john_brewton

<p>I sold mine over a year ago for $2250 with a spare battery. It was in excellent condition with 4K actuations. I actually think the prices have increased recently with the price of an M9 scaring off many. I only sold it because I was worried about the shutter crapping out, an experience related by more than a few owners at the time.</p>

<p>I used a 50 Cron for 90% of my Leica film camera shots. But when I got an M8 I bought a 35 Cron ASPH to most closely approximate a 50. When I tried the 35 on my M3 I just hated it. So defintely a 50, but not the Noct! I will play the contrarian here and suggest a 75 2.5 for when you want a little more reach. If you want wider I would go with the 28 Cron myself. But everyone's opinion is subjective so take my advice as do others...with a large grain of salt :)</p>

<p>Paul, it was good to see a pic of good ol' Al again. I still have the tshirt! Good luck to you and everyone else on the Leica forum for 2012.<br>

BTW, going to New York City for first time ever in March. Got tickets for "Book of Mormon" & Colbert Report.</p>

<p>I have stitched up to eight images with no problem with M8, shot handheld. CS5 does a remarkable job with the files. Truthfully, the M8 did a better job for some odd reason than my D700. I know a file is a file is a file, but sometimes I get bizzare effects with the Zeiss lens on the D700 which have ruined the pano, so now I have a nice ts lens for the Nikon...</p>

<p>The one thing I've discovered recently about my old M8 files versus my D700 files is the Leica files can be cropped more and still produce a very good image whereas the Nikon doesn't do as well with the image falling apart when printing large. Frankly I expected better from FF.</p>

<p>Paul, if it was in really good shape its probably in Japan today! That's where mine went.</p>

<p>I go for OOF myself, but back to the subject at hand. I had a 'Cron ASPH and frankly was never impressed with the OOF background. It was okay but no "king". I always thought the Summilux (either 35 or 50) as the top of the heap. 'Course then there's that money thing...</p>

Where did you get the idea Fotoman can't deliver the same quality as an Alpa? I assume you are referring to IQ? That's plain silly. It's also silly what Alpa is now asking for their 12 TC. I suppose the Euro versus Dollar is responsible. Sure I'd like to have an Alpa. But I can afford a Fotoman and that's what I ended up buying. And I'm not a bit apologetic about it. Funny, I've never seen an Alpa image on their website. OTOH, Fotoman has many - check'em out.

Just shoot with a decent overlap and stitch in PS3. I've used my Leica M8 (yes, and it's a rangefinder) for up to seven frames this way with absolutely no problems. IMHO, some people seem to get caught up in to much technical bs on stitching panos.

Be safe. Try KEH.

Don't know, waiting for the first prints from the lab right now. :))

Having just bought a Fotoman 612 w/65 I'd say go with the 65. It's probable you would get more light fall-off with the 55. Just my 2 cents.

Sergio, thank you for the link. It does not appear that the SW612 can take a digital back (at this time). I've been trying to find an MF camera (no SLR's, thank you) that has both film and digital capability so I could add a ditgital back at a later date. Unfortunately it seems the only manufacturer meeting my requirements so far is the Alpa.

Does anyone know if the Horseman SW612 can take a digital back? I can't seem to find any info on this. I tried writing

Horseman but the email was returned as undeliverable.

Thanks for all replies.

Don't know if anyone else noticed this or not, but B&H has raised the price

to $2095. Just an FYI.

Anyone have an idea what an almost new Scan Multi should go for? This is

not the Pro version, BTW. There were none on fleabay.

Thanks for all replies.

John, your comment on rangefinder framing may be true with some systems and I would include the M8 with them, but experience takes care of this. The film M Leicas are very accurate and I've never had a problem with them and I've owned three.

I've had three DSLR's. And they were all ok, but I want a more true film look by using, what else?, film! My M8 is really terrific and, after over a year of ownership, I've finally got the color figured out. It also turns out bw that is close to MF. I can't quantify it actually - I just want to shoot more film again. I think digital really falls down on dynamic range and tonality and I'm sick and tired of the manufacturers coming out with a new body every two years and claiming they have one more stop of dr than they had in the previous body. Whoopee-do. Every time I shoot my M3 I fall in love with film all over again and for the most part I shoot the two Leicas side by side. My only scanner is a dedicated 35mm, the Minolta 5400, with SilverFast software. I'm actually thinking of having all the MF work done by a lab and printing with an enlarger.

Stuart, I'm looking at a Fotoman for 6 x 12. I was talking to Jim at Midwest Photo, but he wants to sell me a Fuji or Nikon lens and if I get one I want some of that German glass. I would love to have an Alpa, but money is a little tight right now.

Thanks to everyone for your considered opinions. You have been a huge help.

I've been shooting a long time. Currently shoot Leica M8 & M3 and will

continue to do so. I do pretty well selling my images. I want to do larger,

sharp prints and am fed up with DSLR's and have been investigating the

two options listed above. I know there is a huge difference between the two

systems. But I can only afford one at this time. I like the Mamiya lens as it

rates fairly high (but I realize MTF charts have little to do with the real world

of shooting), and others seem to concur. The 6 x 12 appeals for the

panorama and ability to crop down if need be. But I'm concerned about

sharpness across such a large expanse of film. Each setup has good

points and not-so-good points. I can buy either setup for essentially the

same price.

I wonder if anyone out there has gone through this same thought process

and what they came up with?

Thanks for all replies.

No. 6 x 12.

I would like some views on the 75 5.6 SWD Fuji lens versus the 75 4.5 SW

Nikkor. And in addition, are either of these lens the equivalent in sharpness

and contrast to the Schneider Super Angulon?

Thanks for all replies.

Thanks, Dick. That worked. Really don't know why they don't specify a 13 x 19 size, though.

When I click on the landscape orientation, it remains in the vertical mode.

This happens when I use the "user defined" setup for paper - specifically 13 x

19. I have checked the "landscape" option on the "paper" setup page. In the

past everything worked fine. This is some new development. Any ideas?

Thanks for all responses.

John

I like mine just fine. It really is the digital successor to the film M's.

Mitch, I like the results but you seem to be getting some posterization.

Regards,

John