So what do we carry with us? Fixed lens or zoom? One camera or several?

fahim mohammed said:

Unfair. You said 2 lenses.

If one lens, then no brainer for me. The 50mm. I could do most of my photography with just the 50.

Click to expand...

Yes, the 50 is very practical. I use the 50mm Sunmilux 1.4 on my Sony A7R instead of the Ricoh GR with 28mm or 21mm.

fahim mohammed said:

If I felt the need to cover up the red dot, for whatever reason, there are options available from Leica without the red dot.

Click to expand...

Full frame?

fahim mohammed said:

I need to put the Df to some rigorous use. Want to see what the sensor can do for me.

Click to expand...

Absolutely! What's the buzz about this much celebrated Nikon camera?

You've got my attention!

Asher

Yes FF. From the M9-P to the weird new nomenclatures for Ms. And the MM. Leica has unfortunately become more of a luxury brand than the camera/lens maker of old. But one has to compete..and Leica is a small company.

The Df is now what a year, year and a half or more old. But the sensor is the same Sony sensor used in their top pro model.

I got it sometime back, but have had various issues with it. Even had to go back to Japan for radical replacement of the AF module.

I have not used it extensively enough. It is very very good in low light ( i do not mean the ludicrous A7S thing ).

But I need to put it through its paces. To get a feel for it.

I was having breakfast outside in my garden as your posts came in. I was testing my new prescription glasses using the cron 75 as a focussing tool. Barely 15 minutes ago...100% crops


lets apply a bit of contrast and a smidgen of sharpening..


Just some fallen leaves now...


I think my new glasses do okay with focussing..so far anyway.

p.s. aperture f2 and f2.8...else dof would cover focus point errors with my new specs.

Hi, Fahim,

fahim mohammed said:

Yes FF. From the M9-P to the weird new nomenclatures for Ms. And the MM. Leica has unfortunately become more of a luxury brand than the camera/lens maker of old. But one has to compete..and Leica is a small company.

The Df is now what a year, year and a half or more old. But the sensor is the same Sony sensor used in their top pro model.

I got it sometime back, but have had various issues with it. Even had to go back to Japan for radical replacement of the AF module.

I have not used it extensively enough. It is very very good in low light ( i do not mean the ludicrous A7S thing ).

But I need to put it through its paces. To get a feel for it.

I was having breakfast outside in my garden as your posts came in. I was testing my new prescription glasses using the cron 75 as a focussing tool. Barely 15 minutes ago...100% crops

lets apply a bit of contrast and a smidgen of sharpening..

Just some fallen leaves now...

I think my new glasses do okay with focussing..so far anyway.

p.s. aperture f2 and f2.8...else dof would cover focus point errors with my new specs.

Click to expand...

I've lost track of what this was shot with (and of course during every other month, we're not supposed to care about that), but these are lovely shots.

Congratulations to your optician.

Best regards,

Doug

Thanks Doug.

I have an upcoming trip, hopefully. I mentioned the planned itinerary on another forum and the camera/s I intend to take with me..if the plan materializes.

The when is to be finalized

The route has been planned. Chasing the autumn foliage 2015 in the USA.

Home to JFK.

I want a break in-between. My wife does not. But she wants to fly with me. Non-stop is a long flight for me. So the flight/s are still being discussed.

A few days in the Catskills, a trip to Boston, back to Princeton and I am on the road.
Minus my wife. She goes onto O'Hare and then to Canada. I am going South.
To savor the autumn foliage. And the Southern hospitality.

From NJ across into PA. Onto VA to hit the Skyline drive. Moving down South across VA along the Blue Ridge Pathway. I know very touristy. But that is where to see the foliage.
Then into South NC. Cross into TN and the Smokey Mountains. I might go further South. Depends on the dates we arrive and the Foliage Network patterns across the South.

Return via I-81N. Meet up with the wife. A few romantic days in NY. Visit that camera place on ninth avenue. See what the Zeiss Milvus is all about.

JFK to home.

My brother-in-law and I shall share the driving. With him doing most of the work. I am visiting, want to take pictures, enjoy the trip..not spend my time driving.

I am taking tripods, this time around. And CP and ND filters. And cable release. Why?
To impress the impressionable, of course.

Hi, Fahim,

fahim mohammed said:

Thanks Doug.

I have an upcoming trip, hopefully. I mentioned the planned itinerary on another forum and the camera/s I intend to take with me..if the plan materializes.

The when is to be finalized

The route has been planned. Chasing the autumn foliage 2015 in the USA.

Home to JFK.

I want a break in-between. My wife does not. But she wants to fly with me. Non-stop is a long flight for me. So the flight/s are still being discussed.

A few days in the Catskills, a trip to Boston, back to Princeton and I am on the road.
Minus my wife. She goes onto O'Hare and then to Canada. I am going South.
To savor the autumn foliage. And the Southern hospitality.

From NJ across into PA. Onto VA to hit the Skyline drive. Moving down South across VA along the Blue Ridge Pathway. I know very touristy. But that is where to see the foliage.
Then into South NC. Cross into TN and the Smokey Mountains. I might go further South. Depends on the dates we arrive and the Foliage Network patterns across the South.

Return via I-81N. Meet up with the wife. A few romantic days in NY. Visit that camera place on ninth avenue. See what the Zeiss Milvus is all about.

JFK to home.

My brother-in-law and I shall share the driving. With him doing most of the work. I am visiting, want to take pictures, enjoy the trip..not spend my time driving.

I am taking tripods, this time around. And CP and ND filters. And cable release. Why?
To impress the impressionable, of course.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a wonderful adventure.

As you know, there is wondrous scenery (of a rather different kind) in New Mexico.

Best regards,

Doug

Thank you Doug for that suggestion.

I am sure it is wondrous. This trip, time is limited.
So much to see, so little time.

Besides Antartica, my wife and I have visited most of the countries on our to visit list. Remaining are
Of less importance in our visit schedule.

But the USA, needed much more time. And if things go according to plan, we intend to make repeated
Visits in 2016 to the USA. We are being trying to include north-south, and east-west. I can spend slightly more than 2 weeks ( my limit to being away from my home ) because of family and friends across the USA.

As always, finance and other obligations have to permit us to see much more of the USA.

This remains the only place where I have not photographed extensively. It is time to set this right for myself.

Such a great country.

Hi, Fahim,

fahim mohammed said:

Thank you Doug for that suggestion.

I am sure it is wondrous. This trip, time is limited.
So much to see, so little time.

Besides Antartica, my wife and I have visited most of the countries on our to visit list. Remaining are
Of less importance in our visit schedule.

But the USA, needed much more time. And if things go according to plan, we intend to make repeated
Visits in 2016 to the USA. We are being trying to include north-south, and east-west. I can spend slightly more than 2 weeks ( my limit to being away from my home ) because of family and friends across the USA.

As always, finance and other obligations have to permit us to see much more of the USA.

This remains the only place where I have not photographed extensively. It is time to set this right for myself.

Click to expand...

I am so glad you will be doing that.

Such a great country.

Click to expand...

It is, in so many ways.

If, as your broader planning progresses, a visit through the American Southwest comes into view, Carla and I would be so thrilled to have you visit us in Alamogordo, an excellent node from which to encounter the beauty of New Mexico and nearby states.

Of course, as you well know, the sheer size of this country is stunning, and thus a challenge of itself. The State of New Mexico is larger than Poland, and our county (not quite the largest in New Mexico) is larger than the state of Connecticut (yet with a population of only about 62,000). The population of our entire state is only about 2 M, or about the population of Dallas, Texas and just a couple of its its suburbs. We are only about a 20 minute drive from an elevation of almost 9000 ft MSL (here at the house the elevation is "only" 4575 ft MSL).

Best regards,

Doug

Digital picture illustrating the 8x10 view camera in the field. The complete outfit includes a big backpack with space to contain the camera, a couple of lenses, five film holders, focussing cloth, and light meter. The tripod is carried in hand or on the shoulder. All up it comes to about 22kg so climbing at altitude can be tiring. My best approach is to venture out early, walk slowly, and don't stop until the top, and then photograph during the downhill journey back to the car.

Doug.

It would be an honor for us to meet with Carla and yourself. Let's see how things work out.

Thanks.

Doug Kerr said:

Hi, Fahim,



I am so glad you will be doing that.



It is, in so many ways.

If, as your broader planning progresses, a visit through the American Southwest comes into view, Carla and I would be so thrilled to have you visit us in Alamogordo, an excellent node from which to encounter the beauty of New Mexico and nearby states.

Of course, as you well know, the sheer size of this country is stunning, and thus a challenge of itself. The State of New Mexico is larger than Poland, and our county (not quite the largest in New Mexico) is larger than the state of Connecticut (yet with a population of only about 62,000). The population of our entire state is only about 2 M, or about the population of Dallas, Texas and just a couple of its its suburbs. We are only about a 20 minute drive from an elevation of almost 9000 ft MSL (here at the house the elevation is "only" 4575 ft MSL).

Best regards,

Doug

Click to expand...

Asher Kelman said:

Just around town or visiting a new place, most of us take with some camera! (...)

So what do you carry with you around town?

Click to expand...

When you said "around town", I suppose that you want to know what type of camera we carry with us when we are not explicitly on a photoshoot.

30 years ago, I carried a Minox 35, when I did not want the weight of my Olympus SLR. 15 years ago, I carried a Ricoh GR1. I liked that camera very much.

Jerome,

I guess that's that GR is a film camera! It's legendary!

Asher

Yes, the Ricoh GR1 used 35mm film. It had a 28mm f/2.8 lens, aperture priority, AF, a built-in flash, which I rarely used, and a way to imprint the date right on the picture, which I never used. It was conveniently small and light. Its main drawback was the price of the small CR-2 batteries.

I think, for me and me alone, the best camera to carry or use is the camera that I enjoy carrying and that I enjoy to use.

For others and equally ( maybe more ) valid, might /would be the camera/s that they have/enjoy/fit for purpose/can afford/is at hand/ gives the best output/personal choice. Maybe they prefer gadgets with a lens. Their money, their choice. And a perfect choice for them.

Leaving the worn out cliche about it is the photog and not the camera, to me the performance of a camera along with an attached lens is the more appropriate combination to consider as to what I carry.

Here then are some issues that determines, for me, the camera system I would/carry...

1. Hapstics should suit me. While some enjoy carrying LF cameras up and down the hill..I prefer something lighter. If a car/4x4 can go..so can I.

2. Minimilist operational controls and/or menu system/s I have been used to. Familiar dials in positions I am accustomed to for over 30 years. I do not need or want to read camera manuals. I do not need or care for video, currently.

3. Rugged enough ( as tested by me over the years ) to withstand the rigors of travel that I encounter.

4. Decent low light capability. Upto iso 1200 is more tha enough for me. Higher iso, at very acceptable picture quality, is always welcome..a convenience and nothing more. I do not shoot black cats in a coal mine.

5. Focus accuracy. Critical for me. I do not shoot multiple images..if so, very rarely. Focus where I want it. Not where the camera decides. Where I decide.

6. Excellent print quality up to A2 size. I don't print larger than this, ever.

7. Service and support, in case of equipment failures.

8. The best camera system I can afford.

9. The equipment in between my ears should function and concentrate on making an image..not on figuring the how/where/why of camera/lens settings. This is even before I raise the camera to take a shot. The camera system should assisst me perform this function intuitively.

Here are some shots taken haphazardly this morning. All are 100% crops. Monochrome jpegs. Except for one no sharpening has been applied. Simple contrast applied ( in some cases ) via the Levels slider.


Try auto focusing with this sort of background.

Sharp pictures, as the man said, are just sharp pictures. But here is one. 100%, jpeg, direct from the camera..


Photos taken with a now discontinued and 9 year old camera. 10MP.

This system more than meets all my requirements.

fahim mohammed said:

Try auto focusing with this sort of background.

Click to expand...

Just a quick note: I am not trying to tell you that AF is better or trying to convince you of changing cameras, but it is not difficult to AF with this sort of background. Just saying.

But I understand that you prefer a rangefinder and that is fine with me.

Thanks for sharing, Fahim.

I find your ideas of being able to reflexly adjust the camera and not needing to look for the manual fundamental! Also, you getting the best and most reliable one can afford to be the most efficient use of one's time.

As to AF, with 10 X live view in the Sony A7R, I rarely use AF any more!!

However, where being unnoticed is important, with the 28mm fixed lens Ricoh GR, (and its 21mm add on lens), AF allows for fluid, (and fabulously non intrusive), photography especially in close quarters.

Asher

That is an easy image to focus Jerome.

Read the accompanying manuals of cameras with AF. And where it will not work.

Not me saying it. Just the camera maker's manuals.

All my manuals for from D7 to Df ( with the pro models not included ) have always warned me of where and when AF shall not work properly or consistently.

Even my Fuji XT1, and X100s manuals say the same thing. Some manuals even give examples of tigers behind a cage with multiple hori and vert bars.

Maybe they got it wrong.

If AF works fine for you and you think it can decide for where you want it to focus,Who am I to dispute it.

Enjoy.

Jerome Marot said:

Just a quick note: I am not trying to tell you that AF is better or trying to convince you of changing cameras, but it is not difficult to AF with this sort of background. Just saying.

But I understand that you prefer a rangefinder and that is fine with me.

(Taken with AF)​

Click to expand...

I am climbing ladders to get hold of all the AF camera manuals I have retained.

If anyone would like me to post pictures of relevant AF page/s and where AF might not work, and/or AF focusing advice from the manufacturer's is included...I shall gladly do so.

But I do not want to waste paper and my time if I am not asked for such.

Waste of my time and Eco-conservation issues you know.

Asher, I have no doubt the cameras you and everyone else uses are superlative.

Talking about focus, a 28mm set at f/5.6 or f/8...one wouldn't be worrying to much about focus at say from 3 or 5 meters would they?

Take a blac/white thin sewing thread. Hang it vertically 80 or so cms randomly and vertically in front of a board which contains white and black vertical stripes across its full width.

Take a 50mm lens ( to keep it simple ). Set the aperture to f/1.4

Stand back 10/15 meters or so. Focus on the single piece of sewing thread hanging in front of the board.

Set your lens on AF. Focus on the single piece of string. See what you get. This is a very simple example. Now try it at different distances front the string. Or try focusing on a particular point on a fine mesh.

p.s In Jerome's example, why would one need to even focus on that tree/plant! with the bg so far behind.

Asher Kelman said:

Thanks for sharing, Fahim.

I find your ideas of being able to reflexly adjust the camera and not needing to look for the manual fundamental! Also, you getting the best and most reliable one can afford to be the most efficient use of one's time.

As to AF, with 10 X live view in the Sony A7R, I rarely use AF any more!!

However, where being unnoticed is important, with the 28mm fixed lens Ricoh GR, (and its 21mm add on lens), AF allows for fluid, (and fabulously non intrusive), photography especially in close quarters.

Asher

Click to expand...

To reply to the question as it has been refined somewhere in the above avalanche of insight, "the camera I carry when I am not explicitly on a photo shoot":

I normally have in my (left front) pants pocket a Canon G16, with an easily-removable piece of transparent tape holding the mode dial at "P" so it does not get inadvertently reset while I put the machine in my pocket and take it out. (The pocket also normally contains my pass-case-c​um-wallet and my change purse, the latter also carrying emergency medical items.)

The discussion above of what auto-focus can and cannot do and how well is fascinating and important, an extraordinary broad topic that itself can warrant an extensive further discussion.

My last photographic rangefinder suffered from a demounting of the internal mirror and other difficulties and I discarded it. (I do not mean a rangefinder camera, which I always call "rangefinder camera".)

But I still have some rangefinder (film) cameras as well.

Best regards,

Doug

Hi, Fahim,

fahim mohammed said:

Try auto focusing with this sort of background.

Click to expand...

My Canon EOS 40D (properly administered) would certainly have no problem with that situation.

But it would probably be more problematical with my Canon G16.

Best regards,

Doug

Doug, I am sure you could very well expound on the theory behind focussing. And interesting it would be too.

Being a simple user, what do I find to have consistency in focusing. I recently tried my D700, and my Df
on a suject. Actually the head of 2 twigs separated by a small distance from each other. Behind were leaves of high contrast and stong delineated patterns.

None of Nikons would achieve focus consistently at the point I wanted. They are perfectly adjusted cameras.

My Fujis too. Even when I had minimized the focussing rectangle to be just as big as the twig head/s.

My rangefinder had no such issues. At the widest aperture. with 50mm and longer lenses.

And the manuals do mention when AF might not focus accurately or focus inconsistently. No such issues with a rangefinder. A faulty rangefinder is a different problem. I have the latest ( a few years back ) Zeiss
rangefinder..film only. Its viewfinder is superb. Its rangefinder has gone awol..in the vertical plane.

That's all I want to say.

Hi, Fahim,

fahim mohammed said:

My rangefinder had no such issues. At the widest aperture. with 50mm and longer lenses.

Click to expand...

I assume you are speaking of a rangefinder camera. It would be interesting to know which particular Zeiss model you refer to. (Maybe you said above and I missed it.)

Of course, a "good" integrated rangefinder (especially with a large magnification in the rangefinder/viewfinder) can be superb in dealing with "challenging" focus situations.

Best regards,

Doug

Hi Doug.

Yes. Rangefinder cameras. Not Gun turrets

At the moment the only 35mm FF rangefinder cameras with a digital sensor are made by Leica.

I might be wrong. I have not searched for others or used them.

I use a magnifier with the Leica. But find I can do without the magnifier with my new specs...well in most situations.

Cheers.

p.s. I am sure the manuals included with af cameras/lenses do mention a few ' challenging ' conditions for the af.

Hi, Fahim,

fahim mohammed said:

Hi Doug.

Yes. Rangefinder cameras. Not Gun turrets

Click to expand...

Well, in fact, there were at one time very small rangefinders intended for use in connection with cameras (some had feet to fit into the "accessory shoe"). As I recently mentioned, I only recently discarded the last of those I still had.)

At the moment the only 35mm FF rangefinder cameras with a digital sensor are made by Leica.

Click to expand...

Ah, I did not know that.

I use a magnifier with the Leica. But find I can do without the magnifier with my new specs...well in most situations.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a nice optical improvement!

Thanks.

Best regards,

Doug

fahim mohammed said:

That is an easy image to focus Jerome.

Read the accompanying manuals of cameras with AF. And where it will not work.

Not me saying it. Just the camera maker's manuals.

All my manuals for from D7 to Df ( with the pro models not included ) have always warned me of where and when AF shall not work properly or consistently.

Even my Fuji XT1, and X100s manuals say the same thing. Some manuals even give examples of tigers behind a cage with multiple hori and vert bars.

Maybe they got it wrong.

Click to expand...

Now I understand what you are referring to. It was not obvious from your pictures.

Indeed you are right. The manuals for cameras using phase AF warn for repetitive subjects. In practice, however, the subject needs to be so repetitive that only test charts qualify. The same limitation applies to range finders working by coincidence like the one in the Leica cameras, by the way. If your subject is only vertical black lines on a white background, you will find out that there may be more than one position where the two images match in the viewfinder of your Leica. The reasons why phase AF does not work with repetitive lines is the same, actually: the two systems operate on the same principles internally.

If AF works fine for you and you think it can decide for where you want it to focus, who am I to dispute it.

Click to expand...

You can challenge my posts and I will change my minds when proven wrong. We may both learn something out of it.

Of course, we can learn from each other and everyone else.

Concidence focusing is different than split image focusing.

In any case..I still maintain that for challenging focusing, manual focusing is superior to af for consistent result.

Generally for manual focusing, i use my Leica/s. I use my Nikons too, with zf lenses.
The occasions I have missed critical focus has always been my fault. Not the cameras, like so many times in AF.

You can disagree with me. I can only tell you my experience.

In my studio and for macros and much else of my street photography, I rely on MF or zone focus, but that latter forces me to use smaller apertures!

AF is for me just for my GR, getting shallow DOF and surreptitious shooting!

Asher

fahim mohammed said:

Of course, we can learn from each other and everyone else.

Concidence focusing is different than split image focusing.

In any case..I still maintain that for challenging focusing, manual focusing is superior to af for consistent result.

Generally for manual focusing, i use my Leica/s. I use my Nikons too, with zf lenses.
The occasions I have missed critical focus has always been my fault. Not the cameras, like so many times in AF.

You can disagree with me. I can only tell you my experience.

Click to expand...

It seems that you believe that I am trying to convince you that AF is superior to MF. I am not. I am old enough to know how to focus manually, and I still do when it is more convenient.

Let me talk about my experience with manual focussing. I said earlier in this thread that I used a Minox 35 camera. That camera has no range finder, one has to guess at the distance and adjust the lens accordingly. I can still do that.

When I was a bit younger, I actually had a range finder camera, I think it was this one, a Zorki-10. I was poor and it was cheap. I learned to appreciate the way to adjust focus by letting superposing images in the center of the finder. It was more convenient than the Minox. Later on, I got a SLR, from Olympus. I found the ground glass liberating and the split image in the middle just as convenient as the rangefinder on the Zorki.

In 1985, I bought a Minolta 9000 to replace by stolen Olympus. I did not buy it because it had autofocus, but because I believed that it was a future proof choice. Minolta had just changed the mount on their camera and, in 1985, it was not clear whether other manufacturers would not also change their mount. Canon did, Nikon and Pentax did not. Olympus disappeared from the SLR market. I still have the 9000 and it is still working perfectly.

With the 9000, I learned to appreciate the autofocus. But it did not forget how to focus manually. It is just an added ability. All the AF cameras I use can still be focussed manually.

I respect your experience with both AF and MF cameras.

It is just that I believe that for ' challenging' and ' critical' focusing accuracy and consistency nothing beats manual focus..and in my case manual focus with a rangefinder camera.