I have been using Leica gear for some 40 years. During that time I have taken quite a lot of close up images of small animals. The one thing I always felt was that I was using some of the best lenses available for that sort of photography. With the demise of Kodachrome film I decided it was about time to go digital and because of the investment in Leica lenses and peripherals I decided to go to the extra cost of the Leica DMR.
Within the first 3 months the DMR back just turned itself off in the middle of shooting some hot air balloons in Canberra and refused to reboot. It was away almost 3 months being fixed and when it returned there was no explanation of what had happened. It was after this event that I tried my first close up photography with the unit with, to me, disappointing results.
My expectations were of similar results to those I gained with film using the same lenses. I haven't been able to find any examples of what I should expect from photographing very small subjects, nor anyone doing the same sort of work with the Leica DMR. My impression of my results has been that although the image looks sharp in the viewfinder this doesn't seem to translate onto the sensor. I sent a number of RAW images to Carl on a CD and he is sending a copy to you as well as to Germany for comment.
This is an excerpt from a letter from one of Leica's customers here. I have no experiences with the DMR and macro photography, but the local Leica tech remembered me from a while ago, so referred this guy to me.
Is there anyone on the forum whose interest is macro of insects? I could put the two of you in touch, perhaps.
A CD of images is on its way to me now, and if the customer is willing, I can forward it. Cheers to all, kl
