Because the M240 and the 35 is a new toy, I've been shooting it pretty much exclusively since Dec 31. I was a bit excited to find a good opportunity to exercise the old Q muscle yesterday as I needed all the angle I could get.
During the short session, Q, the camera of my life, never missed focus and was a joy to operate, but now I noticed all the obvious digital elements of the camera. The autofocus motor makes noise, the image stabilizer too, and the focus racks a bit (albeit very quickly). The EVF, while sharp and brilliant, can suddenly look like a tiny TV inside the camera. Instead of looking through the camera, I'm literally staring at the camera!
Also what I noticed recently is that while I thought I preferred the EVF for its WYSIWYG exposure preview, the files I take tend to be underexposed by a healthy bit. Screen brightness and all that. With M I rely on numbers and the dead-simple interface and I start to get very good results, get the hang of it.
Q's S-AF is swift and dead-on accurate. But now the experience feels less because every focusing action means this little focus ramp-up. And how it always starts the ramp-up from scratch even if I just shot the exact same subject half a second earlier. With M-P and its large buffer I can shoot freely, take extra safety shots (so far never needed) and it's always a big pleasant bonus whenever I lift the camera on my eye and the focus is already precisely where I wanted to focus. (This can be disorienting as I would suspect if I'm covering the second window with my finger.)
The dials on Q suddenly feel cheap and why does the shutter speed only go full stops, and why the exp comp has to be turned two notches in order for the camera to register one 1/3 stop of a change. All things that I know well by heart from my 18 months of exclusive Q shooting, but now I'm suddenly reminded of these little things.
But the files are so good, the focus never misses, no matter how hastily I shoot. And I never blow any pixel information without intention. I'm suddenly reminded how I used to regard the Olympus PEN-F, when I added it to my camera family. It felt (and feels) very much a "digital camera" with very computerized interface. But the files that I get after a shoot are still very much beautiful and agreeable.
The end result should matter, no?
Leica M has the curse on me. What next, if I should escalate? A film M?
This helps with my GAS somewhat, making myself focus and maybe put further effort into the M system as is wise whenever one gets a new system. Go in with all you got!
During the short session, Q, the camera of my life, never missed focus and was a joy to operate, but now I noticed all the obvious digital elements of the camera. The autofocus motor makes noise, the image stabilizer too, and the focus racks a bit (albeit very quickly). The EVF, while sharp and brilliant, can suddenly look like a tiny TV inside the camera. Instead of looking through the camera, I'm literally staring at the camera!
Also what I noticed recently is that while I thought I preferred the EVF for its WYSIWYG exposure preview, the files I take tend to be underexposed by a healthy bit. Screen brightness and all that. With M I rely on numbers and the dead-simple interface and I start to get very good results, get the hang of it.
Q's S-AF is swift and dead-on accurate. But now the experience feels less because every focusing action means this little focus ramp-up. And how it always starts the ramp-up from scratch even if I just shot the exact same subject half a second earlier. With M-P and its large buffer I can shoot freely, take extra safety shots (so far never needed) and it's always a big pleasant bonus whenever I lift the camera on my eye and the focus is already precisely where I wanted to focus. (This can be disorienting as I would suspect if I'm covering the second window with my finger.)
The dials on Q suddenly feel cheap and why does the shutter speed only go full stops, and why the exp comp has to be turned two notches in order for the camera to register one 1/3 stop of a change. All things that I know well by heart from my 18 months of exclusive Q shooting, but now I'm suddenly reminded of these little things.
But the files are so good, the focus never misses, no matter how hastily I shoot. And I never blow any pixel information without intention. I'm suddenly reminded how I used to regard the Olympus PEN-F, when I added it to my camera family. It felt (and feels) very much a "digital camera" with very computerized interface. But the files that I get after a shoot are still very much beautiful and agreeable.
The end result should matter, no?
Leica M has the curse on me. What next, if I should escalate? A film M?
This helps with my GAS somewhat, making myself focus and maybe put further effort into the M system as is wise whenever one gets a new system. Go in with all you got!
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