Right. I got it. The Leica M9 with a summicron 1:2/50 mm lens. Don't ask me how much it cost. Suffice to say, my bank account is empty. Do I care? Not really, I held the leica and completely lost my head. Now I know why car lovers love the Porche. The inside of the Porche is pretty basic but that doesn't matter. It's the style of the car and engine under it that matters. That's the leica M9. It's not an easy camera to use. I spent the week reading the manual and researching how to focus. I read up about zone focusing and tried it. A 100 hundred shots and all of them blurry. Yuck. I have no concept of distance really. I now have to learn and estimate with reasonable accuracy if my subject is 5 feet, 10 feet or 20 feet away. The Leica makes you more deliberative. You have think about what you are doing. No auto focus so it's hard work. I have read and seen the work of street photographers who use the Leica and I am in awe. How do they do it? Beautiful images taken so very fast. So far all my attempts at street photography with the camera suck. The LCD screen is basic. You can view the image but you can't tell if the image is sharp or not. One of the websites I reviewed advised that it was best if images are not deleted in camera. Pull them up in lightroom just to be sure.
White Balance is unpredictable sometimes. I tried all the settings but kept getting it wrong. Need to research more. In any case, they are all 18 MP dng files, I can fix WB in Lightroom.
Oh and let's not forget the prime lens. Beautiful amazing glass. But you can't zoom, you have zoom with your feet, back and forth. I am too much in the habit of using my zoom lens. I forget to move. Then I realize what I am doing and move. By then, sometime, the moment is gone. Very frustrating but I will get over it. I mean, c'mon, it' s a Leica. The pros so out weigh the cons.
The first day I chased my cat around the yard. Every single image was blurry. I tried zone focusing and was out of focus every single shot. Then for a brief moment, she stopped long enough for me to manually focus.
Straight out of the camera. Just look at the level of detail. I really didn't know what I could do more with it. It was an overcast day so the light wasn't good. Even then, just look at the level of detail. It just pops, feels almost 3 dimensional. I am not sure you can see clearly in the post but on my screen it's beautiful.
Then the same day just before sunset I went down to the local grocery store. Beautiful warm light was awash everywhere and I took this image.
Just lovely.
Day 2 and 3 continue to be an adventure in exploring. I shot everything I could indoors and outdoors. Low light was a pain, I haven't figured out the camera well enough to figure out how to manage that. Indoor lighting? Well as Zack Arias often says. Meh!
Florescent light was a pain; White balance going all crazy again. There's that strange green tinge that I can't get rid off.
But the image still pops..
What about outside in the light on a very overcast cloudy day??
Now that's beautiful. Absolutely minimal post processing, a bit on the exposure because I got over excited and forgot to open wide. But it still pops.
I am rambling I know. I feel delirious. I own a Leica. I don't how to use it well but I own a Leica and I'll get there.
"Mama's got a brand new toy and she sure is having fun with it."
Fahd (aka my son)