Then the more we should shoot film now! :wink:
Oh, definitely!
Then the more we should shoot film now! :wink:
I've jumped on the same wagon earlier this year having taken on a M9 with 35LuxFLE, 90APO & 21SEM +SF58. The SF58 was a good buy from B+H new at USD$649 vs S$1200 in SG. With USD$38, B+H did an overnight delivery to my hotel while I was in States last month,...service was great and I saved S$300!
I also managed to successfully bid a Elmarit 135mm with Goggles in flawless cosmetic condition from e-bay 3 months back @ USD$472. I plan to get a used M8 utilizing the 1.33 crop factor to turn the Elmarit 135mm into a f2.8 180mm lens (cheaper than buying a new Leica glass) to supliment my M9 w. 21mm to 90mm coverage.
The Elmarit 135mm is difficult to focus but once spot on,...the results are as good as my cron 90 APO. So by sending to Leica to optimize the lens and camera can hopefully improve focusing.
Waah seh suddenly so many people selling their digital bodies...
I also managed to successfully bid a Elmarit 135mm with Goggles in flawless cosmetic condition from e-bay 3 months back @ USD$472. I plan to get a used M8 utilizing the 1.33 crop factor to turn the Elmarit 135mm into a f2.8 180mm lens (cheaper than buying a new Leica glass) to supliment my M9 w. 21mm to 90mm coverage.
yah... i seen B&S lots of M9 and M9p... cos M10 coming out?
SF58 is a metz flash with a Leica dot. Got TTL capability
Film is here to stay. There will always be a niche supply. I agree with you developing labs will close eventually, someday film users will all DIY (i am already doing that).
prices will not increase as much as you imagine due to OEM manufacturers eg Arista. In any event, film is not about "machine gun mentality" like digital. Film makes me think and be selective. So its not a volume game like digital.
The other good thing about film is that all the new ASPH and APO lenses are unnecessary.
Ok i better stop talking abt film wait i kenna OT
Either that or a lot of people bought for SGD8k+ in HK before realizing that the M9/M9P is not easy to shoot and that lenses are insanely expensive compared to Nikon (and even Hasselblad!)
There are plenty of Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses which are a lot more affordable and are pretty damn good. Who honestly needs an ultra sharp lens as sharp as the 50mm Summicron APO?
Hi sillbeers,
Unless you need a second M camera, there is no need to buy a M8 to achieve a 180mm FOV with the 135mm lens. You already got a M8 within your M9, if this is your intention. A 135mm lens is a 135mm lens; changing body with crop sensor will not turn a 135mm lens into any other focal length than it actually is. The magnification of the image at the sensor plane is identical for this lens on either the M8 or the M9. Due to the crop factor, the M8 sensor simply capture and record a reduced image size as compared to the M9, thus the FOV of the image so recorded is less than that as recorded by the M9 sensor, giving the false impression that the 135mm lens suddenly becomes a 180mm lens, as in this case the reduced FOV of the recorded image is close to that of a 180mm lens on the FF M9 camera. Only the FOV is different, magnification at sensor plane is identical.
Just shoot with your Elmarit 135mm with your M9, and during post processing, crop the picture by the respective factor to achieve your desire FOV and save on a M8, even if it is used, it still cost a couple of thousands. A larger sensor is always much more flexible than a crop one and since these lenses are designed for 35mm FF cameras, using a crop sensor, is under-utilizing an expensive lens when you already got a FF sensor camera with you. Why pay more to under-utilize when you can achieve the same with what you already got?
Ho ho, a fellow 135 Elmarit Goggles user! I have some coming from a Leica dealer in the UK, should arrive early next week (I hope!) - focusing is supposed to be a lot easier on the M9 than with the 90, and the bokeh is supposed to be even better than the 90 cron. We shall see!
What's an SF58? Am thinking of getting a 21/3.4 Elmarit, but not sure if the rear flange will be able to clear the M9 shutter
New2digital,
You certainly have a good point made! Now I should consider if a used M8 would make sense for me to have a digital M permanently mounted to my goggled 135mm Elmarit! My other consideration is such that kind of a bitch to carry, mount/dismount a goggled lens especially when a handgrip is attached (useful for a heavy lens on a M body).
SF58 is a metz flash with a Leica dot. Got TTL capability
Film is here to stay. There will always be a niche supply. I agree with you developing labs will close eventually, someday film users will all DIY (i am already doing that).
prices will not increase as much as you imagine due to OEM manufacturers eg Arista. In any event, film is not about "machine gun mentality" like digital. Film makes me think and be selective. So its not a volume game like digital.
The other good thing about film is that all the new ASPH and APO lenses are unnecessary.
Ok i better stop talking abt film wait i kenna OT
Waah seh suddenly so many people selling their digital bodies...
Well, if you have a need for a second camera, for flexibility or whatever reason, then a second camera it is. Since you have only just "jumped" onto the M9/rangefinder(?), maybe you should give yourself a little more time with the camera and lenses before jumping onto another M body. With the pending M10 release, who knows, maybe another M9 may be a better bet (price-wise) for you as the price of the M9 is likely to be affected by this M10 release, well initially anyway, due to the initial euphoria the camera is likely to generate. I too just got my M9 in September last year, however, rangefinder is not new to me since I had used the M3 for many years and still holding on to it. Long telephoto on rangefinders is not for me as focusing gets touchy with rangefinders, even with goggles. I'll rather do the long lens with SLR, well unless the M10 change all that. We'll just have to wait and see.
ghoonk,
The 21mm Super Elmar is a newly designed lens after the M9 was produced. It replaced the 21mm 2.8 Elmarit which I wanted badly but was won over by all the good reviews on the new lens. No issue with using with M9. Sharp lens edge to edge. Very useful for landscape and architecture shots. It is suprising that I use it more often than my summilux 35 FLE especially during travel.
The Summicron 90 APO is much user friendly on the M9 than the 135mm Elmarit and itself is a wonderful fast lens. I guess one factor is the razor thin dov (which gives a nice bokeh at f2.8) and the other factor I suspect is the focusing is slightly off with the lens protruding slightly outwards when mounted on digital Ms compared to film Ms (or that the goggles on my lens just requires adjustment). I say so as I notice that my lens focusing bazzle is just a shade before infinity when I focus on objects beyond 200m with the image in the VF spot-on. When pic taken, image is off focused when enlarged to 100% crop.
Like ghoonk,s experience, the 135mm elmarit with goggle is out of focus when mounted on my m9. However the same problem did not happen to me when I mount it onto my M8. Why? Puzzles me!
I'll spend more time using my M8 w. my 135mm Elmarit to figure out how good is the lens. I suppose a 1.4x eyepiece will help magnify the VF for easier focusing.
The goggles should help with magnification. Maybe 1.25x magnifier may help, but the 1.4 is overkill. The 135 is driving me nuts, hope I can get this working! GRRR