A camera with balance

Of all the cameras I have kicking around the house, and there is a few, my wife likes the Nikon D90 with the Nikkor 35mm f2 combination the best.  Why?  For her it is the best combination of light weight and compact size, fast auto focus, good low light performance, ease of use with optical viewfinder I have.  

I have cameras that will better the above criteria, but none with that combination.

What about with the 18-105mm zoom?  Too bulky and low light performance is an issue.  D600 and Sigma 35mm f1.4?  Far too heavy.  Fuji X100 or Sony NEX 5n?  AF is too slow, especially in low light.  Leica M3?  Why would you want to shoot film?

Sometimes it's your most unloved camera that some else thinks is gold.

Nikon D600 and Tamron 180mm f3.5 macro

My Sony NEX 5n and Fuji X100

One thing about the two cameras above that I have at home is that I feel no need to upgrade.  Yes, the new 16mp sensor in the X100S would be better, and a viewfinder like on the NEX 6 also nice, but neither are going to make a huge improvement to my photography.  I am looking for something that will be substantially better in image quality, usability and give me something that I can't do now.  As an example, a full frame mirrorless, like an E mount RX-1, would be something I would seriously consider worthy.  Until that time, I'll stick with what I've got.

Brown ale - Fuji X100

More interesting shots with the Leica CL

There were some interesting things that happened on, and as a result of the winter shoot that I wrote about in the previous post.

1) That damn filter

I had brought along a yellow filter to add a bit of contrast to some shots on the CL, and after managing to make drop it in the snow and make a mess, I also found out when I got back the photos that it also caused heavy vignetting, despite at 55mm fitment, being quite a bit bigger than the lens.

2) A shot crop

This photo, as a landscape, I quite like.  I cropped the top and bottom, which were just monotone sky and snow, and it turned out  much better.

3) Film scanner - NEX 5n

I ended up using the NEX 5n, and the Sigma 30mm lens perched above a light table with a tripod to scan the film.  The results were good, and the work flow speed reasonable.  A lot of the black and white shots I had to reconvert to black and white on photoshop, as they were shot in colour on the light table, some false colour snuck in.  Here's a none edited example of what I mean.

Leica CL in the park at winter time

         

A while back I wrote about my adventures here in Sunnybrook Park with a Leica CL, a Sony NEX 5n and a pair of snow shoes.  I fitted the cameras with the Voigtlander 21mm f4 and the Sigma 19mm f2.8, loaded some Fuji Neopan into the CL and ventured off.  

The CL is a cool camera.  It's really small, about the same size as a Sony NEX 6/7, and with the compact Voigtlander 21mm lens, it is almost pocketable.  The rangefinder is not even in the ballpark of the excellent Leica M3, but is comparable to cameras like the Fuji GS645S and the Canonet QL17.  With a slow wide angle lens like the Voigtlander, as long as you have focusing approximately right, there won't be an issue as the depth of field is so large.

Like I have written before, the Voigtlander is an excellent lens, and on film offers lovely tonality, commensurate with the Neopan film.  Compared to the shots with the Sony NEX, the contrast is much lower, with many more gradients of gray showing.  I will admit that I had set the NEX contrast artificially high, but I was still surprised to see the difference.

Leica 50mm Summicron M Type 4

Sure, you can buy a 50mm f2 lens from an OM Olympus or Fujica for about 20 bucks and get great results, and these lenses are simple and common, but I will say that my Leica 50mm Summicron M Type 4, with a used value of about $1,700, is by far the best lens I own.

You pay dearly for that last bit of quality, and the law of diminishing returns is clearly evident in any Leica purchase; this lens is really something special.  It's absolutely tack sharp at f2, where it already easily out resolves the 16mp sensor of the Sony NEX5n.  The bokeh is smooth and buttery, and there are no aberrations or distortion.

The camera I most enjoy using this lens on is the M3.  I really appreciate the accurate and bright rangefinder patch, which makes getting critical focus easy.

It has a reputation of being the best 50mm lens available at any cost, and I have no doubt that this is true.