mike_levitt

<p>I shot and loved both bodies. </p>

<p>Well, I'm going to go against the trend here and recommend you stay away from the 100-400. Several of my employees have shot them over the years, and not one of them have produced photos good enough to meet the standards of my agency. They all eventually gave up and dumped them. I borrowed one and shot with it for a day and honestly thought it was garbage (sorry guys...) It was worse than any other Canon lens I had ever shot, particularly on the 400 end...</p>

<p>I do heartily recommend the 400 5.6 lens - a top performer in every aspect. Can't recommend it more. Cheap and great. And just stay away from that Sigma, no no no no.......! Keep the 40d. </p>

<p>I find that the Gyro noise sounds better when you put some tzatziki sauce on the lens....</p>

<p>All I can say is that I had a 7D and hated it. Got a 60 D and loved it. Just feels better, flash metering is the best ever for canon, and the image quality is excellent. Bought it to use as a remote camera, but I enjoy it just as a camera as well. I am a pro who generally shoots with mk4 and mk3s....</p>

<p>I second the think tank retro 5. Tiny bag that holds a lot - doesn't have a camera bag look.</p>

<p>I also like the small billingham (alice?) and the one they make for leica. All nice.</p>

<p>Consider the Canon 400 5.6 - with or without a 1.4 converter. An outstanding professional lens for about $1100.</p>

<p>Hey Daniel,</p>

<p>I am sorry to hear about your troubles. I can say that the high temperatures definitely seemed to bring on this error on my old camera. My new body continues to be trouble-free.</p>

<p>Mike</p>

<p>Alex,<br>

The RD1 uses a very common fuji battery - I don't have mine in front of me, but fuji used it in many cameras and they are in plentiful supply on ebay and other places for just a few dollars each. I think I bought my last batch for just $2 or $3 each.</p>

<p>Regarding the M8, I prefer the RD1 to the M8. I could never warm to using the filters on the M8. I never had any problem with the viewfinder, and felt that the camera captured the "spirit" of rangefinder shooting quite well. <br>

I had a lot of fun and took good images with mine.</p>

<p>Honestly, I have a GMT 2 and an M9. I think if I could only have one, it would be the M9, though the GMT is great. To me there are certain things that you can own for free - meaning that regardless of what you pay for them, they tend to hold their value in a way that tracks inflation, and I would put the GMT in this category. And I would also put most Leica glass in this category. I could sell the GMT now for as much as I paid new. It's the only watch I've ever worn that I cannot destroy (physically) with my rather aggressive and rough abuse - I work trackside and am constantly banging it into concrete barriers. The crystal and ceramic bezel cannot be scratched. And the SS can always be polished. I have no doubt that I will always wear this watch as long as I can. And before I had it, I was generally destroying 1 or 2 citizen or seiko types each year, at the cost of a few hundred dollars each. Even destroyed an omega (speedmaster) and a breitling aerospace. So to me, not only can I sell the Rolex for what I paid, it's saving me a few hundred or thousand a year in destroyed watches....<br>

Regarding the longevity of the M9, I think it's a much better proposition than the M8 was. Having said that, I am one of those who bought and struggled with the M8. I owned 2 bodies, sold one quickly and with a small loss, and one recently at a large loss. But I didn't lose any more than I do when I sell my canon bodies. To me, cameras are tools to make money and pictures with, and losing money when replacing them is just a cost of business. Digital camera technology is maturing, and while I think there may be upgrades or a replacement to the M9, the camera pretty much does everything it sets out to do (which could not be said about the m8) and in a good way. There are probably gains to be had in high-iso performance, but otherwise I think the camera really succeeds. But it's still going to be a money loser when the next version hits.<br>

So if you are buying for investment purposes, get the Rolex. But if you need a tool to make photos, get the M9, and offset your losses by buying lots of glass to go with it..... </p>

<p>I ended up giving up and getting another body, which has been flawless so far. Best of luck!</p>

<p>Yeah, it just came from CPS in OC. They were strangely quiet about it, and the receipt is strangely lacking in detail!<br>

I didn't realize this forum wasn't active - I used to come here for Leica info and figured that the Canon area would be just as busy.<br>

I think I just got a bad camera. After the Mark 3 debacle (I bought 5 early copies for me and some of my guys) I think you can understand why I might seem a bit wary of this camera.<br>

Having said that, I think it's great in the daytime, and much improved at night.<br>

Thanks!</p>

<p>Michael, my intention here was not a Nikon vs. Canon debate. <br>

So seriously, here's the intention of this thread. <br>

I am trying to find out if anybody has had the error 20 message on a Mark 4. Period. If you have experienced this error, please post, if not, please don't turn this into something else.<br>

If it's an epidemic, we're looking at another Mark 3 situation, and I'm going to give up and switch. If I have an isolated case, then I'll get rid of this particular body, and get a different one.<br>

I'm glad you are having good luck with your bodies. <br>

All of my lenses are less than 2 years old. I "re-buy" the lenses that I use the most (70-200, 24-70, 16-35) every year or 2.... Hold on to the long glass and oddball stuff (1.2, 1.4 lenses, etc) because it gets used less.<br>

Tried various lenses, cleaning the contacts, etc, and nothing helped. Both before and after the repair.<br>

I am guessing that they did not identify the real problem and probably repaired something that was not broken.</p>

<p>Curious if anybody else has had a mark 4 fail because of an error 20 message? Mine started locking up and showing error 20 about 3 months after I had purchased it. Got progressively worse, especially in hot or humid weather till the point that the camera would not work.<br>

Sent to CPS - took 3 weeks for the repair as they had to wait for parts.<br>

After it was returned it worked for exactly one day before it began locking up and showing error 20.<br>

Frankly, I have very little confidence at this point in Canon. I bought 5 early mark 3 bodies for my company, and the horrible performance and lack of response from Canon during that debacle had me very close to switching to Nikon - who had sent me a kit to try (and was excellent...)<br>

I decided to give Canon one more chance with the Mark 4, and while it is better than the mark 3 (when it works) it is still no match for Nikon - especially where high ISO is concerned. I shoot next to Nikon shooters, and get their files daily (they work for me) and I KNOW!<br>

I am really disappointed. Wondering if anybody else has experienced the Error 20.... and locked up body with the Mark 4?</p>

Ted,

 

I've been doing this with Canon bodies for many years. I have never tried the 20d, but I

have used the 1dmkII, 10d, d60 and d30.

 

You need to get the novoflex adapter (ask sean at camerawest.com). You'll have manual

focus, and be able to use the lenses in manual or aperture priority mode, with stop-down

metering. You'll also be looking through a stopped down lens, which can be dark.

 

Finally, none of your wides will work, because anything that protrudes past the lens mount

on the leica lens will hit the mirror of the canon camera as it moves. The flange to mirror

distance on canons is very short.

 

Mike

Thanks! I slapped on on my "photos" folder.

 

Mike

I would highly recommend keh.com and camerawest.com. Both are 100% great.

 

I have had very mixed results buying on ebay - and the prices often tend to be higher than

what you would pay at a dealer. Some great experiences, and some disappointing, but no

disasters (yet)!

 

Mike

I have been using the R8 and R9 bodies heavily, in the worst conditions imaginable, for

several years now.

 

I've had nothing but great luck with them. They are the best reflex bodies ever, in my

opinion - and I also have a full canon EOS system (1VHS) and switched to Leica directly

from the Nikon F5.

 

Here are the good points.

 

Best viewfinder and manual focusing view of any modern reflex body.

 

Great metering - better than the Canon and Nikon by far, and I shoot slide film. They are

definitely set up to shoot slides - results are nice and saturated, not light and

underexposed, like Canon and Nikon. Flash metering (with the metz flash) is also better

than Nikon and Canon. Built in flashmeter is good in an emergency.

 

Nice manual controls.

 

Good feel with motor drive.

 

Rugged.

 

 

Bad points:

 

Motor drive is slow, and has more shutter lag and vibration than it should. 1980

technology.

 

Film door tends to have problems with humidity and moisture - especially on the R8. Lots

of problems there.

 

Some R8s have scratched film - some of the doors caused this, but nobody really knows

why or which ones for sure.

 

Basically, I use the R system for my critical 35 work, features, commercial, studio. I tend

to use the Canon bodies for action shooting, and when I think I may need 10fps. The long

Leica glass works fine for me on the Canon bodies.

 

Mike

Luis, your site and work are outstanding. I really enjoyed Frederic's section as well.

 

 

Mike

I wouldn't lose any sleep about it. It's certainly possible that since the 400 is a

professional lens, it has actually been used a lot - unlike a lot of Leica stuff which is just

fondled.

 

I have the APO modular system and the fit with the body is similar to what you describe,

though it is a matter of degrees. If the body is not falling off the lens, I would not worry

about it at all.

 

Mike

Same here - it is usually in great condition, and if you decide to send it back, they are

completely cool about it.

 

I have bought tons of stuff from them, and have always been satisfied.

 

Mike

The purpose of that rig is to get the flash above the lens when shooting verticals - as most

paparazzi stuff is vertical. Leaving the flash on the camera creates a "side shadow" which

is pretty ugly, especially if the subject is near a wall..

 

The farther away from the lens that the flash is, the less chance you have of red-eye. It is

all about the light from the flash bouncing of the retina, and then back into the lens.

 

The paparazzi rig in the shot you linked to is just a metal plate with a 3/8 screw for the

camera, and a 3/8 screw threaded into the bottom of the Nikon remote cord, which is

threaded. This rig does not do a great job of getting the flash away from the lens, but

gets rid of the side shadow, which is the main purpose....

 

The stroboframe rotating brackets do a similar job, but are much bigger and bulkier..

 

Mike

I think what they were referring to is that when you are using the CM in manual focus

mode, the lens does not actually move into place until after you press the shutter release,

adding to the lag.

 

Mike

Seems a bit odd to me to see a bunch of people arguing about something they have never

seen.

 

Build quality of a camera that has not yet been released......

 

Give me a break!

 

Seems to me that Alan is the only person here who has actually seen and touched this

camera, and was trying to provide his impression. You are all free to go see it yourselves,

and until you have, the idea of you arguing with his conclusions is simply ridiculous!

 

Mike

www.cameraleather.com is absolultely great. I would not look anywhere else. I have

covered all of my bodies with various colors and materials, and they look fantastic...

 

Mike

Exquisitely tacky<div></div>