RE: [Leica] Digicam for a Leica photographer

["bdcolen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Peter - I'm been playing with an E20 - same as the E10 basically - since
August, when I got it as a loaner from Olympus (conflict disclosed :-)).

The E20 is a very professional camera in design and handling; well laid
out controls; quite intuitive; sturdy - has a really good feel to it and
is mostly metal; good sharp glass ED lens that goes from f2 to f 2.4 -
with a focal length spread of about 35-70, with an available 28 mm
adapter and a tele adapter. The iso goes from 80 to 320 - yes, the 320
top iso is a draw back. It can shoot raw, tiff, or various jpg files.
Oh, built-in, easy macro capability and full manual control - shutter
speed, f stop, focus - everything...and programmed meter, center
weighted or spot - plus programmed shooting, SP or AE or manual.

The shutter lag is pretty minimal on this one - I played around for a
bit with a Canon G3 and felt like I could make coffee while it decided
to take the photo; that is not at all the case with the E20. HOWEVER -
in low light the autofocus is sllllllllllloooooooooooooow. Painfully
slow; cripplingly slow. 

That said, for what the camera is - and as far as I'm concerned it's a
high-end P&S - it's fun to use, produces reasonable size files - up to
about 11 meg 16 bit color. I shot the snow stuff in my Leica gallery
folder with it, and I shot stuff with it last August for an assignment
for Newsday and it produced good results.

So there it is - good, not great. On balance I enjoy having it to
supplement my film cameras - I would NOT want to depend on it as my only
professional tool.

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of Peter
Klein
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 3:51 PM
To: leica-users-digest@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] Digicam for a Leica photographer


Since we're on the subject, I'd like to ask Tina and other Leica users
about their choice of digital camera to supplement their Leicas.  I've
concluded the same thing that others have about pro-level DSLRs--too
expensive and "in-progress" right now.  So it looks like a "prosumer" or
decent P&S camera might be best if I want something digital in the near
future.

I came up with the following criteria:

- - Image quality:  8x10s that I wouldn't be ashamed of.  5x7s I could
sell to a newspaper or magazine without apology.  I had thought that 4-5
megapixels would be necessary, but there seems some controversy here.

- - Decent quality at ISO 400, if possible, usable quality at 800.  I have
Neat Image, so I can deal with a *little* noise.  But if it looks like
Kodak 3200 at ISO 400, why bother?

- - Shutter delay: As little as possible.  At the very least, a way to
easily put the camera on constant autofocus so it is already focused
when I press the shutter, like the Contax G2.

- - Lens:  At least the equivalent of my 35-50-90 spread on the Leica.
f/2 at wide and normal, f/2.8 at the long end.

- - The manual controls we Leica types love should be easily accessible.
At least, the camera should be able to be quickly put in a manual
control mode and left there, as opposed to wading through six menus for
every shot.

- - LCD as big and real-world useful as possible.

- - Batteries:  able to recharge outside of camera with external charger.

- - A decent macro capability would be nice.

Bottom line:  A digicam where I wouldn't have to fight its
point-and-shoot nature every minute, with controls designed by a
photographer, not a microchip engineer.

Cameras I've read reviews of and drooled over a bit:

- - Digilux 1 (probably the most Leica-like out there?)
- - Olympus E10 (best bang for the buck?)
- - Sony DSC-F717 (kinda big and clunky-looking, but image quality and
manual control sound really good).

I have some experience with the Nikon Coolpix 990, which we have at my
workplace.  I really like its macro capability.  The rotatable LCD is
great. But for spontaneous, Leica-type photography, it's incredibly
awkward.

- --Peter Klein
Seattle, WA


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