Leaving Medium Format

 If there is one camera I regret selling it is hands-down the Leica M9. 

I remembered the sheer joy of using it.  I had used rangefinders in the past however that was many years before the M9 came into my photographic life. The closest camera matching the M9 was a Hasselblad X-Pan as both cameras were of similar size as to with the lenses. One was film-based the other digital 18-megapixel.

The one drawback I had with the M9 was the print size I was using a Phase One medium format system at the same time as I had the M9 and was not pleased with the print size differences. Part of the issue was the difference in sensor size the other was my own bias. One day I decided the M9 just wasn’t for me and began as a sole practitioner of medium format. As much as I enjoyed shooting medium format, first with Phase One then Fujifilm the M9 was never far from my thoughts.

I recently had a huge health scare which also caused a life-altering effect. While I won’t go into details, I will share a conversation Sandy & I had about returning to a simpler way.  Sandy shared how she missed shooting her Sony A7r which prompted me to admit how much I missed the M9.

Camera manufacturers never stand still. We started doing research and quickly found that Sony now offers their A7r lineup in 60-megapixels. I also found Leica was offering a 60-megapixel M11. Cutting to the chase, we have sold/traded every piece of Fuji GFX equipment we owned and have ordered a Sony Ar7 with what we both agree is the best focal length, a FE24-70. I now have a M11 with a stable of lenses ranging from 15mm to 135mm. And we are happy.