Transitioning to a Rangefinder

[Flyer]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

1 hour ago, jmahto said:

Welcome to Leica world. I just now read about your bad experienced with buying Leica. Hope it was returned without hassle and you get a different one. I saw your flickr page. Nice images. However note that Leica RF is not DSLR and it will not replace your long lens with AF experience of DSLR (your lovely birds and wildlife photos). It has its own strengths and weaknesses. Use it in its comfort zone and it will be rewarding.

Thank you. I use a Nikon D5 and long lens for the birds 😊

[Jeff S]

Correct for astigmatism first, otherwise RF focusing is problematic.  Don’t guess diopter requirements, if any.  Just take your camera (and glasses if you use them for astigmatism or distance) to any good local optician and try their free trial diopters.  Simple.

I do this with with my M cameras and have recently added a +.5 diopter to the VF to supplement my glasses.  This is not uncommon with aging eyes.  I can focus reasonably well with my glasses on (for astigmatism and distance), but the added diopter optimized the experience.  It took me minutes to determine.

Be sure your camera and lens are well calibrated too.  This is easy to check using LV focusing (on a tripod) and comparing to RF focusing.

Jeff

[nlk10010]

I think you need to reconcile yourself to the fact that nothing is perfect, you are in all likelihood never going to be able to get focus as critically sharp as you would with a modern AF system on a DSLR/Mirrorless (there are exceptions, of course, no offense meant to any particular photographer).

But so what? Is it of paramount importance that when you zoom your DNGs to 300% that everything is sharp? I'm sure it wasn't in the past when many photographers took pictures we drool over now, and there are current Leica photographers who will tell you that most of the time they will get "very" sharp photos but sometimes not but it doesn't matter. You can strive for perfection with the RF but don't expect it. If you love the IDEA of using a Leica, if it motivates you to go out and take pictures and you feel special using it then that's all you need. Use it, get better and learn to live, to one degree or another, with any technical (e.g. focus) shortcomings that might show up. Unless extreme, they won't "ruin" a photo, you just "focus" (haha) on composition, lighting, subject DOF, etc.

I had bad cataracts, got them operated on but still have some astigmatism, and AFTER all that I bought an M10 and am continuing to take photos, practicing with the RF. I had to decide whether I wanted to use my glasses to focus, I decided not and went down to the nice folks at the Leica store here in NYC and they let me try out all the diopters to see which one would work best. I also broke down and bought a Visoflex for those times I want an "easier" (though probably not a lot more accurate) method of focusing, especially for my 90mm Summarit.

If you become energized using your Leica then use it, don't worry. OTOH, if the reason you bought it is because you thought it would enable you to take "technically" better pictures and could just as well use a DSLR, then IMO you might want to rethink things. Its frustrating aspects are only worth it if simply using a Leica makes you more excited about taking pictures.

Good luck and enjoy your photography, whatever you choose to do it with.

 

[Flyer]

Well I guess your not going to like this guys, I have ordered an SL 😏

After going to a Leica Store today and playing for about an hour with the SL and M10 I didn't feel comfortable with the RF process, its a pity because I really wanted the smaller form factor but......

Image Stabiliser

Auto Focus

A stunning EVF

Grip

Touch screen

Diopter

Were too many factors for me to over look.

Many thanks for all your advise, it wasn't wasted as it helped me decide that (at the moment) the RF is not for me and it would be better to know that now than lose a ton later.

Thanks again, sorry to be moving to the "other side"

 

Cheers and all the best

 

Flyer

[Jeff S]

No such thing as the other side; just tools for each to choose, for whatever reasons.  Many here own multiple systems, including the M and SL, or even different brands and formats, film and digital.

Happy shooting.

Jeff

[JulianHalliday]

Flyer, Alex U. seems to capture the essence of what I would say -- having been working my M10 almost exclusively since July 2017, in order to avoid carrying around my Canon 1Dx and it's gigantic lenses; in particular, Alex's advice to keep your focus rings always at infinity. At a minimum, you won't find yourself going on the wrong direction... I have a bad habit of fiddling with my focus ring, and I've had to expend some mental effort on unlearning that tic.

In fact, I've got a lot more comfortable with not focusing in many instances. I chiefly use a 28mm Summicron, and for many applications I can set it to f8 or even higher, and see that my depth of field is very comprehensive. This is doubly true of my 21mm Elmarit, of course, though I seldom use that as a 'walking about' lens. Even the 50mm Summicron can, on a bright day, be stopped down quite far to ensure a good range of safe focus. Naturally, this doesn't help if, as I often am, I want to control DoF specifically, but for shooting from the hip, so to speak, it's a useful thing. Took me a while, as I say, to feel confident doing that.

On an unrelated note, nobody else seems to have mentioned your photographs, many of which strike me as gorgeous; I'm especially enamoured of the kingfisher series.

[earleygallery]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Don't feel too guilty, you're still in the Leica club!

OK you're never going to be in the 'inner circle' with a mere SL, real Leica men use M's (actually that's only half true, the real real Leica men use LTM's) but you will still be tolerated and allowed to join in the fun and games here.

Enjoy your new SL.

[Michael Hiles]

Enjoy your new camera you seem to have done your research and tried the main options. Best of luck and congratulations.

[jmahto]

8 hours ago, earleygallery said:

Don't feel too guilty, you're still in the Leica club!

OK you're never going to be in the 'inner circle' with a mere SL, real Leica men use M's (actually that's only half true, the real real Leica men use LTM's) but you will still be tolerated and allowed to join in the fun and games here.

Enjoy your new SL.

My LTM is coming tomorrow! What is the secret handshake for the innermost club?

[jmahto]

11 hours ago, Flyer said:

Well I guess your not going to like this guys, I have ordered an SL 😏

After going to a Leica Store today and playing for about an hour with the SL and M10 I didn't feel comfortable with the RF process, its a pity because I really wanted the smaller form factor but......

Image Stabiliser

Auto Focus

A stunning EVF

Grip

Touch screen

Diopter

Were too many factors for me to over look.

Many thanks for all your advise, it wasn't wasted as it helped me decide that (at the moment) the RF is not for me and it would be better to know that now than lose a ton later.

Thanks again, sorry to be moving to the "other side"

 

Cheers and all the best

 

Flyer

Well, SL is a great platform as well (for L mount AF lens as well as M lens). Enjoy your new toy. 

Curious though. Since you already have Nikon glass, why didn’t you go for Nikon mirrorless? 

[250swb]

On 1/23/2019 at 8:13 PM, Flyer said:

Looks like it just means practice practice and more practise. 

 

No, forget preconceived ideas and the doom laden advice of some sort of focusing boot camp, focusing doesn't take practice, it takes time. You simply get faster doing it, but if you've read the manual you should be able to focus your first shot and every other thereafter if you take the time to do it properly. Speed comes later in a natural way, you know you've mastered focusing when you can't remember doing it.

As for how a Leica rangefinder fits in with your wildlife photography where probably fast focusing is the priority above everything else I don't know or understand. It will be a disappointing experience unless you have a bigger plan to start making a different sort of image, a wider view of wildlife perhaps?

Edited January 25, 2019 by 250swb

[jaapv]

Manual focusing is easier than AF for wildlife. To begin with, it is long lenses with a sharply defined plane of focus. You need to get a precise critical focus. On an eye, a beak, etc. AF struggles with feathers and fur. I do use spot focus and focus lock on AF lenses, but manual is simply more reliable.

[Flyer]

14 hours ago, 250swb said:

No, forget preconceived ideas and the doom laden advice of some sort of focusing boot camp, focusing doesn't take practice, it takes time. You simply get faster doing it, but if you've read the manual you should be able to focus your first shot and every other thereafter if you take the time to do it properly. Speed comes later in a natural way, you know you've mastered focusing when you can't remember doing it.

As for how a Leica rangefinder fits in with your wildlife photography where probably fast focusing is the priority above everything else I don't know or understand. It will be a disappointing experience unless you have a bigger plan to start making a different sort of image, a wider view of wildlife perhaps?

That makes sense and thanks for the guidance on manual focusing. In terms of Wildlife I will only use my Nikon D5 for that.

 

Cheers

 

Flyer

[Photon42]

10 hours ago, jaapv said:

Manual focusing is easier than AF for wildlife. To begin with, it is long lenses with a sharply defined plane of focus. You need to get a precise critical focus. On an eye, a beak, etc. AF struggles with feathers and fur. I do use spot focus and focus lock on AF lenses, but manual is simply more reliable.

You need that new Olympus with game AI AF 😂

[Flyer]

On 1/25/2019 at 5:45 AM, jmahto said:

Well, SL is a great platform as well (for L mount AF lens as well as M lens). Enjoy your new toy. 

Curious though. Since you already have Nikon glass, why didn’t you go for Nikon mirrorless? 

I love the Nikon DSLR for speed and ergonomics but a more refined camera for travel.

[jaapv]

17 hours ago, Photon42 said:

You need that new Olympus with game AI AF 😂

I should hope not. I still flatter myself that I can do better than automation.

[JDFlood]

Congratulations on your decision. Sounds like you made the right one. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the SL in six months. For me, although I used a SLR for the last 40 years, up until recently the M would probably not been the right decision for me. My emphasis was on composition and getting great photos. I love my Nikon D800 and look forward to next years release, I think the Nikon D860. But, until I really felt I had mastered composition, I was not ready to micromanage the image taking process. But after 100,000 images with my Nikon and Fuji cameras over the last 10 years I was ready to really craft the details of each photograph. That is where the M10 comes in. It is designed to allow you to slow the process and carefully craft each nuance of the photograph. It is the direct control of the depth of field, shutter, and ASA that begs to be thought out. For me, I was ready for the M when I bought it about a year and a half ago. But not everyone wants to go there... actually most people do not. Hence the M10 is niche product, it's never going to replace Nikon, Canon, and Sony. Enjoy your new camera. JD

[Flyer]

2 hours ago, JDFlood said:

Congratulations on your decision. Sounds like you made the right one. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the SL in six months. For me, although I used a SLR for the last 40 years, up until recently the M would probably not been the right decision for me. My emphasis was on composition and getting great photos. I love my Nikon D800 and look forward to next years release, I think the Nikon D860. But, until I really felt I had mastered composition, I was not ready to micromanage the image taking process. But after 100,000 images with my Nikon and Fuji cameras over the last 10 years I was ready to really craft the details of each photograph. That is where the M10 comes in. It is designed to allow you to slow the process and carefully craft each nuance of the photograph. It is the direct control of the depth of field, shutter, and ASA that begs to be thought out. For me, I was ready for the M when I bought it about a year and a half ago. But not everyone wants to go there... actually most people do not. Hence the M10 is niche product, it's never going to replace Nikon, Canon, and Sony. Enjoy your new camera. JD

Thank you and I will certainly keep updates flowing once I have the camera and the lens options sorted. I will still use my D5 for the fast stuff and the SL for a more refined experience.

 

Thanks again

 

Flyer