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Gear selection for trip


Deliberate1

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Friends, now two weeks away from our trip to Thailand, I am refining gear selection to minimize weight and bulk.

A new Q has just made its way into my hands. I bought it primarily to have a a lighter and faster street box. I played with my son's Q over two weeks ago and was greatly impressed with the auto-focus speed, the ability to hand hold with stabilization, the speed of the 1.7 Summilux and image quality at ISO settings that would make my M9 and S 006 blush.

So my current thought is to bring the S with the 70mm and Zeiss/Contax 120mm, which has macro capacity. I have a 35mm Summarit. But because it has virtually the same field of view as the Q, and is far heavier with more bulk, I am considering leaving it at home, and use the Q in its stead. Remarkably, that two body/two lens kit fits in the smallest LowePro Slingshot, which I  find  to be a very serviceable bag - https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lowepro-Slingshot-100-AW-Review.aspx. The S with 70mm attached fits in the main compartment section, along with the 120mm. The Q would fit nicely in the top compartment, lending  easy access without having to open the entire bag.

So I would be interested to hear from anyone who has made a similar tool choice and whether leaving the 35mm (aka 28mm perspective) in favor of the Q would be regrettable.

Cheers.

David

PS: The silver Q is plain gorgeous and remarkably light.

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The Q is supernaturally good at its job. I often take it and nothing else when traveling. This shot feels like it came from a bigger camera:

 

29869942224_1b4a2d1494_h.jpg

 

Your plan sounds good. Enjoy!

 

Matt

Matt, always good to get reinforcement for such a purchase, especially from someone, who likely compares the Q output to the S. At least that will undoubtedly be my benchmark.

Frankly, after "suffering" for six plus years with the shooting limitations of the CCD sensor, the idea of usable files to 6400 or more, and lightning fast auto-focus  and stabilization when necessary is just so tantalizing. And all in a FF format. Glad you are loving yours.

Cheers.

D

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I normally travel with only the Q. Without a doubt my favorite travel camera. Light, compact, does stabilized stills and video too (if that's your thing). Great performance in mixed and difficult light as well!

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chifotography/25636847918/in/dateposted-public/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/chifotography/27730698829/in/dateposted-public/

 

I agree about the silver Q. Did not think I would trade my black one but in the metal, the silver Q is irresistible.

Edited by Flu
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I agree about the silver Q. Did not think I would trade my black one but in the metal, the silver Q is irresistible.

Enjoyed your gallery. Outrageous car. I ,too, fitted the Q with the grip. Have the RRS version mounted on my M9 and would not be without it. No Thumbie, though.

Cheers.

D

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I am in Thailand now with my regular kit. It’s my S2p with the 100mm S-summicron and my Contax 55mm on adapter. Because I am on the water most of the time ,the role of the Q is left to the E-U, a brilliant little water resistant camera. I have a nice RRS ball and bought a Sleek tripod locally for peanuts

Not too heavy and convenient

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Friends, now two weeks away from our trip to Thailand, I am refining gear selection to minimize weight and bulk.

A new Q has just made its way into my hands. I bought it primarily to have a a lighter and faster street box. I played with my son's Q over two weeks ago and was greatly impressed with the auto-focus speed, the ability to hand hold with stabilization, the speed of the 1.7 Summilux and image quality at ISO settings that would make my M9 and S 006 blush.

So my current thought is to bring the S with the 70mm and Zeiss/Contax 120mm, which has macro capacity. I have a 35mm Summarit. But because it has virtually the same field of view as the Q, and is far heavier with more bulk, I am considering leaving it at home, and use the Q in its stead. Remarkably, that two body/two lens kit fits in the smallest LowePro Slingshot, which I  find  to be a very serviceable bag - https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lowepro-Slingshot-100-AW-Review.aspx. The S with 70mm attached fits in the main compartment section, along with the 120mm. The Q would fit nicely in the top compartment, lending  easy access without having to open the entire bag.

So I would be interested to hear from anyone who has made a similar tool choice and whether leaving the 35mm (aka 28mm perspective) in favor of the Q would be regrettable.

Cheers.

David

PS: The silver Q is plain gorgeous and remarkably light.

 

 

I have been on vacation with the M and Q, the S2 and Q and a 500 Hassi and Q. The Q is fantastic for a wide angle companion and solved portability or/and low light issues of the respective other like a charm. I sold it now to fund the CL  :ph34r: .

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am in Thailand now with my regular kit. It’s my S2p with the 100mm S-summicron and my Contax 55mm on adapter. Because I am on the water most of the time ,the role of the Q is left to the E-U, a brilliant little water resistant camera. I have a nice RRS ball and bought a Sleek tripod locally for peanuts

Not too heavy and convenient

 

Sorry for off-top, but is there any particular reason you went with Contax 55mm f3.5 versus Leica-S 45mm f2.5? Thanks.

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Friends

I am sitting on a couch in an absolutely delightful boutique hotel smack in the middle of Chinatown in Bangkok. We are four days into our three week trip. Actually spent some quality time with Neil Williams in Phuket. As he has a footprint here he kindly took the time to take me and my wife around the island, and we broke bread together as well. Delightful guy and most gracious. The rest of the trip will take us north for the next two weeks or so. For those of you who may be considering a trip here all I can say is do it. I have traveled extensively in my life. But I find the Thai people too be unfailingly kind, patient, efficient and helpful. The food and is amazing and world class. Fortunately for me, English appears to be their second language, at least where we have traveled. Thanks to Google translator I have picked up a few obligatory niceties, which shows concern and respect, which is returned twice-fold.

Truly I have never felt more welcome as a traveler or safer in a land that is not my own. So far, the new Q I acquired just before the trip had been the perfect companion to the S with 70mm/120 Contax. Its reach into dark places is extraordinary for someone all to familiar with the low light limits of the CCD sensor. Basically, in good outdoor light the S stays out, unless I need a wide perspective. The Q has been the perfect tool for Bangkok's night scene. Frankly, it just makes it all too damn easy.

But I have had two gear malfunctions. First, I found that I was unable to mount the adapted Contax lens to the body. Turns out that I shifted the RRS tripod plate to far forward which intrude on the adapter space. So after spending much of the day at the national museum I found a bike store about a half hour's walk away. I figured they would likely have the right Allen wrench. I pointed out the fitting to the nice young lady minding the store and she came back with just the right tool. Ever gracious she refused any form of remuneration for this courtesy. So now the 120mm will be in play. I especially want it for the day we are spending with the elephants.

Of greater concern are the neurological issues the S is having. I have all new San Disc 32gb cards which I formatted in camera. But many times the camera refuses to fire or shut off or write a file or play back. It just freezes. It does not happen every time, but it causes no small amount of frustration. You can not ask the world to stop the decisive moment while your camera collects its thoughts. I have had to pop the battery in and out, which works sometimes. I went back to an old Lexar card with the same issue. So this evening I restored the camera to default settings and am hoping for the best tomorrow. If I can resolve this issue I truly think that the S/Q duo covers all the bases without having to change lenses. You do not have to guess which I prefer schlepping around in 90 degree and high humidity conditions.

Cheers from Bangkok.

David

Edited by Deliberate1
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Of greater concern are the neurological issues the S is having. I have all new San Disc 32gb cards which I formatted in camera. But many times the camera refuses to fire or shut off or write a file or play back. It just freezes. It does not happen every time, but it causes no small amount of frustration. You can not ask the world to stop the decisive moment while your camera collects its thoughts. I have had to pop the battery in and out, which works sometimes. I went back to an old Lexar card with the same issue. So this evening I restored the camera to default settings and am hoping for the best tomorrow. If I can resolve this issue I truly think that the S/Q duo covers all the bases without having to change lenses. You do not have to guess which I prefer schlepping around in 90 degree and high humidity conditions.

Cheers from Bangkok.

David

 

 

David - did you try an ordinary 8 or 16 GB CF card? That uses a different slot. Hoping the best you can sort it out. I also loved the Q as a superb companion for other cameras. Now the CL has to play its role as I sold the Q with a heavy heart.

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I am in Thailand now with my regular kit. It’s my S2p with the 100mm S-summicron and my Contax 55mm on adapter. Because I am on the water most of the time ,the role of the Q is left to the E-U, a brilliant little water resistant camera. I have a nice RRS ball and bought a Sleek tripod locally for peanuts

Not too heavy and convenient

 

Sorry for off-top, but is there any particular reason you went with Contax 55mm f3.5 versus Leica-S 45mm f2.5? Thanks.

Hello.

 

The Contax 55 mm is light and cheap that’s why I prefer to use it instead of the Leica S 45mm. I also have the Contax 45mm and again it’s a 72mm lens and it’s 300-350 g lighter than the Leica, even with the adapter.

 

I like the field of view of the 55mm more than the 45 mm lens on the S. It’s wide, but not too wide. Like my M-Rokkor 40mm on the M9. I can compose the scene with the 40mm 135 format lens easier and tighter when shooting people. I have realized long ago that I am not a wide lens shooter.

 

Another thing, I am not very serious about my landscape and travel photography. I rarely print bigger that A3 and for my purposes the S2 is an overkill, to be honest. Anyway, I have a lot of the Contax 645 lenses and love them. I also enjoy playing with my S2-P out of the studio and take the camera whenever I have an interesting trip.

 

Sorry for the long and boring answer.

 

Thanks,

 

Yevgeny

Edited by ynp
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