I have a couple of questions....

[hteasley]

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I'm a longtime M shooter, and I just purchased a T with Visoflex and the 18-56mm lens. Should arrive on Monday. But there isn't a lot of up-to-date info for a new T owner that I can find, so I have a couple questions for folks here, if that's OK:

 

1. Reviews that I can find are generally from the launch, with the 1.0 firmware. How improved is camera startup and focusing speed with the 1.31 firmware over the 1.0?

 

2. Are any of the lenses more prone to focus hunting than others?

 

3. Reviews seem mixed on the 23mm Summicron. How would folks compare the IQ of that lens to the 35mm Summicron-M ASPH? I was hoping to get the 23 Summicron to be my main walk-around lens.

 

4. How's the shutter? Is it noticeably laggy?

 

I think I'll be selling my A7R: it was my first stab at a walk-around EVF ILC camera, but it's just no fun to shoot. Sounds like hedge shears pressing the shutter, shutter lag is pretty bad, AF isn't awesome, ergonomics are terrible, battery is terrible. I love the Loxia lenses on it, but really, my M is for manual focus shooting... the IQ is brilliant from the A7R, but I do sort of just hate the camera itself. 

Edited October 25, 2015 by hteasley

[bencoyote]

I'm a longtime M shooter, and I just purchased a T with Visoflex and the 18-56mm lens. Should arrive on Monday. But there isn't a lot of up-to-date info for a new T owner that I can find, so I have a couple questions for folks here, if that's OK:

 

1. Reviews that I can find are generally from the launch, with the 1.0 firmware. How improved is camera startup and focusing speed with the 1.31 firmware over the 1.0?

 

2. Are any of the lenses more prone to focus hunting than others?

 

3. Reviews seem mixed on the 23mm Summicron. How would folks compare the IQ of that lens to the 35mm Summicron-M ASPH? I was hoping to get the 23 Summicron to be my main walk-around lens.

 

4. How's the shutter? Is it noticeably laggy?

 

I think I'll be selling my A7R: it was my first stab at a walk-around EVF ILC camera, but it's just no fun to shoot. Sounds like hedge shears pressing the shutter, shutter lag is pretty bad, AF isn't awesome, ergonomics are terrible, battery is terrible. I love the Loxia lenses on it, but really, my M is for manual focus shooting... the IQ is brilliant from the A7R, but I do sort of just hate the camera itself. 

The startup speed got a lot better with firmware 1.3 if I recall correctly. 1.3.1 is required because of problems with compatibility with some SD cards. As a software engineer, I think it could still be improved in some cases but those would be some special cases not the most general ones. I think that they are pushing up against the speed of the processor and the fundamental design of their OS.

 

The one time that really matters to me is sleep to wake time. This is about 3.5-4s so if there is any possibility that the camera is asleep when I see something developing that I may want to take a picture of, I hit the shutter and begin the wake up process. That way by the time I get the camera to a shooting position, it is nearly ready. Approximately on par with the M which takes about 2.5s to be ready.

 

I haven't found any of the lenses prone to hunting. If you break down mentally what the camera has to do into steps and then remove those steps as possible you can get the camera  to be super instantaneous. If you want it to be super responsive like instant with NO shutter lag, meter the scene manually with manual ISO, shutter speed, and aperture already set, use manual focus and be pre-focused. However if you use the widest aperture with multipoint auto focusing, multi field metering, auto ISO, program mode, that little tiny computer in there has to go through a lot of computation processing the live view sensor data and slew the lens through a range to figure out how to take the picture and it will take a little time. If you need to really capture that instant of the decisive moment, the biggest win will come from using MF and being pre-focused. No AF is faster than already being focused. My big revelation was realizing that most of the time is spent telling the camera what to focus on, not in the time it takes the camera to focus. 

 

This comes down to a kind of crude zone focusing which ends up being something like:

- everything is at infinity. Don't bother focusing.

- f/5.6 or f/8 and most everything I'm going to shoot is going to be 1.5-2.5m focus accordingly.

 

If I have a subject that is going to be practically static, it doesn't matter how long AF takes. So I get to be lazy and use it.

 

The visoflex is on and off all the time. I started out using it all the time. I wanted that precise focus. Now with my quick and dirty zone focusing above, I don't need it as much. You do kind of need it for f2 MF up close.

 

The 23mm is a really good lens. Don't let the forums freak you out too much. In high contrast areas especially if you're using a wide aperture and your actual focal point is far from the area with the high contrast it is prone to purple fringing. This is a trivial quick fix in Lightroom. Other than that, I don't know of any real problems with the 23mm. I love how small and light the 23 is. It really makes the T a great grab and go camera. 

 

I have the Olympus E-M1. It sounds like you feel the same way about the A7 as I feel about the E-M1. I find the Leica T a joy to shoot. I find the M more demanding but also a pleasure and I go back and forth between it and the T while I only pull out the E-M1 for macro or if It is raining or something. I never really bonded with that camera but it fills a niche. 

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[bencoyote]

Let me put it this way. There is a tryanny of AF. Many times camera's MF interface is designed as a kind of last resort. It is a poorly designed  after thought that the manufacturer expects you turn to when nothing else has worked. I think that they hope you will give up or miss the shot before you get around to trying to use it. This leads to people feel that they are dependent on AF all the time. In that case, the AF better be damn good because you probably are dependent on it or at least you think you are.

 

The most liberating thing about the Leica T for me was the way that it broke that perception of dependence for me. The MF mode is well enough thought out that I could reliably use it. It isn't a 2nd class citizen in the T's user interface. Using MF regularly taught me all the cases where MF was good enough and  I didn't really need AF. That freed me from the tryanny of AF and allowed me to appreciate when it was really helpful. 

[hteasley]

Thanks for the replies.

 

Yeah, I'm pretty good with manual focus (like I say, I'm a longtime M user, and my M240 I shoot nigh daily), and while I do anticipate using some M glass on this, it's not what I intend on using the camera for, for the most part: for once, I care about autofocus performance somewhat. With AF cameras, I generally use centerpoint focus and recompose, much like a rangefinder, to keep the AF fast and reliable.

[A B]

Actually I do find the autofocus struggling a bit with the tele Vario (55-135).

I have the highest percent of missfocused pics when using that lens that is however very good in terms of image quality.

I hope they can improve it with the next firmware update.

[bencoyote]

Actually I do find the autofocus struggling a bit with the tele Vario (55-135).

I have the highest percent of missfocused pics when using that lens that is however very good in terms of image quality.

I hope they can improve it with the next firmware update.

Good to know. That is the one TL lens that I don't have and honestly before the SL announcements likely the next lens I was likely to get. That and the SL kind of pushes me more toward getting a 90mm Summicron-M. I want a bit of a telephoto and though the idea of a pocketable telephoto is great, I really do need a decent portrait lens.

 

The SL has me all confused as to what I want to get next. M, T, SL aargh choices!!!

[hkgmatt]

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Good to know. That is the one TL lens that I don't have and honestly before the SL announcements likely the next lens I was likely to get. That and the SL kind of pushes me more toward getting a 90mm Summicron-M. I want a bit of a telephoto and though the idea of a pocketable telephoto is great, I really do need a decent portrait lens.

 

The SL has me all confused as to what I want to get next. M, T, SL aargh choices!!!

For what it's worth, I find the 75mm Summilux a lovely portrait lens on the T, and easy to focus with the Visoflex.

 

To the original poster, I found the firmware improvements on autofocus very noticeable, but AF is not the T's forte. I didn't notice a shutter lag. but if you are using the Visoflex, you get a very annoying blackout.

[A B]

For what it's worth, I find the 75mm Summilux a lovely portrait lens on the T, and easy to focus with the Visoflex.

 

To the original poster, I found the firmware improvements on autofocus very noticeable, but AF is not the T's forte. I didn't notice a shutter lag. but if you are using the Visoflex, you get a very annoying blackout.

 

 

​Yes, the problem is the camera autofocus, not the lens. If I remember correctly Jono Slack tested the T lenses on the SL and they were all as fast as at least the Leica Q in focusing.

 

 

 

The SL has me all confused as to what I want to get next. M, T, SL aargh choices!!!

 

​I'm very interested and tempted by the SL too, never been really fascinated with the M, but then considering that between job and family duties I have little time for photography, I'm wondering if such a very big investment makes sense for me.

Size and weight of the lenses, are also part of the equation: I don't know if I can picture myself going around city with the 90-280, which I'm sure it will be a fantastic lens.

 

AB

Edited October 28, 2015 by A B

[can-photo]

I don't have other lenses, but speaking of 23mm, autofocus is very fast for T. Apparently 55-135 is the slowest as I read a couple of times in the forums. 

[hteasley]

Thanks again for these responses.

 

Last night, I visited my first Leica store: I've never been able to combine being in a city with one with the opportunity to actually get away to visit one, but I was in Seattle with some free time last night, and got to visit the store in the Bellevue mall.

 

It was very nice, and they had the 23mm Summicron in stock... which they don't now. And the clerk there let me know that the 1.4 update was out, so when I was back at my hotel I downloaded it, updated, and wow, what a difference.

 

I wasn't unhappy with the performance before, but really, it's like a different camera now. Startup and focusing are so much better: if this camera could have launched with this performance, sales and perception would be radically different, I suspect.

 

The 23mm Summicron is really something. I wish the hood were shallower, but regardless, it's a great lens.

 

I was pleased with the camera before, but now, it's really something...