Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2016/03/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Wonderful!! I think you nailed it. Close-ups, wide views, and everything sharp and interesting. They were lucky to have you! Tina On Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 4:01 AM, Jeff Moore <jbmmllug at jbm.org> wrote: > I've used the annual WFMU Fundraising Marathon as an excuse to rent a Leica > SL (and its enormous 24-90mm zoom) for a bit over a week, to cover the > goings-on and see how the camera and I get along. > > The exercise is still in progress, but some observations: > > - This thing is *quick*. I like lots of things about mirrorless cameras, > but every single one I've tried before the SL has been prone to enough > viewing and taking lag that I was never sure about getting a picture of > what I saw happening when I saw it happening. This disappears as an issue > for me with the SL. No viewfinder blackout or freeze while recording a > frame, either. This is the first time this technology has truly seemed > ready for prime time to me. > > - Quick and quiet and quick followup shots are available as soon as I > want them. > > - The user interface and menu structure are initially completely > mysterious (except for the shutter button and zoom ring). If I owned this > I'd spend time poring over the manual and presumably it would reveal its > mysteries, but since I have limited time I'm trying to just pick it up and > use it (with occasional directed searches of a PDF of the manual). This > thing's pretty weird; but with a little bit of learning I can do enough to > take pictures, and the pictures are coming out well. > > - The only available lens is monstrously large - it looks like a bazooka > and feels like a coffee can - and that's even without maintaining a > constant f/2.8 throughout its range. But it's good - really good. The > pictures are looking great, autofocus is fast and usually accurate, > stabilization improves handholding significantly without fuss. f/2.8 is > useful at 24mm, the increased depth of field from the non-optional stopping > down probably doesn't hurt as the lens goes longer; and with good AF and > electrically automatically steady finder brightness and stabilization, some > of the annoyances associated with a variable-aperture zoom seem to > dissipate. I wouldn't want a lens which was ever any slower than f/4.0, > though. > > - I tried some M and R lenses Just Because. Using them is more work than > just cruising along with the autofocus zoom, and the keeper rate dropped, > but they're usable. To get critical focus with f/1.4 lenses, I had to use > finder magnification rather than depend on the focus peaking display. > > Photos I've taken of the Marathon (so far all with the SL) are accumulating > here: > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbm0/albums/72157665752167155 > > Technical problems are likely to be on me, not on the camera/lens. Much of > this was in terrible light, and the camera was sometimes auto-ISOing into > some pretty science-fictiony territory, and doing so without calling much > attention to itself (all those details available from the Flickr metadata > display). > > The vast majority of these were taken with the huge 24-90/2.8-4 lens which > is the entire delivered lens system so far. It's monstrous, but very very > good. > > A few have been taken with various M and R lenses I'm bolting on the SL > just to see how they work in that context. We all like for subjects' > eyeballs to be in focus, don't we? Here's the zoom: > > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbm0/25572385300/in/album-72157665752167155/ > > ...and here's the 80mm Summilux-R (on stacked adapters, because the R-to-SL > adapter isn't available yet): > > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/jbm0/25778017651/in/album-72157665752167155/ > > So... I rented these partly because I don't expect to be able to afford to > buy them anytime soon. > > If I could afford them, would I buy them? I'd be sorely tempted. I don't > usually like zooms, but I kept using this one and liking the results. I > hate how big the lens is. I find the camera's size pretty comfortable in > my largeish hands (and it would be ridiculous paired with that lens if it > were significantly smaller). I really like the camera's finder and speed > and quiet. I'll be taking more pictures through the weekend and dropping > them into the same Flickr album above. > > Oh, and as for what this whole event I'm documenting is about - it's the > once-a-year on-air fundraiser for the world's finest radio station. You > should all listen in (now, because the Marathon is actually a lot of fun > and there are fabulous giveaways, and later because things will be back to > normal) and definitely donate. Because expertly human-curated music is > necessary to the hungry ear and mind. > > https://wfmu.org/ > > -your pal Jeff > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > -- Tina Manley www.tinamanley.com tina-manley.artistwebsites.com http://www.alamy.com/stock-photography/3B49552F-90A0-4D0A-A11D-2175C937AA91/Tina+Manley.html