Leica Did I drink the Leica Kool-aid...

Yeah, the D600 was kind of an impulsive thing. I got really psyched about the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens and pretty much bought the camera to have something to mount that lens on. Turned out to be too big, too heavy, and pretty disappointing AF performance coming from Micro 4/3.

The OM-D I loved but from the beginning knew was also on the heavy side, and ultimately I decided to go small on my Micro 4/3 kit.
 
I waited forever before I bought the OM-D because I wanted to keep my m4/3 kit small, but I found that I was using my Pen cameras more and more for work instead of my DSLRs and decided to pick up the OM-D for work and sell all the DSLRs and big lenses that I don't use. I still have some Canon DSLR gear and my recently acquired Pentax gear, but the m4/3 stuff gets a lot of use for both personal shooting and work.

Your experience with the D600 is somewhat similar to one of my friends. She is a wedding and portrait photographer who bought a D600 because of the excitement around the FF sensor but now she is thinking about moving completely to m4/3.

So ... when are you going to sell all your other camera gear and move to shooting Leica exclusively? :D
 
The OM-D I loved but from the beginning knew was also on the heavy side, and ultimately I decided to go small on my Micro 4/3 kit.

That was impulse for the RX-1. I had my big camera and I really wanted something like the size of my E-P1 to make images that could keep up with it.

rx1_ep1.jpg
 
Somehow I find it hard to associate Leica with Kool-Aid ... Hemlock seems more Leica-esque.

I think a LOT of people use the expression about drinking the kool-aid without pausing to think about where it came from. I think it's absolutely CRAZY how widespread its use is becoming, considering it's grisly history.

Having said that, many feel that Leica is a bit cult-like (although to be fair, there is no Jim Jones.....and no mass suicide on the horizon).
 
So Amin, honestly which one are you keeping only because you need to own it to be eligible in one of your forums? :D

The truth about this is that while I really like all of them, the only reason I can justify spending this much money on cameras is that it lets me participate in the fun on all the forums. So you're not far off from the truth there. In terms of the one I'd keep above the others, that would still be the E-PM2. It goes places the others can't, has the best AF of the lot, and the lenses cover a lot more range. However, I could be pretty content shooting any one of these systems.
 
The truth about this is that while I really like all of them, the only reason I can justify spending this much money on cameras is that it lets me participate in the fun on all the forums. So you're not far off from the truth there. In terms of the one I'd keep above the others, that would still be the E-PM2. It goes places the others can't, has the best AF of the lot, and the lenses cover a lot more range. However, I could be pretty content shooting any one of these systems.

Hear, hear! E-PM2's forever!
 
I think a LOT of people use the expression about drinking the kool-aid without pausing to think about where it came from. I think it's absolutely CRAZY how widespread its use is becoming, considering it's grisly history.

Having said that, many feel that Leica is a bit cult-like (although to be fair, there is no Jim Jones.....and no mass suicide on the horizon).

I know of Jonestown and the massacre. I knew of Greg Robinson, the SF Examiner photog who was killed at Jonestown. Greg's replacement, Chris Hardy, was a college schoolmate and very dear friend. Technically it was not Kool Aid, but a purple knock off named Flavor Aid.

G
 
I will have my toe in the Kool-Aid by Thursday. Grabbed a D-Lux4 from B&H. Been wanting to give a D-Lux 4 a side by side with my G12. My husband shoots with the V-Lux 20 and only uses the auto setting. And I always love the "Leica color chemistry" that he gets from it so that's the "feature" I'll be comparing.
 
I'm still only 10 shots into my first roll of film, and most of those are my kids sitting on the couch :D. Still I feel like I'm on a very slippery slope with this whole Leica thing. I keep trying to tell myself that the whole manual focus thing is a perfect fit for film (working slow), and that my one lens (Zeiss ZM 35/2 Biogon) is all I need. So far that's working.

Need ... but you know you WANT more!! Get a ZM50/1.5!!
 
It didn't take long for me to realize that I enjoy the process of shooting the M6 but not so much the waiting for the film to be developed... so... I started to check the used Leica prices again.

Was a little surprised to find that used M8 prices have come down to the point where I can justify owning one. Found a good deal at FredMiranda and jumped on it. Selling the M6 covered most of the cost.

I've used the M8 and M9 before, and I liked the M6 that little bit more in terms of being a thinner body with a sweeter shutter release, but the convenience of digital is too important for me right now.

My plan is to shoot the M8 and Zeiss 35/2 as a dedicated B&W camera, at least initially. Am I right that if I'm shooting B&W only there's no point in coding the lens or using an IR cut filter?

Awesome! Congrats! I've always felt that the M8's photos had a much more biting sharpness than the M9. Plus the 1/8000 shutter speed sure is handy for those sunny day.

No IR filter needed for BW photos. High ISO BW photos actually look really good in the digital M's! The noise is small grainy enough to pass off as film.
 
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