The hand feel of Nikons like the D700, D610 and D750 were really good for me. But the system had its issues. Most of the pre-mirrorless Nikons could have issues with front focusing and back focusing. And I found that correcting for one lens might put another, different lens in jeopardy. I have some good images from my years with Nikon but...
Then there's my time with Sony. Interesting to me that I was at the Photo Expo in NYC in 2013 when Sony debuted the A7 and A7R cameras. The A7 was interesting but the shutter noise and slap in the A7R (even though it was a mirrorless camera!!!) was so awful and profound that I almost dropped it out of sheer surprise. I owned an A7ii, and A7Rii and a couple iterations of the (very good) RX10 cameras but back in the early days of Sony cameras both the batteries and the camera menus seemed locked in a competition to see which could be worse. Which one could most annoy working photographers. And I never got used to carrying around eight to ten batteries to get through a day. And I never really wanted to have the 250 page .pdf of the manual on my phone to try, while out in the field, to unlock the secrets of some control which seemed straightforward on every other camera brand's cameras. The photos were fine....
I could have lived with Panasonic's first generation of S1 cameras. They worked well. But they were a bit noisy (file noise at higher ISOS) and the focusing could have been better. At the time I traded them for Leica stuff they seemed not to be making much forward movement and like immobile sharks I thought the brand, Lumix, might stop breathing and die. The Leicas were expensive to buy and it may be that the sheer expense has kept me anchored to the brand. Who wants to spend a small fortune only to abandon the brand and switch yet again to something else?
I even had a flirtation with a Pentax camera. It was the K1. The original K1. And from a handling point of view I'd still have it. But, again, the scourge of DSLRs. Variable front and back focusing reared its ugly head. Still, the camera itself was mature, charming and almost sophisticated. Sad to see it go. Now that I think about it I'll start wishing that Pentax would take that body and use it as the platform for a really great mirrorless system... Not going to happen. Sorry.
But the one brand I haven't mentioned is probably the one brand I would go to if I were to replace the Leicas, and that's Canon. There's a lot to dislike about Canon. But then again, I used the 60D, the 70D, the 5D and the 5Dmk2 cameras back in the day and when I revisit those files I still like em. A lot. The handling of the full frame cameras was comfortable and I never worried that the files would be compromised by focus issues, noise issues or skin color issues. Sure, there's no real prestige value to a camera system that every weekend warrior uses for weddings of all stripes but you can't really count that against a brand. I also owned one of the big 1Dmk4 cameras they made for sports shooters and liked it a lot. Sure it was big but what good camera back in the pre-2010 days wasn't? The beauty was that cameras such as the 1Dmk4 were practically indestructible and well formed to spend a day in one's hands with little to no strain.
I shot with Canon SLRs back in the film days. My first real camera was a TX. Replaced by an FTb, augmented with an EF and then an F1. When Canon switched to the EOS mount from the FD mount I switched with them and had the EOS-1...which was a wonderful camera. I paired it with the 85mm L f1.2 and, except for slow focusing (torturously slow) it was an amazing lens.
I haven't kept up with what Canon is doing in the mirrorless space. Once in a while I'll hear about a camera they've introduced that has heat issues with not only video but also with photos. Then I'll hear that it's been fixed but it has seemed like a brand in such flux that I guess I decided I didn't have the bandwidth to keep up with their strained campaign to move, seriously, into the mirrorless space.
I guess the Canon camera that would interest me the most would be the R5mk2. More than enough pixels. Seems like they worked out the thermal issues that plagued the original model. It seems advanced enough to do just about anything I need and I'd couple it with basic 24-105mm L lens (not the Z model). There are a few cheaper models that could serve in a pinch for backup but I haven't looked into them. There is a super cheap, full frame model called the EOS RP which you can pick up right now, on sale for about $800, new. Clamp on a kit version of the 24-105 (f4-something to f7-something), add a flash and you'd be ready to go shoot a wedding or an event. But really?
I can't imagine changing stuff right now. If I found the Leica stuff just too pricy to go on with I think I'd just default to the Panasonic S5 series cameras and their cheap as dirt line of prime lenses. At least I'd be able navigate the menus, having used the original S5 since...forever.
It's been asked on other blogs but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask here: If storm troopers tossed you into the street and burned down your house with all your camera gear in it, and you needed/wanted to start over again in photography, what system would you be looking at???? Presuming you got to keep your basic wealth and the insurance paid for your losses (house, gear, etc) after the overlords figured out that you actually weren't the terrorist cell they anticipated???? Sorry dude! Mistakes happen.
Just a few thoughts on a Monday.
