Peter, i look forward to hearing about how you arrived at your decision. Long live ccd!
No surprises Henry:
The A7S computer-as-camera ergonomics left me cold (the ergonomics of the M8/M-E are just about perfect — all that is missing is an ISO dial).
The CCD sensor at low ISO values is still superior to CMOS (though the A7S had the most CCD-like CMOS chip I’ve come across).
I continue to prefer optical viewfinders (EVF technology is progressing rapidly, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get over the seeing-the-world-through-a-TV experience of EVF).
Overall, I would much rather shoot with an M body.
However…
I enjoyed using the Sony. It’s definitely fun to use and it is also a formidable image-creating device, but it somehow doesn’t feel like a camera.
Perhaps my perceived shortcomings about it are more a reflection of my own shortcomings. Perhaps I don’t have the mental dexterity to review a checklist of menu settings when trying to photograph the “moment”.
—Peter.
Peter,
I am more interested in your pictures than your cameras, but while we are at it, may I ask a question?
Since i’ve discovered you, you have been using Leicas with great results, always came back to them, but seem to be continuously looking for something else. Why is that?
I’ve been using an MP for years and the only other camera I MAY be considering is an ME… Unless Leica surprises us with a new, improved ccd camera shortly, that is…
Anyway, keep making those great photos.
Regards,
M.
Looking for better is what led me to the Leica M8 from the Nikon D3. I always try to keep an open mind, and an open eye for what may be out there.
Having said that, I would be happy to photograph with the M9 for the rest of my life. The trouble is, Leica will not be able to support it indefinitely. So I continue to experiment.
I could always pick up an M3, and create beautiful (to my eye) images… but then there’s the how-long-will-film-be-around? factor.
I am somehow reassured and comforted by the fact that some things remain unchanged with the passing of time my friend. (Big smile!)
And you are of course correct in asserting that all is temporary ….. even love!
David
True love is permanent my friend.
You do run a intriguing blog with your photographic journey (starting to not like some of the other ones with their love every model approach and never ending links to retail sites)
I got the M240 after seeing what you could along with others do with it, this was after you got rid of yours for the second time and I love it. It’s just a point to those who have the Sony, that we all have different preferences. Trouble is once you start using Leica Ms there’s almost no going back to those weird DSLR shaped big or small cameras.
Pi, so glad you’re enjoying the M240… truly. I love its ergonomics and refinement. The truth is, if CCD Ms disappeared, I would pick up the M240 before anything else out there.
—Peter.
“true love is permanent my friend.”
Agreed. And thank goodness.
I am not surprised by your final decision (the locked drawer idea was a hail mary pass of support when it was clear you were getting wobbly on this new venture…).
I do, however, continue to be amazed by your evergreen hope for better and your willingness to strike out to find what you need and want. Fantastic.
Keep taking pictures/making images. No sense wasting daylight….even weaker, Toronto winter light while you continue your quest for a better M. 🙂
Happy weekend everyone.
Thanks Karen. “My evergreen hope” is still there… but I’ve satisfied myself, here at the end of 2014, that the best 35mm digital camera is still the M9/M-E.
I must confess I go through similar rounds. For true enjoyment of using a camera, I think it’s hard to get past film. It’s why I won’t part with a small set of film cameras, including Leica, and also a tiny little Minolta TC-1, with a superb lens.
That feeling translates closest with Leica’s digital Ms. Poor mechanical calibration put me off, severely, for a time, and I sold my M240 and my MM. At some point I know for sure I will regret at least one of those. But digital prices fall, and so it is always possible to re-enter.
I also admit to myself that trying out different cameras is part of what I enjoy about it. Next month I am taking delivery of a view camera – an Arca-Swiss 4×5. The point is that different cameras open up different possibilities, and extend our ability to see, just as different languages extend our ability to say. We want the result, but we get better at the process this way perhaps.
So, I simply accept that not fixing on one set of kit is actually going to be, for me, the constant.
Thank goodness!!! I didn’t expect such a quick decision but I am relieved.
The M-E I ordered arrived today and I of course second guessed my decision when I saw your A7s/M8/9/E post. The A7 IQ was great, but just hated using the camera which is what pointed me toward the M8. I just don’t like EVF and quite frankly autofocus most of the time.
Looking forward to more of your wonderful pictures.
John
Hello Peter
I bought a Sony A7r a few months ago and have never been so disappointed with a camera. As you say it does not feel like a camera. I must admit that I did not buy any lenses for it and used some of my old OM lenses so that may have influenced the results I got. I wanted to get used to it before spending any more. I had great difficulty getting acceptable results from my Adobe Lightroom workflow which works great for my .dng and .nef files.
However, I did wonder how long you would keep it. I guessed a fortnight.
PS I have just started using a leica D-Lux (Typ109) as a second camera and it seems to be able to do what I hoped the A7r would.
I hear you Tony. As much at they are technically leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, the Sony A7 line of cameras are still not photographers’ cameras, if you know what I mean.
PPS Great photo website free of sales pitch — congratulations!
Thanks! I’ve turned down requests for advertising so that I can keep my opinions free of influence. In fact, I pay extra to block advertising.
What a “fight”..what a challenge! Peter, this was very thrilling…but in the end “Good shall triumph”.
The Sony A7s surely shows a way in the right direction and I would wish so very much for us all a new M with some of the advantages of the A7´s like better ISO and silent shutter…
Leica: the weak flesh can´t wait! Leica pleased the purists with the M-A or the Leica 60 for the “rich” man and now it´s our turn: a practicable M, CCD-based, high-ISO capability, 1/8000 sr, bigger and better LCD…just to name the main thing!..exciting times!
I don’t think you really gave the A7s a proper chance. Much too short a test period. The only image you posted from it looked very good indeed… I don’t understand why you were so eager to cut short the trial period – surely it must have cost you a lot of $$$ in restocking/depreciation?
Greetings Antonio. I’ve done this enough to know how to assess a camera for my personal needs. The files were great, the ergonomics (which cannot be altered) were not to my linking. It’s okay for my opinion to be different from yours. That’s life.
This is the second reference you’ve made to financial considerations, which is not very polite I must say. If you are concerned about my finances, however, feel free to help me run the site.
—Peter.
Hi, Your choice of course. I don’t really have a dog in that fight, shooting exclusively film as I do (my iPhone covers my digital needs for now), it just seemed to be very short thats all. I added a Leica M4 to my camera back about a year ago and am still learning about it despite having been photographing for over 30 years.
I didn’t mean to be impolite about the financial aspect but it did strike me as somewhat expensive to buy a new camera and move it on only after a few days? I am not immune to flipping gear myself, I must admit but normally buy on the second hand market, where you can normally move stuff on for no loss.
p.s. I was looking looking forward to seeing more of your work with the Sony A7s after your initial announcement, knowing your style etc. it would have been really interesting to see how the Sony differed from the Leica. I guess my disappointment is mainly that we will not see that now.
Well thank you.
I really cannot justify having funds tied up in a camera that doesn’t inspire me.
I hope you understand.
P.S. The good news (for me) is that I was able to trade it in for a lens – a used lens in mint condition – and freed up some funds.
I’ll be posting a shot with the “new” lens soon.
Great. Look forward to seeing those 🙂
24mm ….? 🙂
Well that was quick. As someone with experience with Sony’s and Leica’s, using Lightroom is not the best option. Awful color, lots of artifacts, and color adjustment to specific hues is not really possible. The latest version of Capture One the upgrade to Lightroom we always wanted.
It was about the ergonomics. The image quality was excellent.
Prosophos 
Peter, i look forward to hearing about how you arrived at your decision. Long live ccd!
No surprises Henry:
The A7S computer-as-camera ergonomics left me cold (the ergonomics of the M8/M-E are just about perfect — all that is missing is an ISO dial).
The CCD sensor at low ISO values is still superior to CMOS (though the A7S had the most CCD-like CMOS chip I’ve come across).
I continue to prefer optical viewfinders (EVF technology is progressing rapidly, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get over the seeing-the-world-through-a-TV experience of EVF).
Overall, I would much rather shoot with an M body.
However…
I enjoyed using the Sony. It’s definitely fun to use and it is also a formidable image-creating device, but it somehow doesn’t feel like a camera.
Perhaps my perceived shortcomings about it are more a reflection of my own shortcomings. Perhaps I don’t have the mental dexterity to review a checklist of menu settings when trying to photograph the “moment”.
—Peter.
Peter,
I am more interested in your pictures than your cameras, but while we are at it, may I ask a question?
Since i’ve discovered you, you have been using Leicas with great results, always came back to them, but seem to be continuously looking for something else. Why is that?
I’ve been using an MP for years and the only other camera I MAY be considering is an ME… Unless Leica surprises us with a new, improved ccd camera shortly, that is…
Anyway, keep making those great photos.
Regards,
M.
Looking for better is what led me to the Leica M8 from the Nikon D3. I always try to keep an open mind, and an open eye for what may be out there.
Having said that, I would be happy to photograph with the M9 for the rest of my life. The trouble is, Leica will not be able to support it indefinitely. So I continue to experiment.
I could always pick up an M3, and create beautiful (to my eye) images… but then there’s the how-long-will-film-be-around? factor.
I am somehow reassured and comforted by the fact that some things remain unchanged with the passing of time my friend. (Big smile!)
And you are of course correct in asserting that all is temporary ….. even love!
David
True love is permanent my friend.
You do run a intriguing blog with your photographic journey (starting to not like some of the other ones with their love every model approach and never ending links to retail sites)
I got the M240 after seeing what you could along with others do with it, this was after you got rid of yours for the second time and I love it. It’s just a point to those who have the Sony, that we all have different preferences. Trouble is once you start using Leica Ms there’s almost no going back to those weird DSLR shaped big or small cameras.
Pi, so glad you’re enjoying the M240… truly. I love its ergonomics and refinement. The truth is, if CCD Ms disappeared, I would pick up the M240 before anything else out there.
—Peter.
“true love is permanent my friend.”
Agreed. And thank goodness.
I am not surprised by your final decision (the locked drawer idea was a hail mary pass of support when it was clear you were getting wobbly on this new venture…).
I do, however, continue to be amazed by your evergreen hope for better and your willingness to strike out to find what you need and want. Fantastic.
Keep taking pictures/making images. No sense wasting daylight….even weaker, Toronto winter light while you continue your quest for a better M. 🙂
Happy weekend everyone.
Thanks Karen. “My evergreen hope” is still there… but I’ve satisfied myself, here at the end of 2014, that the best 35mm digital camera is still the M9/M-E.
I must confess I go through similar rounds. For true enjoyment of using a camera, I think it’s hard to get past film. It’s why I won’t part with a small set of film cameras, including Leica, and also a tiny little Minolta TC-1, with a superb lens.
That feeling translates closest with Leica’s digital Ms. Poor mechanical calibration put me off, severely, for a time, and I sold my M240 and my MM. At some point I know for sure I will regret at least one of those. But digital prices fall, and so it is always possible to re-enter.
I also admit to myself that trying out different cameras is part of what I enjoy about it. Next month I am taking delivery of a view camera – an Arca-Swiss 4×5. The point is that different cameras open up different possibilities, and extend our ability to see, just as different languages extend our ability to say. We want the result, but we get better at the process this way perhaps.
So, I simply accept that not fixing on one set of kit is actually going to be, for me, the constant.
Thank goodness!!! I didn’t expect such a quick decision but I am relieved.
The M-E I ordered arrived today and I of course second guessed my decision when I saw your A7s/M8/9/E post. The A7 IQ was great, but just hated using the camera which is what pointed me toward the M8. I just don’t like EVF and quite frankly autofocus most of the time.
Looking forward to more of your wonderful pictures.
John
Hello Peter
I bought a Sony A7r a few months ago and have never been so disappointed with a camera. As you say it does not feel like a camera. I must admit that I did not buy any lenses for it and used some of my old OM lenses so that may have influenced the results I got. I wanted to get used to it before spending any more. I had great difficulty getting acceptable results from my Adobe Lightroom workflow which works great for my .dng and .nef files.
However, I did wonder how long you would keep it. I guessed a fortnight.
PS I have just started using a leica D-Lux (Typ109) as a second camera and it seems to be able to do what I hoped the A7r would.
I hear you Tony. As much at they are technically leaps and bounds ahead of the competition, the Sony A7 line of cameras are still not photographers’ cameras, if you know what I mean.
PPS Great photo website free of sales pitch — congratulations!
Thanks! I’ve turned down requests for advertising so that I can keep my opinions free of influence. In fact, I pay extra to block advertising.
What a “fight”..what a challenge! Peter, this was very thrilling…but in the end “Good shall triumph”.
The Sony A7s surely shows a way in the right direction and I would wish so very much for us all a new M with some of the advantages of the A7´s like better ISO and silent shutter…
Leica: the weak flesh can´t wait! Leica pleased the purists with the M-A or the Leica 60 for the “rich” man and now it´s our turn: a practicable M, CCD-based, high-ISO capability, 1/8000 sr, bigger and better LCD…just to name the main thing!..exciting times!
I don’t think you really gave the A7s a proper chance. Much too short a test period. The only image you posted from it looked very good indeed… I don’t understand why you were so eager to cut short the trial period – surely it must have cost you a lot of $$$ in restocking/depreciation?
Greetings Antonio. I’ve done this enough to know how to assess a camera for my personal needs. The files were great, the ergonomics (which cannot be altered) were not to my linking. It’s okay for my opinion to be different from yours. That’s life.
This is the second reference you’ve made to financial considerations, which is not very polite I must say. If you are concerned about my finances, however, feel free to help me run the site.
—Peter.
Hi, Your choice of course. I don’t really have a dog in that fight, shooting exclusively film as I do (my iPhone covers my digital needs for now), it just seemed to be very short thats all. I added a Leica M4 to my camera back about a year ago and am still learning about it despite having been photographing for over 30 years.
I didn’t mean to be impolite about the financial aspect but it did strike me as somewhat expensive to buy a new camera and move it on only after a few days? I am not immune to flipping gear myself, I must admit but normally buy on the second hand market, where you can normally move stuff on for no loss.
p.s. I was looking looking forward to seeing more of your work with the Sony A7s after your initial announcement, knowing your style etc. it would have been really interesting to see how the Sony differed from the Leica. I guess my disappointment is mainly that we will not see that now.
Well thank you.
I really cannot justify having funds tied up in a camera that doesn’t inspire me.
I hope you understand.
P.S. The good news (for me) is that I was able to trade it in for a lens – a used lens in mint condition – and freed up some funds.
I’ll be posting a shot with the “new” lens soon.
Great. Look forward to seeing those 🙂
24mm ….? 🙂
Well that was quick. As someone with experience with Sony’s and Leica’s, using Lightroom is not the best option. Awful color, lots of artifacts, and color adjustment to specific hues is not really possible. The latest version of Capture One the upgrade to Lightroom we always wanted.
It was about the ergonomics. The image quality was excellent.