Leica summilux M 35mm f:1.4 ASPH
View allAll Photos Tagged mp_monochrome
2016 Cannon Beach OR
Leica MP
Summicron 35mm
Ilford Delta-400@800ISO
Kodak HC-110
Epson Perfection V750-M Pro
Wandering York you come across lots of passageways, alleyways, yards roads and squares with some weird and wonderful names.
In some cases the names have been changed as the old name would have been deemed unacceptable at some point - for example Mad Alice Lane is now Lund's Court.
This sign caught my eye, and I wondered how cool it would be to have Number 1 Trembling Madness Apartments as an address.
I just loved wandering through the Shambles, everyday coach loads of people would arrive with their guides and a talk would commence detailing the historic nature of the area.
To a cynical me the stores are focused in the main on magic, Ghosts, or the wizarding world created by JKR, plus the occasional tavern - now that I can relate to.
It was a great place to visit and people watch
2016 WA
Leica MP
Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH
Kodak Tri-X 400 @ 800
Kodak HC-110
Epson Perfection V750-M Pro
And Happy New Year, too!
Well, it was on April 11, 2011 that I wrote a scathing indictment of the Leica M9 rangefinder in a long rant titled Goodbye, Leica-M9. Hello Sony NEX!. I went through all the details of why I found it so frustrating to shoot with my Leica M9 rangefinder, and after less than 18 months of using it, I just had enough, and the new wave to ride was Sony Mirrorless.
That write up has been seen by more than 120,000 people, and it cost me a few friends as well. I regret they got upset with me and cut me off, but I was being frank and honest about what a pain it was to use the M9, and how Leica was just not keeping pace with technology with its M system.
I had bought my Leica M9 in December of 2009, three months after the 09/09/09 announcement of the M9. I loved the rangefinder experience and for a year, my M9 was my constant companion. But then all the limitations of the range finder took their toll, and I just had enough. When the first mirrorless cameras from Sony and Olympus came out, I had seen enough: I quickly jumped on the mirrorless bandwagon, certain that this was the future.
Two years later, in April 2013, I eagerly tested the Leica M240 but was largely disappointed that nothing much had happened, other than the 18 MP CCD sensor had been replaced by a garden variety 24 MP CMOS sensor that was by and large obsolete the day it shipped. So I wrote another scathing article titled Goodbye, Leica M Type 240, and wrote off the M system in my mind, although I kept a few of my favorite M lenses that I continued to use with my Sony cameras.
A year ago, I finally got back to the rangefinder, buying an M10 Monochrom. Having a Visoflex EVF when needed, the 40 MP monochrome sensor, and improvements in many areas in the M camera, including the RF accuracy, finally persuaded me to get back to a RF, I was once again able to use the remaining M lenses I still owned, and was using on my Sony cameras.
All that changed last week, when Leica finally put out my dream rangefinder. I just picked up my M11 in a silver top, and it has all the things I ever wanted in a RF: a high res 60 MP back-side illuminated Sony sensor, a high quality LCD back, a modern user interface, a high res Visoflex-2 EVF for the times I need one, a far superior rangefinder with much greater accuracy than even my M10-Monochrom, a much faster CPU, lovely shutter, Electronic shutter with up to 1/16000 second speed, so I can shoot wide open with fast lenses without needing ND filters, an internal 64GB memory, a much better battery, and quite a few other nice features. And no, I do not miss the bottom plate.
So here was an M camera that had now reached a very high orbit. A digital camera will never achieve the heirloom quality of an analog classic film camera, but the M11 comes very close to being that. I can see this camera being used 20 years from now, and not be obsolete, even if there are many advances in processor speed, sensor resolution, etc.
Most importantly, the M11 puts out world-class image quality, identical to the Sony A7R IV (it is the same sensor, without the PDAF points, custom-made for Leica). This is no longer for just street photography and capturing the moment. The M11 can be used for serious landscapes, cityscapes, interiors and portraits, for making serious prints!
One problem, however! The firmware in the M11 is absolutely atrocious and full of bugs. Really terrible and amateurish. It is mind-boggling that any professional company would put out any electronic product with so many software bugs in it. I hope M11 users will keep hounding Leica with complaints until they fix all these bugs! At least, it is not hardware, so that is the good news.
So the vision of a small camera with 4-5 compact, manual focus lenses, all fitting into a small camera bag that could be lugged easily on a hike, has come true. Except for video or high speed action with tracking, etc., the M11 now can do pretty much anything.
It was worth breaking the piggy bank for the M11 for me, and I am having a lot of fun shooting with a RF again! This is a very expensive camera and to build an M system that includes a few Leica lenses, it costs a small fortune. But there are superb Cosina Voigtlander lenses available for the M system too, and that helps a little. The charm of the M system is, you don't need a dozen lenses. Just 3-4 judiciously selected lenses that best map to your personality and style of photography are all that you need.
To anyone interested in RF photography, I highly recommend the M11. There is no other M camera like this - this is the very best digital M camera to ever come out of Leica, and it is in a separate league by itself.
In the coming days, I will post some sample photos and also thoughts on my favorite lenses for the M11.
S1030012
2016 WA
Leica MP
Leica 35mm Summicron ASPH
Kodak Tri-X 400 @ 800
Kodak HC-110
Epson Perfection V750-M Pro