finarphin

Ha'Penney Bridge, Dublin, Ireland. Leica M3 with Leica 35mm Summaron f3.5. Fuji color slide film, ISO 100.

Fuji GFX 50S with Leica 135mm Elmarit-R.

I have a Huawei phone, but I don't use it very often. Moreover, I put tape over the lenses because I don't want my phone spying on me like some kind of portable 1984 telescreen. If I want to take a picture of something, I use a real camera.

I'm watching and waiting. I'm not eager to buy any of the L lenses (they're too expensive and too big), but if it takes M lenses, then maybe. It depends on the price. If it's too far above $3,000 then I'll just get a Sigma SD Quattro H and a couple of dedicated Sigma lenses. In my experience digital images -- the ones done with Bayer sensors -- look pretty much alike, even if we're comparing an old Canon point and shoot with 5 megapixels versus a newer Sony with 24 megapixels: one might say they have "digital sharpness." The pictures from the foveon sensors, however, often have a different feel, more like Kodachrome. I don't care about low light sensitivity, maximum burst rate, video, or any of that other fancy stuff developed for the convenience of professional photographers. Image quality in daylight is what matters for me. And weight.

80mm Summilux-R on a Sony a7ii. ISO 400, 1/125. I think it was f8. This was June 30, 2018.

A full frame foveon sensor. I'm waiting for this. It took time to wade through the various announcements at Photokina; I was very much distracted by the Fuji and then the Panasonic news. I didn't even know what a foveon sensor was, or how it was different. Now I've seen some examples and I like what I see.

Leica 80mm Summilux-R with a Fuji GFX-50S (I rented it). Very sharp to my eye, and no vignetting.

Half Dome near sunset. Sony a7ii with Leica 80mm Summilux-R. I always wanted one of these lenses, now I do. I have a saturation slider, too.

80mm Summilux-R with Sony a7ii. Windy portrait. I am pleased to find I can focus this lens. I think this was at f8.

If they release a new model, based upon the M10 or CL, that is: full frame, accepts M lenses, and eliminates the optical finder and replaces it with an EVF, I'd probably buy it -- provided it's 24 megapixels (or greater). Right now I use my M lenses on a Sony a7ii, and I very much like the results; but I have the feeling these lenses would work better on a Leica body, especially in areas such as corner resolution. I started with SLRs, and I have found I have a hard time with rangefinders -- focusing in particular. I took a portrait not long ago and I could have sworn I focused on the person's cheek, but I forgot to stop the lens down, so the resulting exposure was made at f2 (therefore no focus shift), and I notice when looking at the print the plane of focus is about two feet behind the head. This is with an M3, and I suspect the mechanism is out of calibration. And I have trouble with accessory finders as well. It took quite some time to realize that one of my finders wasn't showing the view that was going to be presented to the film, but that there were little teenie frame lines inside it that demarcated that actual boundary. Those frame lines were so faint as to be almost invisible. A lot of potential pitfalls that take a certain amount of awareness and experience to avoid. An EVF would make it more foolproof...assuming of course that the EVF shows exactly the boundaries that the sensor will see (neither more nor less), and there is no vignetting by the eyepiece.

M3 with 90mm Summicron. Color film rendered as black and white. This is the Tower Bridge in Sacramento.

Sony a7ii with 80mm Summilux-R.

The Fire Department had an open house. Sony a7ii with 80mm Summilux-R.

This is sort of a street scene -- more of a bicycle path. I didn't know exactly where to put it. This object is a new sculpture installed next to the river. I ride by it everyday. Fuji X-E1 with Leica 35mm Summaron f3.5.

I set up some lights in my garage, and had some fun. Sony a7ii with Leica 90mm Summicron version I (1960).