GEAR TALK - January 2023 Wrap-Up

This year literally started with a bang with the Dallas fireworks pictures to ring in the new year. Since then, not much to talk about due to winter weather. So today's Gear Talk entry will be a quick update for what has been going on for the past 6ish months.

BYE-BYE MEDIUM FORMAT - AGAIN

I became obsessed with shift lenses, so went 'all-in' on a used larger format kit - Arca Swiss Rm3di, some Rodenstocks and a Phase One IQ4-150 for the BSI sensor. Unfortunately, in the field I could not execute fast enough - especially if racing against changing light. Focusing with the Rm3di is slow. Composing and shifting is slow. Dialing in tilt is a slow iterative process.

As the saying goes, the Rm3di kit was a bridge too far. Before selling the Phase One IQ4-150, I considered reverting back to a Phase One XF kit. I love the various capture options with the Phase One XF and IQ4 series, but as tempting as the idea was, there is no getting around the size and weight of a Phase One kit.

Once again, medium format has come and gone. A monochrome Hasselblad X2D would be very enticing, but if the Leica M11's color sensor is a sign of things to come, the Leica M11 Monochrom black and white sensor will be one heck of a camera.

LEICA 28MM F2.8 PC-SUPER-ANGULON R

With the large format gear now gone, the Leica 28mm F2.8 PC Super-Angulon R got a field promotion to "good enough". The Leica 28mm F2.8 PC is a rebadged Schneider - a lens of marginal performance. Shifting beyond 6-7mm shows a significant drop in acuity; there are moderate levels of chromatic aberration; barrel distortion; and overall sharpness & acuity are lackluster.

The 28mm PC is currently with DAG (Don Goldberg) for a cleaning and optical check up. Hopefully Don can coax a couple extra ponies out of its rather anemic V8. The lens does a bit better on the Leica M10 Monochrom only because black and white hides the chromatic aberrations. And with copious amounts of sharpening in post, it can be "good enough".

Granted, I have painted myself into a corner. Wanting to use a shift lens with the Leica M10 Monochrom really limits the options, even more so if wanting a 28mm shift lens. If using a Sony A7rV, there are many other tilt shift lenses that can be adapted. There is also the forthcoming Fuji tilt-shift lenses for the GFX mount.

UPCOMING LEICA M GEAR

In this post-Covid, inflationary, blame-it-on-the-supply-chain world, guessing what will come out of Wetzlar (and when) is anybody's game.

• Leica 35mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH FLE "II":  The update includes a couple more aperture blades, a new close focus feature and a reworked lens hood. The biggest selling point (for me) is the new lens hood - which will be much easier in the field with the Leica M10 Monochrom when swapping around filters. Mine arrives within the next week.
• Leica M11 Monochrom:  Widely expected to be announced in Q2 2023, but a little birdie tweeted the Leica M11-P will come first. Given that the Leica M10 Monochrom is listed as discontinued at some retailers, the M11-P coming first is a surprising development.
• Leica 50mm Summilux-M APO:  This rumor is an oldie, but with Leica expanding the close focus function to other lenses, the Leica 50mm Summilux-M ASPH is an obvious pick.

My wish for 2023 is a monochrome Hasselblad X2D, or monochrome Fuji GFX, or monochrome Sony A7rV or monochrome Leica SL3. Frankly, I am surprised that Hasselblad has not offered a monochrome version the X1D / X2D. That seems like the perfect bespoke offering for Hasselblad.