Best Leica for Pet Photography

[vohne]

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Hi everyone!

 

Would like help to choose the best Leica camera for Pet Photography. I will be shooting mostly dogs and rabbits. I am a complete beginner at photography, though I aspire to shoot at a semi-pro level. My budget is not more than a Leica T, so M and S systems are out of the question.

 

My friend recommended a Leica T with a Summicron-T 23m F/2 ASPH.

 

Any suggestions or comments? Thanks!

[leicaphilia]

Probably not what you want to hear, but:

 

Buy the leica later on down the road.

 

Begin by buying a good, used digital camera (something like a nikon d80,d90, d200 etc) with a decent kit lens and take a class or two to learn photography fundamentals - things like aperture, shutter speeds, ISO, exposure, and maybe some introduction to Photoshop and/or Lightroom.

 

Once you're up to speed and have some experience under your belt you can think about upgrading equipment.

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[vohne]

Thanks for the reply leicaphilia!

 

Fortunately, we're a dealer for Leica cameras only, so naturally I want (and am limited to) selecting from Leicas

 

So given my circumstance, what do you say? And if I were to take a Leica T, which of the two lenses would be better to start with?

[leicaphilia]

Why don't you look at the V Lux with its zoom lens? If tou are limited to Leica that would be a good place to start IMO.

[vohne]

thanks for the recommendation, I was able to try this camera out and I absolutely loved it. In fact I was able to demo the new V and new D models that haven't been released. I know nothing about photography so it was a complete shame that I couldn't appreciate it as much as others would, but I still enjoyed the V and D more than I did the T. I found the T difficult to use and slow compared to the two others.

 

What are the pros and cons of V vs the T, especially in relation to pet photography? I am still trying to grasp my head around it.

[DigitalHeMan]

For a beginner I would suggest you need a camera that is auto everything so that you can just point and shoot the animals you want to capture without having to worry about missing focus or getting the wrong exposure. There are lots of cheaper solutions available for this. But it is also important that you can buy a camera that you can grow into. I agree with leicaphilia that an entry level dSLR is probably going to make a lot more sense, both financially and user wise, than a Leica.

 

But when comparing the V to the T, you have a camera with a longer, faster zoom lens, and it's half the price of the T. Still a lot of money compared to other vendors, but maybe you can get a good deal on it from your vendor.

[bocaburger]

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My wife has the Panasonic version of the VLux4, and I think it's an awesome camera for a lot of uses. Pet and kid photography however isn't its long suit because along with every camera with an EVF it suffers from lag time between shots when the finder does not display a live image. Any entry-level DSLR from Nikon or Canon would be far more conducive of a higher hit-rate with pets and kids than any EVF camera. I don't understand why the OP feels constrained to use a Leica just because he works for a Leica Store if the pet photo biz is a moonlight.

[Brenton C]

I'm torn between approaches for someone in your position.

 

On the one hand, I like D'HeMan's recommendation for a competent digital automacam that'll take good pix, and as skill develops, let you take over to impose your judgements more and more.

 

I think this is one, of several, good ways to go.

 

Another very different way is to get a full manual film camera. Film, because something about a 36 roll of indelible images demands more care and attention than, say, a 36 image capacity re usable card (were there such a thing) would do.

 

Full manual, because it further forces you to understand the choices you are making: speed, aperture, and the implications of each.

 

Some say the latter is a better way to learn and develop ("develop", heh heh) your skill. I can't say for you, but that would be my preference. You can probably get a seviceable manual slr from the 60's or 70's with a lens or two for under $100, and when ready to move on, flip it at no loss for a better camera.

 

At that "flipping point", to mock, More than paraphrase a popular author who doesnt impress me, the decision about what you really want will be informed by experience.

 

You will have some good opinions about whether you need film"feel" or ambience, versus digital speed and convenience; manual controllability, or mucho-auto; slr conformity versus maybe rangefindersupremacy. . . Ooops, sorry, bit of bias slipped in there!

 

Alternately, you may decide not to flip your film manual, but add a Leica-Pixilator so you can keep your fingers in both ohoto-making methodological pies.

 

My 2 centavos.

 

Welcome to the forum. I encourage you to get stuck in here, as there is a world of expertise available to you, womderful phitos to enjoy and study, and a supportive friendly community of friendly helpful people to talk to.

[vohne]

Thanks everyone for the great replies!

 

I don't just work for the Leica shop, but my family owns it, thus it would not serve us that well if I'm seen holding anything other than a Leica.

 

So majority did mention the V-Lux, so after reading all about it I have finally decided to get a V-Lux

 

I'm a little disappointed to know there is a lag between the EVF display and the shots, but I'll just have to work around it!

 

Thanks for the help everyone, I'll be posting a photo of it once I get it!

[Brenton C]

A hah! So it's definitely a public relations / image thing, and maybe a little bit of advertising for the business for you to be seen using the products, and never seen using other brands.

 

Indeed, you probably need to be seen using newer gear.

 

I'm sur you'll enjoy your choice. And should you choose to explore film, perhaps the business could "subsidize" you by lending you cameras from the second-hand department.

[bocaburger]

So majority did mention the V-Lux, so after reading all about it I have finally decided to get a

 

I'm a little disappointed to know there is a lag between the EVF display and the shots, but I'll just have to work around it!

 

 

There is no way to work around it using the camera itself. With kids and pets you're going to miss half the shots, so all you can pray is it's the half with the throw-aways in it, and the half you do get has all the keepers. My wife and I have both tried it with our dogs, and she has used it at kids birthday parties, and it sucks. The only possible way around it would be use an old Leica optical finder in the flash shoe, and adjust the zoom so it corresponds to that focal length. I've done that, the parallax is a little off but it's doable.

[doolittle]

I will be shooting mostly dogs and rabbits.

 

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