M9 First Impression

After a long wait (well, not really compared to others who ordered long before me and are still waiting) the Leica M9 finally arrived last week, together with the 18mm Super-Elmar ASPH, 50mm Summilux ASPH and the 90mm Summicron APO ASPH.

Which eye do you use?

I'm switching from my left eye to right eye...

Cooper's Island Nature Reserve

Due to the poor weather in the last couple of weeks I haven't been out taking photos. Today the weather turned great so I decided to go out for a stroll. 

EVIL

In a previous post I proposed the name 'DXL' for the new crop of mirrorless DSLRs. I just discovered that some people have already come up with a punchier name: EVIL (electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens). Clearly they are not that thrilled by this new emerging technology :)

M9 arrived! Hooray!

Well not quite :)

ISO 128,000,000,000...

While doing my research on the Leica M9 I also spent some time looking at what the current state of art is in the DSLR market and one of the topics is sensor noise. I've been hearing all the talks about amazingly high ISO settings offered by the current crop of DSLRs, something that originated from the high end full-frame models and now trickled down to the mid and entry-level models.


Although I'm sure that there are always fundamental improvements being made in sensor technology that increases the signal-to-noise ratio, but on the other hand I think camera makers are to some degrees exaggerating the high ISO performance claims (for marketing purpose?).

Will mirror-box and optical viewfinder become obsolete?

The fundamentals of SLR is being challenged...first was the m4/3 system, and now Samsung has taken another bold step:
NX10

All these mirror-less new camera systems really should be given a new name instead of DSLR, as the 'R' no longer applies. How about DXL (digital exchangeable lens) cameras?

UPS

My M9 is being shipped by UPS from US to Hong Kong...it took a few days going from New York to Alaska (hope the cold didn't break the camera), and then one day to the other side of the world. It should be delivered to my Hong Kong address any time in the next few days.

CHEK LAP KOK, HK	03/01/2010	18:36	DESTINATION SCAN
	03/01/2010	18:36	IMPORT SCAN
	03/01/2010	15:45	ARRIVAL SCAN
ANCHORAGE, AK, US	02/01/2010	11:08	DEPARTURE SCAN
	02/01/2010	7:38	ARRIVAL SCAN
LOUISVILLE, KY, US	02/01/2010	4:42	DEPARTURE SCAN
LOUISVILLE, KY, US	31/12/2009	11:31	ARRIVAL SCAN
JAMAICA, NY, US	31/12/2009	8:40	DEPARTURE SCAN
	31/12/2009	5:20	ARRIVAL SCAN
SECAUCUS, NJ, US	31/12/2009	4:05	DEPARTURE SCAN
FARMINGDALE, NY, US	30/12/2009	19:55	ORIGIN SCAN
US	30/12/2009	18:19	BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Leica M

My attention to digital rangefinders started a few years ago when the Epson R-D1 and subsequently the Leica M8 was released. I have always been looking for a camera that is minimalistic in design but yet able to capture high quality digital images.

However, the price of a digital rangefinder was way beyond my affordable range and the design weaknesses of the M8 (e.g. cropped sensor, IR sensitivity issue) were disappointing. Therefore I didn't consider them seriously.

The recently introduced M9 aroused my interest again but there's still a big question mark in my head: why are Leica products so expensive and is the high price justifiable? Other than the price are there really any things special?

Current equipments

This is a summary of major equipments I'm using:

First Post!

I got interested in photography about 10yrs ago when I first bought my own camera for a travel trip. It was an entry level film SLR with a 28-300mm ultra-zoom. For sure the equipments were not that great but I had a lot of fun taking pictures, waiting for the films to be developed and printed, and seeing the results.

Over the last ten years I've witnessed the transition from film to solid state media and the fascinating pace of digital camera technology. I've gone through a variety of camera equipments and most importantly developed my knowledge and skills.

I often read other photographers' reviews & blogs but I have never done it myself. There are several reasons I started this blog:
- a place to record my adventure in the world of photography
- publish my own opinions on any photography related subjects ranging from equipments, postprocessing, to market and technology trends
- I think my insights may benefit some people
- (and probably some more that I can't yet think of)

Let's see how it goes...