My S 007 now has a name

[Deliberate1]

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Given by a security guard at the Duomo in Florence. My family and I travelled to Tuscany for just over two weeks in May. The S 007 along as my walk-about with the 70, 35 and Contax 120.  And that included the 463 step schlep up a very old, claustrophobic and twisted stair case up to the top of the dome. Security is tight. I put my case on the table and pulled out the S with 70mm attached. The guard looked at it, then me, then it and said "macchina interessante." Then he gestured his colleague over. A man of fewer words, the guard, just said "bella." So the newly christened Bella and I made our way towards the heavens. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to have "named" Bella in the Baptistry building. But, the cathedral was a solid alternative.

This is my first travel excursion with the 007, having shot the 006 for three years or so. It is a more flexible camera in virtually every respect. Faster, quieter and with a shooting envelope that extends well beyond the practical reach of the 006, which I rarely shot, in color, over 800, and mostly at base ISO. Conversely, I could shoot the 007 all day long at 3200/6400 with outstanding results. The extended shooting range allowed me to capture interior images, especially in churches, that would have been impossible, hand-held, with the 006. Part of it, is the quieter shutter. Definitely a difference. Now, I am still trying to warm up to the cooler sensor qualities vs the 006. To be sure, it presents a more clinical look - rather like what I get from the Q. But the files are extraordinarily malleable. I was amazed to bring back to life duds that needed three additional stops. And one image looked lost through overexposure. And taking two stops out made it presentable. It feels almost like cheating. One thing I prefer with the 006 is how you can set it to A and then adjust the shutter speed or aperture opening using the two dials. At least, that is how I recall doing it (been a while since I fired it up). But in A with the S 007, seems to me that it does not work the same way - and that adjusting one will cause the camera to compensate by automatically changing the other to maintain what it thinks is the right exposure. So I had to go into the Exposure comp, which is a bit of a pain, and I never know how it gets what it gets - ISO vs. shutter vs aperture. Can anyone suggest a workaround so that I can have the camera in A, and then use the two right dials independently. I would typically have the camera in A, shoot, and then adjust manually to taste. I did find that the 007 auto focus seemed to hunt more than the 006, with the 70mm. Have others had that experience?

I did discover that my camera does not like the latest Lexar card with the fast transfer speed. Images had all kind of electronic distortion. So I went back to my trusty SanDisk cards which worked flawlessly. All in all, the trip validated my decision to add Bella to the collection. But there will surely be times when the shoot calls for the magic of a CCD sensor. And that is when Bella's sister will come out.

David

[YellowBelly]

I’m sure that Queenie will be happy to come out on the sunny days to rejoice in all the colours! I still have and enjoy both and hopefully the next generation will continue to blossom 

[Deliberate1]

3 hours ago, YellowBelly said:

I’m sure that Queenie will be happy to come out on the sunny days to rejoice in all the colours! I still have and enjoy both and hopefully the next generation will continue to blossom 

Hmmmm. Queenie? I am thinking more like Stella for the 006. 

Or CCDeedee....

[alan.y]

Congrats on the 7!

if I understand you correctly, then there’s no way to do what you want (that is quickly switch into M mode from A) on the 7 because you’ve lost the physical shutter speed dial. You have to either use exposure compensation or press the thumb dial to switch into M mode—an extra step either way. 

Manual shutter speed dial is also something I and many others miss on the older S bodies.

[Jeff S]

Wouldn’t it be easier to just shoot in manual mode to start?

Jeff

[Deliberate1]

1 hour ago, Jeff S said:

Wouldn’t it be easier to just shoot in manual mode to start?

Jeff

Sometimes. And sometimes not. If I am setting up a shot, and have the luxury of time, I immediately go to manual. But if it is a dynamic situation, with variable or contrasting light, or transitory scene, with the 006, typically I would set to aperture priority, take a shot just to make sure I got it. If the situation permits, I would then adjust settings manually to taste. So one auto shot, and then to manual simply by spinning the dials. Quick and easy. I can do the same with the 007, but it means an extra step, to go from A to M. And then you have to recreate the auto settings in manual and/or adjust based on your memory of what the auto picked. In time, I will get that down. But I like the process I had with the 006.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Deliberate1

[Jeff S]

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Different strokes.  I rarely take my M’s off manual, even in fast changing conditions.  Second nature over time.  Whatever works. 

Jeff

[Deliberate1]

1 hour ago, Jeff S said:

Different strokes.  I rarely take my M’s off manual, even in fast changing conditions.  Second nature over time.  Whatever works. 

Jeff

Agreed, mate. Shooting the S 007 is a whole lot different than the MF and LF slide film I was honed on that required bull's eye exposure accuracy. With the S, seems all you have to do is hit the target, or the one next to yours. Nice but can be a crutch if you let it.

Shot a guy in Perugia who instantly caught my eye. He was an older bloke, chiseled face, dressed in a gorgeous, bright robins egg blue suit. Sporting a bright green cane, and standing as if he owed that space, a gaggle of ill kempt tourists just swarmed around him, obliviously. No time to fiddle or adjust, I just raised the camera and shot while on the move, with time for only one exposure. After the moment passed, the histogram confirmed that I had grossly underexposed the image. Unfortunately, the camera was manually set to what I had just been shooting the main piazza, which was drenched in mid-day sunlight. And my subject was in a shadowed street. The gaff haunted me for the rest of the trip because it was such a striking shot, and was destined to join the annals of the ones that got away. Got home and threw the card in the box. Sure enough, the image underexposed by about 3 - 3.5 stops. I dialed up the exposure in LR and the dapper dude appeared in full glory on the screen with wonderful color fidelity. I did not deserve that. But I'll take it....

Edited June 12, 2019 by Deliberate1

[darylgo]

Congratulations on carrying the S for two weeks and up the duomo, I love my S cameras and the files they produce are superb  but downgrade :-) to the M for vacation.  Shutter speed dials are my preference also but they appear to be almost extinct on newer bodies.  Re:  "Images had all kind of electronic distortion" ,  what is electronic distortion?  Thanks

Edited June 12, 2019 by darylgo

[Deliberate1]

1 hour ago, darylgo said:

Congratulations on carrying the S for two weeks and up the duomo, I love my S cameras and the files they produce are superb  but downgrade :-) to the M for vacation.  Shutter speed dials are my preference also but they appear to be almost extinct on newer bodies.  Re:  "Images had all kind of electronic distortion" ,  what is electronic distortion?  Thanks

I have become somewhat immune to the weight issue. And regard it as a childbirth parallel. Hopefully what you get out of it is worth what you went through to get it. Before I had my 006, I brought a full M9 kit to India. I cannot deny it was a pleasure to have such a svelt rig. But the limitations of the CCD sensor was a handicap in less than ideal situations. As I describe it, the M9 (and 006) is the perfect camera for perfect lighting conditions. Last year, I travelled to Thailand for three weeks and brought the full S 006 kit as well as a Q, which mostly came out at night. I call it my Vampire Camera. With the 007, and the 35mm, I saw no need to bring the Q to Italy.

Ten years ago, before my Leica days, I carried a full MF Rollei 6008i kit on a trip to the Middle East. I carried around about 25 pounds of camera, lenses, tripod and film in the 100+ degree June heat  of the Egyptian desert, and into pyramids that were even hotter than that. With the 90mm Schneider it was huge. People literally would scatter when I raised it to my eyes. An Israeli soldier looked at it and quipped "nice bazooka." I started using the waist level finder which helped. That experience makes the S kit of about ten pounds not so bad at all. And in Italy, when you start feeling a bit peckish, you just dip into a cafe for a cappuccino and cannoli, and all is well with the world. Oh, I carried a 5lb Gitzo around sometimes as well. I use a Peak Designs messenger bag, which is brilliant. 

My son, who shoots a Q, suggested the latest Lexar card which has a blisteringly fast transfer speed, and immediately had issues. Sometimes the shutter would not fire. When it did, the images could appear to be a series of jagged lines. Or there was a strange color overlay superimposed on it. And it might change each time I brought up the image on the camera screen. It happened with two cards, and both were in camera formatted. So I ditched them and used the Sandisk cards that I have used forever. 

Cheers.

David

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[albertknappmd]

nice bazooka!

Albert

[Deliberate1]

11 hours ago, albertknappmd said:

nice bazooka!

Albert

Indeed, it is.

And it makes square holes.

[mgrayson3]

That's not a lens. THIS is a lens (note the camera body on the far right):

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Of course, if we want to go completely nuts, a Keck telescope is a 17,500mm f/1.75 lens!

Edited June 29, 2019 by mgrayson3

[peterv]

Nice one, looks like the lenses on the TV studio cameras of yore. I wonder what kind of exotic results a lens like that would yield on a modern day full frame sensor, given the fact that those lenses only needed to resolve for 625 x 575 or thereabouts 🙂

[mgrayson3]

At 5 meters, mirror, f/14, it looks like a standard mid-sized astronomical telescope. It could be very sharp, but with donut bokeh and weird specular highlights. I particularly love the sniper scope to help aim the thing 😎.

Edited June 29, 2019 by mgrayson3

[Deliberate1]

On 6/29/2019 at 9:00 AM, mgrayson3 said:

That's not a lens. THIS is a lens (note the camera body on the far right):

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Of course, if we want to go completely nuts, a Keck telescope is a 17,500mm f/1.75 lens!

That is no lens, my friend. That is a nuke.

Reminds me of a conversation I had with an Israeli as I was travelling South, in a bus, headed towards the Red Sea. As we passed by the sign for Dimona, I inquired about the "secret" nuclear facilities there. He just looked at me and said, "Oh, you mean the banana straightening factory."