[Quad]

Ok another photography question. I love my Leica M and want to get a digital camera so I am considering a Digilux 2 (it lens would handle most anything I am likely to want to photograph) anyone with experience with it? What won't I like compared to the M. I expect the viewfinder will be a bit of a drag. I would like to hear from you fine folks before I start to look around.

I am also considering a Canon 20D or 5D (the deciding factor between these two will be price and what do I really want to spend).


Is the Leica vs Canon decision going to be a photographic style decision only or is there something else I should think about. Over the years as a photographer I used my Leica the most but then I did newspaper work/documentary stuff mostly and really documentary is really what I see photography as mostly about for me.

 

[mackenzo]

I use this:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...s&oid=49164277

It is the only rangefinder digital camera. It also uses almost all Leica M and screw mount lens of which I had many. The pictures are great.

You can read more about them here:

http://luminous-landscape.com/review...pson-rd1.shtml

 

[dffman2001]

If you are starting from a M camera, then I dont think the digilux is a good choice. First, it has a terrible electronic viewfinder - dont let anyone convince you that it is nearly as good, a tiny sensor that has relatively high noise, and good but not fantastic non-interchangable zoom lens. And the price sucks for what you are getting. Better off with the panasonic version, a bit cheaper, missing the red dot.

If you enjoy the M, and depending on your style, sounds like the canon SLRs wont fit the bill either. They really focus on the feature set - about the faster fps, built in flash, number of cool features, etc. For a fine art photographer, these really shouldn't matter that much. I would rather have a camera that is well built, quiet, have a fantastic viewfinder, and decent image quality. Moving to SLR from leica means that the camera is much bigger, heavier, more obtrusive, and louder. A good shot should be a deliberate action, not a lucky shot captured by as may shots as you can on your motor drive.

I'm assuming you have M mount lenses, and since only a very limited set of lenses are produced by a limited number of companies - namely Leica, Voigtlander, Konica, and Carl Zeiss (Zeiss Ikon) - most of which are fantastic lenses, your backwards compatability should be of some concern.

I agree with the previous suggestion, the Epson does fit the best. It is the closest to the Leica M. In terms of sheer photographic ability it loses out to the SLR's, but in soul it makes up for it in the fact that it still has a large APS sensor, rangefinder focussing, a fantastic viewfinder, compact, and quite simplistic photographic control. Buy carefully however, Quality control might be not perfect, as these are low production and are somewhat uneven in quality. Check the viewfinder for alignment, etc. Best of all, you can use your existing lens set on the epson, abeit with a crop factor.

The 5D is great, but expensive. honestly, you dont need the SLR, as you aren't doing macro or long teles for documentary. You can get wider lenses much easier on rangefinder systems than SLR. The Epson, Canon, and Leica M are way out of the league of the digilux.

 

[Quad]

That does look like a close to Leica M sub. I will have to check one out. It does look like they may be very rare beasts but I haven't started the physical hunt yet. QC issues do not sound promising though.

I get the impression from some reading I have done that the Epson shutter is a bit loud in relative terms to the Canon (a quiet SLR I have missed something of a revolution here or what) and Panasonic/Leica alternatives but if it is as quiet as an M that is OK by me and I don't see why it should not be.

The weight and size of the SLR are definitely drawbacks. I think I liked the Digilux solution as it seems to retain the SLR's accuracy in framing (a baby view camera how cute).

Thanks for the ideas/suggestions!

 

[stevesurf]

A few $ more, but Nikon has an amazing new camera here