posted May 18, 2014 Quandary over................ I went to 'Red Dot' today and bought a new Leica M together with two lenses. A Summilux 35mm F/1.4 ASPH (FLE) and an APO-Summicron 90mm F/2 ASPH. Deal done and I have to say holding it in my hands it does feel like I'm back home after a 25 year absence . All that remains now, is one, what to do with an A7R and three Zeiss lenses and two, what story to tell the bank manager ? Fantastic! Well done - I'm sure it's a good decision. As far as the Sony is concerned - ebay is your friend! Now for the important question - which colour did you get? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted May 18, 2014 Share #106 Posted May 18, 2014 Quandary over................ I went to 'Red Dot' today and bought a new Leica M together with two lenses. A Summilux 35mm F/1.4 ASPH (FLE) and an APO-Summicron 90mm F/2 ASPH. Deal done and I have to say holding it in my hands it does feel like I'm back home after a 25 year absence . All that remains now, is one, what to do with an A7R and three Zeiss lenses and two, what story to tell the bank manager ? Now that's what I call effective retail therapy . Should hold of a relapse of GAS for a short time. Perhaps a 21 SEM next week? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rramesh Posted May 18, 2014 Share #107 Posted May 18, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) And to help your GAS, Leica Singapore opens boutiques in open spaces in malls. Leica Boutique VivoCity is now open | Leica News & Rumors Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viramati Posted May 18, 2014 Share #108 Posted May 18, 2014 And to help your GAS, Leica Singapore opens boutiques in open spaces in malls. Leica Boutique VivoCity is now open | Leica News & Rumors Well in a way the word 'Boutique' says it all. Maybe T is for Toy and and as they say 'The bigger the boy the bigger toy'. I am sure the T is a fine machine but for me at least I see it as a bit of a 'toy' and there is nothing wrong with that and I suppose it fits in with the leica brand and marketing strategy but it certainly doesn't have the intrinsic simplicity of control and use that the M has even with it's minimalistic style etc Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 18, 2014 Share #109 Posted May 18, 2014 Fantastic! Well done - I'm sure it's a good decision. As far as the Sony is concerned - ebay is your friend! Now for the important question - which colour did you get? Silver chrome, naturally, is there any other colour for a Leica? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 18, 2014 Share #110 Posted May 18, 2014 Now that's what I call effective retail therapy .Should hold of a relapse of GAS for a short time. Perhaps a 21 SEM next week? Are you a mind reader? A 21 SEM is top of the wish list and firmly fixed in my sights. Maybe not for next week though, I think I should wait until the bank manager, poor man, has recovered from May's Amex bill. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viramati Posted May 18, 2014 Share #111 Posted May 18, 2014 Are you a mind reader? A 21 SEM is top of the wish list and firmly fixed in my sights. Maybe not for next week though, I think I should wait until the bank manager, poor man, has recovered from May's Amex bill. Trying to keep the bank manager happy maybe take a look at the CV21/1.8. Shame it is the A7r and not the A7 as I would have taken that off your hands. Enjoy your M a wonderful camera Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonoslack Posted May 18, 2014 Share #112 Posted May 18, 2014 Silver chrome, naturally, is there any other colour for a Leica? Indeed - a good choice, but not the only choice - of course, the CORRECT choice is to wait for a month or two to let the love affair develop and then get a black friend for your silver leica. Think of all the sensor cleaner that would Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrisRose Posted May 18, 2014 Share #113 Posted May 18, 2014 Great choice Jennifer and great to hear you bought from Red Dot, they're great people well worth supporting 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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