R9 - should i sell it

[rsolomon]

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Up until recently I was operating with the R9 + DMR but wanted to simplify my hobby life and get out of the post processing business. I have since sold the DMR and have a digilux 2 and Digilux 3 with various r lenses as well as the kit lens.... life as a hobbist is fun and i spend my time in the field and not at the computer.

 

Bottom line is I do miss the DMR, when shooting the R9 & DMR RAW with top r glass there is no better image in the 35 mm world in my opinion.

 

Selling the DMR i presume will afford me the R10, AND that is if Leica can show me something that can significantly beat the Digilux 3 with adapter & R glass

 

...... will prices of the R9 continue to drop as the R10 gets closer to announcement. The R9 is a tank for sure but isn't the current digital world going to be replacing and upgrading camera bodies (or computers as i call them) every 2/3 years ? The R9 is the most likely the last 35mm film camera from Leica.....

 

 

the questions is "hold or sell"

 

opinions ?

 

thanks

 

Rich

[stuny]

Richard –

 

Your statements confuse me. You wanted to get away from post processing so you sold the DMR but are shooting with the D2 & D3. They "require" post processing, too. If you are shooting jpeg with those cameras and were shooting RAW with the DMR I can see where you’ll spend less time post processing, but guess what – The DMR produces exceptional jpeg files, especially since f/w 1.3. For the first few months of DMR ownership I only shot jpeg (look at the Washington DC photos on our site), and didn’t start using RAW until our trip to Chartres (also on our site). That was with f/w 1.2.

 

On to the R9. I have not looked back since putting the DMR on my R8, and doubt I will ever reattach the film back to the camera. For me, I have no further use for film cameras. However, I’m sure you’ll hear otherwise from film enthusiasts who get fabulous results from film and scanning, such as John Mead, a true scanning guru as well as gifted photographer.

 

I doubt the R9 will hold much more value than it has today, if that, and if I were in your situation I’d sell it too to help finance the R10.

 

Please let us know what happens.

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[marknorton]

It's been discussed elsewhere, but I find it tough to know where the R10 will be pitched in terms of price. The M8 is already more than all but the most expensive EOS 1Ds III and I can't see the R10 coming in under the M8.

 

The question will then be, if the R10 produces images as good as the DMR, but in a more integrated, more compact, faster package, what's going to happen to DMR prices? For sure, the R10 has to move things on from the DMR.

[wildlightphoto]

... if the R10 produces images as good as the DMR, but in a more integrated, more compact, faster package, what's going to happen to DMR prices? For sure, the R10 has to move things on from the DMR.

 

Hard to predict. If the R10 increases R market share the DMR could be a valuable backup to the R10. If the R10 only appeals to existing R users it's likely the DMR value will decline.

[jc_braconi]

After 3 month of M8 using, only in DNG, I just purchased a DMR to get a future to my 2 R8

It was not easy to find a mint one, and I know a lot of people looking for one of them !!!

 

I am not a pro just an amateur but I like the quality of my .TIF files prints A4 size, never got this quality before.

 

Just my feeling.

Cheers

JC

[andybarton]

Do you want to shoot film or digital in the future?

 

The answer to your question should be simple, especially if you have sold the DMR, which by your own admission gives the best "35mm" digital images around.

[earleygallery]

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Film is dead.

 

As you have sold the DMR your R9 is a useless paperweight.

 

I'll give you £10 for it (if you include postage).

[andybarton]

I'll give you £15...

 

(but sell it through these forum b&s pages, please...)

[earleygallery]

Damn it, I've been gazumped!

[dhsimmonds]

A chap at my local camera club reckons you should never sell a Leica...........the memory of it will forever come back to haunt you!

 

It seems that the DMR ghost is already at work on you!

[leicapages]

Hi Rich, the reason you cited for selling off the DMR is precisely why up to now I have always resisted the temptation to go digital. I prefer spending time shooting, not doing post-processing the images on the computer. Dropping off films at a good lab is a much neater solution, at least for me :-)

When I see people around me dealing with their digital files, it makes me feel sorry for them. They ditch their film-based systems to buy into digital gear, in most cases not better quality than the systems they sold, only to ask themselves the question what to do with all the digital output afterwards... Shooting digital requires fundamental rethinking of the way you do photographic business: different shooting habits, but especially different and more challenging post-processing habits (storing, handling, preparing for prints etc). I have decided that my scarce free time is more valuable than to deal with all of this :-)

[Gerald Lowle]

Pascal...I couldn't agree more with you, so before you get shot down by all the digital photographers I'll join you on the execution line up. I have to add that I am begining to see many postings on the photo forum where the image is not what was in front of the photographer but a compilation of two or more, oh dear, the purist in me cries out.....Gerald PS.. I'm ready for the firing squad!

[stuny]

Pascal -

 

Somehow most of us have missed something here. Richard sold his DMR and is using two other digital Leicas because he doesn't want to spend time in front of a computer screen. However, he's still shooting digital. Okay, perhaps with his new cameras he's shooting jpegs and does little or no post processing. He could have done that with the DMR, and with the latest firmware, the jpegs are better than ever. I submit that if one wants to shoot digital but not do post processing, the DMR has among the best jpegs you can imagine. If you look at the Washington DC photos on our site, those are DMR jpegs with older firmware, with little or no post processing.

[andybarton]

Stuart

 

I love my DMR. I get the best and most consistent results out of it from any camera/medium I have ever worked with. I will never sell it, even if I am fortunate enough to move into R10 territory.

 

But... BUT... (<--- big but), I also love using film. I love being able to develop it myself, the way I want it. In 30 minutes, for 36 shots (that must be less than a minute per shot...)

 

I won't stop using film, in either of my M or R cameras.

 

It's the best of both worlds.

 

So, if I had an R9, I would not sell it. I would use it. And enjoy it.

[wildlightphoto]

Pascal...I couldn't agree more with you, so before you get shot down by all the digital photographers I'll join you on the execution line up.

 

I'm using the DMR much more than the Leicaflexes, but I have no quarrel with those who prefer film. There are some photos where IMHO the DMR is nearly essential but will work only when I'm willing to put in the time in front of the computer. This photo http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/nature-wildlife/41992-great-egret.html was possible to a very large degree because I was able to test exposures on the histogram, fine-tuning to avoid clipped highlights.

 

I wish the R8 had a viewfinder as spectacular as the SL has. For film I use the SL for critical work, R4 for light weight.

[Gerald Lowle]

Douglas......and a very fine image it is too, and I can see that the digital interface with settings can be crucial for the right exposure, especially for a shot like this. When the image is 'pure' like this one obviously is, I really do not have a problem at all..Gerald

[rsolomon]

Many of you bring up excellent points.....

 

But while i use 2 digital camera i do VERY little post processing, and i agree that DMR Firmware 1.3 (which took way to long to be produced) the jpegs from the DMR are fantastic, but no more fantastic then the Digilux 3 with R lenses..or even the Digiulx 2 with only a fraction of the weight and bulk of the R9/DMR. i know many have the R8 and DMR combo and this is even heavier.

 

i would also say using the Digilux 3 with the kit and R lenses offeres fantastic flexibiliy (execpt in the wide-angle). i can go out with the kit lens and my 80 1.4 and have fantasic coverage for my needs ! for me: the overall weight of my day bag has been reduced and i spent more time shooting.

 

So back to the R9: i love the craftsmanship and engineering of the camera, im begining to wonder more about the Digilux 4 then the R10...... this is a fundemental shift for me

[stuny]

Richard -

 

What's it like doing stop-down composing/metering/auto exposure with the D3?

[mwilliamsphotography]

IMO, everyone should have at least one good 35mm film camera ... and the R9 is a good one.

 

I could not be more immersed digital photography ... but the constant involvement in aspects other than shooting is mentally exhausting. Shooting some film from time-to-time is genuine therapy.

 

It's not just digital post processing, it's all of it ... the incessant monitoring of all ancillary related tech stuff and relentless changes that have inflated the science part of photography to a massive degree compared to the creative part. The balance is way out of whack.

 

The R10 won't be a film camera.

 

The biggest mistake I've made in the past year was selling off all my M7s to fund two M8s ... s-t-u-p-i-d.

 

With my M7s and film I had a love affair with light ... instead of an argument every day: -)

 

M7, Portra 400, 35/1.4 ASPH

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Hallo,

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[robert_parker]

The thing here is that film users seem to be saying that they avoid 'post processing' by using film - surely developing, printing, scanning, dodging, burning and adjusting exposure counts as post processing - for me, there are a whole range of things that you can do with a digital image and photoshop that can be done quickly, cleanly and objectively, with minimal use of chemicals and impact on the environment. In my book making photograpohy more accessible, does not diminish photography or the skills needed to create a good image.

 

I love film too, I'm not anti film - I just think that its use will gradually diminish and become the province of the enthusiast, or specialist.

 

ps. Lovely image, Mark