grober Posted July 7, 2006 Share #21 Â Posted July 7, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) The ONLY piece of Nikon gear in my studio is their very reliable Coolscan V. (Before that I used the Coolscan IV with no complaints.) Â Nikon doesn't make bad stuff: I just don't like SLRs. Â The Leica M, to me, is like composing and shooting through a pane of glass. Very freeing. All SLRs are toliet paper tubes as far as I'm concerned... heavy ones too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 7, 2006 Posted July 7, 2006 Hi grober, Take a look here Forgive Me Father for I have Sinned. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
FastFashnReloaded Posted July 8, 2006 Share #22  Posted July 8, 2006 I went down the same road a couple of months ago. Provided you shoot only RAW, the results can be very nice (and miles removed from the "everything's spray-coated in rubber" Canon DSLR look). There are a few SNAFUs though: 1.94x cropping factor; reverse-telescope viewfinder; the 15-45 kit lens is barely adequate; pro-quality Olympus ZD lenses are unbelievably expensive (you thought Leica were bad!); poor high ISO (basically 100-400, with 800 if you're desperate); the camera body is v.light and the shutter button recessed enough to spoil shots due to camera-shake.  On the plus side the lens-to-chip distance is so short you can mount almost any SLR lens via a lens-mount-adapter. I have two (Roxsen - Hong Kong), one for Leica R glass and another for Nikon AI. I use the Summicron R 50mm (effectively 97mm) as a portrait lens, and a Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AI (~ 46.6mm) for general purpose.  Yes you have to shot at working aperture. No problem for me.  Ultimately the image quality is quite good. I did a commercial car shoot 6 weeks ago using the E500. Clients were very happy with the results, but I have to admit I was nervous they would twig to the fact that their $30K car was shot with a "prosumer" DSLR cheapie!  FWIW I have a detailed write-up on the Leica/ Olympus 4:3 combo in the Leica FAQ I maintain at:  http://nemeng.com/leica/007f.shtml  Actually I'm thinking of taking it back. I hate it. The lens quality, after years of Contax, is making me nuts. G__ I hate this brave new world of digital. I also hate all these RAW conversion programs, each independently trying to figure out what the image is supposed to look like.  Give me slides!!!  I may have to give up photography if this is where things are going.  No. I am not going to buy a Canon.  Dana Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem7 Posted July 8, 2006 Share #23 Â Posted July 8, 2006 I hear ya! The Leica M7 has opened my eyes with photograohy after years of using every digital SLR made (yes, even the Canon 1ds and NIkon D2x) - I pefer the M7 to all of the DSLR's so what I use is the M7 and I keep my trusty Oly E1 just in case I need a digital quick shot. Im looking for a new D2 though since I sold mine last year and miss it! A D2 and M6 or 7 is a great combo. Keep with what you have! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFashnReloaded Posted July 9, 2006 Share #24  Posted July 9, 2006 I hear ya! The Leica M7 has opened my eyes with photograohy after years of using every digital SLR made (yes, even the Canon 1ds and NIkon D2x) - I pefer the M7 to all of the DSLR's so what I use is the M7 and I keep my trusty Oly E1 just in case I need a digital quick shot. Im looking for a new D2 though since I sold mine last year and miss it! A D2 and M6 or 7 is a great combo. Keep with what you have!  I found a store here in Indiana that ACTUALLY has Contax and Leica and Hassy and Voigtlander. Kewlness. Now I don't have to go to Chicago.  Seriously looking at a replacement for my G2 (another G2). They have a black one. Yum. They also have two M6 and an M4 and a Minilux in the house. Oh! They also have an Leica R6.2!  In the meantime I have been getting used to the Oly E500. I've gone thru phases, but today was a good day in the life of the new Oly. I got some good pix of a train, bee, flowers and a friend asked me to take pix of his car.  So... I think my problem is in learning the limitations of the beastie. Hi ISO yukky, low ISO very nice. Very kewl colors. USB is too slow. -- Dana Curtis Kincaid http://www.angrytoyrobot.blogspot.com  Olympus E500 two lens kit Minolta Scan Dual IV film scanner Sold Contax G1 Sold Contax G2 Sold Contax 167MT Sold Sony V1 Fuji 2800z Sony Video Cameras Canon S9000 Epson 820  Apple PowerMac Dual 2GHz G5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted July 9, 2006 Share #25 Â Posted July 9, 2006 I found a store here in Indiana that ACTUALLY has Contax and Leica and Hassy and Voigtlander.-- Â Â Roberts Distributing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
norm_snyder Posted July 9, 2006 Share #26 Â Posted July 9, 2006 I really have tried to shoot digital, with D2, Canons, Fuji S3, but lately I've been working on aproject documenting working jazz musicians in my area, and the shots which work best, both for me and the musicians, have been those shot with by 20+ year old M6's, Summicrons, HP5+, scanned and digitally printed. Is it just that I have been programmed to look for the grain? Is it the way the lenses "draw" on film? Or is it that I am using these lenses, and not the Nikon or Canon lenses that I've been using on digital? I am hoping that 4/3, with Leica glass, or the digital M will give me the kind of modeling in high contrast situations that I'm looking for. If not...well, film will be around...for a while. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted July 9, 2006 Share #27 Â Posted July 9, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) I really have tried to shoot digital, with D2, Canons, Fuji S3, but lately I've been working on aproject documenting working jazz musicians in my area, and the shots which work best, both for me and the musicians, have been those shot with by 20+ year old M6's, Summicrons, HP5+, scanned and digitally printed. Is it just that I have been programmed to look for the grain? Is it the way the lenses "draw" on film? Or is it that I am using these lenses, and not the Nikon or Canon lenses that I've been using on digital? I am hoping that 4/3, with Leica glass, or the digital M will give me the kind of modeling in high contrast situations that I'm looking for. If not...well, film will be around...for a while. Â It could be several things but I think the lens drawing and the grain together might be key. The R-D1 at 800 or 1600 in B&W will get you surprisingly close to what you're describing (converted from RAW with C1 using a JFI profile) and the digital M, of course, will likely be right up your alley. Â Cheers, Â Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFashnReloaded Posted July 10, 2006 Share #28 Â Posted July 10, 2006 hahahaha! No, not Roberts! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted July 10, 2006 Share #29 Â Posted July 10, 2006 Dana: Glad I made you laugh! I last bought cameras in Indy in '91 or thereabouts and Roberts had the best range of stuff at the time (long before Contax G and V'lander, obviously). Unless one wanted to drive to Muncie to go to Jack's. Â What IS this wonder store? (Just in case...) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFashnReloaded Posted July 10, 2006 Share #30 Â Posted July 10, 2006 Since I'm probably not going to buy anything this week unless they get that silver G2 in (I like the silver better than black actually) it is Jack's. I didn't even know the %$#@ place was there till a friend of mine from Taiwan told me (!) Â My own state, and I've been driving to Chicago when I could have just gone to Muncie. Bleah. Â Roberts has spit in the way of kewl used stuff. The only Leica they have is a C-Lux. All they want to do is sell Canon and Nikon. Oh, while my friend and I were up at Jack's looking at the Contax/Leica kewl stuff case this middle aged doctor type came in and started evangelizing. "Oh, why don't you buy a Canon D20 or D30 blah blah blah". Â Silly Cannonite. Â I told him I wouldn't buy a Canon if you paid me. He looked shocked, imagine that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kobold Posted April 5, 2007 Share #31  Posted April 5, 2007 Mikeadams: I hear you!  I have been giving the S5 a workout; same ergonomics as the D200, but I like the files better, expecially jpegs, which so far are the best I have seen out of the many cameras I have owned.  This attached is not mine; the shooter is Louise Vessey (I am sure she will not mind me reposting one of her images); this is jpeg (resized, of course), straight out of the camera, no PP apart from cropping and saving for web, and using one of the Film simulation modes.  One way around all those Nikon lenses you have.... Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/892-forgive-me-father-for-i-have-sinned/?do=findComment&comment=220558'>More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted April 5, 2007 Share #32  Posted April 5, 2007 I want to be loyal to Leica. After all, my 2 best cameras are a Digilux 2 and an M6. But I have strayed: 1. I have been spending time on the Nikon forum, wondering if I should replace my 3 year-old D-100 with the D-200.  2. I have actually lusted in my heart for a Canon D5 full frame, but I have so many Nikon lenses and bodies.  3. I have not used my M6 for months.  4. I gave my wife my D-Lux 2, couldn't stand the lack of viewfinder.  5. I put a roll of Tri-X in my IIIf a year ago and have not touched it.  6. I am "saving" my D2 by not using it.  Will I be forgiven?  What I really, really want to do is spend my money on a Digilux replacement, one with less noise, higher MP, more zomm but with a 24 f2 - 1xx, but one that has the unbeatable image quality of the D2.  Mike Mike Adams at San Jose State University  Dear son, your sins are really venial ones... but, oh, n.5 statement is a heavy one: remember that, in Truth, Barnack spirit lives into LTMs... if you gives a IIIf the illusion to be used, charging it with film, then go away and no shots with her, she feels uneasy, she gets offended... I experienced on my skin what can happen when a LTM feels itself offended...a sad story here I do not want to report... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted April 5, 2007 Share #33 Â Posted April 5, 2007 Sounds like you need an M8 Â Â I agree my son. Your confession shows a soul in such torment that only a new M8 body, a few choice lenses and a LOT of Hail Marys can help you see the light more clearly. Â :-) Â T Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted April 5, 2007 Share #34 Â Posted April 5, 2007 Your penance for straying outside the normal thought pattern is buy all forum members a filter each. we will forward the sizes to you. LOL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeadams Posted April 5, 2007 Author Share #35 Â Posted April 5, 2007 Since my original posting of the "sinned" I finally get my tax refund and turned it into the M8. But while I was at my dealer (Sean of Camera West in Monterey, the best!) I did walk around the block with my D-200 and his Digilux 3, thinking I might get out of the Nikon business altogether. The verdict: Not enough difference to give up the D-200 and my many lenses, the D3 felt "clunky" in the hand compared with the smooth feel of the D-200, and the instant selection buttons on the Nikon are perfect! Â We all need more than one camera system - me, a M7/M8, a D2/D-lux2, Nikon D-200/F100 and as I told my wife as I was getting the M8, "That's the last camera I'll ever need." You believe that? Â Mike http://www.mikeadams.org Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted April 5, 2007 Share #36 Â Posted April 5, 2007 Well your forgiven now you bought a M8 and bought it from a great guy to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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