Technology insanity or is insanitary

[Put a cross]

Too old to remember when I first picked up a camera, cut my teeth on 5x4, 120,35mm with every name of camera you can think of.

Been using digital since 2000 currently have FF and FujiX.

Each day I see forums and rumour sites salivating at the latest peice of kit, faster AF more MP etc,

Well bucking the trend of GAS infection relating to the latest x,s which are here and will come I bought a third X1pro, yes it has it's flaws but having used Leica for 30 years, I can tell you by experience, prints made ( oh now what is a print ah yes one of those quaint replications of an Instagram image) and money made the X1pro is a solid reliable high quality camera capable of superb results when used with Fuji lenses.

I watched the building orgasm as the release of firmware 4 came out, HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED THAT FACILITY and did it suddenly turn them into the greatest photographer of all time?

I am lucky to have all I need even though the FF cameras are now 7 years old their 24MP still delivers A2 prints without much effort, I have two XEs with 10-24, 55-200 and 27mm and the 3 X1pros are paired with 14/35/56 and for good luck an X100s.

The equipment earns its place in my bags by hard work and rewards with great quality.

I read an article recently in which a group of professional photographers who all use Fuji X were asked if money was not important what would they buy, they almost all said Leica, to me that would be a big mistake, beautifully made and looking, unreliable and overpriced, I would stick with Fuji again and again.

Oh and yes FF versus mirrorless is meaningless, I would not try to do with an X1pro what I do with a glass conventional optical viewfinder and vica versa.

Well I guess I am a grumpy old photo.

[andrew brown]

Your points (prints?) are well made.

 

I think my early days with my film kit of 3 Canon A1's were my best.

 

Then I swapped to digital and had failed to learnt he lessons from the home computer craze.

 

I too joined the technology salivating right up to 2 x Canon 5D2 bodies with a nice collection of those lenses that ended with an L and a nice supply of Canon Speedlites and other add ons.

For the most part, it did not make me a better photographer. It just gave me some extra options in what types of picture I could take.

 

It was practice that made my photography better - and making things simple again.

 

To that end, I traded all my Canon kit in for an X-Pro 1 with a 35mm f1.4 lens - and all was good again for a bit.

Then I bought the 60mm macro and 27mm pancake and things stsrted to get out of hand again.

 

So I sold it all and got out of photography for a while.

 

Now I have a camera again - this time it is the X-100T. Now let's see me buy some more lenses for that pocket wonder!

 

I did hanker for another X-Pro 1, but I think I was afraid of kit creep so opted for a camera that will definitely prevent that from happening.

I have pondered on another X-Pro 1 because I enjoyed using it almost as much as I did the old A1's - but I know that it will lead to kit creep.

 

So I stick to a 'high end' compact that I can carry every where and take pictures as and when. I no longer have those "if only I had this bit of kit I would get better pictures thoughts".

 

I still have lots to learn to master this new camera of mine, that and a whole load of practice to get my photography to where I want it, but at least I'm having fun doing it.

 

As for FW4 - I thought you were referring to the model of the next camera for a bit - until I spotted a topic with it in the title!

 

[Tom H.]

Yes, we all go through the stages of GAS... I finally have mine under control. Since doing portraits and lighting, I realised that no better gear will make my crap lighting, framing or creativity go away... So I just started focusing on that, instead of gear. And it has done wonders for my shooting. I had a look back, and last year I shot 90% of my shots with the X100T and the X-T1 with 56 APD. My 16 1.4 is new, but I haven't even used my 50-140 since my 56 got repaired.

 

I did start shooting some film again from time to time, just to keep me sharp. 120 film is too expensive not to try to get it right in one shot. It's a good exercise that I would recommend to anyone suffering from GAS :-) Being stuck with manual focus, iso 400 and no metering also makes you appreciate just how amazing digital cameras really are.

[Aswald]

There will come a point in time when we realize we actually hit the "sweet spot" sometime back and are actually making our way back there. For most of us here, the x system brings us closest.

 

I've never shot LEICAs but from what I read, they were mostly used by journalistic (war included) photographers due to their robustness and reliability. That's in the film era. So, it comes as a surprise to me that they may be "unreliable". Digital LEICAs maybe?

[Larry Bolch]

There were reports of a decline in Leica cameras and lenses some decade before digital. From the mid-century to late, they had transitioned from hard-working journalist's gear to mystical collector's items. Leica served this market with special editions that seldom saw the light of day, much less ever did photography. After paying $25,000 for the "450th Anniversary of Bratwurst Edition" with actual smokey smelling sausage casings replacing the usual leather, are you going to take it into the wild?

 

Back then, speculation on forums of actual Leica shooters was that the factory technicians did not expect their products to actually be used, and over time became slackers. In the digital era, the M8 was a scandal. While there was a range of mechanical issues, the IR filter was a joke. Blacks came out blue or magenta. For many months, Leica simply refused to acknowledge it, but users were getting quite noisy. Finally, they admitted there was a minor problem and offered an on-the-lens IR filter for $250. This was met with an equal lack of enthusiasm, considering the price of the camera. Finally, Leica gave two filters to any M8 owner who applied. 

This was a decade ago, and Leica was never more arrogant. Whether they actually achieved the reliability that put a Leica in most photojournalist's hands half a century ago (including mine) I have no idea. They are still up to their old tricks like removing the color filter array, adding $1,000 to the price and selling a somewhat crippled camera as the Monochrom (no e). A sucker is born every minute. I might add that I had planned to dump my Leica stuff and switch to the much more honest and excellent Contax G2, but then the world went digital. I decided to wait until there was a digital G2, but it was a long wait, with other cameras. Fujifilm did an excellent rip-off of the G2 basics and brought it up to date with the X-Pro1. Add in Fujinons which I loved for large format, and I am one happy puppy.

[Antony]

Now I have a camera again - this time it is the X-100T. Now let's see me buy some more lenses for that pocket wonder!

 

 

Well, I bought the WCL-X100 and TCL-X100, so I guarantee it can be done!

[Aswald]

There were reports of a decline in Leica cameras and lenses some decade before digital. From the mid-century to late, they had transitioned from hard-working journalist's gear to mystical collector's items. Leica served this market with special editions that seldom saw the light of day, much less ever did photography. After paying $25,000 for the "450th Anniversary of Bratwurst Edition" with actual smokey smelling sausage casings replacing the usual leather, are you going to take it into the wild?

 

Back then, speculation on forums of actual Leica shooters was that the factory technicians did not expect their products to actually be used, and over time became slackers. In the digital era, the M8 was a scandal. While there was a range of mechanical issues, the IR filter was a joke. Blacks came out blue or magenta. For many months, Leica simply refused to acknowledge it, but users were getting quite noisy. Finally, they admitted there was a minor problem and offered an on-the-lens IR filter for $250. This was met with an equal lack of enthusiasm, considering the price of the camera. Finally, Leica gave two filters to any M8 owner who applied. 

 

This was a decade ago, and Leica was never more arrogant. Whether they actually achieved the reliability that put a Leica in most photojournalist's hands half a century ago (including mine) I have no idea. They are still up to their old tricks like removing the color filter array, adding $1,000 to the price and selling a somewhat crippled camera as the Monochrom (no e). A sucker is born every minute. I might add that I had planned to dump my Leica stuff and switch to the much more honest and excellent Contax G2, but then the world went digital. I decided to wait until there was a digital G2, but it was a long wait, with other cameras. Fujifilm did an excellent rip-off of the G2 basics and brought it up to date with the X-Pro1. Add in Fujinons which I loved for large format, and I am one happy puppy.

 

This is an interesting read. Thanks for sharing.