jkokich

Halftrack: Honestly, I think that for the outdoor subjects this really doesn't look noticeably better than an on-camera flash with no diffuser. I mean, you say it does—but what I see looks like cardboard cut-outs of people in front of an outdoor background. Shadows are harsh, white balance is off, and the subjects look both flat and shiny. This is probably because the light source is only a little bit larger than the bare flash. Glad you like it, but personally I don't see a meaningful improvement. I would not be happy with those results in my own photography.

jkokich: Summit is not a verb.

KubeKube: A story from 1981. During the first Everest ascent by the first Bulgarian climbers ascent, they took with them several ‘Smena-8’ having prior to the climb removed with alcohol all lubricant from their moving parts. Thus, they were able to snatch gorgeous color photographs of their ascent with the ‘Smena-8’. The lubricant of the only ‘Leica’ M4 they also had at their disposal, froze at high altitude and the camera was inoperable.

jkokich: Summit is not a verb.

FBoneOne: The real question that’s not answered is that you can grab the latest F mount version new for $1900 which you can run on a Z body with the FTZ adapter. The real question is what does $600 more get you? On other zooms it seems the Z version is significantly better but on this one where the F mount zoom is already close to perfect will the Z mount version truly be worth that much more?

Gollan: Photography is not always about bokeh or crispy sharp corners; some of us just like to make fun photos that delight others. That's what this and other novelty lenses are for. When I visit Kindergarten classrooms, I often bring my 8mm fisheye lens to take close up "big head" photos. When I show the first one on the back of my camera, the whole class inevitably joins in and my big, scary camera makes a lot of new friends. The result isn't high art, just a fun memory of the day.

UrbanHobbit: Finally, we may see what lies in the hearts of men

gipper51: Lovely camera, but I can wait 3 or 4 years when it's 1/2 price.

J C Strange: Awesome camera but why is the noise reduction non-optional?

Timajo: With most camera manufactures you buy one camera and add lots of lenses.

With Leica you buy one lens (get out of debtors prison) and add lots of cameras.

tex: Well, as someone who shot a lot of B+W in film days in 35, medium format, and 4x5, and has converted quite a few of my digital images to B+W as well, and who loves B+W photographs.....I'm not feeling it here with these shots from this camera---and I'm looking beyond the subject matter as we all should.

It would be much more instructive to have side x side shots of this against a "color" camera with the same lenses and exposures. I suggest that.

Clickalot: We have any number of protected classes in out society for whom honest criticism is not welcomed because such criticism is politically programmed to be interpreted as hate or jealousy. Like Leicas.

tkbslc: Happily for my wallet, I don't see any appreciable difference in these vs regular color conversions.

KubeKube: A story from 1981. During the first Everest ascent by Bulgarian climbers, they took with them several ‘Smena-8’ having prior to the climb removed with alcohol all lubricant (if any) from their moving parts. Thus, they were able to snatch gorgeous color photographs of their ascent with the ‘Smena-8’. The lubricant of the only ‘Leica’ they also had at their disposal, froze at high altitude and the camera was inoperable.