Inspiration

The Nikon Df sensor.

Inspiration, Nikon, Nikon Df, Q&A, Teaching point, Voigtländer 40mm f/2 SL-II

After about a week of photographing with the Nikon Df, I am pleased to say that its CMOS sensor appears to come the closest to behaving like the CCD sensor I’ve long respected in the Leica M9.

I can actually pull more shadow detail out of the files (which came as a complete surprise) and the highlight recovery is also superior (not a surprise).

Of course, the Df is not a rangefinder (so if you’re like me, and like to manually focus, that makes things more difficult… also, I miss seeing the scene “outside of the frame” that a rangefinder offers) and the stable of lenses for the Nikon F-mount are larger and generally not as well corrected as the Leica equivalents (having said that, the Voigtländer 40mm f/2 SL-II I’m using is very competent and compact).

For micro-contrast and tonality, CCD wins every time.

On the other hand, the Df has rock-solid reliable electronic guts (with robust processing power), does not feel like a beta product, and has an external ISO dial (I love this).

More photos to follow…

—Peter.

 

 

 

Luiz Paulo featured in British Journal of Photography.

Inspiration, Q&A

I am pleased to announce that Luiz Paulo, who’s outstanding photography has been shared on this very site, has been featured in the British Journal of Photography.

It’s a very poignant interview and the images on display do not include Luiz‘s beloved muse:  his daughter.  To find out why, and to view his images, please have a look here.

—Peter.

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Related articles:

Guest Post (2014): Luiz Paulo.

Featured Photographer (2013): Luiz Paulo.

Guest Post (2013): Luiz Paulo (Part 2).

Guest Post (2013): Luiz Paulo (Part 1).

Guest Post (2012): Luiz Paulo.

 

M240 gone. Again.

Inspiration, Leica M Type 240, Q&A, Teaching point

I have always shared my gear choices/changes freely, assuming it may help some of you considering camera A vs. camera B, or lens A vs lens B, etc. So, along that vein, and at the risk of inviting harsh commentary, I will disclose this:

I have parted, again, with the Leica M240.

Before the M240 was released, I made some predictions about its image quality.  Specifically, I was concerned about base ISO performance vs. its predecessor, the M9.  My concerns were borne out when I viewed the initial JPG images, and then again when I examined sample RAW files.

I posted both my predictions and subsequent analysis on this site.

Of course, some photographers shared my view, and some didn’t.  Those who didn’t were critical of the fact that I hadn’t owned the camera and yet I was judging it.  My rebuttal was that you don’t have to own a camera to judge its image quality.

Well, now I’ve owned it.  Twice.

My honest opinion:  I should have listened to myself.

I tried —I really tried — to make it work (those of you who follow this blog on a regular basis know this), because I really enjoyed the ergonomic improvements.

But I just couldn’t coax the look I wanted out of it.

—Peter.