Funny how often “never” turns into “inevitable” in my little picture-taking world. In this case, it’s both a ditching and a re-acquisition. After all the charm, mystique and <insert word of your choice> of Leica faded, I opted for Nikon, a Zf for shooting short and a Z50II for shooting long. The Z50II was my…

A few of the photography rumors sites have now reported that the owners of Leica are looking to sell a majority stake in the company, perhaps to a business entity in China. Is anybody really surprised? For the past several years, we’ve seen numerous instances of co-branding, licensing the name, and an ever-diversifying portfolio of…

After adding an APS-C Nikon body some time back for critter chasing, I dared to see if they might have a full-frame body that can autofocus accurately. Once I found one, there was no further reason to hang on to my well-worn Leica stuff. So I’ve made a complete brand change, partly motivated by my…

After swearing off Nikon bodies a couple of years ago following a series of choices that couldn’t autofocus accurately, I decided that “just one lens” wouldn’t hurt. In this case, it was round seven or eight with the 300mm f/4E PF, a great lens that kept getting ditched because no Nikon body could autofocus it…

Yes, I had a bit of beginner’s luck with rangefinder focusing. It took about one more day and then an outing with the EVF attached to see that I wasn’t really exploiting the sharpness of my glass with rangefinder focusing. Translation: lots of near misses; very few critically accurate shots. So I persisted with the…

For some time now, there’s been an itch for an M body, especially for lighter weight in a daily carry. And for simplicity. And for a shutter that fires when I push the button, not half a second later…or never. Much as I love the CL, it’s been like a little brick in my bag…

Yep, this keeps popping up in my head. Reminding myself that when shooting with M, I’d lose my three biggest current crutches, EVF focusing, stabilization, and perspective control, does no good. Knowing that even the sharpest-eyed rangefinder shooters can have problems with fast glass over 50mm, and that my near vision is not getting any…

One thing that keeps getting reinforced in my stubborn brain is that the more hype there is about a particular birding spot, the less likely I am to find birds there. And the more it happens, the less enthusiasm I have for carrying longer glass, even the 70-300mm zoom I have with me now. After…

After twice failing to bond with a 90mm APO-Summicron-M, I added a 90mm Summicron-SL to the arsenal. Image quality and sharpness were to my liking, but the weight was not. So it got trundled off. More recently I tried another copy of the M lens. The short, stiff focus throw made it hard for me…

Selecting gear for travel with regard to both weight and versatility is a two-sided coin. First, there’s the “on paper” stage, which gets revised several times prior to departure so that travel will be ideal. Then there’s the reality stage, when one realizes that some aspects of the “ideal” paper version don’t necessarily work so…