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The Digital Alternative |
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The Digital Alternative :
Early in my photographic life I started to get enamoured with
equipment. I collected all sort of lenses, filters by the shed load,
extension tubes and bellows units etc etc. Yep we have all been there.
The carrying case went from as shoulder bag to a back breaking
suitcase. Because again, like those others sucked into this game, I
believed that I, like the Boy Scout, should be prepared for anything.
My back gave in; even my wife stopped refusing to trail behind carrying
the huge tripod. So it was a case of rationalisation or divorce.
I carefully analysed what equipment I actually used. This little
exercise proved to be an eye opener and a marriage saver. A camera,
with 28mm, 35mm and 50 mm lenses seemed to be the only gear that I ever
used. No, not even the filters. In fact re the filters I have never
been an advocate of their use. No not even the always recommended U.V.
for protection. People pay vast sums for the very best optics then
stuff cheap and nasty bits of glass on them, doesn’t make sense to me.
So a small black leather shoulder case with the infamous Leica “Red
Blob” removed, held an M6TTL with a 28mm, my most used lens in place
and 35mm and 50mm lenses tucked safely into their compartments. A
couple of films, a packet of cigarettes and a box of matches in the
side pocket and I was equipped to carry out any photographic assignment.
The years rolled past and I gave up smoking. I also got fed up with
changing lenses but Leica, bless ‘em, brought out the answer to my
photographic prayers, the Tri-Elmar. Here was a Leica lens with Leica
performance with three selectable focal lengths. And would you believe
it, the three focal lengths of my choice 28/35 and 50mm. Alright it was
relatively slow, with a maximum aperture of f4 but even though I always
used FP4 rated at 200ASA I rarely had need of fast lenses. The thought
of one camera with three focal lengths became irresistible, so off to
the photographic shop clutching the plastic.
 Leica M6 TTL Tri Elmar
For about three years this combination fulfilled my photographic need
in every way. It was small, compact and worked beautifully. The lens
proved to have every bit of the performance that Leica prime lenses are
renowned for. And my wife could concentrate on retail therapy without
being lumbered carrying my surplus photographic gear.
But then the photographic bliss was shattered. Digital reared its head.
However Digital was clever, not the frontal assault, more a subtle
pincer movement. First use C41 film and get it developed and printed in
the supermarket with the 1 hour service. I discovered that flat bed
scanners were pretty good and could also be used to enlarge prints. If
I did that I could use colour negative film and convert to B/W if I
wanted to. Unfortunately to do all this required the acquisition of
editing software. Next I needed a printer and then I had to master all
this new technology.
Even so the prints were not as good as I wanted. So off I went to
stretch the plastic again and buy a Nikon Coolscan 1V scanner, which
was another whole operation to master. Then I discovered that scanning
was slow and totally boring so......why not go completely digital? Oh
dear.
Annie had a little Minolta F100 and the results were great but it
was so small that every time I picked it up I pressed about ten
buttons. So off again to the shop to buy a Canon G3, the results
weren’t a lot better but the swivel type LCD was great. The only thing
was after a while the wretched zoom lens drove me up the wall. The
electric motor which powered the zooming only had about three stages,
so it stopped where it though it would. Decision time again. Yes,
you’ve guessed, back to the shop and the purchase of a brand new Nikon
D100 with a 17mm-35mm zoom. Readers will already have worked out the
relevance of the choice of zoom taking the digital crop factor into
account.
The results at first were not so good. I surfed the net for weeks
reading all the reviews, trying to find out what I was doing wrong. The
instruction book was enough to drive the blessed Mother Teresa into the
nearest public house. Eventually the camera started to produce the
goods, but the images straight out of the camera required a lot of post
exposure processing. One problem seemed to be that in order to stop the
sensor from blowing highlights Nikon had programmed the camera to
underexpose all the time. The lens was superb; however one would expect
it to be as it was a Pro spec with a maximum aperture of f2.8. And
hereby lays the demise of the Nikon.
As I reported, the performance of the lens was great but so was its
size. The Nikon D100 isn’t the largest DSLR but for a person used to
using R/F Leicas it was big enough. But then add the lens and it was
just too big to hang from the shoulder without producing a severe list
to “Port”. So yes you’ve guessed it, prime lenses. Now I would need an
18mm a 24mm and a 35mm these would replace my range of lenses. Any of
these lenses would also make the Nikon quite small and easy to carry,
the other two lenses? Well if I bought Annie a new, slightly bigger
handbag........ “No way” was her answer. So if I bought a small
shoulder bag, but hang on we have been down this road before.
Anyway Leica came charging into the rescue yet again. I sometime wonder if they have my house bugged. The Leica Digilux D2.
 Leica D2
A digital camera which can be used exactly the same as my beloved
M, as a purely manual camera. The results are truly great straight out
of the camera. The lens, although a zoom, is marked at four equivalent
focal lengths 28mm, 35mm, 50mm and as a bonus 75mm and 90mm. It’s a
great camera. Yes it is not built to Leica standards but at print sizes
up to A3 it can certainly hold it’s own. No, in my opinion the Digilux
2 is not worth the extra over its Panasonic twin, the extra £3/400 for
the Red badge isn’t really cost effective but at the time of purchase I
didn’t know of the existence of the alternative. But the Digilux does
have one huge drawback, the “Electronic” viewfinder is absolutely
awful, it is truly dreadful. So... now the Epson begins to be a
tempting alternative, which is until Leica produce a digital M with a
full chip which accepts the Tri- Elmar.....and at an affordable price.
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