Author: Richard

Having a trip into town with a camera on my shoulder means I’ll always be looking out for potential street shots.  This wall looked interesting and it was not long before someone walked past.

With Photokina only a couple of months a way now lots of new rumours are starting to appear, from a Nikon D820 to a new Leica.

This latest Leica rumour of a new camera is also includes the some battery specs and it seems we are looking at a new Leica T.  I have hopes that this will be a mini Leica SL with a DX format sensor, that would be exciting.

I had a play with the Leica T at the 2015 NEC photography show in Birmingham and was quite impressed.  I am still looking for a camera to replace my little Nikon V1, and while Panasonic and Olympus have come closest, a mini SL would be idea, taking my M glass as well.

Nikon have released a new portrait lens.  The 135 DC with its selective focus has been well liked and we now have the 105 f/1.4 which will be a nice treat for the minimalistic depth of field fanatics out there (and yes I am one myself).

I have always thought the 135mm a little to long, but then I tend to use my 70-200 mm f/2.8 Nikkor zoom.  Nikkor have now brought out the 105 DC but I already have the 105 mm micro so did not want to duplicate my focal lengths.

I have always had a hankering the the 85mm f/1.4 but it never seems to get good reviews so have been waiting for it to be replaced.  I have also been saving for a Leica 90mm f/2 for my Leica M to use for portraits, and at the moment I am thinking of moving totally to Leica for the majority of my work and just keeping the Nikon and long glass for wildlife.

Well we are now on holiday in Wales.  I have packed light, so just a Leica Rangefinder and a iPad for me.  Though for a change we have not gone to Wales on the motorcycle but in the car, as we are taking #TimmyOnTour so look out for the hashtag on our twitter feed.

I have heard on the grape vine and on Leica Rumours website that we should see a flurry of Leica announcements this week.  There are rumours of a new camera, hopefully a Leica X model or T model replacement, so far we only know its code number 8854.  The more substantial rumours point to new firmware for the current Leica cameras, at least the Q, SL and M could be getting additional features and bug fixes.

• Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH
• Leica Summicron-M 28mm f/2 ASPH
• Leica Elmarit-M 28mm f/2.8 ASPH

As I posted in January, Leica have been updating their lens.  From the improved hood design to also making the lens design more digital friendly.

I have seen a few posts this last couple of weeks claiming that the new lens have more resolution and so Leica must be planning a major megapixel upgrade with the next M series camera.

While I would expect to see an increase from the current 24 MP sensor, I do not think we will see a very big jump and the lens that these are replacing are certainly no slouches on the resolution front.

The new lens are sharper in the corners but thats less the lens and more to do with the way the new lens present the light rays to the sensor.  Digital sensors like the light to come perpendicular to the sensor, and traditionally M glass does not present the light in that way on the edges of the frame, thus especially on none M cameras like Sony A7’s and Leica’s own SL, you do see softer corners, while these new lens look sharper.