dougfromtumwater

<p>I use B+W filters on most of my Leica M and R lenses, including the 35-70 f/4 and they work well.</p>

Oh, I forgot to add that the original modern 60 was intoduced as a C lens.

All of the late model 60's (CF, CB, CFi) have an outstanding reputation and are the same optical formula. Maybe yours should be sent in for service?

I read that it will not work. BTW, there is now a 2.1 firmware update for the L1 body to allow for updating the firmware of Olympus and Sigma lenses with the L1, rather than having to use an Olympus body. I hope Leica will offer this 2.1 update for the Digilux 3.

I would recommend the 35-70mm F/4.0 (ROM), a little slow but sharp and flexible. If you prefer more speed then the 50 mm f/2.0 Summicron (3-Cam or ROM) is the best choice.

The made in Portugal R8s were the later models that had the electonic and film scratch bugs worked out. I have had one for a few years now and it runs fine. They are a very nice camera and the viewfinder is bright and sharp.

Your Zeiss RF looks very nice in black. I had a 28mm f/2.8 Biogon for my Contax G1 years ago, before I went to Leica. It was a great lens and I bet your Biogon is at least as good. I'm sure your outfit will fully match Leica M optical quality. The next Zeiss lens to get is the 50mm f/2.0 which will also give nothing up to Leica in terms of optical performance.

I wouldn't worry about it, B&H is a good outfit. BTW, there is no Voightlander company in Germany the name was purchased some years ago from a holding company and the entity you are referring to is really Cosina in Japan.

Well put Gareth.

The photos are in low light with ISO 160. I suppose a DSLR with tripod, mirror locked up and a Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 prime (with good bokeh) would be close technically, but the elegance and spontaneity of a Leica M would be missing.

Very nice still lifes. It appears El Fang has Noctilux envy. F/1.0 and be there...

Check the chart out on this link. It shows a Digilux 4 in the pipeline for 2008:

 

http://zone-10.com/cmsm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=1

Hi Mark

 

With a .72 viewfinder and a 28mm lens, it may be difficult to see the entire frame and a 35mm lens may work out better. If you have the camera check the framelines for comfort before purchasing a lens. Do you wear glasses? If so, I would recommend you start with a 50mm lens so that you can see past the frame lines. That is one of the advantages to the Leica viewfinder, you can see things outside the picture frame or about to enter it.

Yep, well get on the B&H notification list and it will be back in January. Have fun with the L1 kit in the mean time! BTW, you can get it sooner from a Japanese dealer on _bay (Item# 150177898970) but for $150 more.

You did good Michael! Now, I hate to break it to you but soon your head will be spinning with visions of the 25mm f/1.4 Summilux ;-) I love that lens and it is supreme on the L1. Register at B&H for notification when the 25 Lux comes back in stock. When it does and when you are ready, don't hesitate for a moment to purchase or it will be out of stock again for another month.

What Michael said and also the L1 body is the close twin of the Leica Digilux 3. BTW, if you want the buy of a lifetime, amazon is closing out the L1 kit with the Leica D 14-50 mm Vario Elmarit lens for $799.94!

Hi Joost

 

Well, the noise does look high Joost. Maybe it's monitor variation but the Jpeg, although just a tiny increment softer, had a lot less grain in the bokeh area of the woods compared to the RAW.

Hi Joost

 

I have found my D3 and L1 to be just fine on noise up through ISO 400 but I guess that is a taste thing to some extent. I do prefer using JPEGs, this is one of those cameras where using RAW doesn't have much value added from what I have read and experienced. To give the D3/L1 JPEGs more snap I recommend the following because the default settings are set too soft and the D3/L1 has a lot of reserve for more sharpening:

 

Make a custom film setting using the standard film mode then turn up the sharpness two points and contrast up one point above the neutral settings. Alternatively, try using the Dynamic color film setting. Also, if you haven't done so already, update your firmware to version 2.0, that will also improve JPEG performance.

That's wrong Eric. The LHSA Viewfinder magazine is published by the Leica Historical Society of America, a non-profit Delaware corporation. It says so on page 3 of the most recent LHSA publication that Kerry refers to.

Silver chrome, black paint and titanium finished M lenses are brass and weigh the same. I have the silver chrome 90 AA and the weight is fine for me and I appreciate the finish more than black chrome.

My Digilux 3 came in a couple weeks ago and I have not made any prints yet but from the look of the files on my 20" 4X3 aspect ratio monitor they will be quite good. I have not used a Nikon D200 however the Digilux's 7.5MP sensor provides approximately 300 dpi resolution (photo quality standard) at the 8X10 print size. The D200's 10MP sensor @ 300 DPI will make a marginally larger print (around 9X12) but does not make it to the next standard print size of 11X14 (which would take around 14 megapixels to produce).

Hi Gordon

 

I just received my Digilux 3 a week ago, using the $699 Leica Loyalty certificate. It is a very well built camera and I'm having fun using it. For now I am going to use JPEGs for ease of use. The setting I like best (so far) is the standard film mode saved as "My Film 1" with the sharpness turned up two clicks and contrast up one. The film speed I usually set on auto which will vary the ISO between 100 - 400.

 

In addition to the D3, for $130 I picked up a mark 1 Olympus 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom from Cameta Camera (via Amazon). It is Plain Jane in appearance but is very well built and tack sharp! I strongly recommend this lens as a complement to the Leica D 14-50mm.

 

The 7-14mm is a great lens, did you see the Gordon Laing/cameralabs.com video review?

 

http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/OlympusE714mm/

The Leica 14-50mm f2.8/3.5 OIS bundled with the Digilux 3.

I have a Digilux 3 on back order, they are in very short supply in the US due to the $699 Leica loyalty discount. I plan to use a 4/3rds adapter for my Leica R lenses. To aid manual focus the new 2.0 firmware activates the focus confirmation LED for non-coupled adapted lenses. The center weighted metering mode appears best to use with our legacy glass.

 

The Panasonic has a very short warranty: 1 year parts and only 90 days labor. Leica gives you 3 years parts and labor and 6 months of passport coverage. The Leica has superior JPEG performance also.

Outstanding photos Godfrey! Morning Light is really nice with its warm and cool horizontally banded colors.

 

Gosh Steven, those UK prices are staggering! I would opt for the L1 in those circumstances also, or come visit the "Land of the Free" ;-) B&H has them back in stock as of today (Monday).

 

I'm hoping my order comes in soon but the salesperson said expect one month, the backlog is large on the Digilux 3.