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Fun w/Digital M Images

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ptomsu

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Although I still do not own an SL I would fully agree. I meanwhile shoot the Fuji XT2 with the 100-400, that is my absolute favorite WRT wildlife and telework. I would even dare to say to prefer it to an SL equivalent 100-400, that does of course not exist, because that would become so heavy I would hardly carry it on Safaris.

Now back to the SL - I tried it last year and your observations are fully right, one of the best mirrorless cameras available today and WRT focus accuracy etc miles ahead of the typical M. Especially when using lenses like the Nocti and also longer M lenses above 50.

I am actually in the process of rethinking my whole equipment stable in order to maybe get rid of all my Nikon stuff (D810 and lenses) as well as my m43 stuff (mostly Olympus) and just go with SL for my M lenses and Fuji XT2 if I need something more compact and also for the telephoto work I do.
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
PeterA said:
If you buy an SL - the M becomes a redundant nostalgic piece of (relatively) light weight fun - the SL + Nocti combination is magic. The SL plus M lenses combo is magic. The SL also allows one to pick and use the bestr Zeiss lenses available.
What doesn't the SL do? Well I bought a Fuji XT2 to use their 100-400 lens with a 1.4X converter for tele work - where the 90-280 doesn't have the reach....
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I don't know about the M becoming a 'redundant nostalgic piece of (relatively) light weight fun' ... The M-D is now my favorite M and likely favorite camera. I bought it long after I had the SL and found it to be the answer to my desire for an ultimately versatile system. The SL is my "best" camera, and isn't going away, but 90% of the time if I just grab a bag to go for a walk with a normal-ish kind of lens (28 to 90 mm), I'll grab the M-D because I just enjoy using it so much AND because I get such wonderful results with it. I tend to pick the SL when I have a more focused intent and, of course, on the many occasions when it is just the best, right tool for a particular purpose.

(My need for an 800mm lens—or in fact for anything much over 180mm equivalent FoV—is so rare and so limited that buying another camera system just to have that would be an utter waste of money for me. I still have the FourThirds system and that more than suffices for ultra-long-lens needs hand-held using the 50-200 + 1.4x teleconverter, and for when a tripod is useable, the SL with Telyt-R 250mm and 2x Extender-R or cheap Sigma 600mm mirror does very nicely. But these are specialist needs. My equivalent for your Fuji purchase would be a Hasselblad X1D plus ultra-wide lens—I hope that I can afford one, someday when they're actually shipping and have 22ish and 30mm lens options available. :)

G
 
P

Paratom

Well-known member
I also own and use both M and SL.
For any M-Lens up to 50mm I far prefer the M over the SL. (with the exception of lenses which suffer from focus shift like the Noctilux 1.0)
Why?
Smaller size, even simpler menu and user interface, optical finder, being able to focus and frame at the same time, color of M sensor, able to see whats going on around the frame, no blackout.
 
PeterA

PeterA

Well-known member
Godfrey said:
I don't know about the M becoming a 'redundant nostalgic piece of (relatively) light weight fun' ... The M-D is now my favorite M and likely favorite camera. I bought it long after I had the SL and found it to be the answer to my desire for an ultimately versatile system. The SL is my "best" camera, and isn't going away, but 90% of the time if I just grab a bag to go for a walk with a normal-ish kind of lens (28 to 90 mm), I'll grab the M-D because I just enjoy using it so much AND because I get such wonderful results with it. I tend to pick the SL when I have a more focused intent and, of course, on the many occasions when it is just the best, right tool for a particular purpose.

(My need for an 800mm lens—or in fact for anything much over 180mm equivalent FoV—is so rare and so limited that buying another camera system just to have that would be an utter waste of money for me. I still have the FourThirds system and that more than suffices for ultra-long-lens needs hand-held using the 50-200 + 1.4x teleconverter, and for when a tripod is useable, the SL with Telyt-R 250mm and 2x Extender-R or cheap Sigma 600mm mirror does very nicely. But these are specialist needs. My equivalent for your Fuji purchase would be a Hasselblad X1D plus ultra-wide lens—I hope that I can afford one, someday when they're actually shipping and have 22ish and 30mm lens options available. :)

G
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Everyone has their preferences for gear which changes according to useage and intent, which is why there is no right or wrong just different useage preferences. For me the one enduring positive that Leica delivers is the quality of glass - particulalrly in M - which is why I decided to keep my MP 240 and original CCD MM - I use these cameras with 35 down to 16mm lenses. For 50MM and over I use these on the SL. The M's are great cameras no doubt and easier to walk around with on a stroll etc..the SL is my universal mount system now for specialist manual focus lenses and for when I need autofocus. The Fuji will be pretty much permanently mounted in an underwater housing or with the tele - and lets be honest here the Fuji + tele cost less than a typical Leica M lens! That is pretty compelling value proposition and why I beleive Fuji will become a leader as far as market share goes - I was never convinced about the chip format - until I tried a Fuji.

If I was starting again from scratch - I think it would be a difficult proposition to get me to buy even M lenses - I am a big fan of Zeiss and have added 55Otus/85 and 100 Milvus to my SL kit.

I'll look at the XID when the 30mm is available - buit I'm in no rush tbh.
 
jonoslack

jonoslack

Active member
PeterA said:
Everyone has their preferences for gear which changes according to useage and intent,
Click to expand...

Indeed - I have an M system - an SL system and a µ43 system, and they each fulfil different areas . . but I'd still rather use an M with an M lens - out to 75mm at least, and my SL gets used (a lot) with the two zooms, but rarely for manual focus.
 
PeterA

PeterA

Well-known member
jonoslack said:
Indeed - I have an M system - an SL system and a µ43 system, and they each fulfil different areas . . but I'd still rather use an M with an M lens - out to 75mm at least, and my SL gets used (a lot) with the two zooms, but rarely for manual focus.
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looks like I've ended up where you've been for a while now..except I've gone Fuji and you are an Olympian...
 
frontosa

frontosa

Workshop Member
M-P WATE

I've been to the San Simeon beach area numerous times but this is the first time when it was high tide. Violent and angry waves.


Sunrise south of San Simeon Pier


Isolated beach a few miles north of Bixby Bridge.
 
S

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
jonoslack said:
Indeed - I have an M system - an SL system and a µ43 system, and they each fulfil different areas . . but I'd still rather use an M with an M lens - out to 75mm at least, and my SL gets used (a lot) with the two zooms, but rarely for manual focus.
Click to expand...
Curious -- I'm delighted with the precision of focusing with magnification on the SL and verywide or somewhat longer R lenses. (Some very long, but the next supermoon won't be for quite a while.) Now that I use the direct R to SL adapter, it is more trouble to switch to M lenses and the M240 is getting more attention with normal focal lengths. When I need autofocus because the subjects are running about like crazy, I use a Fuji X-Pro2, which has the user interface and viewfinder I wish that Leica would adopt. Nice lenses, too, but not fully of Leica quality.

scott
 
D

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Here are a couple of pictures from this morning ....


Leica M-D 50 Noctilux 0.95









Leica M-D 75 Apo Summicron







Thanks,

Bob
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
Walk on a Friday morning ...













all: Leica M-D plus either Summilux 35mm v2 or Summarit-M 75mm f/2.4​

enjoy,
G
 
T

thompsonkirk

Member
A rewarding walk!

On the question of focusing Nocti on M and SL, there's another alternative: Nocti on A7rII with TechArt adapter for autofocus. Works surprisingly well: Wide open, focuses faster and more accurately than with RF.

I've been using this while waiting for Leica to make an M successor, smaller + full-frame + up-to-date sensor+ autofocus.

My only problem is that I own the wrong Nocti - I have the 0.95 but would prefer the wierder bokeh of f1.0.

Kirk
 
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