Every year millions flock to comic stores all over the country for an event called Free Comic Day. During this event parents and kids of all ages can get offerings from their favorite publishers for free. Special comics produced just for this event. Sometimes leading to major events, and sometimes a self-contained story just for this issue. And every year there are fans who go all out, dressing as Batman or the Ghostbusters and driving from shop to shop taking photos with kids and sometimes even the parents. This year while photographing the event for Worlds Greatest Comics in Westerville Ohio, I brought along the Leica CL and the L-Mount 23mm ƒ2 Summicron lens. FCD is a packed event, where comic shops are full, wall to wall of people of all sizes and ages. This was a great high energy event to test out the compact APS-C system from Leica….
Tag: Leica SL
THE LEICA SL: THE BEST WORST MIRRORLESS CAMERA EVER?
In the mirrorless camera world smaller, lighter and packed with buttons is the trend. But with their pro end mirrorless camera, the SL, Leica decided to provide fewer buttons and go bigger and heavier than any other mirrorless camera in the 35mm format on the market. Milled from a solid block of aluminum, featuring as few buttons as possible with no labeling on any of them and an awkward power switch, the Leica SL seems to kick to the curb any feature commonplace or desired in a mirrorless system, with one exception. The EVF. DSLR users flock to Sony or Fuji for a smaller lighter system that is packed with features but doesn’t force them to make huge compromises in quality.
Some users regret the move and some users are quite happy, but one thing they all agree on is lighter is better and they love the EVF. I even made the jump from DSLR to mirrorless in part to cut weight. So why do I now find myself using the absolute heaviest mirrorless 35mm format option out there? Because of the EVF.
More on that in a moment, lets first take a broader look at the Leica SL…
Continue reading “THE LEICA SL: THE BEST WORST MIRRORLESS CAMERA EVER?”
LEICA UNVEILS THE NEW TL2… AND IT’S NOT WHAT ANYONE ASKED FOR. (First Published 2017/07/11)
Leica has unveiled their rumored update to the TL, the TL2. The heavens opened, light shined down through the clouds from those very same heavens upon this wondrous marvel from Germany. Well… Not really. Actually, it’s quite underwhelming. Although the TL2 features upgraded specs such as USB 3.0, 20 frames per sec, 4k video, the new 24 MP APS-C sensor and the Maestro II processor, the TL2 is still lacking the single most desired and requested feature in the TL… A built-in EVF.
NIKON LTM 35mm ƒ3.5 & 28mm ƒ3.5
The Nikon LTM glass, classic by any standard. But how good have they held up? This is what I set out to discover as I collected good examples of these lenses and got to work. Testing for the 35mm and 28mm was conducted on the Leica M9-Monochrome and Leica SL with Leica adaptors. I was let down by the 50/f1.4, finding it to be very soft wide open and what’s the point in having fast glass if you can’t shoot it wide open?
Get ready, there’s a lot of images in this one! Continue reading “NIKON LTM 35mm ƒ3.5 & 28mm ƒ3.5”
IN THE FOOTHILLS – LEICA-SL VARIO-ELMARIT 24-90mm ƒ2.8-4
THE PATAGONIA DOWN SWEATER VEST (First Published 2017/06/16)
The Outdoor industry is always updating and changing it’s product lines to keep up with the changes made in technology and demands made by professional athletes. These days there is also the green factor. But these changes aren’t always in the best interest of the user. Some features are a industry standard for a reason, but in the interest of “better” design features will end up dropped or modified.
Here’s part 1 of a 3 part series examining the new line of down products from Patagonia. We’re going to look at Patagonia’s new designs fit, durability, if they meet industry standards, and of course report on how warm they are. Lets get to it! Continue reading “THE PATAGONIA DOWN SWEATER VEST (First Published 2017/06/16)”
SUNSET IN THE FOOTHILLS OF APPALACHIA – LEICA M SUMMARON 35mm ƒ35
Continue reading “SUNSET IN THE FOOTHILLS OF APPALACHIA – LEICA M SUMMARON 35mm ƒ35”
GREEN – LEICA M-SUMMILUX 50mm ƒ1.4 ASPH
IMPROVED AF TRACKING, MANUAL LENS ISO LIMIT REMOVED & MORE IN LEICA SL UPDATE 3.0
Just some quick thoughts on the recently released SL 3.0 update. First, it went smoothly and seems to be running well. I’ve waited for this update before formally reviewing the SL and just glancing over the improvements, it seems that any issues I have had with the OS have been resolved. The biggest of which was the shutter speed limitations on manual lenses.
I shoot the Leica SL not just with the 24-90mm zoom, but with M glass. The limitations on shutter speed meant that I had to throttle down the ISO and in some cases use a ND filter to shoot with a fast aperture in bright light. One of the wonderful things about the SL is it’s extremely fast electronic shutter. That combined with the ISO speed of 50 means you should’ve been able to shoot very fast lenses like the 50/f1.4, 35/f1.4 or even the 50/f.95 in bright midday light wide open. However the SL limited your shutter speed with manual lens, making this feet impossible. Thankfully these shutter limits on manual limits are gone! Continue reading “IMPROVED AF TRACKING, MANUAL LENS ISO LIMIT REMOVED & MORE IN LEICA SL UPDATE 3.0”
NIKON LTM 50mm ƒF1.4
The 50mm is still and always has been a staple of mine. Over 20+ years, I’ve never been without a decently fast 50mm. To say I was excited getting my hands on a mint Nikon LTM 50mm f1.4 without any flaws or dust, fungus etc in the glass, well excited would be an understatement. Continue reading “NIKON LTM 50mm ƒF1.4”