The Lenses To Come...

The lenses to come have already come. You have a box of them stashed in your photographic locker right now...

The new Leica SL mirror less camera carries it's title from the German phrase "spiegel los" or "mirror-free". Which has caused me to puzzle about the naming of the old Leicaflex SL1 and 2 which definitely had mirrors in them. But be that as it may, there is still a connection - as there is with the Leica M and Leica S series of cameras - the lenses.

Last Thursday's showcase of the new Leica SL camera and the equally new 24-90mm f:2.8 zoom lens also featured the news that Leica will be making their own precision adaptors to allow older Leica lenses to work on the camera. M, series bayonets, R series lenses , SL series lenses, S series medium format lenses...all the way to the lenses currently fitted to the Leica T.

Essentially, if you own something that looks like glass and says Leica somewhere on it you can eventually clap it onto the SL. We're not guaranteeing that this will apply to binoculars and microscopes but by the same token they do stay up late in Wetzlar and who knows?

The glorious joy of this will be that lenses you may never have considered for closeup or other work - lenses that lived their lives on the front of rangefinders and had their raison d'etre in specialised fields can now join general purpose lenses...and you get to see the world on a magnificent EVF screen.

A case in point was seen on Thursday with Kristian Dowling and the new SL. He took the new 24-90 f:2.8 out into the street in the strange glare of the yellow street lights - and the red Leica sign on the side of the building - and took clean and clear portrait shots of the lovely model. Then he grabbed on of the 0.95 Noctilux lenses and adapted it to the camera - the night got brighter, the focus got easier, and the out of focus areas became soft and dreamy.

That new Leica SL is just waiting to meet your entire collection of Leica lenses. Do the polite thing and effect an introduction - there's a good fellow...

A Tale Of Two Cities - And You're In One Of Them

This will be a far, far better thing than you have ever done before. And when you are done you can go to a far, far sweeter rest than you have ever known...

Actually, you are going to have a Dickens of a good time with one of the best Leica Photographers there is  - Thorsten Overgaard. Thorsten has selected Perth as one of only two Australian cities* for his next tour and seminar involving Leica photography.

Thorsten does this a lot and does it very well - he will be taking this tour of instruction to many countries in the world and to many large cities. Perth - and Camera Electronic - is darned lucky to have him here.

The day to set in your mind for Perth is Thursday the 10th of December 2015... but bear in mind this is not just a few hours - this is a four-day event. It'll be involving you totally until Sunday the 13th of December. And the involvement will make you a better and more visually aware photographer.

The first evening concentrates on Leica gear - and you'll be asked to bring your own cameras and lenses so that you and Thorsten can figure out which combination of equipment will give you the best chance of success.

 The second day is action - a photo walkabout with interactive help and advice about the coverage you are getting. We note that Thorsten's webpage with the details advises a good pair of comfortable shoes, so the walking may indeed be about...

Day three brings the images shot into the computer and details workflow and editing. You'll need to make sure your computer will work with Aperture or Lightroom to get full benefit.

And day four fills in the holes - gaps in your knowledge and vision that have become evident - and chance to know better and to make it better - and then have a final analysis of your results.

This level of commitment to you and dedication to your learning - remember the seminar is limited to 8-10 people so you very definitely are getting personal instruction - doesn't come cheap. No true learning does. The whole affair costs $ 2500 but if you go to Thorsten's website and make an Earlybird booking it comes down to $ 2000. In Leica terms that is not a surprise...

Here's the link

We're not suggesting that you should lose your head over this, but really these sort of things are quite revolutionary...

* Sydney is the other place - you'll like Perth better...

Stop The Screens!

STOP THE SCREENS!*

News just to hand; Leica are releasing improvements for the Leica T camera ( Typ 701 ) via firmware update.

The Leica T camera system shares the same L bayonet as the upcoming Leica SL system camera - updating firmware will make it possible to operate the new SL lenses on the Leica T.

Customers wishing to bring the camera up to date can download the firmware version 1.4 from the Leica website at   www.leica-camera.com or come into a Leica Dealer and receive it as part of a complimentary service.

Note that you will shortly be tempted by a new Leica Summilux-TL 35mm f:1.4 ASPH lens in both black and silver.

A little further down the track you will also see the Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90mm f:2.8-4 ASPH, the Leica APO-Vario_elmarit-SL 90-280mm f:2.8-4 and the Leica Summilux-SL 50mm f:1.4 ASPH.

Exciting times.

* Like STOP THE PRESSES! but updated for the digital era...

From Those Wonderful People...

Who brought you the M3 Leica.

They haven't stopped. Well, they haven't stopped making the M-series Leica cameras because there are a number of models of them in the shop right now, and an equally wonderful cabinet of lenses to go on them. Come down and buy a round dozen for the weekend...No, we're not talking about the M-series Leica rangefinder camera system.

We're talking about the new Typ 601 Leica SL camera - and the start of a new series of lenses for it. And also, surprisingly enough, the start of a lot of old series of lenses for it.

Okay - haven't seen one yet but here's a précis of 10 attractive points:

1. Its a mirror-less design with touch screen LCD and a very high-resolution eye-level finder built in.

2. Full frame sensor - 24 MP-CMOS.

3. No low-pass filter.

4. ISO 50-50,000.

5. Enough buffer to juggle 33 DNGs or 30 JPEGs and DNGs.

6. 4K video works inside plus smaller resolutions at a myriad for frame rates.

7. 2 card slots  for SD - one very fast indeed and one standard speed.

8. 4, 7, or 11 FPS on the continuos shooting mode.

9. Top LCD display with relevant shooting information.

10. Solid milled aluminium body.

As you are already at your computer reading this, you can rush over to D P Review and look at the images of the Typ 601 in their preview. There are also images of two of the lenses that will be made especially for this mount.

And here's the kicker. Leica realise that they have made a lot of other lenses in the past. Leica S, M, R, and T lenses come to mind, as well as the older screw-mounters. The T lenses will go onto the Leica SL straight away - Leica will make adapters to allow their other optics to be mounted on it. SO you are Leica all the way from early on to the future - you can participate in the current craze for a Hollywood movie series...

Leica have announced that the Typ 601 body will be on sale from the 19th of November 2015 together with the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 f:2.8-4 ASPH.

Looks as thought there will also be a big 'ol 90-280 lens and a 50 1.4 prime coming in 2016. - so save up your pop bottles and cans for the recycling works and make sure that you put a little away in the piggy bank in anticipation. This will be a hot camera.