A minimalist "carry everywhere" camera system for going out and just living "through" the moments I'd like to photograph. Nothing fancy. Nothing big.

 

the two lens system.

At one point in most photographers' tenure of exploring the world around them they will wish for a smaller and lighter system than the one they've been using. They'll want to move away from large and ponderous cameras and the attendant fat zoom lenses toward something that's less of a burden to carry and also more fun to use. 

There are a number of good options for building a "minimalist" kit and some of them are very good choices for careful photographs who want the lighter load but still value higher resolution,  color rendering and overall performance. I am still fond of the Fuji X100V as a single piece solution. While I wish the lens were longer --- 40mm full frame equivalent --- would be just about right, the camera is lightweight, the images quality delivery far exceeds most expectations and the camera is fun to shoot with.  The only factor that kept me from totally committing to that camera for the long terms was the lack of lens interchangeability. But I'm flexible. I'd be keenly interested in an updated version of the X100V that had a two position (real, optical) lens that would give me something like a 35mm view and also a 60mm view. 

That would cover the range that I use most often and if it doesn't need to zoom, just supplying the two focal lengths exclusively, I think it could be engineered without adding too much bulk or complexity to the camera. It would change the X100V and I think there is a huge embedded base of customers that would hate the change, resist the change, and skew the future market for that camera. 

When I came across the digital Leica CL I knew the small camera had much promise as a street shooter's every day carry camera. I've tried it with a number of lenses and there are several options that really work for me when making this camera into a small system that I'm happy to carry with me. The "upgrade" from the Fuji was the ability to use different lenses. The "upgrade" for me was I could use the L mount lenses I was already buying for my bigger, full frame cameras. 

The camera is very straightforward. It's a basic mirrorless camera with an easier to understand menu and menu interface. It uses a very good 24 megapixel sensor (circa 2017) that's augmented by Leica's Maestro II processor and the camera provides a good interpretation of Leica's color science. There is, even in this less expensive model, the same detailed color discrimination one finds in Leica's flagship SL2 and their medium format S3 camera. 

Unlike most current Leica cameras the battery is not exclusive to Leica. The camera uses a stock BLC-12 type battery which is used in a number of Panasonic cameras, several Sigma cameras, and a handful of other Leica cameras that are variants of Panasonic long range zoom cameras. The benefit is that instead of paying a fortune for extra batteries one can buy "generic" versions for a lot less money.  While a Leica SL2 battery is currently $285 per one can get a Sigma branded battery, made by Panasonic, for about $40. If you really are on a tight battery budget you can source this battery type from several well known third party packagers for around $20 each. 

The CL takes all of the L mount lenses. That didn't seem like a big selling point at the time of its introduction but now, five years later, the number of L mount lenses has increased dramatically and the line up now also includes some L mount lenses made specifically for the cropped sensor sized APS-C Leica cameras. 

Sigma's high value Contemporary lenses in 16mm  f1.4, 30mm f1.4 and 56mm f1.4 are all very good choices that do a great job on this camera. But in addition all of the other Contemporary i-series lenses are also good complements to the CL. I don't own all of the i-Series lenses but there are two that I would use to make a favorite kit with. Those are the 24mm f3.5 which seems to be a near perfect size match for the CL, and also the 45mm f2.8, which is inexpensive and, at all f-stops from f4.0 onward, is an amazing optical performer. It's also just the right size for the diminutive camera body. A third lens which I am just coming around to using on the CL is the Sigma Contemporary i-series 90mm f2.8. I like it because it's a throw back to the very popular (in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s) 135mm  lens on a full frame camera. 

The 90mm used on an APS-C camera is a very sweet combination of telephoto compression, subject isolation, ability to easily toss the background out of focus and lightweight/easy to handle mechanics. 

The one sticking point that many regard as a deal-killer for this camera is the fact that it does not include image stabilization and, while I wish it did, I'm not so attached to that feature that I personally would disregard the CL. Although I understand that for some folks I.S. is a necessity. 

I'll admit that I'm not as steady as I'd like to be with the 90mm f2.8 (135mm equiv.) on the camera but my workaround is to lean on the Auto-ISO and set 1/250th as my lowest shutter speed for normal shooting activities. 

I think the lack of I.S. is important to note because the camera doesn't really lend itself to tripod use. The tiny size of the body makes mounting on a tripod seem awkward. Of course it's easy enough to do but it just feels "off" to me. 

If I'm going out for a walk with no photography subject in mind I usually take the camera with only one lens. Lately I vacillate between taking the 24mm or the 45mm. The 24mm gives me the same angle of view as a 35mm on a full frame camera while the 45mm gives me about a 68mm "look." If I'm feeling uncertain about which way to go I have a different small system mentality I fall back on. 

If it's a hot, sunny day and I might want to photograph some objects as details and then other images require more wide angle imaging (a sky line of buildings, as an example) I'll default to the Sigma Contemporary 18-50mm f2.8 zoom lens. This gives me a 27mm to 75mm range (f.f. equivalent) with a fairly fast maximum aperture. 

If I want to go out in the late evenings and photograph at the theater or in a music venue, or perhaps just a beautiful model in a coffee shop. I switch to fast lenses. The two I really like right now; as a pair, are the TTArtisan 23mm f1.4 and the Sigma Contemporary 56mm f1.4. The speed is great and allows me to keep the shutter speeds high enough to ensure sharp frames. Both lenses are sharp and the 56mm is most likely the sharpest of all the APS-C, L mount lenses I've used. 

Circling back to my original premise, the combination of the 24mm f3.5 and the 45mm f2.8 is my idea of t he perfect two lens kit. The wide lens give me a conservative wide angle point of view which is the most comfortable of focal lengths beyond "normal" for me to compose in. With 24 megapixels of resolution the image can be cropped to a 50mm equivalent with little if any loss of image quality. The 45mm gives me enough reach to make good environmental portraits and to isolate details and smaller objects well. 

The camera and two lenses fit into my smallest Domke bag and the whole system, along with a couple extra batteries, weighs next to nothing. It's the system I would bring along on vacations with B. and other times where photography is possible but not the "main event" on the schedule.

Street shooting with the little Leica CL is a wonderful thing. The camera seems made for quick, discreet work in crowded places. Used with either of the two basic lenses it's not at all obtrusive or even noticeable. The AF is quick and accurate. The shutter is quiet and can be set to a silent, electronic-only shutter when needed. The lenses, when used correctly (stop that 45mm down one stop if you are closer than five or six feet from your subject!) are clinically sharp but also have some nice character to them. 

I can generally shoot all day long with three batteries but if I was on a photographic tour of a major city and shooting from dawn to well after dusk I would carry four or five batteries --- mostly because I'm a battery worrier. A condition bequeathed to me by my old Kodak DCS 760 cameras which would average, on a good day, about 100 exposures per (big and heavy) battery. You would probably be comfortable with the Leica CL and three batteries if you thought about it....

I won't wax philosophical about "the Leica Look" or the "specialness" of Leica but I will say that after having spent a century designing cameras for really picky and demanding users they do seem to be able to make cameras that fit just right into certain niches and to provide a value of operability that's sometimes missing from cameras from those who are just lately arriving in the game. 

A Leica CL can mostly only be had used these days and you'll end up paying between $1800 and $2000 for a mint condition unit. A bit more if it comes with all the original trappings. 

Is it worth it? I can only speak for myself. All cameras now in the market should be able to hit a baseline of image quality from which most users cannot differentiate one model from another. The value then will be in what "features" are available, how the handling works out and how you feel about your relationship with pleasing industrial design. I like using the Leica cameras because I like the fact that they have relentlessly simplified the user interface and seem to have resisted adding so much complexity that the camera becomes unusable by people not habituated to working with endless menu choices and "custom settings." I think "custom settings" is another phrase, used in photography, for "punishment." The more custom settings a camera offers me the more I feel as though I'm being punished for not being able to memorize hundreds of settings a what dozens of unmarked buttons have been assigned to do. 

To have a camera that's quick and easy to use for the kind of work I'd like to do with it is a major selling point for me. You have to remember that many of us came from a time when we could only set a few things on any cameras. Those were: focus, aperture, shutter speed and ISO/ASA. All the "color profiles" were set when we decided on the film stock we would use. .  Those are four things to think about in order to make a photograph. 

Now Sony, Canon, Nikon etc. users have dozens of buttons at their disposal, all of which can be programmed to do dozens of different "tasks." I can't imagine having to set and memorize all that stuff just to be able to make a simple exposure. So, for me the Leicas check a very important box. They help me to focus on the real task at hand. Not programming rarely used crap into a menu but the pushing of a shutter button to make an image. Over time it's a big brain and time saver. 

The CL isn't the "everything" camera. If I used big, heavy zooms I'd choose something else. If I wanted to shoot more video I'd definitely choose something different. If I were s sports shooter....same. But if I wanted to walk around Austin, Rome, Berlin, etc. and photography the endless reveal of daily life this would be my choice.

Crazy Weather in Austin. But nice for swimming and photography.

 

Jennifer. Triathlete. 

On the Barton Springs Greenbelt.

Camera: Mamiya 6.

Mamiya 150mm 

When I woke up this morning I knew it was going to be a goofy day. I always take a peek at my Apple Watch before I roll out of bed and I was a bit surprised to see that our projected high temperature this afternoon was going to settle in around 80° (f). The morning started out cloudy but the clouds broke near the end of swim practice. I swam with my favorite lane mate today. He's younger (but only by 15 years) and four inches taller than me and he set a pace I'm still recovering from. We plowed through 3300 yards and then at the end (peer pressure) he decided we had enough time to do four or five "shooters." 

What are shooters? At our pool it means you breathe in as much oxygen as you can and then swim underwater the whole way to the other end of the pool. Then you pop up, get a breath and swim leisurely back to the other end. The first one isn't that rough but we tend to do them on a one minute interval per two lengths and by the fourth one of the set it gets a little hairy. It seems like no big deal to hold one's breath for twenty to twenty-five seconds, and it is pretty easy at the beginning of the workout, but after a couple fast miles it ends up being a lot more challenging. I cheated on the last one and came up for a breathe at the backstroke flags. That's at least 15 feet from the end.... I'll try harder next time. 

Next stop was a visit to my favorite camera store. It was my second trip this week. The first time I hauled up a ton of lighting equipment and traded most of it in for store credit. Now the lighting gear shelves at my office are look a lot less overwhelming and chaotic than before. Everything the store didn't want was donated because....if the store doesn't want it then why try to squeeze a rock?

Today's trip was for a specific purpose. I always wanted a Leica SL2 camera. A squeaky clean, new one.  When I finished swimming this morning I had a moment of quasi-clarity in which I decided that this was a small thing that would bring me no small amount of pleasure. I did my research between the SL2-S and the original SL2 and decided in favor of the higher resolution model; the original. The shocker came when I asked to buy a couple extra batteries. I'd read that the camera can, depending on how you use it, be pretty power hungry. I'm still reeling from having to pay $275 each for fairly small, but Leica branded batteries. I wish they were interchangeable with my Panasonic S series batteries but that would be too easy. 

I don't have much to report about the camera today since it's brand new and just out of its box. I need to wait for the first battery to charge and when it does I'll take it out for a "breaking in" stroll and we'll get to the bottom of this "Leica Mystique." Fact or fiction? We'll see. 

Funny thing, though... I'm planning on doing its maiden voyage with the little Sigma 45mm f2.8 L-mount lens on the front. Probably not the most logical approach but consider the source. 

As almost every reviewer has said, "The camera body itself is a beautiful work of art."

Did I need it? No. Did I want it? Ever since it hit the market.

More follow.  

After declaring his intention to be "more eccentric in 2020" Kirk Tuck acquires the most eccentric "point and shoot" camera currently available...

I looked around at all the cameras that were introduced in the last year to find the one with the least amount of press coverage, given the least love on blogs and vlogs, with the fewest inches of hands-on, preview, now testing, first impressions, in-depth and field test written reviews, and, with the help of the VSL mainframe and our (not really!) sponsor, Palantir, we ended up with these results: the least loved and least explored, new, interchangeable lens, full frame camera in the world has to be the Sigma FP. 

So we bought one. 

Mary Bridget Davies as "Janis Joplin" for Zach Theatre.

Sigma FP + 85mm f1.4 Art Lens.

ISO 2500.

This is a camera will be universally overlooked by nearly every photographer, videographer, reviewer and retailer in the world in 2020, but everyone who actually buys one will probably love it and embrace it as one of the most fun cameras to work with ---- ever. (disclaimer: unless you shoot: sports, birds in flight, fast moving children, sports, skateboarding, things in motion, sports, or things that require fast, continuous autofocus. You will also be disqualified as a buyer if you need real, in body image stabilization, any sort of professional flash performance, or an EVF or other viewfinder). 

So, who is this camera for and why was I crazy enough to actually spend my scarce American dollars to buy one at the full retail price? Let's dig in and watch me rationalize...

I've shot enough commercial work with the Panasonic Lumix S1 series cameras to know that I made the right choice in selecting them for my work-work cameras. They are, in my opinion, the only truly professional caliber mirrorless, interchangeable lens, full frame cameras currently being made by any of the Japanese camera companies. A case could be made for Leica products but I'm almost certain that any improvement over the quality of the S Pro Lumix lenses would be firmly slotted in that category we call, extreme diminishing returns. The S Pro line is sturdy, robust and highly capable. The new Lumix S Pro lenses are astoundingly good. And, as an added bonus, the cameras don't overheat when shooting 4K video (which they do very, very well).

But what might be amazing for cameras that one uses for work might not fit the bill for photographers who enjoy walking miles and miles with a camera over one shoulder, looking for fun images to memorialize while reveling in the exercise, and soaking up the feel of the great outdoors. 

I looked through all the current "real" point and shoot cameras and didn't find one that fit perfectly with the perspective of the ultimately ambulatory, rambling photographer. I also wanted whatever camera I ultimately chose to have the imaging potential of the S1 cameras I've been shooting with. While I may use it in a less rigorous fashion I wanted to be able to put great lenses on the front of the camera, in a pinch, and walk away with files that were as good as those generated by my primary industrial strength imaging cameras. 

While I would love the Sigma FP even more if it used the same batteries as the Lumix S1 series, I am falling under the spell of this tiny, ungainly and slow, brick of a camera in a way I didn't expect. And right now I am writing about it in its incarnation as a still imaging camera (photography) and have not yet switched the magic switch to try out the video. That will be grist for another blog post somewhere. 

I took the Sigma FP out for it's maiden voyage this morning after swim practice. I'd tell you more about swim practice but I think the majority of my audience could care less about training for the USMS Masters National Short Course Nationals coming up in April...... 

I charged the battery last night and charged a generic back up battery as well. The camera does not come with an external charger so you have to use the USB-C port to charge batteries while they are in the camera. I am chafed by this and have purchased an aftermarket charger and more batteries to remedy this oddly vexing issue. I am a bit miffed that a $1900 camera doesn't come with an external charger but I guess I should have expected this since the camera doesn't come with a viewfinder/evf either. It's functionally a brick, just like the "brains" of a Red movie camera. You get to add the parts you think you'll need as you go along and, I suspect, that after you fit out the camera the way you'd really like it you'll have spent somewhere in the vicinity of $2500 instead. 

So, no battery charger, no evf, no dual pixel phase detect autofocus; not even DfD AF. But you do get a strap and detachable lugs for the strap. No dual card slots, just the one lowly SD card slot. But in an interesting side note, you can attach an SSD drive to the USB-C port and write files and video directly to a fast SSD. The SSD drive the few other owners of Sigma FPs seem to gravitate to is the Samsung T5, in the 1 terabyte flavor. You'll need it if you want to take advantage of the completely uncompressed video raw files which write at about 2500 megabytes per second, at their highest quality setting. 

Doesn't seem to be the sort of camera you take to a rock concert or a stage show, right? Well, in the spirit of counterintuitive eccentricity I decided to toss the tiny Sigma FP into my camera bag, along with a couple of Lumix S1s and my four favorite lenses of the moment (24-105mm, 70-200mm, 85mm and 45mm) for an evening of photography at Zach Theatre. 

I started out shooting mostly with the bigger cameras but when I felt I had a lot of good coverage I pulled out the little Sigma FP and started banging away with the 45mm lens. Emboldened by a vague feeling of success I decided to step into the forbidding land of stretching envelopes (landed up here courtesy Ming Thein) and slap the ultra fast, ultra heavy Sigma 85mm Art lens on the front. I'd been led to believe (by many non-reviews) that the focus ability would be slow-to-marginal-to-non-existent. My actual experience quickly proved over wise. But....click on the images below and see for yourself... Nobody stopped to pose for me; the stage was as kinetic as ever, but the camera and long lens seem to have nailed the focus (and color!!!) of everything at which I aimed.

So, what's my takeaway from this one day test?

Mostly that all cameras are good now. The Sigma FP has some really good color science along with a super sharp sensor (no AA filter on the sensor) which makes it a formidable competitor; at least as far as image quality is concerned...

There's a lot left for me to unpack and certainly, one day of shooting is hardly enough to nailed down a definitive assessment of a complex camera. We have some video that needs to be shot and some controlled portraits to be made but my first installment of hands-on with the Sigma FP went much better than I was led to believe possible.

People (reviewers and influencers) love to run with the herd and are most comfortable touting the status quo. It's hard for them to review or assess a different approach which I think accounts for the scarcity of Sigma FP reviews. Everyone here is on notice though...I'll be using it and writing about it extensively. At least for the next 30 days or so. 

I also learned that, with a current prescription for my bifocals I can use a rear monitor, if nothing else is available...

Buckle up. 

(Disclaimer: I have never been approached by Sigma for anything. Not to write about their cameras or lenses, nor to try or test or review their products. I paid for my Sigma FP and all the equipment I've written about in this post with my own funds, generated almost entirely from my small but happy commercial photography business. I am putting Sigma on notice that if they want me to come to Japan, tour their factory, and write about my experiences, I have my bags packed and my passport ready!).

And then, some photos from around town.

As a part of becoming more eccentric I am growing out the hair. I must remember to get more glamorous glasses frames.... Sorry, not going for tattoos.