[LEICA] The Joys of an M

[nathan.wajsman at planet.nl (Nathan Wajsman)]

Jeffery,

You do not need to wade through 250 crap images if you don't shoot them 
in the first place...I find that I am shooting more or less the way I 
did with film. Yes, I do shoot perhaps 50% more images, but the increase 
is accounted for by a greater willingness to take a chance with marginal 
lighting or a different composition, not mindless firing of the shutter.

As regards weight, my Domke 803 is a lot lighter now than it was in my 
film days. The Canon 20D is heavier than the Leica, but instead of 
stuffing the extra pockets with 10-12 rolls of film I now just have an 
extra CF card and a spare battery. Since I do not chimp a lot (only if I 
am with other people and they want to have a look), and I never use 
flash, I get anywhere between 300-500 images per battery charge, 
depending on temperature.

And since buying the 20D, I have not missed a single shot due to writing 
RAW images. The camera has a buffer of 6 images, and writing to the card 
is very fast. With the Digilux 2 (which I have never owned but have 
tried extensively) this IS a real issue since the camera has a tiny 
buffer and writes very slowly.

Nathan

Jeffery Smith wrote:

> You've hit most of the points that have kept me filming instead of using
> digital...not having to carry 30 lbs, instant response, no black out. I
> also like the changing of batteries once a year (whether they need it or
> not). Although digital is convenient, I hate having to wade through 250
> semi-crap images to find the one keeper. And I really hate it when my
> decisive moment is postponed for 5-10 seconds while the RAW files are
> being written slowly to the card.
> 
> Jeffery Smith
> New Orleans, LA
> http://www.400tx.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Rob
> McClure
> Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 7:40 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [LEICA] The Joys of an M
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> For the last number of months I have been using digital almost 
> exclusively.  I sold my M6 and my M4-2 kit has been on display in a 
> glass case in our family room (please don't flame me for this, it is a 
> work of art).  On Tuesday of this week I grabbed my digital gear, all 
> 30 pounds of it, and trudged around the Murfield Memorial Golf 
> Tournament in Columbus, OH.  I got some nice shots of Tiger, Jack, 
> Vijay and the other pro golfers as they made their rounds, but much of 
> this success was due to shooting off a slew of image bursts and picking 
> the best shot later.  On Wednesday I returned to the tournament and 
> tired from lugging the digital, I opened the display case and grabbed 
> only the M4-2 and a couple of lenses.  What a refreshing change.  My 
> DSLR has a rather quick shutter response, but I forgot what its like to 
> have the instant response of a Leica M.  Also, the lack of shutter 
> black out let me follow the tee swings better and capture good shots 
> without blasting through lots of images.  The Leica also allowed for 
> some nice candids and got more than a few looks from the pro photogs 
> covering the event.
> 
> Will I switch back to the M for the bulk of my shooting in the future?  
> No, the M is back in its display case and I will continue to use the 
> digital most of the time due to the cost factor, versatility, etc., but 
> it is still nice to take an M for a drive!
> 
> Rob McClure
> Upper Sandusky, OH
> 
> 
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> 
> _______________________________________________
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> 
> 

-- 
Nathan Wajsman
Almere, The Netherlands

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