jaapv Posted March 31, 2008 Share #1 Posted March 31, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have been looking for a 105-280 R and a 1.4x converter. After a false start with KEH, I found exactly the combo, condition ex, at a good price at SH photo. There is the rub - less than perfect eBay-rating, retaliatory feedback -when will sellers learn that customers look through that one, especially the copy-and-paste type-,they prefer wire transfer of funds, when I bought from them a year ago I got warning PM's from two reputable forum members... Still, the deal in January 2007, a Biogon 21 for M went through well and during the year I bought one or two small things there, no problem. So I gathered my courage, my Amex card and the telephone. Nice guy called Igor on the other side, very smooth e-mail correspondence, the wire transfer thing turned out to be a costs thing, so Amex sent a considerable number of Euros on their way to Nueremberg. After two weeks - still nothing in the mail, whilst Germany-Holland normally takes three days. Tracking number inconclusive - Help!! Wrong decision? An e-mail to SH photo resulted in a reply within the hour -"we have started a postal inquiry, don't worry, it is fully insured, your have no risk" Better already. After a week, today it finally arrived. It turned out the German mail had been sitting on the package and only the inquiry woke them up and started the package moving again. *Deletes letters to Amex and attorney and substitutes by this post* One complaint though - the lenses were not as advertised - the are not state: "ex", they are new demo's in only-once-opened boxes.... So a big thumbs-up to SH Photo and a moral- reputations are not always consistent with reality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 31, 2008 Posted March 31, 2008 Hi jaapv, Take a look here All's well.... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Iron Flatline Posted March 31, 2008 Share #2 Posted March 31, 2008 Good news, thanks for the Heads Up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted March 31, 2008 Share #3 Posted March 31, 2008 Yes good news. I've never bought from them but it's good to know of a reliable vendor. As it happens, my German distributor is in Nuernberg so I'd get them to complete the purchase for me in the same way they went and beat up Gossen - also in Nuernberg - who were dragging their feet with a light meter repair. Interesting that you are investing in R-glass as well as the DMR. A smart move ahead of (what we expect) the R10 announcement later in the year. It's inconceivable that the camera will not be backwards compatible with existing R-glass irrespective of where they go with AF/Confirmation. The same happened with M-glass and I did the same in the run up to Photokina 2006. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rweisz Posted March 31, 2008 Share #4 Posted March 31, 2008 A smart move ahead of (what we expect) the R10 announcement later in the year. It's inconceivable that the camera will not be backwards compatible with existing R-glass irrespective of where they go The worst-case scenario is that older lenses will need to have the ROM strip retrofitted so the R10 knows more than just the aperture, for firmware tweaks, as with the M8. Unless Leica purposely locks out non-ROM lenses just so the old ones will need Romming. I mean, you know they're not going to put in a Nikon-style menu Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share #5 Posted March 31, 2008 We do know that Leica is rather good at retro-compatability. Anyway, one of the things I like about the DMR is the cropped sensor, it gives me a narrower FOV on my long lenses and it gives a range-finder like feel to the viewfinder because of the crop-lines. As there is nothing wrong with the image quality, I have a sneaking suspicion that the R10 might not offer me much to make me buy it. Higher ISO in my application is only needed with shorter lenses. The M8 with the Summilux 75 is sufficient there. I figured I'd get in on the act before the R10 starts driving used lens prices up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rweisz Posted March 31, 2008 Share #6 Posted March 31, 2008 one of the things I like about the DMR is the cropped sensor, it gives me a narrower FOV on my long lenses If it was FF you could always crop the image (even have a laser-etched screen with crop lines as you wish) but otherwise make use of the full range of wide angled lenses. The widest rectilinear lens Leica makes for the R is 19mm, which equates to like 25mm on the DMR. Higher ISO in my application is only needed with shorter lenses. I thought you used the dSLR for safari & other animal shots. I would think (based just on my experience shooting sports) that being able to use the highest-possible shutter speed with a long lens, hence cranking up the ISO in bad light, would be a desire. From what I've read (and admitting the questionable value of hear say) the animal-shooter pros really dig the latest Canon's for there un-noisy high-ISO. And unlike Leica, the Canon and Nikon boys have stabilizers available. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptomsu Posted March 31, 2008 Share #7 Posted March 31, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) We do know that Leica is rather good at retro-compatability. Anyway, one of the things I like about the DMR is the cropped sensor, it gives me a narrower FOV on my long lenses and it gives a range-finder like feel to the viewfinder because of the crop-lines. As there is nothing wrong with the image quality, I have a sneaking suspicion that the R10 might not offer me much to make me buy it. Higher ISO in my application is only needed with shorter lenses. The M8 with the Summilux 75 is sufficient there. I figured I'd get in on the act before the R10 starts driving used lens prices up. One thing I did NOT like about the DMR was the Crop factor. So preferences are obviously very different. Any Crop in any camera is only an intermediate solution for me. FF is what really is the final goal, everything above this is not necessary for normal photography. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share #8 Posted April 1, 2008 I thought you used the dSLR for safari & other animal shots. I would think (based just on my experience shooting sports) that being able to use the highest-possible shutter speed with a long lens, hence cranking up the ISO in bad light, would be a desire. From what I've read (and admitting the questionable value of hear say) the animal-shooter pros really dig the latest Canon's for there un-noisy high-ISO. And unlike Leica, the Canon and Nikon boys have stabilizers available. No- it depends on the application. On safari it is either daylight when walking - at night is too dangerous, or using a vehicle or a hide which provides a ready-made tripod. Daylight is always very bright, nighttime shots use either flash, which I don't do, as it makes for a perfect record, but for a uninteresting photograph, or a spotlight, which limits the distance to lenses in the 100 mm range. This is, for instance, is a shot which was basically handheld, the Summilux 75 on the M8, 1/30th @ ISO 640. My hand was on some part of the vehicle, the camera rested on top of my hand. Of course there are users, pro's and otherwise, in wildlife specialities that do need high-speed lenses and high ISO, but that is not what I do. I used to shoot Canon, with faster stabilized AF lenses, but I cannot say I miss that now. Actually my experience with Leica R before Canon specifically the 280/4.0 APO caused me to return to the fold. The problem with the really big guns is that you can hardly hike with them because of the weight and they are unwieldy. The best lenses are the handholdible ones and the follow-focus types. Manual focus is an advantage too. For me the DMR combined with the M8 is so close to perfection that it would be hard to improve upon. But that is just me... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share #9 Posted April 1, 2008 One thing I did NOT like about the DMR was the Crop factor. So preferences are obviously very different. Any Crop in any camera is only an intermediate solution for me. FF is what really is the final goal, everything above this is not necessary for normal photography. That leaves only 18x24 cm glass plates for you... What is deemed "full frame" nowadays was despised as "miniature" fifty years ago. With exactly the same arguments too. For me the receptor size, be it film or sensor has no magical meaning. The fact that Barnack chose 24x36 before nearly a century has no meaning in the present age imo. I judge practical application. A smaller sensor for me has advantages for long lenses, if only because of the difference in DOF. Obviously, for users that prefer wideangle, a larger sensor is a good thing. That is, of course, assuming a similar image quality, which limits the differences in size. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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