Photo::My first Leica

I have used, and currently own a variety of camera gears. Here are some of my favorites based on the use cases:

• Travel Landscape: Hasselblad 503CW+Three lenses (50, 80, 150)+PME45+Winder CW, Mamiya 7II+80mm
• Backyard Landscape: Linhof Technikardan+5 Lenses (75, 120, 180, 210, 300)
• Remote Travel: Canon EOS 5D, Mamiya 6, Hasselblad SWC/M
• Portraits: Hasselblad 503CW+80mm+Extension Tube (for tight face shots)

I am very happy with my landscape options, but I was never happy with my travel outfits. EOS 5D seems like a great option and I used it in my recent trip to Madrid, but although I appreciate all the benefits of digital, I really miss the darkroom process (which is why I am also experimenting the Digital Negative process). Mamiya 6 is great value for the price and can be really compact when carrying it around with the 75mm lens, but when you are adding a couple of lenses (50mm and 150mm), it quickly becomes bulky. It also does not have a wide angle lens, which I miss a lot when traveling. Hassy SWC/M is a recent acquisition, and I have not fully utilized it yet, but I think it will be great for certain cases. It produces great quality wide angle images, but I can see myself wishing for other focus lengths from time to time.

All of these issues made me think about using a 35mm range finder with 2 or three lenses. The obvious drawback is the negative size. I love large negatives and I think 6x6 or 6x7 is the best compromise between quality and portability. However, sometimes you just wish you could carry less with more quality. Another alternative can be a 645 rangefinder, and I owned one (Fuji GA645Zi), which I hated because the quality couldn't even match some of my 35mm gears. I've also tried several 35mm cameras, including Canon EOS3, Hasselblad XPAN and Contax G2. XPAN produces great images, but it is quite bulky and heavy for the quality, EOS3 is not a small outfit at all, and G2 was great but didn't like the auto focusing feature with small viewfinder.

Quite naturally, I become to think about a Leica. It is quite ironic that I have used and owned almost all the major brands except for Leica. It is mostly due to the fact that it is a 35mm camera that is as expensive as a Hassy. Before I went to the San Jose Photo Fair last Saturday, I decided that I would finally buy a Leica if I could find a decent deal (which I did).

Leica has produced quite an impressive line of rangefinders for the past 50 years. My first criteria was that it would have a built-in meter. In fact, I think I get stressed with metering more than any other part of the picture-taking process, which explains why I use the expensive PME45 for my Hassy 503CW. There are currently four options from Leica that has a built-in meter: M6, M6 TTL, M7 and MP. M7 is the only one with auto exposure capability (that controls the shutter speed for the given aperture). Since I rarely use a flash, I decided to get a M6 as a starting kit. I wasn't sure of the usefulness of the auto exposure and MP didn't seem to add that much to an M6.

So I ended up buying an M6 .72 Black Body with two lenses - 28mm f2.8 elmarit and 50mm f/2 summicron (third model). When I was buying them, I thought it was a decent deal, (I paid around $2400 altogether) and I could sell them any time without any loss.

I love the build quality of all of them, and it really feels great when you press the shutter. When I developed the film, I could instantly see the improvement in resolution and contrast compared to other 35mm cameras that I have used. However, I didn't like the way I had to adjust the shutter speed to get the right exposure, probably because of the ergonomics of the shutter dial. I guess this could be a reason to choose an MP over an M6. As for the lenses, they are both great quality lenses and I loved the outcome. However, I think both of them are too heavy and especially too long for its focal length. Both lenses stick out quite much and it even looks kinda odd. Also, I soon learned that I would need a super wide angle lens as well.

As a result, I have decided to upgrade to an M7 (if I can find a good deal, that is). It will solve the awkwardness in setting the shutter speed (since it is automatic) but it will be more expensive. As for the lenses, I decided to try out two smaller lenses, both from Voigtlander: 21mm f/4 skopar (pancake) and 40mm f/1.4 SC. Both of them are small, light, cheap and known to produce good quality images - whether they are comparable to the Leica ones are yet to be proven.

Tech Tags: leica m6 m7 mp hasselblad mamiya linhof

Comments

[fahrrad]

Dies ist ein großer Ort. Ich möchte hier noch einmal.