A fond farewell to the Canon system

My Leica D-Lux 4 fits nicely into my pocket so is to hand wherever I go and it takes reasonably decent shots from which I can print high-quality pictures up to A1 size.

I'm beginning to wonder (sometimes) why I bought a Nikon D7200 and decent zoom..................................but the pictures are technically a little bit better. Artistically....................???????????????

Agreed, they are only good if you use them and I wasn't using mine.  The Leica is a lovely camera

You have a point. I also find myself leaving my camera behind and take my pocket camera instead.....

A couple of years ago I too sold my Canon 5D MkII & a stack of "L" series lenses. I suffer with rheumatoid arthritis & these styles of DSLRs are inevitably large and heavy, so one tends not to want to cart them around. I also went for Fuji, initially a Pro X-1 but rapidly moved to an XT-1, which is a terrific camera with superb lenses. I confess to treating myself to a Leica Q, which is a lovely thing too and tends to be the camera I usually pick up if going anywhere.

Don Atkinson posted:

My Leica D-Lux 4 fits nicely into my pocket so is to hand wherever I go and it takes reasonably decent shots from which I can print high-quality pictures up to A1 size.

I'm beginning to wonder (sometimes) why I bought a Nikon D7200 and decent zoom..................................but the pictures are technically a little bit better. Artistically....................???????????????

I'm looking for a 'slip in the pocket' compact to use when I don't want to take my Nikon D750 out with me. I can't afford Tony's Leica, but have been reading good reviews of yours, Don. Just one thing confuses me, and that's the remarkable similarity to the Panasonic LX100, and the huge price difference. Do you feel the Leica offers more to justify the price, or are you paying primarily for the name? (Off topic, but last year bought a Rangemaster America style fridge. The exact same fridge, but badged up as Aga, cost an extra £800!).

When my M8 shutter fell apart after 10 years I swithered about replacing it with a S/H M9. Decided on a D-Lux Typ 109 in the end, and what a cracking little machine it is.

G

Great, but is it a rebadged Panasonic or not?

I've been in a major camera funk for quite some time. I own a 7D and a 5D mark III... 16-35 f4/L, 24-70 F2.8/L and a 70-200 f2.8/L. Flashes, tripods, ND filters, you name it... I've got it. I travel a lot for work a used to take tons and tons of pictures... also tons and tons of pics of family vacays and just of the kids in general as they grew up. I spent the time to learn the technical and creative aspects of photography... mastered the Canon menu systems etc.

Then the kids got to an age where they no longer wanted to be cooperative with my photographic efforts, and for work travel I just got tired of taking pics of landscapes, buildings, etc. I missed having a subject. Tried street photography... but man... it's hard to get interesting shots. I maintain that street photography is the most difficult genre to shoot well. In truth though I didn't stick with it long enough to get good at it. Anyway... now I'm rambling.

Back on topic... I also tired of lugging 7 lbs of gear on my back, because god forbid I couldn't bring myself to ever go on a trip and leave some of my lenses at home. My 70-200 is pure magic... how can I not bring it with me... even though it rarely got out of the bag for the kind of shooting I'd do on a work trip.

Anyway... I thought I'd pick up a "fun" camera and maybe that would re-ignite the spark. So I got a Fuji X100T. Even got the super cool retro looking leather case for it. I did some shooting with it. It was fun.. kind of. Powerful for a little point and shoot... nice 2.0 glass... good optics. But I couldn't abide the step down in image quality relative to the DLSR's.... so away it went. 

So I can't abide the quality of the fuji... but the complexity (multiple lenses) and weight of the DLSR kit results in me never using the gear. 

I am actually currently in France on a 3 week business trip (Avignon at the moment)... and for the first time in 2 years I brought my gear. It's actually not as heavy as I remember. That said... I haven't shot a frame yet. Tomorrow though... tomorrow will be the day :-)

Timmo1341 posted:

Great, but is it a rebadged Panasonic or not?

Software Panasonic. Design, lens & tweaks to software Leica. 5 year guarantee & lightroom subscription also Leica...You pays your money....

As a member of various Leica galleries & Fora over the years it was an easy choice.

G

Zipperheadbanjo posted:

 

Anyway... I thought I'd pick up a "fun" camera and maybe that would re-ignite the spark. So I got a Fuji X100T. Even got the super cool retro looking leather case for it. I did some shooting with it. It was fun.. kind of. Powerful for a little point and shoot... nice 2.0 glass... good optics. But I couldn't abide the step down in image quality relative to the DLSR's.... so away it went. 

So I can't abide the quality of the fuji... but the complexity (multiple lenses) and weight of the DLSR kit results in me never using the gear. 

I am actually currently in France on a 3 week business trip (Avignon at the moment)... and for the first time in 2 years I brought my gear. It's actually not as heavy as I remember. That said... I haven't shot a frame yet. Tomorrow though... tomorrow will be the day :-)

 

Funny how our perception differs. The images from my Fuji are at least as good as those I obtained from my Canon. Each to his own...

GraemeH posted:

Timmo1341 posted:

Great, but is it a rebadged Panasonic or not?

Software Panasonic. Design, lens &tweaks to software Leica. 5 year guarantee & lightroom subscription also Leica...You pays your money....

As a member of various Leica galleries & Fora over the years it was an easy choice.

G

Hi Graeme,

Yes ! those "tweaks" make all the difference and are worth the extra. I was told that if you are clever enough, you could get similar results with post-camera manipulation and tweaking. But life's too short IMHO. Let those clever Leica people do it up front !

I too used to be a dedicated Canon photographer, but reached the stage where I didn't take my camera and lenses with me often as I couldn't face lugging a heavy camera bag around.  Someone once said (I can't remember where I heard it) that the only good camera is the camera you have with you, so I made the decision to go for micro four thirds and invested in the Olympus system.  The Olympus lenses are much smaller and lighter than the equivalent Canon lenses,  and the image quality, despite the smaller sensor is good enough for me.  As a result I much more often take my kit with me, and I am enjoying my photography much more than in the past.

Funny how our perception differs. The images from my Fuji are at least as good as those I obtained from my Canon. Each to his own...

 

Tony it's entirely possible it's just my own weird photo OCD problem surfacing.

To Chris's point (above)... I've considered investing in micro 4/3's... also considered investing in the Sony A7... but am hesitant to just throw money at the (perceived) problem. I already have one hobby where that has happened on more than one occasion :-)

The camera world is very much like the Hi-Fi world. Some seem to get too obsessed with the equipment itself and forget it's just a tool to get the picture. Just like Hi-Fi, get something that works for you and you'll enjoy using. 

If anything the camera world is worse; I stopped visiting the forums there years ago because they were always obsessed with the next camera and not the one they had.  I spend an absolute fortune on L lenses and enjoyed using them but there were people who seemed to prefer pixel peeping more than taking photos.  Nothing like hifi and cables of course 

I have been a Nikon man since 1974 which was never any different than Canon in terms of size, quality or price. My shooting habits of using one body with a single mounted prime lens (mostly a normal or a small wide-angle) were physically never too demanding. On the contrary, the extra size and weight of the larger body help in term of balance and stability. The ability to look through the lens using a high quality optical viewfinder was always the foundation of my compositions and I am not willing to let it go. My Nikon DSLR keeps me young even if I have to sweat a little more carrying it.

dayjay posted:

After many many years I have finally sold my last Canon DSLR, a 7D, and all but one of my lenses which hopefully will go soon.  Nothing wrong with Canon but realised when preparing to update the 7D for a 5D Mk 3 that it would be a waste of money.  Over recent years my usage has dropped off hugely and when travelling abroad I've not taken the DSLR quite simply because it's too big and bulky, just as it was to use as a 'snap shot' camera on family days out.  I also realised that I wasn't finding photography fun anymore.  As I can't live without a camera I've bought a used Fuji X100S which is just brilliant, and reminiscent of my old OM10 from years ago in its handling and looks and I love it, and the fact that it's a fixed 35mm equivalent lens.  Looking forward to getting out and about with it over the coming weeks.

Congratulations - that Fujifilm camera is great! It really is a nifty little camera and all one needs to photograph and very handy to bring with you wherever you chose to go. A fixed reasonable wide angle lens is what most of us really needs instead of tele lenses one so often buys but rarely use. Looking forward to seeing what you see!

After my heart attack and successful stents I started having a good hard look at various stuff. I had a 5D Mk2 with the battery grip and three fast and heavy lenses. A couple of Speedlites. Plus various paraphernalia. Far too heavy for me to lug about any longer. And seldom used. I chopped it all in for an Olympus EM-10 and enjoyed the lightweight freedom. It was the OM1 I never had (because the Minlota XG2 was better in my view). Loved it. Took it everywhere. Went abroad on holiday and took some shots that I wouldn't get another chance to. Had a ball. Got back from holiday to discover the shots, although OK for the family snap shot album were just not of sufficient quality when viewed (not all that) critically.  I'm now back with a 5DS/24-70 in a nicely padded and comfortable to carry bag., which looks innocuous and doesn't shout "expensive DSLR". Lesson learned. 

dayjay posted:

After many many years I have finally sold my last Canon DSLR, a 7D, and all but one of my lenses which hopefully will go soon.  Nothing wrong with Canon but realised when preparing to update the 7D for a 5D Mk 3 that it would be a waste of money.  Over recent years my usage has dropped off hugely and when travelling abroad I've not taken the DSLR quite simply because it's too big and bulky, just as it was to use as a 'snap shot' camera on family days out.  I also realised that I wasn't finding photography fun anymore.  As I can't live without a camera I've bought a used Fuji X100S which is just brilliant, and reminiscent of my old OM10 from years ago in its handling and looks and I love it, and the fact that it's a fixed 35mm equivalent lens.  Looking forward to getting out and about with it over the coming weeks.

Sounds like I'm in good company here. Didn't realise there were so many keen photographers that also listen to naim.

I've also had a range of Canon DSLR and lenses. From my first 30D, to my latest, 5D mark III. But I've also noticed that as I upgrade to newer and better cameras and glass, they start to weigh quite a lot. And although I use my 5D3 and 24-70 2.8LII, 100L, 70-200L for more serious work, sometimes I want to go ultra light and stealthy. So last year I picked up a used Fuji X E1 and a voigtlander 40mm f1.4 lens to go with it. It's fully manual and gets me as close as the good old film camera days as possible. This year I traded up to a Fuji XE-2 and added a 24mm f2.8 Olympus OM lens. The camera and both lenses fit in a little pouch, and it's all I really need for most of my photography outings now.

The 5D3 and L glass sits at home collecting dust. Perhaps I should sell it and get the Uniti Nova ;-)

dayjay posted:

If anything the camera world is worse; I stopped visiting the forums there years ago because they were always obsessed with the next camera and not the one they had.  I spend an absolute fortune on L lenses and enjoyed using them but there were people who seemed to prefer pixel peeping more than taking photos.  Nothing like hifi and cables of course 

Other than in the camera world, if you're any good and your equipment is half descent you can make money from your images... to the point on a part time casual basis it can fund your equipment  plus a bit more.... never earned a cent from playing music through my Hi-Fi.......

Timmo1341 posted:

Don Atkinson posted:

My Leica D-Lux 4 fits nicely into my pocket so is to hand wherever I go and it takes reasonably decent shots from which I can print high-quality pictures up to A1 size.

I'm beginning to wonder (sometimes) why I bought a Nikon D7200 and decent zoom..................................but the pictures are technically a little bit better. Artistically....................???????????????

I'm looking for a 'slip in the pocket' compact to use when I don't want to take my Nikon D750 out with me. I can't afford Tony's Leica, but have been reading good reviews of yours, Don. Just one thing confuses me, and that's the remarkable similarity to the Panasonic LX100, and the huge price difference. Do you feel the Leica offers more to justify the price, or are you paying primarily for the name? (Off topic, but last year bought a Rangemaster America style fridge. The exact same fridge, but badged up as Aga, cost an extra £800!).

Hello, my name is JW and I'm an addict. Well at least I have a few cameras...

I have a D-Lux, it's actually brand new and unused as my original developed a fault and those nice people at Leica swapped it for a brand new one, which tells you something I guess. However the reason for it being unused are that I found my baby Canon is more pocketable when I want small travel camera and my Ricoh GR II has better IQ when I want Hi IQ travel camera and is still smaller. So glass half empty, it could be seen only as a compromise between the two, glass half full though, it is a compromise between the two!

For guys with no stamina who still want to look serious about their photography:

Thank you Haim. I needed a smile.

I have used Nikon for years and recently tried to go for a lighter weight D3200.  I found everything being buried in menus so frustrating that I have gone back to the heavier cameras and have a D7200.  I can fully appreciate anyone wanting a more portable system, but confess it's not for me.  I love the flexibility of a good DSLR.

Great choice Dayjay.  The Fuji X100S is a cracking camera.  Since the S there has been a "T" and now an "F" version, which is possibly the biggest improvement yet in terms of image quality, focusing speed etc.

For those like Timmo who are looking for a small camera without compromising quality I can think of nothing better.