Alpa STC (or other) vs Leica M8/9 dilemma

[baxter]

Having visited Focus, the solution is straightforward - Alpa STC with IQ180 and four lenses...... Should my lottery funding not be forthcoming, I will travel with something other than the this!

Absolutely loved the STC but with just a single lens, the Schneider 43mm the pricing is about £9000 inc VAT which is over 3x price of all our air fares.

Thus I will be taking the Leica M8 which will be fine as is. I do see merit in investigating FEDEX or otherwise for the Phase 645DF, possibly not taking all 4 lenses. We've also got a little jpeg Panasonic compact which was going to get a £180 waterproof housing for beach use home and abroad.

Another option materialised using a Horseman with the P45 and I might be able to borrow or rent one of these.

 

[baxter]

Baxter,

Your gallery is wonderful! Can you shed some light on the cameras used?

Thanks for taking a look and your kind words Johnny.

All the pictures on my website are made with an Ebony 45SU with a variety of lenses, from 58mm to 300mm inc some with the wonderful Cooke PS945. Mostly they are with the 110mmXL which I found suited me well. I processed E6, C41 and B&W film at home and scanned using a Flextight Precision II.

The pictures I've posted on GETdpi are all made with the Phase 645DF and P45+ with 28, 45, 80 or 150mm lenses with adjustment in C1Pro and B&W conversions using Silver Efex Pro (mk1).

I need to get around to updating my website, but am waiting to learn how to keyword properly in Expression Media 2 before adding the new pictures.

 

[Yevgeny NP]

Baxter, I have just returned back home from my trip to Thailand, fantastic place for photography and I took there my ALPA SWA + Sinar 75LV with the 35mm. digitar and my Leica m9 with the Konica Dual 21-35mm. and 50 Lux Pre-asph.

On the third day I noticed that I was annoying my company, looking forward to sunsets and calculating the sunrise time. I was not enjoying my well deserved vacation, I was thinking about "money shots" and places to put my tripod . I realized that and parked my Alpa set to the hotel room safe, the ALPA fortunately was not too big for the safe.

The M9 and the Konica as a daytime lens and my 50 Lux for everything in the evenings were used for the rest of the vacation. I felt naked without my ALPA for a while, true. And I was worried that I was loosing the opportunities for great prints in the future. But as a whole it was a very liberating experience.
Leica fits much better when traveling.

Yevgeny

PS
Very good landscapes on your site.

 

[thrice]

And now I am trying to figure out how to afford an Alpa STC, P45+ and 43/5.6.
If anyone wants to trade for an M9P and a couple of lenses let me know

 

[Tim]

If this was me, I'd sell off the m43 kit and use the money to add a VC 15mm to the M8 kit. I'd leave the 90mm home though. I'd use the wides more, others may differ. Less is more IMO.

Also have you ever used the Phase while on foot? To me this is the limiting factor, it would be too heavy while traipsing about the islands. How about a third option and take the Phase P45 with just two lenses? Taking all 4 seems a lot of weight. Could you pare it back to two? For me even this would not be light enough though.

I think I would also pick up something... say... like a Sony RX-100 or perhaps a NEX6 with short zoom. Something to go into a pocket when going out to dinner. Then you'd have no excuse to have something with you all the time.

 

[Geoff]

Two different purposes: people, fun and a trip - something small and light. M or something of similar size.

Then there is the chance to do photography, which is slower, larger, more demanding, and contemplative - thus MFDB.

There are some solutions for mixing these two together, and their satisfaction depends on your criteria. But in general, MFDB don't do the family shots as well as something smaller and quicker. The better ones of the smaller cameras (M9, RX1, X100) are quite satisfying, but there is often the need for both approaches: the image quality from the MFDB is special, and worth hauling around for the more serious work.

 

[shortpballer]

My answer would be : get an Alpa TC, forget about shift, but get a tilt adapter. For those shots you don't get, those ones that do come out are worth all the ones that didn't.

But thats me. Its vacation, you have the whole vacation to take pictures, missing the photo of that one squirrel jumping off the tree isn't going to kill you. However, lets say you go on that hike to the top of the mountain you've been thinking about the whole trip, you finally get to the top and everything is perfect, you will DEFINITELY regret not taking your MF gear. To come home, remember the moment and recreate the photo with the IQ and color rendition of MF isn't even faire to compare to 35mm.

As I said before, it really depends on you. Personally I would always prefer 1 perfect picture, instead of 2000 mediocre photos.

I know that my next vacation, I will be purchasing an SWA instead of a TC because its more beautiful and I love the balance

My 2 cents

 

[wentbackward]

Take the M8 or M9. Though some do use it handheld, alpa is very much a tripod camera.

This is not just advice, but I actually went through this. Eventually replaced my TC (& Max) by a view camera but still have my M9.

 

[wentbackward]

btw, I've printed images for professional photographers from all of the cameras you mention, none are inadequate.

 

[Chris Beards]

This is clearly a very special holiday so I would leave the big kit at home and do this:
Take the Leica with one lens only and document the whole trip from the day you wake up and travel to the airport to the day you return home.
Along the way collect objects that you feel mark moments on the trip, tickets, sea shells, bird feathers, the bill from that awful meal you had etc etc. The children could add to the collection as well.
When you get home print small jewel like images onto fine quality watercolour paper and create a hand made illustrated journal of your travels, non of that on demand online book nonsense (too slick) but a personal glue and paper job.
To this you could add the items both you and the children collected on the trip as well as the fantastic tales that went with them.
What you will then have is a valuable and beautiful record of that holiday which can live on your bookshelf, rather than lost on a hard drive or as a box of large prints under the bed.
No way am I a gear Luddite, I use both Phase P45+ and Mono 5x4 film in a darkroom for goodness sake but this is a great opportunity to simplify your options and involve the kids.
The files from the M8 will be more than adequate.
Have a great trip.

 

[OliverM]

Which family pictures do you like most between P45 and M8 ?

Suggestion : alpa + 35mm two days over three. 3rd day take the DF + 80 mm and vary the styles. Keep the camera you don't use in the safe box at your hotel.

I travel every year with my family. The pictures I bring back make my whole year after, as if the trip was longer. The best they are, the longer is our trip.
Also family is our most important "asset", and having 2 or 3 great pictures of my son is a sufficient motivation for the extra efforts.
All pictures I am instantly remembering when thinking about my trips were made with MF since I have one. So I stopped carrying a dslr. Good to have a compact camera for evenings and some videos.

 

[ced]

Get a P&S like Canon G1X and sort the real issue of gear change when you get back from holiday and devote more time with the family.