Which Camera to take...today?
Life would be simpler if there wasn't so much choice. Which movie to watch, which sunglasses to wear, which hamburger to pick. As to the question, which camera to choose is an entirely different one. The challenge with camera's is that the technology in the digital photography world is so fast developing that sometimes it seems better to wait. Wait for the next big thing out there. Really?
Years ago, I was shooting with a Nikon D90. Simple, reliable, operating to full satisfaction. Shooting at 12MP, simple medium range zoom, JPEG only, and I-Photo post-processing. Happy, happy. So, what the heck happened? A friend of mine, an enthusiast photographer talked to me about Leica, how wonderful the camera operates, and how brilliant the rangefinder experience was. So, instead of renting one and see for myself, I jumped the gun, sold my D90, and obtained a real Leica M8 on E-Bay with a Zeiss ZM 50mm 2.0. I happened to had a trip planned to Paris, and what could be nicer than going to Henry Cartier Bresson territory armed with my new classic, yet digital rangefinder. Nothing could have prepared me for the big disillusion. Sure, taking a pic of one of Paris' thousands drop dead gorgeous monuments was a sinch. But, the capturing (or lack thereof) of street scenes, haphazard moments was a wake-up call. Nothing which could not have been anticipated, after all, manual focussing versus quick DSLR autofocus was a match with a determined outcome. Tres bien, the focussing was really not the reason why I sold this camera faster than fast. Downloading the photos in the airplane, on my I-Pad on my way back struck me with fear. Surely, the quality was much better than what I saw on the screen.... The quality was not impressive; chromatic aberration, glare, purple fringing, and not the depth I expected.
Leica M8
The IQ, paired with the number of 'missed' shots made me very skeptical about the Leica experience. Most Leica owners believe that their work is art, because they use a Leica. I have seen my share of worthless shots, taken with the most expensive pieces of kit (regardless of the brand). How many Leica owners can only admit to themselves that their camera is more a 'being in love with the idea' than possessing a useful, go-to camera?
Simply owning an expensive and exclusive camera doesn't make you a better photographer, and not everything which comes out of an 'M' is magic.
Believe me, I love the look, the idea, the history, the feel and touch of the Leica M series (film, and digital), but the camera is flawed and overpriced. Its a badge which provides imaginary legitimacy to photographs. The lenses superb, yet unaffordable. But enough about the German masters. So, back to a DSLR then. I definitively wanted to go full-frame. I choose the Nikon D-600 with the 24-85 kit lens. Time after time, this camera has proven a brilliant tool. Always ready to shoot, tons of battery-life, weather-sealed, back-up memory card slots, 24mp. I haven't experienced the sensor spots, but I know some buyers may have. Still today, its the camera I grab when I cannot afford to miss the shot, when I need spot-on and razor sharp and fast focus.
Nikon D600
In the meantime I purchased the 50mm 1.8D, and the 24mm 2.8D as prime lenses. Fast, sharp, small, light and affordable. Let's wait and see what the new 35mm 1.8 will bring in a couple of weeks.
Still, a day of casual shooting is a tiring exercise with a FF DSLR, and its omnipresent. Its tough to walk around and shoot casual, street scenes without being noticed. Shooting from the hip is a challenge. So, I shopped around and my eye caught an article in a photo-magazine introducing the Fuji X-Pro1. Not only did it look amazing (unimportant, but still), it had many of the features I was looking for; 16MP, viewfinder (OVF and EVF), light, relatively small, and lens-aperture and shutter speed dials. The reviews were mixed, while everybody loved the IQ, many reviewers ranted the camera on its bad low-light performance and slow auto-focus. I took the dive and my experience has been very similar to the ones from the reviewers (I should take these guys more serious, right?). Its a pleasure to work with the camera, its light, easy to use, and gives me fabulous image quality. Yet, this camera has always been, and still is a source of hair-pulling frustration. The autofocus hunting and poor low-light performance is not making this my go-to camera. While Fuji must be praised for their continuous customer support with regular and substantial firm-ware updates, the X-Pro1's weaknesses (AF, Low-Light) remain a nagging turn-off. But, the impeccable quality of the lenses, the customer support and IQ, are the reasons why I will stick with Fuji for a while (later more).
Fuji X-Pro1
So, what is my go-to camera today, the one I ALWAYS have with me, the one I stick in my jeans pocket, the one I carry even if I get a gallon of milk? Its the Ricoh GR-V. The small, light, compact, stealth shooter from Ricoh has an APS-C 16MP sensor and spots a beautiful 28mm 2.8 non-exchangeable lens. Its unobtrusive looks, speed, simplicity and functionality makes this camera ideal for street shooters. I mean even renowned artists like Daido Moriyama are shooting with the Ricoh GRV.
It has a build-in snap mode, which allows for hyper focal focussing, it has a great performance in low light and plenty of customizable buttons. Its true that the battery life is poor, but that is a small price to pay for its light weight body. Carry a couple of batteries with you and you're good for the day.
Ricoh GR-V
So, am I all set, or am I still looking. Well, I was all set until the announcement of the new Fuji XT1. A brand-new APS-C, 16MP, compact, weather-sealed, light (magnesium body) camera with contrast and face detection AF, AF prediction, a brilliant 2.3m EVF, tiltable LCD screen and an array of mode dials on top. I have rented one at www.lensrentals.com and will make a small unpacking and review video on my YouTube channel in a couple of weeks. This may be the camera which may become my go-to camera, but in any event, if I buy one, I will have to sell the X-Pro1 for sure.
And here you have it, my choice in cameras is always driven by IQ first and foremost. I don't care if the camera looks good, if it has a 100-year old history, if it looks great with legacy glass, if it has 18k buttons. It has to feel good and do what it is supposed to do, which is visualizing my vision after I compose and press the shutter.
Dennis Post
