My new Camera System. Thanks for everyone's advice

Hello,

 

I have been quite crazy lately over my equipment issues. I was all

digital for a while with Nikon D100 and good lenses. The picures

where nothing to write home about. Some where good, but nothing

compared to the Leica shots I have seen. I therefore bought an M7

with 50mm Lux used and sold the Nikon gear . I missed 2 things 1) The

Digital workflow 2) The SLR system. I really need an SLR system.

 

I placed an order for a Canon Eos-1D Mark II with uber big/expensive

lenses. It is eternally backordered. So I did more reading and

research while waiting, and was worried about any loss of quality

with the Canon compared to the Leica shots I got with my M7.

 

Maybe I can fool myself into saying Canon was just as good as Leica,

but I can't fool my wife. She said, "You ordered that Canon and I

really love your Leica shots. They better be as good as the Leica." I

said," I want Digital!!! and I kept trying to convince myself the

Canon will be just as good."

 

Then in a fit of restless sleep I thought about the R9 with the

Digital Back coming out!!!! I read more and more and more. You mean I

can have Leica quality, still do Black and White film photography

when I want too, and Digital with all the same system.

 

I placed my order today, and I broke the bank with a Leica R9. New 28-

90 Vario Asph lens, and a 70-180 2.8 Vario-apo lens. Metz 54-mz4

flash and all the fixins. I have seen enough great shots from these 2

lenses to be more than satified with their quality.

 

Many people say(including me) it is not the equipment that makes the

pictures; it is the Photographer. I just figure I could use all the

help I can get. I think I did take better pictures with the manual

everything camera because it forced me to slow down (as the wise Al

Kaplan always suggested). I do not want to bad mouth Canon or Nikon

here because many people here are 10 times better photographers than

I am with thier Canon D10 aka Jeff Sprier and many others who

frequent here.

 

I look forward to continuing my story in the future with some great

Leica-R shots, and stop obscessing over equipment issues. I plan of

course to get the Digital back in December, I am already first on the

list:)

 

 

P.S I finally got my wife a point and shoot digital Camera that will

fit in her purse!!! A Canon S60.

Stephen, Leica does cast a spell on us. Especially as you describe, it often happens in the middle of the night, while we are sleeping in our subconsciously state, the Leica evangelists preaches the gospel in our ears and the next thing you know, in the morning a cast is spelled. Almost like an odyssey, in pursuit of the M and the R systems. The good thing is that once our desire is fulfilled, selling these Leica earthly possessions quite often doesn't doesn't involve any financial loss because the spell is cast to another earthling and their odyssey begins. Meantime, have fun and all the best :)..:).

"we are sleeping in our subconsciously state".... should read "we are sleeping in our subconscious state"

 

See what happens when the Leica envangelist knocks on our brain ?

If you and your wife is in agreement, that is the closest thing to heaven you can have on this earth. Enjoy your R9. Post some shots.

Stephen: good luck with your new R9 and superb lenses. I

myself own a R8 with the 180/2.8 APO, 135/2.8,90/2 APO ASPH,

60/2.8 macro and the 28/2.8 , all of them great lenses except for

the 135 wich I consider average. I must say I am very happy with

the system and especially love the built in flashmeter the R8/9

have, I use it a lot with studio strobes and is great for macro

shots, as it takes into account the exposure compensation

needed, due to the lens extension while doing macro shots. I am

also using these lenses on an EOS digital with the Novoflex

adapter, but will eventually get the Digital Back for the R8/9. I will

definitely dump my 6MP EOS Rebel, for some of the best quality

in digital imaging, Leica and Imacon will offer for us, the R users.

Stephen, I think, by the sound of what you have said of late, that you are going to find

the R9 a great user camera. IMO it is a much underrated! The ergonomics of the R9 is

greatly enhanced with the addition of a motor-drive unit.

 

The Elmarit 70-180 APO Vario lens is quite simply superb but rather a heavy little

beast. Paradoxically the extra weight of the MD on the R9, make it an easier lens to

use hand held at comparatively slower shutter speeds. One of the neoprene Leica

neck straps is a must for this lens. I also often use a carbon fibre monopod which is

more practical than a tripod when on the move.

 

The new generation of Imacon MF digital backs produce pretty nice results and I?m

quietly confidant that the image quality produced by the Leica digital back will meet

current industry expectations an may well surpass the Canon CMOS cameras. We shall

have to wait to see what actually transpires.

 

Good luck with the new toys, Craig

What - no 21-35? Tsk tsk. ;-)

Now that you are hooked on Leica glass like the rest of us, cancel the Cannon and wait. I am just getting started with digital, so I bought the Minolta 5400 scanner. Shutterbug has a review and they say the only thing better is the $10,000 Imacon drum scanner. The cheaper one is no better.

 

I also think you need to wet mount the neg or slide to the drum so this is not a home operation. It is designed for photo mechanical reproduction operations. Also to wet mount, you need to have only a single frame so you are cutting the strips up. what a mess!

I will not need a super wide angle until I get the digital back with the 1.37x factor. I am planning to get the 21-35 lens as well. For now though the 28-90mm will suit me just fine. I also ordered the Carbon fiber monopod since I enjoy long hikes in the mountains with my cameras. I also ordered a neoprene strap to help support that camera. I did not get the motor drive since I will not need it with the Digital back.

 

The really nice thing about the Leica is when I desire to use film I can just take the digital back off. In addition, the new digital back is supposed to be a snap to clean because it can be removed. I read the Q/A session from Leica, it had alot of great information.

 

My Leica saleman is Richard Osterling at KB camera. He was extremely helpful in helping select the right equipment based on my needs. If anyone is looking into this system and needs some good advice, then you should check out his web site www.kbcamera.com.

 

I read that the Leica digital back was not made to attract new customers, but to keep the old ones. I guess I am new customer. Granted, I have not even seen an image from the new digital back, but I have great expectations.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

Btw, For all those concerned about my financial well being. I did remember to cancel the Canon System. The only Canon system I will have for the time being is the Canon S60 which will eloquently fit into my wife's 15 pound diaper bag. Maybe she needs a Monopod, and a Leica neoprene strap for that bag.

Congratulations Stephen. The R8 and R9 are both great cameras. I'm pretty sure I'll get

one eventually.

 

As to the digital back I think it'll probably be very good (in order to please both Leica and

Imacon!) There is an interview in the most recent issue of LFI (I think) with the Imacon

CEO. He said many of the technologies used in the R back are new and will appear only in

the next generation of medium format backs.

SO how much did you get for your M7? At least the $$$ that I said you would I hope?

 

I will bet you $.25 (that's 25 cents :-) ) that after you play with your R9 for 3 months, you will love the images, and then a little voice will say to you, "hey, you can get the same or better image quality for 75% of the shots you take, in a much smaller package with hand heldable speed down to 1/15th of a second, and be almost totally silent to boot," and you will get another M7 :-)

 

Happy shooting!

// richard

Stephen,

 

congratulation to a good decision. But don?t make a mistake many do who are bitten by the LEICA-bug.

 

Don?t get too many lenses too soon. Your photographic abilities should grow with each lens after you worked with it intensively. In the old days it took me years before I could afford an addition to my camerasystem. That way I had a chance to get to know every item thoroughly because there was nothing else to use.

 

Modern times have to be different ... Enjoy!

 

 

Best regards

Congratulations, Stephen, I'm sure you made the proper choice of camera, and that you are well prepared for the future.

 

I thought I was the first on the list for the digital back - but perhaps that's just in Europe?

 

Next, try the Summilux R-lenses. They really are the R-lenses of your best dreams!!! lenses with a fixed focal length do have their advantages.

Conragtulations to you Stephen.

 

You have single-handedly ensured Leica's survival (and xmas bonus) for another financial year!

 

The profits from you alone will probably fund a whole mess of R&D into new 'special' finishes for limited edition D2s.

So, let me get this right.......you bought a R9 system to keep your wife happy. Hang onto her Stephen!!!!

Sounds like a good choice, even though I wince everytime I look at the R8 and R9. The digital back will actually make them awesome cameras, or so goes the feeling. The success of this camera depends on how superior the Imacon sensor is to the Nikon and Canon sensors. If it's not much better - or if it's not better at all - then it will all have been a waste of time. Let's hope this thing causes a stir. ;-)

Stephen,

 

From your opening post it seems to me it is your wife who has the creative eye. Perhaps, you should keep the S60 and give the Leica stuff to your good lady :-)).

 

Regards,

 

stuart

Even if the Sensor is as good as Canon's D1s sensor, then it will not have been a waste of time because the R9 users will still get a digital/film option whenever you want. It is also great to see that Leica is not abandoning older SLR users. Btw, I did not go with medium format because the Digital back cost way too much, and I don't want to lug a tripod around 24/7.

Stuart,

 

Very well said. She is extremely good at judging all my pictures, and she pulls no punches. She does not have the technical knowledge to use the manual camera, she does not know what f/stop, shutter speeds do. She only takes pictures in P mode, she just never learned the manual stuff even though I have tried to teach her.

 

Our system works like this. I take the pictures and she tell me which ones suck. I make the money, and she tells me how to spend it.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

perhaps not my 1st personal choice, but you've done your homework and i'm sure it will fit your needs very well.

 

now, for landscape shoot nothing but Velvia 50 rated at 40.

 

cheers,

These are of course excellent camera and lenses however as I am understanding you have made this purchase because of the Digitale Modul-R. Please remember that the Motordrive-R8 was of three years later coming than was Leica telling, so therefore not to be displeasured if you do not see so soon in the stores as Leica is also telling.

Are you paying about $7500 for the back which is what I hear it costs?

A large part of my decision was the fact that the Digital Module R is coming out in the near future. In the meantime, I will be happy with this system even if it takes Leica longer than expected to release the Digital Module R. I plan to buy the Digital Module R at about $4500 Euro. I have no idea how many dollars that is equal too. I also will get about $700 vouchers towards the Digital R for the purchase of the R9 and the lenses. In a worse case scenario, Leica goes out of business and there will never be a Digital module R, then I still have some world class lenses that work with an EOS adapter for Digital. I really thought this thing through.

 

If Leica continues with occasional upgrades to the Digital Back in future, this can be considered a very wise investment.

 

As for costs, the Canon 1Ds costs about $8000 when it came out. Medium format Digital backs are astonomical. I think the Leaf 22 MP Digital back is 30k :)

 

From my point of view the state-of-the-art digital is very expensive, and Leica is no exception. The lenses are the real investment, they should last through many different Digital bodies/backs/cameras etc.

<i>"From my point of view the state-of-the-art digital is very expensive, and Leica is no

exception. The lenses are the real investment, they should last through many different

Digital bodies/backs/cameras etc."</i><br><br>

 

"State of the art digital" covers a lot of ground. In the Canon line, arguably the 1DMkII is

the most up to date, SLR body, but the 10D is still pretty close. A 1D Mark II is about twice

what an R9 sells for (before rebate). A 10D is significantly less than a Leica R9 body.

<br><br>

The cost of Canon's premium L lenses is far below the same lenses in the Leica R system,

and the quality is darn close in most cases, so if money were the issue you would save

more than the difference in the cost of a 1D Mark II body once you bought your lens kit.

<br><br>

This is not to say that the Leica R isn't a good camera and that Leica R lenses aren't

excellent.

I'm sure Stephen will enjoy them enormously. I just find them way way way out of range in

terms of pricing. I could handle a 20% premium but 60% is just not sensible for me.

<br><br>

Godfrey