I test drove a Leica Monochrom last week from a family member and now it's ruined it for me -- literally every DSLR/SLR camera I've ever tried/owned look like $20 point-and-click in comparison. If only these weren't so expensive! The body alone for this black-and-white (only) monochrom Leica is $8,000. And that's if you can find one in stock. Lenses are in the thousands as well. The (0.95) Noctilux lens costs $12,000! [Leica Monochrom] [video=youtube;ysQl7SUEo4s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysQl7SUEo4s[/video] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are some that would be decent budget alternatives such as the Fuji X-Pro1. Ken Rockwell raves about this model and put is on par with the Leica M9. The body costs $1,500. He calls it the digital version of the Contax G2. [Fuji X-Pro1] [video=youtube;8TOk_0kITBg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TOk_0kITBg[/video]
Haha. I think sometime in the next year I'm going to pick up an M3 or M6 and an off brand lens (can't pony up 1500+ for a Leica lens). When I was in Japan this summer I went to this amazing camera store. It was 6 or 7 floors, each with a different brand or type of camera. The entire bottom floor was all Leica, Hassleblad and other Medium/Large format cameras. I didn't take any photos, but I played around with the M9. That thing is a freaking tank (about as expensive as one as well). By test drive, does that mean you got to stick in your own card and take some photos? I'm curious about how they turn out, to compare the B&W as the result of having no filter vs traditional digital files converted back to B&W.
I wish! He barely let me out of his backyard with the monochrom. I don't blame him. The set up costs nearly as much as a car ...around my neck.
Nope. the Leica Monochrome just lacks the filters that are required for a digital sensor to convert to color. I think it is essentially an M9 (their top digital camera) w/o those filters. It is a niche camera even for Leica, which itself is a niche camera maker (both for film and digital).
Btw, many put the M3 way ahead of the M6. Rockwell stills calls the M3 the best 35MM camera on the planet.
There are pros and cons of Leica's in general vs DSLRs. They're really just different tools for different jobs. In general though, DSLRs are just a lot more versatile than rangefinders like Leica. Pros: Size (for street photography) Build quality (the M3 we're discussing above is 50 years old and are still a coveted camera) Lens quality (Leica lenses are among the best optically) Cons Lens range: I don't think there are any zoom lenses and I think the longest is about 135mm. Compare that to Canon/Nikon with dozens of high end zooms, plus fixed lengths of 600mm and higher Speed: Top end DSLRs can shoot 11 or 12 frames per second Features: Leicas are generally very bare bones when compared to DSLRs There are others differences, but those are the ones off the top of my head.
yeah, I think I'll probably end up with the M3. Just got to get used to having no light meter (or buy a separate one) I just wish I knew someone w/ one so I could play with it a bit first. I've never shot with a rangefinder, so it'll be a totally new experience.
I'm totally old school (or maybe just old). I still shoot with large format sheet film cameras. You youngsters can keep your outrageously overpriced, soon to be obsolete new fangled toys. I'll stick with the smooth beautiful tones of traditional analog photography. Seriously, cameras, both analog and digital, are just tools. Pick the right tool for the job and the desired results. I use a Nikon DSLR for snap shots of my kids playing sports, but if the goal is a large print of a static landscape, I revert to my inner-Ansel and reach for the tried and true large format camera. BNM
It'd be fun to shoot with a large format camera sometime, but that's even less versatile than the Leica, ha. My wife wants us to get an old Hasselblad, but I think I'd rather have a rangefinder. Who knows which we'll end up with. I'm hoping wherever we move to next will have enough space to set up a dark room. I have all the gear, just no space. Right now I just have an old manual Pentax mount film slr and a Nikon D40x. I took a Canon 5D to Japan and loved it. Now, what this thread needs is some pics! Do you have any scans of your landscapes? I'll post a couple tonight.
I don't have the patience for film of any kind but large formats produce amazing pictures. One of my favorite photogs -- Todd Hido:
I only have a digital camera and my iphone........ when you see a picture taken with a REAL camera, it sure makes a difference. I've taken some good artsy shots that people have told me they love, but when I see a shot from a quality camera, it just blows mine away.
I just got an M3 in the mail yesterday! I picked one up at Keh.com for about $700 after tax. I picked up an old 50mm F2 Summicron lens from another site that set me back about 1k after taxes. I was all set to buy a new Zeiss lens, but couldn't resist the Leica. It wasn't that much more and the copy I got has an extra attachment for close focusing. I played with it a little bit yesterday, trying to get used to the focusing and everything else before I load some film in it. I'll probably take for a test run this afternoon and then shoot a bunch this weekend. Getting used to no meter is going to be a bitch. I might end up buying an old Leica one that'll mount tot he body. For now I'll have to settle for an app on my phone. Yesterday was like Christmas!
I realized that I never posted any photos when I said I would. Here are a couple from my last few rolls of film (on an old manual pentax SLR). These are just from my fb upload, so I'm not sure the quality on them. 2 from my cousin's marines graduation last December and another from a photo shoot my friend was doing and I jut took a few shots when he was doing something else. They aren't as sharp as they could be, but I still like them.
