Playing with Cameras

As I mentioned in the Munich post, Ann and I had a sort of mini-agenda for our free days in Munich.  It involved not only doing a bit of photography, but swinging by as many camera shops as we could (well, could tolerate).  While we failed miserably in our efforts to find Ann a Fuji x100v, we did get her a new small camera backpack and of course I wound up with the Q2MR.  

If you’ve cruised through the “More” section of the website (really, you should), you’ll see under the “Our Gear” page, links to my gear and Ann’s gear.  And there you will find the “Lust List” (Ann’s is called “My Dream List,” she’s a bit classier than I am).  The reason for the pocket full of blank SD cards was that we were going to try as many of the cameras that we could find from that list, pop a chip in and take a few photographs for us to examine when we get home.  As is so often the case, some things worked out like you expect (read: hope for), others don’t, and sometimes you get a real surprise.  That’s exactly how it went.

Tops on our “see what one is really like” list was to try and compare the images made by the Fujifilm GFX 100s to the GFX 50s mark II.  In that respect, we were only partially successful.  Calumet Photographic Munich had a GFX 100s, which both of us got to handle and play with a bit.  Since it’s a Fujifilm camera, everything on it made sense (despite its slightly different button configuration) and using it felt natural (despite its size).  I even went outside and took a couple of photos with it (on one of the chips of course!)

Now the Fujifilm GFX line is technically a “medium format” camera system, with a sensor that is measurably larger than a full-frame sensor (which is measurably larger than the APS-C sensors in our Fuji cameras). Consequently, the camera and lenses are substantially larger than what we’re used to and we were hoping to at least get a feel for any qualitative differences between the two sensor sizes to include things like dynamic range and tonal transitions.  We also wanted to see how the GFX cameras (both the 100s and the 50s II use the same body - just different sensors) felt in the hand and if they seemed a bit unwieldy.  The GFX 100s body was large, but not too terribly so.  

One obvious advantages of the larger sensor is that you can pack more megapixels in it without losing image quality.  A lot more.  There are, of course, other factors come into play as to why one might want a larger sensor, like it’s easier to design excellent lenses for larger sensors (but at a cost of weight and $).  Long story short, that medium format size sensor is excellent for landscape photography and we wanted to get a feel for what they might be like.  

As one might suggest, the 100 in the GFX 100s stands for 100 megapixels.  Ann’s X-T3 has a 26 mp sensor (my X-Pro 2 is 24 mp).  As you can tell from the image below, 100 megapixels is a lot of megapixels.  

Oh, I should let you know, the photograph above is a crop of the first image of the post.  Just how much of a crop, well, here’s a screen shot of the crop and the whole image. 

So the fact that you can make out the individual tree branches in the trees at the end of the street (in the second, cropped, photograph) tells us that the sensor would have no problem resolving leaves on trees that are a bit closer to the camera.  Let’s just say that we were both suitably impressed.  Too bad we didn’t have an opportunity to compare it with the 50 megapixel GFX 50s II.  

We inquired about renting the camera and a lens for the next day (we’d visited Calumet after we returned from Bimobil), hoping to actually take it to a park or something to make some images we’d normally take with the camera.  Unfortunately, since we hadn’t rented from them before, we would have had to put an 80% cost of camera and lens deposit.  We said no thank you.

Another disappointment was that neither Calumet nor Sauter photo (another big camera shop we visited) had the Hasselblad X1D II, which has the same 50 mp sensor as the GFX 50s II.  So I didn’t get to try out one of the other cameras on my Lust List.  Even more painful was the sign up in Calumet Munich announcing that there would be a Phase One “Hands-on” day at the store!  The painful part is that it’s on May 13th.  Of course, I won’t be there, which means yet another missed opportunity to check out another camera on my lust list - perhaps the ultimate camera on that list.  As I said, not everything about our camera searches went the way we’d hoped.

You know already that the next day found us at, among other places, the Leica store.  Munich has two of them!  We only had to visit one of the two shops because the first had everything I could have wanted.  To include a very helpful sales person - Marc.  Perhaps it was because I’d just purchased a Q2MR, or maybe it’s just the Leica Store approach to selling gear, but when I asked if I could put a chip into a Leica M11 and take a couple of shots with it he said, “Why don’t you let me charge the battery for your Q2 and you take the M11 and go out and make some photographs.  Come back in an hour or two?”  I was dumbfounded.  But I’m not stupid so I said, “Sure!”

Marc set me up with an M11, asked me which lens I wanted (I opted for the 35mm Summicron) and when he asked, “Anything else?” I asked for the Visoflex 2 (an electronic viewfinder that attaches to the camera).  And that’s what I walked out with.

Now, the M11 is a rangefinder camera, which means you focus via a window on the side of the camera and align two squares where you want to focus.  You don’t focus through the lens.  My X-Pro 2 is a rangefinder “style” camera, that gives you framing like a rangefinder (there are lines in the glass opening that approximate the frame of the image and allows you to see outside what is being photographed).  The M11 is a true rangefinder and I wanted to see if I could focus with the finder.  The Visoflex, was for when I wanted to be more precise, particular with my framing, and which is how I’d probably use it when photographing landscapes (that’s why I asked for it).

It didn’t take me long to get the hang of rangefinder focusing, and I can see why so many people love that approach to photographing

The camera itself is fairly small, as are the lenses because they’re totally manual focus (no need to make room inside the lens for an electronic motor(s)). The M11 is not really any larger than our Fujifilm APSC sensor cameras even though the M11 is a full-frame camera. The weight, however, is a different story. Like the Q2MR, the M11 and its lenses are built like, and weigh like, tanks.

The Leica M-series is a camera system that really slows you down and makes you think about what it is you want to photograph.

And the fact that you can see outside the subject framing to time things that might be entering the frame is . . . well, that’s why I prefer the Fuji X-Pro cameras over the X-T cameras.  It really allows you to . . . (man am I going to get it from Ann) wait for the decisive moment for the photograph.  No wonder Henri Cartier-Bresson used the Leica M-series his entire life.  Though, it goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) I am no Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Leica uses a whole different sensor than most other camera systems (most use Sony sensors) and Leica has its own color science. Leica lenses are also legendary both in terms of quality and color rendition.  Consequently, the images made by the M11 have a very natural/neutral color that accurately portrays the world. Even if it’s a strangely colorful store-front window.

The M11 just recently came out and and includes some features that can appeal to a larger photography audience.  It uses a 60 megapixel sensor that can be also photographed at 36 megapixels or 18 megapixels full frame.  That ability to pixel bin is something Ann and I hope Fuji introduces into the GFX system for those times when you don’t need huge file sizes. That would definitely make a 100 mp camera more attractive. The M11 also allows for the electronic viewfinder Visoflex 2 to be added onto the hot shoe so it becomes, in effect, a mirrorless camera (albeit a manual focus mirrorless).

We photographed for a bit, had lunch at the Franziskaner Brauhaus and photographed some more.  It was a pleasure learning a new camera that forced me to concentrate more in order to make an image. 

I think I’m honest in saying that if I ever win Powerball, I’m pretty darned sure I’ll get an M11 system, just to use when walking around in the streets.

We returned to the Leica store and then asked if I could record some images with the Leica SL2.  Marc asked which one (the SL2s has a 24mp sensor, the SL2 a 47mp).  I went with the SL2 and a 24mm-90mm zoom.  And we were out the door again.

The SL2 is a mirrorless camera much like the Fujifilm X-T1/2/3 cameras we’ve used and as is the GFX 100s (though the SL2, like the M11, has a full-frame sensor).  Consequently, operating the SL2 required a much more gentle learning curve.

Like the M11 (and the Q2 [M, MR]), the SL2 is built like a tank.  Unlike the M11, the size is quite hefty - more like the GFX 100s than the M11.  It has autofocus lenses and, unlike the M11, no aperture ring, so I had to learn how to dial in the aperture using a scroll wheel. My instinct had me using the wrong wheel to begin with - oops! 

The SL2 is weather-sealed, so I wasn’t worried about getting it wet (neither was Marc about the M11 [which technically isn’t weather sealed] when we mentioned the rain). 

We spent a lot less time out with the SL2 than we did with the M11, though I am suitably impressed with the image quality.

Basically, I think if I’m going to go for a bigger, heavier camera, I’ll be looking to skip a format size and go to the Fuji GFX-sized sensor.  But the SL2 is a lovely camera in the hand and seems better proportioned than the GFX.  Makes me wonder what the Hasselblad feels like.  

So there you have it.  In addition to buying a new camera for me (and ordering one for Ann), I got to test out (to varying degrees) three cameras.  All three cameras have their attributes and the image files coming from each of them seem very good (read: excellent).  I must say, that was my kind of a shopping day!

Now to guess that winning Powerball number.