dreams II

As said in the previous post, the Q surprised me with the fact that it is great for ICM. However, it is not only ICM, other forms of impressionistic photography seems to fit this camera very well. Below a set of images where everything is out-of-focus, on purpose. I really like them, and I would like to redo this for sure.


dreams I

Dreams (or Transcendent as I used to call it). When I quit wedding photography I sold most of my gear and bought myself a Sigma DP Merrill, a great little special camera. In the beginning I used it for ICM (intentional camera movement) until it became my camera for the project ’seconds’ and ICM was put aside as other cameras simply could not provide me the feel/handling I needed for ICM.

Until last month, when the Q became by daily camera. Very unexpected to me, but the handling is perfect for ICM. I must admit I am very happy and will pursue this kind of photography the upcoming months as portraits are still low due to covid.

Below the first few images from a walk in a snowy forest. Hope you like them.



Leica Q: the bad stuff

Don’t expect many images in this post, not much technical data. This can be found on the internet already. The Q is a six year old camera so there is enough info around. Then, why another review? I don’t know. I am not a reviewer. I photograph. But then, I do like camera’s so may be that’s why I do a review. As the Q is a special camera, I thought a long-term review is in its place.

I have it only one month now, not long enough, but hopefully it will stay with me long enough to make it a long-term review.

Is it worth to buy a camera which is six (6!) years old? It depends on how you perceive value. To me it is though most probably the latest version has more options, more pixels, more iso, more whatever… To me, for the price I got the Q, it was great value. Especially as I wanted to try the camera first.

Anyway, a review. Before buying the Q I read a lot, mostly praise. I guess Leica users are slightly blinded (so are Fuji shooters, those with Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad and probably Phase One) and it is tough to find something bad about the camera’s (in general). That’s why I decided to start with the bad stuff. I assume I’m neutral in a sense that the cool-aid didn’t hit me yet.


1. stupid marketing-talk

Everywhere on the internet you can read that the camera has a digital zoom. Wtf? Really? I can crop any camera (digital or not) in post and those putting this as a pre must be nuts. Actually, those accepting it as a pre are nuts, but hey, it’s Leica, praise the L., no bad stuff here please…

2. when cropping, one can see the frame lines in the view finder

Duh! Coming from the xpro, I am not used else wise and not only when I am cropping. It is a permanent function. It’s like the first remark, stupid marketing talk.

3. the video button

Really? After three (3!) firmware updates this remained unchanged and can only be used for video? Right Leica was to move it from the Q2, but so wrong they did not update the firmware for the Q regarding this.

4. quick autofocus

This depends on your definition of quick. I’d guess it’s the same as the xpro2. For me sufficient, but not quick.  The internet is full of praise about it’s speed. May be coming from a M, but that’s it.

5. auto-/ manual focus switch

The internet loves it, to me, for now it is not usable. Hard to find, hard to switch. It goes, but not fluent. The camera is intended to focus on creating images. To me, this means that one could handle the camera blindly, without even doubting what and how to switch. Sadly, on first sight this switch is not that great.

6. easy menu

Very praised on the internet. I expected miracles, but am disappointed. Especially after noticing that when my battery is empty for more than one day, I need to re-enter the date and time. Wtf, really?

7. the jpeg’s

I know, coming from Fuji one is spoiled. I had lower expectations, but still, this is disappointing. Leica is said to be a reportage camera. Those doing reportage, don’t have time for edits, so internal adjustments are important. Leica is light years behind here, but really, like light years. If you want to have good adjustable jpeg’s, skip this one. 


So, here we are. The first part of the review. No images, no praise. Now, as I can live with the above, let’s see how the camera grows on me. 


Update

The camera I bought was second hand. Till now, in my life, I never had problems buying second hand equipment. However, the Leica shows two (minor) defects which is not what I expected as everybody is raving about the quality of the brand. The thing with the battery under 6. is actually caused due to a hardware problem of the camera (it’s own internal memory died) and I have a orange banding on the EVF. The latter I am rather bothered with. Happily the camera came with a warranty so let’s see what happens.


portrait of Ariana

It seems like ages ago… two earthquakes and covid-19 did strange things to my mind. Nevertheless, from a session last year, yet not posted yet. The beautiful dancer Ariana.


x-series: end of an era | review

I need to say it. The Fuji x-series are not for me anymore. Most reviews praise the x-series, and while the cameras are great, they had to go. And Fuji is to blame for it. Let me explain how I came to this conclusion…


A bit of x-history

I probably was the first having the x100 in Croatia and I even managed to shoot a complete wedding with it. Yet, the camera lacked and could not stand my needs as a pro so I sold it. Several years later, I bought the x-pro1 for personal usage with the xf35/1.4, a great combination. Slowly the kit expanded: more lenses, more camera’s. For the first time since the digital age I had the idea I matched my contax g-series and I was very happy. Shot a bunch of great images.


Enter mediumformat

The quality of the x-series is great, but I always longed for the medium format feel. A bunch of sigma DP’s were added to the collection, and the image quality was wonderful. At 100iso, and each lens came with its own body. Awkward, and totally useless for long-exposure photography. When my local (read Scottish) dealer had a great offer for the GFX50R + some lenses I decided it was time to upgrade. For years I was looking for a second hand digital hassy but never took the step as I was taken back with the age of digital backs. 

The new GFX series was newly designed and awaited a bright future and their roadmap for extension looked promising. After ten months of usage (though small due to lockdowns), the GFX is here to stay. Sublime image quality and handling as a medium format: it slows me down, though with the GF50 it feels like my Mamiya 7.


Daily life

Though the GFX is great, it’s a bit heavy to carry around daily, even with the GF50. For this, I kept a x-pro2 with a 23mm and 35mm, a perfectly small set which I basically carried every day with me and though images were good, may be even great, something was missing for me. It simply could not match the quality of the GFX. May be lens quality was slightly less, may be the smaller sensor caused this feeling. 

Capturing daily life is the toughest kind of photography for me. Set-up shoots are easy, cause due to the attention given, results are satisfying. Daily life though is sometimes less exciting, without colour, without anything. To translate this into photography, is tough. In that sense, to me, the camera should inspire me. Though the x-pro2 is - till now - the most beautiful digital camera I had, it didn’t inspire me enough… always those questions: which lens, which film simulation…


Of it goes…

So, despite its beauty, the x-pro didn’t gave me the inspiration to shoot. I needed to know why… the 35mm was magical, but too tight for daily life, the 23mm was ok-ish, may be lifeless. I remembered one of the most fascinating lenses I had: a zeiss 35/1.4: pure magic though I always enjoyed 28mm as well. Then, as the devil was playing with me, ads starting to show up on instagram: the new Q2M… and I started reading reviews and so on… It looks like a great camera. But then, for me, too expensive. With digital being advanced as is, I’d rather buy the one-but-latest version which is always so much cheaper… So, of it goes: sold my x-pro2 and its lenses, and bought a Q. Can’t wait for it to arrive.


Back to basics

At the beginning of last year, I wrote a post about ‘back to basics’. How to decrease the amount of gear in order to what I need. The GFX is here for long exposure photography and for studio/posed portraits. The set I have is great and except for a tilt/swift lens, all I need/want. Having a compact camera (though most probably sublime), with a fixed lens for daily life should simply push me shooting more daily. I think my journey ‘back to basics’ has finished… finally.




stills: Preko

Preko is a small place with 1286 inhabitants on the island Ugljan in front of Zadar. On their website, following can be read :”Preko broji 1286 stanovnika, prometno je i administrativno središte otoka Ugljana. U centru mjesta smještena je Marina Preko, u blizini je svih restorana, trgovina, tržnice, ambulante, ljekarne, pošte i sl. Najveća pješčana plaža Jaz u Preku ima ekološku Plavu zastavu - simbol čistoga mora, i jedno je od omiljenijih mjesta za kupanje. Na drugoj, istočnoj strani Preka, blizu trajektnog pristaništa, nalazi se romanička crkvica sv. Ivana iz 11. stoljeća, a u središtu mjesta ranokršćanska crkva Gospe od Ružarija.”

8 minute exposure in the early morning. Must admit that the classic neg in-camera was almost perfect already, but I tried to simulate it in Capture-One.



stills: Zadar

A first trip after the lockdown. Finally. Many have been cancelled, but I should not complain. The first trip brought us to the sea, just as the last one before the lockdown. Ofcourse, the sea is perfect for long-exposure photography and every second day I went out for a shoot. 

The ‘skakaonica’ in Zadar is around 60 years old and should be renovated. It was planned for this year but lack of tourism caused lack of cash so no renovation which was good for me as I good photograph it in its old glory.

Exposure is 320 seconds in the early morning and minor editing was done (I cloned out a towel and slightly adjusted the highs and the lows).


Using Format