Confessions of a Camera Junkie (and which one to take to Paris)

[vic_.]

Mark, The M7 and the M6TTL are unique in the Leica M realm in that their shutter speed dials turn the same way. All other M cameras have a smaller dial that turns the other way. This makes the M6TTL an excellent back-up camera for the M7.

<p>Paul N., Regarding your difficulty in focusing the 90mm lens, the size of the focus patch stays the same regardless of the focal length of the lens on the camera. So if you can focus the 50mm lens, you can focus any other lens. Keep the 90mm!

[anthony_brookes5]

Mark - Fax Solms and tell them of your need to have the camera in London and Paris. Ask for an urgent repair and for the camera to be expressed shipped to a London or Paris dealer of your choice. I have found them very helpful and courteous.

[tony_senzaorbi]

" OK, so I'm going to London and Paris for a couple of weeks in the spring. The question of what camera to take along would normally not be an issue -- I'd take the M7, probably with the 50/2 and 35/1.4 ASPH.

 

Unfortunately, I sent the M7 to New Jersey for a repair (intermittent DX-reading failure) and it's now winging its way to Germany. No, it won't be back before the trip, and no, I can't go to Solms to pick it up.

 

I have various other equipment choices available to me, and I know they're not really perfectly comparable from a standpoint of what images I'd like to make. What I'm looking for are suggestions as to a strategy, an interesting project, or whatever to MOTIVATE my decision to take one set of equipment or the other.

 

I'm agnostic on the issue of film vs. digital. The reason I'd normally take the M7 is that I simply take better pictures with it. Why, I don't know. I also like using color neg film because it puts the issue of white balance in someone else's court -- fiddling with white balance is my least favorite aspect of digital photography. (That's true with slides too, but there I've tended to tolerate it because the images look beautiful on a light table.)

 

Soooo, here are my choices, in no particular order (though the ones that seem most reasonable to me are nearer the top.)

 

1) Nikon D70 w/ 17-35 f/2.8 zoom and 50mm f/1.4. I don't like that my low-light lens comes out equivalent to a 75 in this arrangement and again white balance is a problem (particularly in indoor lighting) but it's probably a serviceable arrangement.

 

2) Nikon F100 w/ same lenses, plus maybe an 85/1.8. Being able to go wider might be a lot of fun and the 50/1.4 is a very useable choice. Also, the camera's smaller, which is a plus. However, lugging film around and developing later is a minus.

 

3) Pentax 67 w/ 90mm f/2.8 and 45mm f/4, plus maybe a Canon G6 compact digital to balance it off. This one might be a lot of fun -- I don't get enough use out of the Pentax 67. However, it's like carrying around a ton of bricks.

 

4) Just go with the Canon G6. Can't really get the same degree of nice depth of field, easy to carry around, takes nice pictures otherwise, and I won't cry if I lose it or it's stolen or I destroy it.

 

5) Get a second M7 or an MP body, possibly with a 0.58 viewfinder. I'm Mark, and I'm an addict.

 

Cameras discounted from the list are: Nikon D1x (too big, offers few practical advantages over the D70 for this application), Nikon FM2n (nice enough, small, but F100 will do better with the lens I want to use)

 

-- Mark Wilkins

 

Your Response"

 

My response: I wish I could afford your problems.

[markwilkins]

Tony:

 

I wish I could too -- my equipment situation is probably one of the key reasons I do not yet

own a house.

 

-- Mark

[markwilkins]

Frederick:

 

This is a Canon G6. It's a digital compact camera.

 

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong6/

 

-- Mark

[patricks]

What are you planning to shoot (architecture, citi-scenes, day and/or night, are you bringing a tripod?) and what is the desired outcome? (large prints? a coffee table book? 4x6s?) </p>

 

I did Spain last summer with a D70 w/ the kit lens and a fast 50 prime. It worked very well. I reference some travel photography by two different photogrpaher <a href="http://www.nordilux.com/blog/archives/2005/12/mexico_album.php">in this blogpost</a> and I think you'll see that a Nikon D70, with the right skills, will certainly bring home the bacon. </p>

 

Your workaround for WB problems is of course to shoot RAW, but the risk is that you'll have to spend more time in post-processing. The great thing with digital is that you can get a nice coffee-table book done w/o any scanning via e.g. mypublisher.com </p>

 

Having said all of this, I think the F100 is a great camera but it is no substitute for a Leica M if that is what you really want to bring. </p>

 

Like someone said, get a nice minty M6 TTL for around $1,200-1,300 and bring your two fav lenses. Be there. If you don't have a need for a second M body you can easily sell it for the same money when you get back. Bring that Canon G6 as a backup.

[gabriel_benaim]

I often struggle w these same questions, especially re med format vs 35mm, and it basically comes down to

1. What's the purpose of your trip, primarily travel (w other people) or primarily photo?.

2. Are you mostly walking or driving?

3. How big will you print the results?

 

If you take the med format, you'll probably take a tripod, and want to take your time setting up each shot. If you're going w someone, or have limited time to see and do a lot, how realistic is it to take the mf? A nice compromise is to take along a TLR for black and white, and 35mm for color. The tlr weighs much less than a system SLR, and uses leaf shutters, so can be used without a tripod and 400asa film.

If using 35mm, I tend to go light, meaning rangefinder and fast film. Since you have that great leica glass, I would either buy a Bessa R2/a or take Bart up on his very generous offer of a loan on his R3a. Only problem w the R3a is it lacks 35mm framelines. So, you can either buy a R2a or a Voigtlander wideangle for Bart's R3a, and later your M7.

Basically, a good compromise would be a TLR (e.g. a $75 Rolleicord w a wonderful Xenar lens) and an RF w Leica glass. Hardly 2 pounds of equipment and excellent potential. Enjoy Paris, above all.

 

GBB

[ronald_moravec1]

People who flash where not allowed should have their camera confiscated and put in the crusher, then be tossed out with no refund. The rules are in place to protect the painting for the future.

 

For a tourist trip, keep it small and light and keep it with you at all times. Digital is nice if you don`t want to worry about X rays.

Nice prints are possible if you send the files to a competent finisher and you can photoshop them first if you want. The D70 with basic zoom should be fine.

 

If you have been there before and have to get certain shots, bring that equipment.

[gaijin]

Take a Lomo and lots of film.

[len_smith]

I suggest you might consider buying a new Voigtlander Bessa R2A from Cameraquest, and sell it on your return. You would make most of your money back. The Bessa R2A offers aperture priority AE and manually selectable frames for 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 90mm focal lengths. It is emphatically not an M7, but it should be adequate for your trip.

 

There are plenty of minilabs in London that will develop and print your film to a high standard, so there is no need to take it home with you. Boots, a large chain of drugstores, offers consistently good quality at reasonable prices - a little expensive by US standards, but that's England for you! There is only a small extra charge for 6 x 9 inch prints, which are especially good value.

 

Equipment is FujiFilm Frontier, with prints on FujiFilm Crystal Archive. Scans are available on CD-ROM but they are of fairly low resolution (3 megapixels).

[paul_neuthaler]

Vic, I said it badly: it's become difficult for me to compose a picture using the smaller 90 & 135 palettes, if you will. What?

[runkel]

If it were me and I orginally wanted to take a smallish camera with two fast primes, losing the use of that camera would not by itself change the "lens I want to use" to a big slow zoom. Of all your options, it seems to me, taking the FM2n with 50mm and 85mm is closest to what you were going to do otherwise. You were planning to take a film camera in the first place, so I don't see a reason to start worrying that "lugging film around" is a minus.

 

I guess it boils down to whether you want to change your plans as little as possible, or use this as an opportunity to put absolutely everything you must have already ruled out back on the table.

[frank_scheitrowsky1]

Paul N: Are you happy with your descision to take the winder for your M camera? Did you need its capability?

[markwilkins]

<i>a big slow zoom.</i><P>

 

I proposed taking the 17-35 f/2.8, which is a higher-quality wide-angle than my wide-angle Nikon prime (which is itself a 24/2.8.) Anyway, neither is "slow" by any standards except for the most demanding available light shooting.<P>

 

-- Mark

[markwilkins]

Well, there's good news and there's bad news...

 

The good news is the camera's not going to Germany and I can probably have it back in the next few weeks, after the technicians in NJ have a look to make sure there's nothing grossly wrong.

 

The bad news is that Solms has decided that the modification they were doing to fix the DX problems is unsatisfactory and they're working on something new that won't be ready before the summer, so it's unlikely the problem will be fixed.

 

Thanks for all the ideas! :)

 

-- Mark

[runkel]

<i>"big slow zoom"</i><p>

 

It's all relative, of course, and I was speaking in relation to the Leica lenses you said you would have been taking. The zoom is four times slower than your summilux--"slow" in many books. Whether that matters to you is down to your shooting style--I assumed from your original choices that it would matter.

[markwilkins]

No, I understand. It's just that a faster wide angle for the Nikon setup would set me back maybe $1800, and at that price, I'm halfway to a new M7 or MP!!

 

:)

 

-- Mark

[todd_phillips1]

I'd get a used Leica body...a M6 classic being my choice, but a M6 ttl would be more like your M7. You say you take your best photos with the Leica, so I'd get another. The 35 Lux probably would be your most used lens and I'd take the 50 as well (possiblity of a 25/21 V'lander???). Great, small travel outfit.

 

AND....you've got a backup if your M7 needs to go back to Solms again.

 

Also take a P&S (Rollei 35, Olypus Stylus Epic) for backup and/or a different film emulsion.

[michael j hoffman]

I have an M4 and an MP. Each has an Elmar mounted on it. Take me to Paris with you and you can borrow whichever camera you wish for the entire trip!!!

 

Michael J Hoffman

[paul_neuthaler]

Frank, IMHO no one needs a Winder or even a Tom A. Rapidwinder on a Leica. But I bought my Leica Winder M "like New in Box" with instructions for $99! How could I turn that down? It sounds like a 9mm automatic shot through a pillow! How would I know that?<div></div>

[frank_scheitrowsky1]

Paul, I bought exactly the same winder, also for $99Cdn. I figured that I would have to pay as much for a replacement bottom plate. I tested 3 winders on my M6. Two of them made really loud "thwop!!!" noises upon firing, but the one I bought was quieter. I guess I'm ready if I ever have to do any runway model shoots. :)

[squareframe]

ah ... don't you remember those good-ole days when people asked what film to use in Paris? now, it's ... what camera system should I bring.

 

way too much focusing on equipment, in lieu of letting go of the notion that the camera/lens/film will really make much difference. if you are not in the moment, you'll just be clicking the shutter. it won't matter much .. at that point, what it's connected to.

[markwilkins]

Daniel, regrettably you (and just about everyone else in this thread) missed the point of my question.

 

"What I'm looking for are suggestions as to a strategy, an interesting project, or whatever to MOTIVATE my decision to take one set of equipment or the other."

 

I was looking for creative ideas, not equipment ideas. However, I appreciate all the ideas offered.

 

-- Mark

[squareframe]

just razzin' with you Mark. take your G6 and use the movie-mode.

 

have a great trip!

[bernard_frank]

You seriously plan to take a Nikon 17-35/2.8 on a trip to Paris and London, plus a couple

more lenses? Who are you? Hercules? Or a masochist? What comes first, the trip or the

photos? For me, the Canon G6 seems to just fit the bill.