The Pictures, first thoughts
My very first reactions were mild disappointment tempered by the memory of my first evening with an M8 - a salutary lesson in how not to judge a camera too quickly. That M8 turned out to be the best camera, all-in, that I have ever used, though it is also flawed in some ways.
So I decided to blame me and not the camera and I am still in that process of discernment, based on the fact that so very many extremely good photographers rate this setup so highly.
The initial disappointment was based around a sense that the kit lens is rather soft. To be honest, I have yet to work out if it is
a) Not a great lens or
b) Pretty good unless you're used to Leica M glass or
c) A well designed lens of which I have a poor example or
d) A fine piece of glass which I have yet to learn to use properly.
What was disappointing?
The corners.
Most of the shots I have taken, at most apertures up to and including F7.1, have been soft in the corners. This is outside of a lab and in poor weather and low light, it's hard to be specific about it but if I am charitable I'll say that it's to do with my need to adjust to the shallower DOF on this format.
Today I used a tripod and shot a patterned internal wall from 4 meters at F2.8 thru F16 and I would say that the corners were sub-par up to F5.6 at least. Now this might be due to a range of factors, and I do really need to rest it more rigorously, but my feeling is this: if a camera can't do relatively noise-free exposures at ISO 800 then it needs lenses that can do sharp corners at F2.8 because you're forced into wide apertures by the ISO and noise trade off.
Otherwise you have to crop until you reach the sharp bits of the image. Which means throwing away pixels (i.e. effective resolution) and this is exactly what you just paid a fortune for.
So my take on this is that I will give it more time and more shots but I am suspicious. I don't really want a large, heavy, expensive, slow camera that, with its supplied lens, has to be fed bright sunlight or flash to realize its potential. I hope to discover that my focus and DOF technique thus far has not yet adjusted. I hope not to discover that the kit lens is a 'kit lens' and that the sensor's demands are such that the kit lens was money badly spent.
The good news is, however, very good indeed.
When the wind is in the right direction, the sheer joy of the files is immense. There is detail beyond reason, subtle and marvelous tonality and great dynamic range.
Take this shot: ISO 50, 1/8th second on a tripod, F7.1
View attachment 9018
and if you click here
http://tashley1.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p1032031644.jpg
there's a larger JPEG that you can zoom into for some detail.
Or take this one, shot handheld at 1/40th second and F2.8 at ISO 400
View attachment 9027
click here
http://tashley1.zenfolio.com/img/v4/p753922652.jpg
for a full-res JPEG and look at the drop of water on the wireframe rack above the back wheel of the bike with the orange bag on the saddle.
SO: bad weather, low light and other engagements have stopped me from really scoping this kit out but so far, whatever the irritations, I am hooked.
I'll make some big prints when I get back to base in the next week or so, and then I'll really know for sure whether I have found the Grail! And I will report back here...
All feedback and responses gratefully received!
Tim