Which Leica for round the world backpacking?

[LocalHero1953]

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It is individual for each person. I took nothing but one M, one 35mm lens for travels over couple of years and it was nothing limiting at all. For how long have you taken pictures? I started then one camera one lens was the norm. Looking back, I'm not sure if it was limiting, but liberating. 

Oh, it's one of those competitions is it?

I don't feel the need to take the lead.

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[Ko.Fe.]

I don't know when you started, but I had 3 lenses for my EXA2 SLR...

I started with one lens, one rangefinder in earlier earlier eighties and used the same until 1994. Then I switched to P&S with fixed lens and used it until 2001 and after it first SLR (EOS 300) with zoom and nothing else until 2007. Then DSLR with single zoom in 2008 and then, in 2009 another DSRL with one 50mm lens (which I enjoyed to use for one year with only one lens for everything, including travel)

After I have G.A.S. until 2012 and then I switched back to same (exactly the same camera) RF and same lens. By now I'm confident with 35mm lens (just likeJoel Meyerowitz) and only using 50mm if I can't use 35. Just like now with M4-2 in service and only M3 available.

Garry Winogrand used nothing, but 28mm lens for many years. Reportage, street, landscape all were covered with single focal length. Maybe this is why the largest photobook I have is his book about America.

It is all about your vision. If you trying to snap almost everything, switch lenses. If you are writing the book about your journey with the camera, IMO, it is better to be written in one style. For consistency.

[Ko.Fe.]

Oh, it's one of those competitions is it?

I don't feel the need to take the lead.

Competition? It is all yours.

 

I was just trying to explain and remind what one lens, one camera is still the norm for some of us. 

[IkarusJohn]

Much like MarkP, I did a lot of very rugged backpacking with a film Nikon - through SE Asia, Nepal, across the Sahara, sailed through the Mediterranean, Turkey and Europe etc - the camera never missed a beat.

 

My advice, take the camera you use, and keep it simple. An M is a good choice, with a couple of lenses. Don't spend your time fussing over camera equipment. You need to be enjoying and experiencing the new places you visit, using your eyes and taking pictures as part of the trip, rather than making it a photographic equipment outing. For some years, I only traveled with a Minox 35S.

 

Photos are great, but it's not the purpose of this adventure, right?

[LocalHero1953]

Competition? It is all yours.

 

I was just trying to explain and remind what one lens, one camera is still the norm for some of us. 

Single lens photography is a very reasonable approach on aesthetic/philosophical grounds.

But your actual advice that I responded to was "I would not recommend to switch lenses while on backpacking trip (dust, dirt, moisture and risk of dropping the lens)".

[shaunlawler]

I like the idea of a single lens approach.

 

If I did go the M route what would your one lens choice be?

[Michael Hiles]

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Difficult to say what you should do.

 

For me, I would take a Summicron 50mm. I would also plan on walking around quite a bit - when you first see the picture, you are probably standing in the wrong place.

[Ko.Fe.]

Single lens photography is a very reasonable approach on aesthetic/philosophical grounds.

But your actual advice that I responded to was "I would not recommend to switch lenses while on backpacking trip (dust, dirt, moisture and risk of dropping the lens)".

 

Yes, Sir, my advice was based on my travel with nothing but one backpack experience, one of my colleagues backpack walks for months across the Europe experience and the link on the Leica Blog with half-year travel across rugged Mongolia experience of one M, one lens user.

 

One year of travel... How much dust and else will be accumulated by switching lenses on Leica sensor after few months? You could find Canon service for cleaning and  pay for fast service or independent service or DIY. But Leica does not recommend DIY cleaning rather what blowing dust. But switching lenses on backpack trip over year will involve too many chances to have something else on the sensor.

 

I've got bird poop right on my new Leica lens on new M-E within few weeks after buying camera Likely it was hooded and with protecting filter on the lens.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Ko.Fe.

[Ko.Fe.]

I like the idea of a single lens approach.

 

If I did go the M route what would your one lens choice be?

 

I'm using 35mm. It is considered to be universal by many. I came to it after 50mm (little bit too narrow). But each person comfortable focal length is different. If you are comfortable with the mobile phone photos, most of them are 28mm lens equivalent. If you like to be less intrusive, take it from more distance and want to have accent of particular subject, 50mm works. 

 

For 28 and Leica photography check Garry Winogrand. For 50mm check Henry Cartier Bresson. It was his main lens (35 and 90 were less in use). In one of his book he wrote what Elmar 50 3.5 is sufficient for most of photographers. Where are different versions of this lens now and they are still collapsible into the digital M Leica. It is still valid option for air travel with some airlines where on-board luggage is very limited. 

[Guest]

if we're just talking Leica for a travel camera I grab and go with my Q……….. 

[IkarusJohn]

Single lens?

SL with 24-90 or TL2 with one of the zooms.

If changing lenses worries you, don't buy a camera with interchangeable lenses. I've never heard Leica say don't clean your sensor - on the contrary, I've had lots of advice from them on cleaning, and there's guidance in the manual.

Edited July 17, 2017 by IkarusJohn

[a.noctilux]

I like the idea of a single lens approach.

 

If I did go the M route what would your one lens choice be?

 

Tri-Elmar-M 28-35-50 or MATE would be my choice and the M body can be any one .

 

Some pages to read here if you haven't done yet:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/236071-tri-elmar-28-35-50-opinions/

Edited July 17, 2017 by a.noctilux

[LocalHero1953]

Yes, Sir, my advice was based on my travel with nothing but one backpack experience, one of my colleagues backpack walks for months across the Europe experience and the link on the Leica Blog with half-year travel across rugged Mongolia experience of one M, one lens user.

 

One year of travel... How much dust and else will be accumulated by switching lenses on Leica sensor after few months? You could find Canon service for cleaning and  pay for fast service or independent service or DIY. But Leica does not recommend DIY cleaning rather what blowing dust. But switching lenses on backpack trip over year will involve too many chances to have something else on the sensor.

 

I've got bird poop right on my new Leica lens on new M-E within few weeks after buying camera Likely it was hooded and with protecting filter on the lens.

Well, all I can say is that my experience is different, and I change lenses wherever I go (last trip, Oman). A blower every few months seems to deal with most dust I encounter. 

[IkarusJohn]

Well, all I can say is that my experience is different, and I change lenses wherever I go (last trip, Oman). A blower every few months seems to deal with most dust I encounter. 

 

 

I got a few spots on my SL, but It wasn't dust - more like the oil spots which plague new M cameras.  A quick clean with a sensor swab and eclipse sorted it. Unless you're seriously out in the back blocks of Nepal or the middle of the Sahara, most reasonable sized cities will have a camera shop which sells swabs and Isopropanol (Leica's recommendation) is easily available in small quantities from a pharmacy.

 

These cameras are tools, not heirlooms.  If I wasn't prepared to take them out and use them, I wouldn't buy them in the first place.

[pcnilssen]

For a long backpacking tour, I'd like to travel lightweight, and not be too scared what could happen to my gear  (remember, not all you meet are nice guys).  I'd go for a D-Lux 109, which I have read much favorable about in this forum, put a black tape over the red logo, and shoot all I want.  If the camera is stolen, damaged or unusable in some way, buy a new one.  Better to shoot lots of interesting stuff with an inconspicious camera, than being afraid of getting robbed..

Edited July 17, 2017 by pcnilssen

[Ko.Fe.]

Single lens?

 

SL with 24-90 or TL2 with one of the zooms.

 

If changing lenses worries you, don't buy a camera with interchangeable lenses. I've never heard Leica say don't clean your sensor - on the contrary, I've had lots of advice from them on cleaning, and there's guidance in the manual.

 

 

Which Leica M manual is suggesting wet, contact cleaning of Leica sensor? I have M-E where it is not allowed in the manual, only dust blowing. M262 manual reads the same. You could clean it only by blowing according to the manual. 

 

What is wrong with buying of one 3K$ M body and one 2K$ M lens? Camera comes with interchangeable mount not because user must have several lenses (well it is idea scenario for Leica company), but because some users could pick the prime lens they want.

[IkarusJohn]

Which Leica M manual is suggesting wet, contact cleaning of Leica sensor? I have M-E where it is not allowed in the manual, only dust blowing. M262 manual reads the same. You could clean it only by blowing according to the manual. 

 

What is wrong with buying of one 3K$ M body and one 2K$ M lens? Camera comes with interchangeable mount not because user must have several lenses (well it is idea scenario for Leica company), but because some users could pick the prime lens they want.

 

 

The M9 manual (which I no longer have), provides the procedure for cleaning the sensor.  You're quite right that there is no reference to wet cleaning in that manual - to be honest, I haven't looked in the other manuals.  When the corrosion issue first arose on the M9 cameras, there was some discussion about wet cleaning being the cause.  I raised this directly with Leica, pointing out that it was unrealistic to expect Leica owners to send their cameras in for cleaning when oil spots on the sensor was endemic in the M9.  They conceded (to me, anyway) that for any digital camera, it was entirely expected that owners should be able to clean their own sensors.  I received an email from Leica Customer Support recommending sensor swabs and isopropanol.

 

If your manual says wet cleaning is not allowed, then I would challenge (not you, Leica) as that is completely unrealistic butt covering on their part.  Wet cleaning (done carefully) is, in my view, a normal part of digital camera ownership.  I'm surprised Leica would put this in their manuals - I will hunt out the Monochrom, SL and TL2 manuals and see if they contain such self serving nonsense.  All of my digital cameras have needed cleaning at some point, and not just from dust.

 

I have no problem with people buying a single lens of their choice, but to be honest a fixed lens would be a better scenario in that case.  The Q (and the Sony Rx-1) has a lens and sensor perfectly suited together in a way (and at a price) that is difficult to match with an interchangeable system.  But if you're buying a system camera (M, TL, SL or S), I don't see any virtue in buying a single lens, and I certainly don't see a particular virtue in not changing lenses - that is what the camera is designed for.

 

Liking a single lens system does not mean that changing lenses is bad.  It's a system, and made to be used as such.

[IkarusJohn]

Ko.Fe. you've piqued my interest, so I checked.  In each case, you're invited to send your camera to Leica for cleaning (for a cost), which from NZ is not really feasible.  In relation to cleaning sensors generally:

 

Monochrom (v1) - manual at p158 (in the English version), there's no reference to wet cleaning, but no prohibition either.  After discussion on how to use the sensor cleaning function, there is recommendation to use a blower, and in the Notes, fourth bullet "If the particles cannot be removed from the sensor in this way, please refer the matter to your Leica Information Service (address: see p 167)".  The Leica dealer I bought the camera from provided me with Sensor Swabs and Eclipse.  As mentioned above, Leica Customer Service in Wetzlar advised the use of isopropanol.

 

M Edition 60 - as above, with the addition "Special, low pressure cleaning sprays such as "Tetanus Antidust Professional" can also be used in line with their specified usage."

 

SL - page 270 of the manual contains the following (I've added the bold):

 

The camera is equipped with an automatic sensor cleaning

function.

Every time the camera is switched on, the sensor unit is subjected

to ultrasonic vibrations which removes most of the dust or dirt

particles adhering to the sensor cover glass.

If any particles remain in spite of this (depending on their size, they

can be identified by dark spots or marks on the recordings) the

camera can be sent to Leica Camera AG’s Customer Care

department (address: see p.288) for the sensor to be cleaned at

a cost, i.e. this cleaning is not included in the guarantee.

You can also perform the cleaning yourself, as the shutter is

normally open, i.e. exposing the sensor.

 

TL2 - no reference to sensor cleaning in the manual. This is rather odd, as like the SL the sensor is not even protected by the shutter curtain (as with the M9 series).

 

I'm not suggesting that anyone should be "gung-ho" about sensor cleaning, but I certainly view cleaning as a normal part of ownership.  I'm certainly not going to send my camera to Germany (round trip at least 3 weeks) to then wait (unspecified time) for someone at Leica to clean it for me.  I've never taken that suggestion seriously.  Searching this forum brings up some really good advice on sensor cleaning.

 

Interesting point, though.

 

Cheers

John

Edited July 18, 2017 by IkarusJohn

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[jaapv]

Ko.Fe. you've piqued my interest, so I checked.  In each case, you're invited to send your camera to Leica for cleaning (for a cost), which from NZ is not really feasible.  In relation to cleaning sensors generally:

 

Monochrom (v1) - manual at p158 (in the English version), there's no reference to wet cleaning, but no prohibition either.  After discussion on how to use the sensor cleaning function, there is recommendation to use a blower, and in the Notes, fourth bullet "If the particles cannot be removed from the sensor in this way, please refer the matter to your Leica Information Service (address: see p 167)".  The Leica dealer I bought the camera from provided me with Sensor Swabs and Eclipse.  As mentioned above, Leica Customer Service in Wetzlar advised the use of isopropanol.

 

M Edition 60 - as above, with the addition "Special, low pressure cleaning sprays such as "Tetanus Antidust Professional" can also be used in line with their specified usage."

 

SL - page 270 of the manual contains the following (I've added the bold):

 

 

TL2 - no reference to sensor cleaning in the manual. This is rather odd, as like the SL the sensor is not even protected by the shutter curtain (as with the M9 series).

 

I'm not suggesting that anyone should be "gung-ho" about sensor cleaning, but I certainly view cleaning as a normal part of ownership.  I'm certainly not going to send my camera to Germany (round trip at least 3 weeks) to then wait (unspecified time) for someone at Leica to clean it for me.  I've never taken that suggestion seriously.  Searching this forum brings up some really good advice on sensor cleaning.

 

Interesting point, though.

 

Cheers

John

 

 

Won't work, going on a backpacking tour around the world, the OP will be inoculated.

[almoore]

It's not a Leica, but if you want the highest quality in the most portable package, look at a Sony RX1Rii. It has a 35mm lens, but so much resolution that cropping to 50 equivalent isn't a problem. The m43 offerings from Panasonic and Olympus are also very good for travel and have great lenses, some of which are Leica designed/branded.

 

Reliability is an issue for a long trip, and, while all cameras can break down, I'd be inclined to trust the Japanese alternatives over Leica.