Iron Creek Photography®: Arizona back roads with a Leica M9 and Canon 1DsIII

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Arizona back roads with a Leica M9 and Canon 1DsIII

Canon 1DsIII 28-135mm

Sandy & I have been traveling the back roads near where we live in search of wildflowers; with as much rain as we've had this winter we should have a bumper crop. We've seen areas that have an early bloom and other areas that look promising once we have a couple days of warmer weather.

Canon 1DsIII 28-135mm

We've been going out armed with two cameras; Sandy has a Canon 1DsIII which is a 21.1 megapixel full frame 35mm with a CMOS sensor. The average file sizes produce a 5616x3744 or 23.4"x15.6" image that's 37.84mg large.

Canon 1DsIII 28-135mm

I have the new Leica M9 rangefinder camera which is 18 megapixel, full frame 35mm with a CCD sensor. The average file sizes produce a 5212x3468 or 21.7"x14.5" image that's 34.75mg large.

Canon 1DsIII 28-135mm

Leica M9 90mm

Sandy's camera is an auto focus through the lens camera which basically means what you see is what you get and can be much faster to use. The 1DsIII also has a mirror which allows the user to view through the lens while placing the lens further away from the film plane or in this case the sensor.

Canon 1DsIII 28-135mm

Leica M9 50mm

The Leica M9 is a traditional rangefinder which means that you look through a small viewfinder and manually focus the lens until you see a sharp image in a smaller area within the viewfinder. There's no mirror thus the lens sits closer to the film plane or again in this case the sensor.

Leica M9 50mm

The other differences between the two cameras are the sensors with the 1DsIII using the more traditional sensor found in most DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras while the M9 using a sensor that is normally found in a medium format digital back such as the Phase One P45+. I could go on about the differences however that's at the risk of your eyes rolling in the back of your head and then you have a Homer Simpson moment where all you think about is a donut so I'll stop here.

Leica M9 50mm

The lessons I've learned so far in using the M9 are simple. I tend to use it more while on these drives than I would normally use my Cambo/P45+; I've also found I more willing to walk out further and for longer periods. I'm very pleased with the image quality as well as my lens selection. While I have printed much of what I've been doing with the M9 I have been very pleased. I've also found that even with wearing tri-focals I still am able to achieve critical focus. I plan on running a test the next couple days using my 90mm and humming birds so stay tuned for that experience.