A Small Selection of Lenses Has a Number of Benefits for Urbanscape Photography. Not Least of Which is You Have Less to Carry.

 

"When you only have a hammer everything looks like a nail."  But you get really good at finding nails and better and better at driving them home.

I have a Leica M240 camera and a Q2 camera and in so many ways I'm just realizing they are mirrors of each other....at least in the ways that I use them. When I first pondered the idea of getting a Q2 I was repeatedly stopped in my tracks by my resistance to buying a camera that "only" has on it a "fixed" 28mm lens. My traditional way of thinking about lenses and sensors came from a time when digital camera resolutions were measured in single digits and not being able to zoom in or crop an image was more or less a reality. But I was really intrigued by the Q cameras and finally metaphorically "held my nose" and bought the camera "in spite of" that 28mm lens. For months afterwards I would opine to anyone who cared to pay attention that I would love the camera so much more if it had a 35mm or 40mm lens instead. 

But they something happened. I started to play around with the in camera frame cropping. The ability to see a composition surrounded by new frame lines that would give me, in addition to the 28mm, a 35mm and a 50mm with very little reduction in actual quality --- and even a decent (but lower res) 75mm, in a pinch gave me an increased appreciation for the whole idea. As I experimented more and more I found that the 35 or so megapixels of the 35mm crop resulting in completely convincing files. Why would it not since the resolution was still higher than most of the other cameras I have in inventory, even at full frame? 

At some point I became totally comfortable considering the Q2 as a 28-50mm compact camera and have been using it that way ever since. And loving the images that come out of it at any of the three finalized angles of view. 

When I bought an M camera I thought I would mostly use it as a body with a semi-permanently attached 50mm lens. That's the way I always used my M3 camera back in the early 1980's and I postulated that it would be the same with any new or future M camera. But my experiences with the Q2 made me want more angle of view flexibility. Especially if the M was the only camera I brought along for a photographic adventure. Of course I ended up with an M kit that is, basically, a 28, 35 and 50mm system. While in a side by side comparison the Q2 blows away the usability and the quality of using a 28mm lens on the M240, if you don't do a side by side comparison you'd be forgiven for thinking your 28mm Carl Zeiss lens on a 24 megapixel M body was pretty damn good. 

But you'd also have to admit that using the 28mm with the frame lines stretched to the very edges of the camera's optical finder is a lot less pleasant than looking through the wonderful 28mm EVF finder image in the Q2. 

In the M240's maiden voyage abroad (with me) I ended up duplicating pretty much what I already have in the Q2. At least when it comes to available and usable focal lengths/angles of view.  Silly me? Not in the least. This makes the Q2 and the M240 system the almost perfect back up cameras for each other. If, God forbid, one of the cameras bit the dust or was otherwise taken out of the equation the other camera would be able to make a near seamless replacement. 

In some regards the trip to Montreal with these two cameras was a learning experience for me. And I'm not too old to learn new things. Really.

What I really came away with was my understanding that the Q2 might be the ultimate travel camera for someone who wants to travel light, have high quality files and never worry about bringing along and changing multiple lenses in the field. I learned to trust the 15+ megapixel 50mm crops in the camera and became absolutely comfortable with the 35+ megapixel 35mm crops. If I found images that worked well at 28mm then that was obviously the ultimate sweet spot.

Was it a mistake to bring along the M camera and all three of my designated system lenses? No. I mean,  how else would you compare different cameras and methods of working if you couldn't fluidly switch back and forth between the two options? Especially when not only is handling pertinent but also differences in color and image quality. 

One thing I did notice was that no matter how great the 28mm lens on the Q2 or the M240 might be I still have a preference for the 50mm angle of view. I like distilling stuff down. But as my favorite (now retired) graphic designer points out, one of my compositional weaknesses is that I do tend to crop too tight. Not enough space around subjects. Oh well. It's always a work in progress. 

Here's a smattering of images from the two cameras and their respective lenses: 

Funny. At least to me...how much difference a change in the angle of composition makes 

in the images just above and just below. The face of the mannequin takes on two 

totally different looks.

Yes. I get it. Food.

these store posters generated a revived interest for me in Halloween.

I think this might be a fun year to go to 6th St. in downtown 

Austin to see thousands of young adults parade around in costumes...

To sum up: While I'm enjoying the handling and use of the Leica M240 I'm no longer infatuated with the whole M rangefinder idea. I'll probably sell off all of the M mount lenses and the M240 and dump the cash into a second Q2 body. The main reason is that I hate traveling specifically for photography without a back up camera body. Having a duplicate Q2 or maybe a Q3 would mean the same lens, the same menus, the same batteries, the same handling, etc., etc.

At this point in my amateur career (as opposed to my commercial work) I think the range of 28 to 50mm is more than adequate. Any longer or shorter just seems like a burden. 

When I finally notch my last commercial job I have the idea of getting rid of all the cameras, lenses and lighting I kept for professional work and just enjoying the streamlined pleasure of one nicely designed and realized camera. A dream maybe but why not?