Having had my first DSLR in 2004 and tried several brands/models, it was 'another day at the office' for me when I picked up the Leica M9P last week. Leica is known for having excellent sharpness, top grade materials, precise German engineering, and the camera system for any serious photography to own one. I've never liked the 'non-mainstream', ie: Lomography, rangefinders, medium-format cameras, preferring to use tried and tested Japanese brands and the power of photoshop to tweak my images the way I see fit.
I've tried a M8 or M8.2 with a 21mm (either a f/1.4 or f/2.5) a few years back, and the handling nor images didn't impress me. It could have been my lack of skill!
I've tried a M8 or M8.2 with a 21mm (either a f/1.4 or f/2.5) a few years back, and the handling nor images didn't impress me. It could have been my lack of skill!
This time, I had the luxury and honour of really 'powering' the M9P and one of the most sort-after lenses in production - the Noctilux 50mm f/0.95. Coupled with the full frame sensor of the M9P, the HUGE aperture of 0.95 is massive!
The M9P comes with a CCD sensor, which is known for rich colours but poor noise performance. Hence a fast lens is good. With the Noctilux, nothing is too dark to shoot! Street lamp provides ample illumination for subjects.
Subject-background separation never felt so smooth.
At f/0.95, focusing is practically paper thin, a mis-step or too heavy a breath, the focus plane is off. An 'arty' image can be made this way, with emphasis placed on shapes, composition, colour rather than on how sharp an image is.
Oh yeah, street-shooting with Fireworks !!!
I really love how the colours turn out, this shot without any editing at all, panning in practically the dead of the night with only the street lamps watching above.
An addicted man, this is, now....
