So how does it feels like to shoot with a camera that offers f 3.5-6.4 tortoise lens?
At this point, i have not done any of my model projects yet, so i will reserve my utmost comments after one of those shoot.
For now i would say, its a liberating experience shooting with the Xvario. Here are my reasons :
1) Its like a compact camera. A high quality compact camera that is so small, i bought a small Canon bag to hold it.
This bag is so small and light to carry, i am beginning to feel my 4/3 system is heavy, despite having only 2 lens.
2. When you know in the back of your mind, the lens are awesome on this camera, each shot that you take, you somehow feel very confident that its gonna deliver.
Since its a “slow lens” shooting in broad daylight is no issue at all and i left it to maximum aperture (3.5 dial) and let the camera figure out the shutter.
3. The exposure and white balance….is almost magical. No kidding, i am using just 1 focusing point which i move around using the “delete/focus” long press and since aperture is 3.5 and not razor thin dof, i could just slightly reposition the camera after focusing. Exposure is just nice, during PP, they holds up very well. I remember the Joe guy in the promotional video of Leica Italy talking about this and making it sounds like a commercial stunt, but seriously, it works.
4. ISO 1600 is your friend. Coming from 2 extreme camera experience, my D4-high-iso-king and the Sigma-max-iso-200, i must say for practical use, the XVario iso 1600 is usable for handheld indoor shots.
Now, the price is still expensive in every sense and i learn a new word today, its called “WAF” – wife allowable factor, from this guy called “Axel”. Let me just warn you that if you look at his images, you might just make the plunge.
https://axelpolt.exposure.so/colors-structures-light-impressions
M changing lives with images. 