I was looking for this: a full frame, L mount camera with a very small footprint but very big performance. I thought the best camera to take on my on vacation would be the Sigma fp. I love the look of the files I get from the camera and it's the smallest full framer I own. I think it's still the smallest of all full frame cameras extant. I've been working with the camera a lot and in controlled situations it's just flat out charming to work with. But out on the street? That's a whole different story.
Oh sure, I can shoot with it pretty fluidly if I use the big finder on the back to isolate and magnify the LCD image. But if I want to use it in its smallest configuration I want to ditch the finder, and also ditch any sort of handgrip for it. And this makes the camera much tougher to use.
To complicate matters I also want to use whichever camera I bring with a very small and fast prime lens in the 40-50mm realm. Just to toss a bit of chaos into my choice matrices I did a bunch of research and found the best eccentric lens choice one can imagine. Fedex delivered my Voightlander Nocton 40mm f1.4 (MC) Classic today. Along with an M to L mount adapter. Love the lens but it is fully manual. Manual focus, manual exposure, etc. and that compounds the halting usability of the fp as a "street shooting" camera.
Fortunately I tend to be the kind of photographer who likes to test out things that seem like a "great idea" just to make sure they actually are before I get somewhere and totally regret my choices. It was cloudy and gray today so I put the fp together with the V-lander 40mm and headed over to South Congress Ave. to actually work toward my own little proof of concept. I gotta say that I failed miserably.
I kept hitting a button somewhere which changed my auto-ISO to either ISO 8 or ISO 124,000. Neither of which were anywhere near optimal. If the subject was darker than the prevailing light then the LCD image was more or less useless. I quickly discovered that the focus peaking at wider apertures is a sucky adventure destined to leave one with soft images most of the time. I also learned that I will miss every other shot as I punch in to a magnified setting to actually achieve focus.
I am ditching the idea of using the fp in this way (and on this trip) and tomorrow I'll put the 40mm f1.4 V-Lander on the Panasonic S5 and try out that combo.
So, what about the lens? Well, like most lenses of any quality it's very, very good in the center; even wide open. The corners don't really sharpen up until f4.0. At most of the wider stops the lens has vicious vignetting (which is transparently corrected in Lightroom) and there is a bit of barrel distortion which is also easily compensated for. I love the look of the images with this lens and I think the best thing about it is the really small size. Just tiny.
I love the focusing lever I guess because I spent a lot of time working with Leica M cameras and lenses back in the 1980s and 1990s. The lever falls right under my fingers and makes manual focusing as quick as I remembered it could be.
The lens was on sale at B&H (and at other places) for $399 and I thought it was worth the risk. I've decided that I really like it and will go forward with my plan to use it on the trip. Now we just need to find the "just right" body to use it on. More on the search and testing tomorrow. Here are some photos I took during my hour on S. Congress. These were all done in short order with the Sigma fp and the Voightlander Nocton 40mm f1.4. At least it was fun to get out and walk around.....
16 comments:
Kirk, I surely will not criticize your final choice, but I think that you would be much better off with one of your aps-c Leica CL and a 18-50 mm zoom. After all that camera is explicitly made for your intended use: small, light, travel friendly. Moreover, manual focus on modern cameras is a sort of afterthought.
Unhappy experience, but lovely colors.
Kirk
I like the color rendition of the fp, but I share your disappointment with the images.
Good luck with the S5 and Voughtlander combination. Though, don’t overlook the S5 and Lumix 50mm f1.8 as a fall back combination, if the next trial provides similar results.
PaulB
Once a camera no longer fits in a cargo pocket they're all almost the same size (spiritually speaking) Is holding a FP at arms length or with the add on VF really a *smaller* system than your SL or a S5, both of which offer a vastly better experience with an M lens or f2 AF prime?
My current main squeeze is the rather lovely X2D/55V combo but I've spent many days with either an SL2 and SL Summicron 50 or an M with any 50 at all and it a lovely way to travel.
I have found that a sling starp is by far the best strap for the single camera and lens travelling shooter. Speed, security and comfort all in one little strap.
Gordon
Greetings Kirk
Happy late Birthday. I hope you had a wonderful day.
Now for the issue at hand, the FP. As you know I'm a huge Sigma fan and have been for years.
So here we go
1. Your images were the best of the best, the FP produces the best images, bar none, and the best B&W images. Although I feel the Sigma 45 is one of the best matches for the FP.
2. I use the EV-11 viewfinder, and my FP setup so when I use manual focus the image magnifier auto activates. My ISO is set to auto and my FP is locked.
I had the issue of hitting the setting dial on the back with my thumb, so I purchased a wooden grip with a thumb rest on the back, top, problem solved.
I had a loaner Panasonic S5 with a couple of lenses for a few weeks, including the 50 1.8. I prefer the FP with the 45 2.8 As you know I own the CL, but do not like a cropped sensor so it may get sold soon. I'm looking at the Nikon Z system at the moment.
Take care
Roger
It is better to travel in hope than to arrive - and - true success is to labor. I guess you arrived at a conclusion with the FP, now you continue to labor?
I know you have a lot of cameras but what about the Sony A7C? Seems to be small enough and if you're using adapted lenses it's just a matter of one more adapter (I think there are even autofocus M mount ones).
I don't have full frame cameras (other than a brief period with a Nikon Df but to this day the Panasonic GX7 is my favorite form factor travelling (followed closely by the GX9, even tough I also have a G9), so the A7C popped up in my mind when reading..
Know your pain. I spend too much time deciding what package to take when traveling for fun. I know you don’t like Sony but I like the A7c with a G master 40 mm f2.5 lens. It’s compact and rugged.
A7c has a small footprint and is full frame.
I admit it's rather romantic when traveling to document with only one prime lens, but the reality is a modern zoom is simply a better tool for the task. Your S5 with the 20-60 is lightweight, weatherproof and captures some terrific detail. I left all my "pro grade" but heavy stuff at home and instead brought this combo on a recent journey to Germany and Egypt. Images are amazing, and too many would have been missed or compromised with a single focal length. I like playing with my adapted primes, but they're simply not the best tool for a travel gig.
Kirk
you owe it to yourself to try the Ricoh GR3 and GR3X both have remarkable quality and produce beautiful B&W images.I shoot with Sony and a Leica Q2 and often are unable in average size prints to distinguish any difference between the magnificent Q2 and the Ricoh.Also you love the 40mm.which is what the GR3X has.Trust me on this one you will
love the portability and the images.
Like many of us, I have too much gear. It took a while, but I finally learned that the single camera, single lens for me is my Fuji X100F. I now have made several trips with that as my "desert island" camera and am quite happy with the resulting images. And my travel pics are 90% SOOC jpgs in classic chrome - even though I have almost two dozen profiles in the camera. Good images and little or no computer processing. Works for me.
Kirk
I forgot to add above. If you decide to take a Leica body/lens, don’t forget your Customs Border Protection (CBP) Form 4457 or a copy of the purchase receipt to prove you owned it before leaving the country.
A Panasonic body/lens may not get any attention from a Customs agent when you return, but a Leica will probably get a lot of attention if they ask about it.
PaulB
I have the same experience as RiverdogsCrossing. I have traveled with the Fuji X100F followed by the X100V. The fixed lens is 23mm, with the APSC sensor it is 35mm equivalent. I also use the internal conversion to 50mm and 70mm equivalent. I usually shoot in "Standard" color and sometimes in B&W yellow filter selection and...Square. The camera is light and relatively small, a pleasure to carry when traveling and the SOOC JPEGS are excellent. Enjoy your trip with B Kirk.
Stick with whatever has the best weather sealing. We're expecting rain, with a bit of wind, in the area for the next ten days or so. Even the occasional Pineapple Express.
Based upon the shots you’ve displayed as the product of casual walks around town - and the parameters of small, light, compact, with superb color performance - it seems to me the ultimate choice is the Leica CL. For what you’ll be shooting the added sensor size is meaningless. The CL’s image output, in your hands, is unbeatable.
Or you could rebel against all photographic tradition and use only your iPhone.
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