New to Leica

[N2L]

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Hi all,

 

After months of reading reviews and comments in this forum, I've made up my mind on the T. I've always wanted a real Leica with reasonable price range, and almost pulled the trigger on the X Vario 3 months ago. The X Vario would be a good compact to Nikon gears. But then something about the T telling me this should be the way to go for long term investment. Well, to make a long story short..I am about to go to Paris during Xmas this year and planning to take only the T with me. Do you think there's any promotions from Leica between now and Thanksgiving? If there's no upcoming promotions, then I will put in my order next week. Here is my order list, please advise if you see anything else that I should also include:

 

T camera (Silver)

Vario-Elmar-T 18-56mm

Leica Half case or the Gariz half case? Still deciding on this item

VisoFlex

B+W 52mm UV Haze MRC 010M Filter

 

That should give me a good start, right? The Summicron T 23 will be my next purchase in a future as I am more a zoom kinda guy. I am really exciting about this new direction with Leica.

 

Thanks for reading!

N2L

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[jaapv]

The chance of promotions is small. The camera is brand-new on the market and selling well.

[stuny]

Welcome to the Forum. Be certain to show us your photos.

[bencoyote]

Hi all,

 

 

T camera (Silver)

Vario-Elmar-T 18-56mm

Leica Half case or the Gariz half case? Still deciding on this item

VisoFlex

B+W 52mm UV Haze MRC 010M Filter

 

That should give me a good start, right? The Summicron T 23 will be my next purchase in a future as I am more a zoom kinda guy. I am really exciting about this new direction with Leica.

 

I'm also new to Leica and I think that you will enjoy the kit you list above. I have practically the same thing. Here are some minor thoughts:

 

The silver is gorgeous and I emotionally responded to that. I also find that the first sign of wear on my normally black cameras is some of the paint or anodization coming off and so I thought that it would be good to get the silver one. However, I really do find that the silver attracts a lot of attention. Just think twice and reconsider getting the black. The leather half case may help some, I have one on order.

 

You are going on a trip, you are buying a new camera which isn't the cheapest, I know there are limits to the funds you have available. If you can in any way afford it, I would seriously consider getting the Summicron 23 before you go in addition to the 18-56 even if you have to make payments on it on a CC or something. Maybe if you really can't afford it right now get the 23mm instead. Here is the thing, the 18-56 is a f/3.5-5.6 and the Leica is fairly conservative in its minimum reccomended shutter speed and really honest WRT to its ISO ratings. Plus it doesn't have any OIS, VR, or IBIS and it is winter which means that there are only going to be a few hours of daylight. It really is just you and the camera and how steady can you hold it in whatever light you have. With my Olympus E-M1 and its 5-axis IBIS I can hand hold 1/4s with the Leica, I can get lucky and pull off a 1/15s. You really do want that 2-3 stops of extra speed that you get with the Summicron. With the 23mm I find that I can push way into the night and get so many more shots that I couldn't get with the 18-56.

 

One minor surprise I have had with the 18-56 is how good it is when I do what would I would have normally have thought of as a macro shot. 56mm at min-focusing distance really gets some sharp and beautiful pictures of flowers with great bokeh.

 

A few more accessories to bring:

1) one of those squeeze blowers - many people including me find that we quickly have dust on our sensors either from the lenses or from the manufacture of the camera. At least in my case it easily blew off, and after 2 or 3 cycles of it happening pretty quickly it hasn't happened again (which is why I think it came from the camera or the lenses).

2) Several lens cloths - the rear touchscreen doesn't seem to have the oil resistant coating that a >=2nd gen iPhone has and so you get lots of fingerprints on the touch screen.

3) A grey card. All these new LED lights and new colors of compact fluorescent lights seem to be tricking the AWB on the Leica T pretty badly. It is cheap and an an easy fix.

4) The one other thing which might not matter to you but I almost always carry is a polarizing filter. I use it to boost contrast (in some situations), make the sky bluer and the clouds stand out more dramatically, and tp remove reflections when shooting through a window.

[Manoleica]

Welcome NL2..

 

enjoy your Leica photographic experience..

[N2L]

Thank you all for your warm welcomes!

Thank you Bencoyote for your advices...You really made me think about lighting condition of winter in Paris. Wife won't let me spend another $2K on camera equipment after this set. The problem for me is I am a zoom guy. I have several Nikon prime lenses and never use them. Maybe I should think about bringing my Nikon D600 and the 24-70 f/2.8 together with the T, just to be safe. I really want to see how the T would perform under all conditions though. BTW, I've never gone under 1/30S, but hopefully with the lighter T, I could go with 1/15.

 

Thanks again,

N2L

[bencoyote]

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Thank you all for your warm welcomes!

Thank you Bencoyote for your advices...You really made me think about lighting condition of winter in Paris. Wife won't let me spend another $2K on camera equipment after this set. The problem for me is I am a zoom guy. I have several Nikon prime lenses and never use them. Maybe I should think about bringing my Nikon D600 and the 24-70 f/2.8 together with the T, just to be safe. I really want to see how the T would perform under all conditions though. BTW, I've never gone under 1/30S, but hopefully with the lighter T, I could go with 1/15.

 

Thanks again,

N2L

 

How about this as a plan B:

1) buy a M lens adapter - if you want I'll buy it from you when you get back

2) then rent something like a Summilux M 50mm from a place like lensrentals.com It is fun shooting those wonderful leica fast primes.

[N2L]

How about this as a plan B:

1) buy a M lens adapter - if you want I'll buy it from you when you get back

2) then rent something like a Summilux M 50mm from a place like lensrentals.com It is fun shooting those wonderful leica fast primes.

 

Not a bad option! I may follow this plan instead of going for the 23 mm in the future. But for now the 18-56 mm is a must for me at this point. Have to convince my wife that she too can easily use this Leica just like her existing P&S. So, anything with manual operation is not in the game plan. I think I now know what to get. Will pull the trigger tomorrow.

 

thanks again bencoyote!

N2L

[colonel]

Welcome to the forum!

 

The T is a beautiful camera that produced great photos

 

The zoom is very sharp for a zoom, however the upcoming 11-35mm is looking promising so I await the reviews with interest

 

I would recommend a cheap screen protector (soft not hard), the grey half case if you are getting silver or the new brown half case for black. The silver looks special but the black is better for subtle shooting. Whatever you want.

Don't disount the various Korean half cases on ebay, I have found the mostly excellent quality

 

If you haven't before I would give touch focus a serious try out on the T. I ended up liking it more then the EVF. It's really well and a bit of an eye opener to be able to pick focus point for every shot.

[Le Comte Y]

How about this as a plan B:

1) buy a M lens adapter - if you want I'll buy it from you when you get back

2) then rent something like a Summilux M 50mm from a place like lensrentals.com It is fun shooting those wonderful leica fast primes.

 

 

... it's my daily combo (T+summi 50 asph) and it is awesome ... really the Leica's light !

The Vario-Elmar-T 18-56mm isn't bad but "something" is missing !!! IMHO

 

For the half case, I strongly recommend you "arte di mano" available on the bay as well !

 

Regards

 

Yvan

[stuny]

N2L -

 

 

Give the camera a good workout before going to Paris so you'll be completely comfortable and confident with it, and know where to find each control you're likely to need. Try some indoors photos at an old-style church near home to simulate what you will be lured into shooting in Paris. Use the same techniques that firearms target shooters use so you can steady longer exposure handheld photos. In those lighting situations also look for something to lean the camera against.

 

And I'm with you regarding the zoom lens. The 18-56 would be my choice if I were buying the T. Email me if you want to discuss some must-see things in Paris. stuart.nordheimer@opco.com.

[N2L]

I finally pulled the trigger today and stayed with the 18-56 as my initial lens for the T. I spent the last few days to read all of your comments over and over again on the lens options. And at the end, I realized that I am just a pure amateur with a great interest in photography and a very curiosity for Leica. To that end, I am convinced that I will be very happy with the T and the 18-56 lens. Having said that, I've also added the M adapter in my order...just in case

 

Thank you all again for your advice and inputs. In a few more days, I will be a happy T shooter.

 

N2L

[Guest]

Good luck - and bonnes vacances!

 

I am sure you will love your T in Paris. The zoom is a very fine and versatile lens.

 

If the light gets low - don't be afraid to bump up your ISO. You can shoot at 3200 with no problem, although I leave the Auto ISO limit at 1600, and then manually raise it if I need to go higher to shoot in low light when I use the zoom. 6400 ISO is also quite usable and can be cleaned up in Photoshop with just a bit of noise reduction. I shoot often at 1/15th shutter speed too without problem (and Photoshop also has a way to correct some degree of camera shake, btw).

 

Also, if you remember to stay wide in low light (3.5 max aperture vs. 5.6 at tele end) you should be fine with autofocus and exposure.

 

I hope you enjoy your vacation and have a great time with many happy memories.

 

Cheers!

[spylaw4]

You've got a good set-up, pretty well the same as mine, which should be fine even in a Paris winter.

Think about the new Artisan & Artist 1/2 case instead (it doesn't seem to appear on their website yet). You can then get rid of the awful silicone T strap and use a standard split-ring type.

If you don't like the rather bulky lens hood on the 18-56 try instead a generic 52mm screw-in wide-angle metal one - it doesn't vignette btw.

[Le Comte Y]

(...)Think about the new Artisan & Artist 1/2 case instead (it doesn't seem to appear on their website yet). You can then get rid of the awful silicone T strap and use a standard split-ring type.

(...) .

 

Or "Arte di Mano", located in Korea but outstanding quality !

Here is the Steve Huff review about it !

See the pic below ! Very confortable and improve the maniability of the camera !

 

Best regards from Belgium !

 

Yvan

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[jaapv]

Actually I find this a style clash....

[jonoslack]

Hi There N2L

Congratulations - I think you've made the right decision - the silver is lovely, and perhaps the finish will last better than the black.

 

I should say that I've had a silver camera since January, and I've not treated it with care - no half case, no screen protector, just normal use. The result is that there are NO marks on the body or the LCD - it really looks like new.

 

I also think you're right to get the zoom - it gives you the best options to start with, and you can always get the 23 later (or whatever else turns you on).

 

I really hope you enjoy the T - I think it's a great camera - still very much a part of my photographic life.

 

All the best

jono

 

ps I agree with Jaap about the half case and the clash of styles (FWIW)

[bencoyote]

You can then get rid of the awful silicone T strap and use a standard split-ring type.

 

If you do go for the strap lugs and split rings make sure to put a piece of leather or some other soft material around the lug between the camera and the split ring to prevent damage.

 

I personally have found the silicone strap surprisingly nice. When I ride my bike with the camera sitting in the small of my back and the strap over one shoulder, the silicone has enough grip that the camera doesn't rotate down to my front the way other smoother straps do.

 

I haven't figured out a system for running yet. One thing that I have noticed is the stretchiness of the silicone absorbs some shock.

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[N2L]

Hi all,

 

My T set finally arrived last night! I spent a few hours to put things together, but actually spent most of my time last night to adore the beauty of the T design. Still need to perform firmware upgrade to 1.2 tonight, study more on the user's manual and re-read old posts from this forum on the setup recommendations and on those helpful tips. Really had to hold myself back and not firing a single shot last night as I wanted to complete the firmware upgrade, understand more about the operation and settle down with my initial setup before my test shots.

 

I agree that the T strap is not practical...It's interesting though. The strap is something which I will replace in the near future. The grey half case is ok, but taking it on/off does require a small coin, a bit inconvenience, but I really need this case for now as the body of the T is real slim and slippery. Besides these 2 items, I think I am happy with the rest of my setup. So far, I enjoy the touchscreen feature. With some more time practicing, I believe I can get along well with the touchscreen. The response time seems to be adequate to me for what I am intending to use the T. I am sure this area will be getting better with future firmwares.

 

So far so good...I can't wait until this weekend to test my new toy. Many thanks to all of you again for your guidance and inputs.

 

Have a great weekend!

N2L

[Jared]

The strap lugs from Match Technical are a nice addition if you want to use a different strap. I am using a lightweight leather strap with very small split rings--don't need to worry about scratching the body with the smaller split rings since there isn't enough room for them to touch anything.

 

I think you will enjoy the 18-56 if you are a zoom kind of guy. I've been pleasantly surprised by its image quality. It's slow, obviously, but I wouldn't want a big, heavy fixed f/2.8 zoom on a light weight body like the 'T'. They did a really nice job on software corrections for distortion, lateral CA, and vignetting. Definitely a big step up on your typical kit lens. Of course, it better be good considering the price.

 

- Jared