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Leica Tag

17 Sep

Posted at 07:14h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

I approach the Leica Boutique cabinets with care - the goods within them are top-quality and deserve more than just a casual glance. If you have the price, they are generally very well-made and backed up by an extremely reputable manufacturer. You just have to be prepared for a little more brand-culture than some others. This is also the case for the companies that provide accessories for Leica - they have to provide the same standards that the main company puts out - so that if you see a bag or strap from Artist and Artisan in Japan or a Leica cameras that bears a lens made in Japan, you can be assured that it will give you sterling service. I was mega-intrigued by the brown leather pouch in the island cabinet: the Artist and Artisan ACAM-78. It looked like a tiny doctor's bag, and I couldn't imagine what Leica thought they could fit inside it. It turns out they intend it for small mirrorless bodies but they show pictures on the net of it swallowing an M-series camera plus short lens. There...

17 May

Posted at 08:03h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

We cannot talk analog cameras without involving the Leica company - they are one of the very few makers of new film cameras. They are certainly the only manufacturer who has a new offering of absolutely professional  quality. You get a choice of two fresh ones - the M-A or the MP. They shoot the same lenses but with the M-A you'll be on your own as far as judging exposure. Cheer up - many film packets have an exposure chart...

06 May

Posted at 08:58h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

It's always thrilling to be given a big chunk - whether it's chocolate, motor car, or money. I would be out of my depth with all three, but I figure I could cope better with a camera - thus I was delighted to handed the new Panasonic S1R camera with a 50mm lens when I visited the Murray Street Store.  To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Panasonic cameras always intrigue me - I had one briefly a few years ago - and any new evocation of their top range is worth looking into. But in the case of the S1R I'm afraid the looking into becomes looking at. It is somewhat beyond my league in price and bulk. Not that it is the biggest or most expensive of cameras - there are still larger and dearer ones on the market - but it is getting up past what Panasonic used to aim at. I suppose that is the way of the trade - though it is interesting to see some makers downsize their designs while other boost theirs. And...

21 Dec

Posted at 15:04h in Newsletter by

Leica have announced the Leica D-Lux 7 camera. It’s the latest of their compact 4/3 sensor models with a fixed zoom lens - and just the thing for summer holiday travel. The lens is 10.9 - 34mm f:1.7-2.8 - that’s 24-75mm in 135-speak. The sensor has 17 megapixels and there’s a 3” touchscreen at the back as well as the conventional D-pad controls. Bluetooth and wifi, of course and a brilliant 2.7 million dot electronic viewfinder. It’ll shoot 4K video and even do focus stacking - there is also a flash included as an accessory in the kit. The newest feature is The fact that it will play with the Leica Foto App on your smart devices to let you fire your travel shots off as soon as you finish them. Your friends will avoid you for weeks… The Leica lenses are the real secret of thee success for this and the previous range of D-lux cameras. I had the good fortune to watch them being made in the factory, and the most fun was listening to the moulding machine finish one - to...

12 Oct

Posted at 08:52h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

The open and shut case for the digital camera. Look up the history of the Leica cameras - it is one of the most documented devices in all of photography. It came along to give a new way of working, just at a time when there were more and more ways of writing about it and publishing the results. Leica themselves did ( and does...

13 Aug

Posted at 12:02h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

Leica users have had a rough time of it in the past - they have always had access to the best of optical performance in most fields - but they may not have known it was available. The traditional Leica presentation of street photography in Germany or field photography in Africa has mostly revolved around the use of rangefinder cameras used with stand-off lenses. Unless one was using the 35mm SLR cameras, one was going to have to do a lot of hard work to get macro and close-up shots. Well, not any more. The digital revolution and the availability of live view and the LCD screen has changed all that. The Leica shooter can go in as close as people using other systems. It just needs the lenses and the determination. The Leica Macro Elmar M 90mm f:4 is one way to go. 1:2 close-up ratio and incredible resolution. You need to stack the Macro Adapter M in between the lens and the body to do it...