Native Leica TL LensWhen the Leica T was released, a unibody DX cropped sensor compact, it was quite a revelation, it showed Leica were into pushing technology forward, and while it had issues (slow and no built in viewfinder), as each new firmware was released it got better and better.
The Leica T with its T mount did interest people because the mount was huge, yet the sensor in the T was just DX, people hoped that this meant a full frame version was coming. Well that arrived with the Leica SL and the T mount was renamed the L mount, with the lens for the T re-branded TL.
The T has now become officially discontinued but this week saw the release of a new TL lens, a DX crop 60mm macro. I think its safe to say that the T system will continue for now in both DX and full frame forms, with a new T coming soon and the SL its mirrorsless big brother giving people the choice between 35mm crop DX and full frame autofocus cameras and lens and the equipment size and depth of field options this gives.
I was reading Thom Hogan website and his thoughts on mirrorless cameras. His view is that Sony, Olympus and Canon are now the big players and that Nikon are dropping fast.
While I find the Nikon Series 1 system interesting its never going to compete against the other mirrorless options, its because of that I have always considered it my ‘compact’ camera and less of a real mirrorless solution. When I want small and mirrorless I always grab my Leica M and its in this vain that I think Sony are likely to be top of the mirrorless pile.
The original Nikon V1 was overpriced (I got a good deal and all the lens thrown in), but had some nice features. It was the first fast focusing mirrorless camera with dedicated photo sites on the sensor to improve focus performance, and had a built in viewfinder, which I found actually better then a Sony Nex-7 at the time.
The ergonomics of the camera were terrible but I could forgive that for the small nature of the system, good quality images and excellent viewfinder.
I kept hoping for the issues to be fixed but it never did really get much better, certainly not good enough for me to spend any more cash on.
The V2 never really improved things, but the V3 did make a number of improvements but they lost the built in viewfinder which was what stopped me from buying it.
Thom thinks the Series 1 system is now dead and with Nikons recently announced large sensor compacts offering far more its really hard to justify spending any more cash on them.
Coffee and Cameras – Nikon V1 10mm f/2.8
If I was advising someone now what mirrorless system to buy into, I would say get microfourthirds. The Olympus and Panasonics are hard to beat and offer a good compromise on size and performance.
What will I get next? I keep thinking about a Panasonic GX8 or Olympus OM10, but having a selection of Leica M glass (and M glass does work well on microfourthirds), I keep wondering what Leica will replace the Leica T with. If it ends up like a mini SL with viewfinder I would be extremely tempted.
This is an old shot from back in February. I am currently going through my back catalogue and making sure the keywords and metadata is correct before getting finally filed away.
I recently changed my filing system so its a good excuse to check my older photographs.
I try and go for a walk round Lincoln at least once or twice a week and a trip up to the cathedral and Bailgate region at least once every couple of months.
If any of you were up there this August bank holiday you would have had quite a treat as it was the annual steam punk festival.
We decided to take it easy this bank holiday and just potter around the village making chutney and jam from the glut of marrows we currently have in the garden and frequent long walks with Timmy together with the odd trip to the village pub to check out this weeks guest beer.
I was reading a long term review the other day of one of the current state of the art high megapixel full frame mirrorless cameras. The article linked to another photographer who as a bit of fun had published a few old shots from fifteen years ago taken on medium format film.
Fuji Velvia Film Scanned & processed in LR4
He had recently taken again the same shots with his new mirrorless camera and there was not a lot in it, but the new digital state of the art mirrorless did just pip it.
We are now in a new golden age of photography where kit costing a fraction of the tens of thousands of pounds professional photographers used years ago, can produce better images.
Even better, those of us who like using old classic film cameras like the Ebony, and Hasselblad V (see the first two shots above, third shot is cropped sensor mirrorless), can pick them up a fraction of the cost as people get rid of them to upgrade to digital.
Canon announced the new 5D today, it looks a capable camera, but i’ll stick with my Nikon D800 for now.
The rumour sites were also full of news from Lecia. Two cameras from Leica have appeared on the website of the Indonesian communications agency. A type 8853 and 3656, so it looks like at least two cameras are coming soon and its likely they both have built in wifi and/or built in GPS.
I suspect one is the Leica T’s replacement and I am hoping the other is either the Leica M or a new X model.
Tuesday saw me in the city again so at lunch time I had a stroll with my camera. The sun was a little contrasty but I took a few snaps in uphill Lincoln.
Once we hit August it seems almost every weekend there is something going on here in Lincoln. This weekend just gone was a 1940’s weekend, so lots of people dressed up, vintage vehicles and vintage stalls selling anything from 1940 – 1970.
I am sure that at some point someone is even going to start selling stuff from the 1980’s as ‘vintage’.
We parked up on the outskirts of the city and then had a very enjoyable walk with Timmy the Greyhound along the tow path of the canal.
Once in the city we had a look round the stalls before finally heading to the best coffee shop in Lincoln, Coffee Aroma.
I occasionally post film fridays, where I have taken a film photograph, generally from either my Ebony 5 x 4, Hasselblad 6 x 6 or my Leica M4.
This Friday its a bit of a cheat. Well more then just a single cheat, a) its posted on a Sunday when I started to feel better from my Tummy Bug. And b) its not film but is from a Leica and the majority of my film posts are from my Leica.
On Tuesday lunchtime just before I started to feel unwell I took a trip to one of my favourite coffee shops in Lincoln, while drinking my coffee I took a few snaps from the coffee shop window.
This is no fine art and shows lack of contrast in the main subject area, plus insufficient shutter speed but then again the greats such as Robert Frank in the book ‘The Americans’ and the decisive moments of ‘Henri Cartier-Bresson’ never let exposure and camera shake get in the way of a great image.
While I would not call this a great image (far from it), remember try to capture the image first and have the technical features of the image come second.
Well the date on this blog post is Thursday but actually I am typing this up on the Sunday night as I have had a Tummy bug for the last few days.
I came down with it and a terrible headache on Tuesday, about 15:00, so I finished up work and did not do much else that day. Then on Wednesday I attended a meeting with a client in the morning and headed off home.
Since then I have been working from home not wanting to give anyone else this bug.
Actually I find I often get a lot more done at home as there is less distractions but having internet based telephone it still means that project managers can get hold of you to discuss things.
So its going to be a quite few days until next week. Hopefully I am up to visiting Lincoln on Saturday or Sunday as its the 1940’s themed weekend.
