In Perspective, Fun: Now we have the new Nikon and Lenses..

[fahim mohammed]

Nikon is rumored to be introducing some new camera/s; some new lenses. Leica has its M9 and the new
f/1.4 lenses.

I see on some forums the crowd at the gates ' can't wait to get my hands on that '. ' my prayers have been answered..thank you xxxxx. ' ; ' should I switch over from xxxxxxxxx to xxxxxxxxxx? '...

I cannot afford to switch, or buy anything new. Do I really need to?

I too have NAS, GAS , CAS, ZAS etc. Then I look at the framed photos around my home. Photos from
8 year old cameras, 4 year old lenses. They still looked good to me. Some from cameras from the 60s. Some film, mostly digital.

Showed Ayesha a portrait I had taken with my more than 8 year old lens and 10 year old cam. She loved it.

Here is one with a camera introduced in 2006, and a lens even much older than that. Megapixels to laugh at nowadays. Crappy ISO, Cludges to make it work. Has very minimal value now. But does look fine on the wall...for me and Ayesha at least.

I think I shall keep it till it cannot be repaired economically. What about you?

 

[Asher Kelman]

Nikon is rumored to be introducing some new camera/s; some new lenses. Leica has its M9 and the new
f/1.4 lenses.

I see on some forums the crowd at the gates ' can't wait to get my hands on that '. ' my prayers have been answered..thank you xxxxx. ' ; ' should I switch over from xxxxxxxxx to xxxxxxxxxx? '...

I cannot afford to switch, or buy anything new. Do I really need to?

Fahim,

I think the folk here are the most likely to resist the rush to get every new camera and lens they offer. It's rare that our creativity is limited by the 50 year old film camera or 4 year old digital versions.

Showed Ayesha a portrait I had taken with my more than 8 year old lens and 10 year old cam. She loved it.

Of course, your the man!!!!

Here is one with a camera introduced in 2006, and a lens even much older than that. Megapixels to laugh at nowadays. Crappy ISO, Cludges to make it work. Has very minimal value now. But does look fine on the wall...for me and Ayesha at least.I think I shall keep it till it cannot be repaired economically. What about you?

So let us in to the secret. What camera and lens did you use for this splendid sight!

If I hadn't given them away, I'd be using any of the Canon G series or S series digicams. For most stuff we don't need more. The vast majority of pictures are to help our memories of wonderful vistas like this. I'm always amazed at my willingness to again and again put my life into the hands of the hidden cable machine engine motorists: the imponderable idea of being suspended by a cable under the control of a machine while all this excess of beauty is revealed. A cold wind in one's face and an occasional shaking and banging as the chair left goes over a high point or turns, brings us back to reality that we are really daredevils trying to see like the birds and angels do.

Any camera is O.K. for this! This one is excellent.

What's better is someone waiting for you at the other end!

Asher

 

[fahim mohammed]

Good Morning Asher....

Leica M8 + Leica Summicron 75mm f/2 APO.

I was waiting for the cable car to go down to get some lunch!!!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Good Morning Asher....

Leica M8 + Leica Summicron 75mm f/2 APO.

I was waiting for the cable car to go down to get some lunch!!!

My goodness. Fahim, I didn't guess that! I thought this was film!

You do go first class! Would I be upset with an 8 year old Lamborghini? Try me! Would I lust for one fresh from the showrooms? Nah! I'm sentimental. If the old low slung open yellow car arrives, I'll keep it!

Asher

 

[Sandrine Bascouert]

This sharpness is HUGE, I don't know what to think, it's a bit out of this world...
A nice old camera indeed...

I remember having argument about lenses with young rookies who thought that you need to be f/1.2 to be good (regardless of the lens construction of course, I'm talking about rookies )
Look at that bloody Schneider in front of you! it's f/5.6! they say: It cannot be good, at least according to the photo salesman - They always trusted the photo salesman, more if the shop looked "professional", more and more if the prices are higher than everywhere else.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Sandrine, your graciousness is only exceeded by your kindness madam.

I, too, am seduced by the lure of the new nano something or the other f 1.4s. But I have learnt the
value of taking a deep breadth and going out and taking some photographs with what I have.

Thank you for looking in.

This sharpness is HUGE, I don't know what to think, it's a bit out of this world...
A nice old camera indeed...

I remember having argument about lenses with young rookies who thought that you need to be f/1.2 to be good (regardless of the lens construction of course, I'm talking about rookies )
Look at that bloody Schneider in front of you! it's f/5.6! they say: It cannot be good, at least according to the photo salesman - They always trusted the photo salesman, more if the shop looked "professional", more and more if the prices are higher than everywhere else.

 

[Sandrine Bascouert]

Graciousness, uh, you mustn't know me

You know what, I can't afford a Leica or something of the sort...But once I had a Nikon FA with a 85mm f/2.8 (alongside with the standard 50mm) and I can recognize the pix I made with that lens from all in my hard drive, not because I recall the moment but because of this softness mixed with no lack of details (it's hard to explain, it's a bit antinomic) the perfect portrait lens. It was not a high end one, as for a summicron, but I still preferred mine, But I had to sell it to buy a f801s (the box was nice at the time but no more money for an acceptable lens) then sell the lot to buy an Canon G5 to go digital...But I still have a tear in my eye when I think at my FA with the 85mm, I would like to have a digital camera with the same weight (really), the same metal body, the same NOISE from the shutter, the same lens.

But my best match was an Hasselblad with a 80mm, and a Tri-X 320 exposed as a 160 iso (developped as a 160) for a portrait I made of my sister, where I wanted an extreme smoothness.
That with any picture made with a Fuji GX680I (or II or II). Just for the pleasure of the medium format with tilting and shifting (not sure about the term), this was full of useful innovations, I don't know why it didn't hit the market...

http://www.dannyburk.com/fuji_gx680iii.htm


I want the same with a digital back, But will be happy enough to own a D5000 .

PS I was also a great fan of Contax!

 

[Dawid Loubser]

Leica M8 + Leica Summicron 75mm f/2 APO.

Fahim,

Despite the well-documented and debated shortcomings of the Leica M8, it offers a truly excellent 10MP at low ISO, which is all that is needed for any decent-sized print, and certainly for electronic presentation ten-fold! Not to mention a sublimely-engineered construction and design.

The next bit of information you provided really upset me though, in the context of your hinting of wanting to "upgrade" to something better - The Leica 75mm APO ASPH.

From what I have seen, this is one of the most magnificent lenses ever produced, one of the very very few lenses which produces what could be called a flawless rendering at f/2.0 already! Have you any idea what you have there? The only lenses from other manufacturers that can be called flawless at f/2.0 are usually superteles (Canon 200mm f/2, Zuiko 250mm f/2).

Your summicron 75mm is a lens for the ages. It approaches all theoretical limits of what is possible with glass, regardless of cost or effort. Your grandchildren could happily use this lens, and I doubt much better will be available at the time.

Current Leica lenses (as well as the Zeiss ZM lenses) are the culmination of a number of distinct generations of lens design, and all experts agree that current designs from Zeiss and Leica have reached the point where performance can theoretically not be meaningfully improved, especially whilst still keeping the lenses small.

Please keep in mind that the f/1.4 designs from Leica are, in practice, usually worse than the f/2.0 and f/2.8 designs from Leica and (especially) Zeiss, if you don't need the speed. f/2.0 really hits a sweet spot in my opinion, for general photography.

I've posted this elsewhere, but the primary excitement in my photographic journey currently involves shooting an ISO 6 film through a 50-year-old f/5.6 lens. And it's fabulous - I can't wait to develop or print my newer shots.

 

[fahim mohammed]

David, Well said. Well said sir.

Please insert [ clap ]. [ clap ].

Required reading. Your post.

Regards.

 

[Wendy Thurman]

Ramadan Kareem, my friend-

I've not posted in quite some time but all is well. The old things should not be disregarded or replaced without a second thought. Improvements do not, or so I think, render a familiar and trusted tool obsolete.

These days I think a lot about photography- not about its place in my life but my place in the art and practice of the genre. What do I have to say? What have I seen that is new or different? Do I have a personal perspective?

It's really not about the equipment.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Ramadan Kareem, my friend-

I've not posted in quite some time but all is well. The old things should not be disregarded or replaced without a second thought. Improvements do not, or so I think, render a familiar and trusted tool obsolete.

These days I think a lot about photography- not about its place in my life but my place in the art and practice of the genre. What do I have to say? What have I seen that is new or different? Do I have a personal perspective?

It's really not about the equipment.

Alay-na wa alay-ki ya Wendy.