From London to Italy and Leicester .... (Part 1 London)

12th July 2014

Its 6.15am and i'm hovering above the clouds of london, it was beautiful up here, the sunrise gave the clouds an orange tint glow and we're circling up here waiting for our turn to land. This is typical of london heathrow traffic, as we circled, there were a few planes visible from looking outside of the plane window as they takes turn to land. While we're up here it reminds me of the scenes from a movie called the langoliers, all you see is clouds blanketing the world below. I should have taken my camera but i'm too lazy to take it out of the bag, and just like that i missed the moment. As we descend into the clouds, i was expecting a little turbulence and to my surprise there was none. And then the city below begins to appear, London, gone was the sunrise, the city in mist and a typical london weather, grey skies. The mood definitely turns dark. The temperature outside is 17degrees celcius, not quite the hot summer but maybe it was just morning weather. I'm still adjusting the time change as my body prepares to prevent jetlag. I do feel like its 6am in the morning, thats a good start.
I hop the next train to Paddington.

I've arrived at Paddington station and it was quite a busy morning. Hundreds of people getting their coffees and catching the next train. There were a few cyclist, in their spandex also getting breakfast, there's burger king and some bagel stations, a lot of options to choose and me i just sit on the cold steel chair thinking what's good for breakfast. Pigeons literally flew past my face and i'm the one who needs dodging. Not from where i come from, a slight move of your hands, and there goes the birds fleeing for their lives.

Its 9am and the hotel check in policy is at 2pm. 5 hours to burn. My fuji x100s sits in my bag and have yet to come out. I'm too tired from the long flight and i need to sleep in a proper bed. Sitting for 16 hours is not cool. Your bottom hates you and your sleeping pattern messed up. I left my luggage at the hotel and head back to Paddington Underground Tube station. First stop, Whitechapel.

I am in Whitechapel to check out the market but it seems that i'm too early as they were just about to setting up their 'tent'. I've been to Shepperd's bush and i think Shepperd's is the better market. I'm talking about street market. cheap ripoff clothings, and stuffs. Its 10am and the weather is about to show its summer. cloudy blue skies and warm sun, here comes summer i thought. As i was taking out my camera and started taking pictures, one guy came to me, he was pushing a trolley full of stuffs, i guess he's one of the sellers there, he said "Brother, no picture please". I said "OK" and just like that, it turned me off, of doing any photography. I guess i am a sensitive guy. I also found out that, that place is quite dodgy. Quite a few hobos, asking for a penny. When one hobo came to me and ask for two penny, and me being the "NO" guy, of course said no, he started swearing and mumbling, all i heard was "Cmon its only 2 pennies". I am totally a foreigner there and for my own safety, I left whitechapel.

June 10th 2015
***at this moment, i have lost my idea for a write up, might as well post some pictures rather than me talking out of my ass, this has been a long overdue blog post LOL***

Time for updates

I sold my X100S and now i'm missing the X100 series. Now i'm GASing for X100T. Why not? the X100S was after all my all time favourite camera. Its simple. One focal length to rule them all. Of course it cant do all types of photography. but for my type of photography, eg. portraits, landscapes, streets, the X100 series is great enough. With the new T model, i hope it fixes and improves all the niggles of the S series. To be honest, i sold the S so i could upgrade to the T. or should i wait for the F series? YOu may wonder why F? because F stands for Fourth but also stands for Five, i'm not sure whats the next naming convention. I'm sure you know that T stands for third? You dont? i dont blame you.... nobody cares what it actually calls. Anyway, i'm not sure if the T is sold here locally. i guess my best next bet is Singapore. but i'm not going to Singapore anytime soon.

I knew i'm gonna get the X100 series again because i kept the wide converter lens. I just love that camera. Awesome IQ, classic looks, although at times i wanna smash it to the ground because it keeps back focus (focus the background instead of subject). But now with face detection available, i hope it does what it does and be good at it. What else is there to be GASing about the T? Wifi implementation.... at first i thought of it as a good feature but not important but then i realised i loved transferring my recently took photos to my tablet and phones and upload it to instagram or just for viewing. I always do that with my Sony Rx100iii. it was indeed convenient! Large LCD is always a good thing. although non tilt, i dont think thats a deal breaker though.

As a taking still pictures tool, the T IS GREAT. but for video? based on reviews its bad although i wont probably noticed because i dun really know wat to look for in video quality. as long its not choppy i'm alright.

I brought the X100S for a trip to Italy last year. and i loved all the thousands of images that i took but i have to admit i kinda tired lugging it around. but the images taken was worth it.

I can also take pictures like above because the X100S is so damn quiet. Thats what i like about the X100 series. Suddenly i have guts to take candid photos. just because i'm stealthy. Because its basically mute. No sound! You cant do this with a Leica. unless you have balls. I dont. I also respect people's privacy. unlike certain Eric K.  but that's just me, different people different thinking. whatever to get your pictures.

I love this picture. This is how useful and stealthy the X100S can be. I was sitting on the opposite side when i noticed this man reading a book and at times looking out of the window. His face has got that character, the lines, the age, what is he thinking? is he heading home to his loved ones? is he going to work? thinking of the grand children? its a mystery. but from his face you can see he is definitely thinking of something.

Some people may not understand why i took pictures of strangers or why photograhers take pictures of strangers but thats what street/candid photography is all about, they were never your friends or families, just strangers running their daily business, their emotions, just characters, subject of a picture. Its like questioning why Monalisa?

What i dislike about Fujifilm is their aggressive noise reduction. if only we can control the NR manually. Its great to have noise free images but sometimes skins looked like mannequins and thats bad.

Why not X-T10 you say? Sure, its new, classic SLR looks, interchangeable lens, something about the X100 series is just so simple. no need to worry about focal lengths. and size wise the X100 is shorter? the lenses on X-T10 will be bulkier and longer.

I put up my two Leicas for sale. My M8 and M9. and i sell them cheap. especially the M9. too cheap. i think i wanna upped the price a bit. actually i felt a bit of regret selling those. Its a Leica. and i might never owned one of these again. I'm selling my M8 with Voigtlander 15mm about SGD$3000. and my M9 with Voigtlander 40mm at SGD$4200. Actually i'm having second thoughts about selling them but i believe i needed the money. SO far no buyer and i'm not desperate selling.

I love Leica, its like owning a Ferrari. but owning a Ferrari is over the top? not justified? i cant find the words here. any car can go from point A to B, just like a camera, it just take pictures. Leica is too expensive. i can get 3 or 4 Fujifilm and have one Leica.

One reason of selling it is i'm not really good at that rangefinder focusing. i'm just too slow. trying to aligned the patch sometimes it took me a while and the photo opportunity just gone. especially taking pictures of them kids. You cant ask them to stand still. and if you can its not natural. i like candid and natural expression. not created. i'm better off with a camera that can do fast autofocus just like a X100S. Shooting wide open at 1.4 with the M9 is harder for me. if i didnt get the eye to focus the pictures will become blurry or at least the nose is sharp. thats a bad photo in my book. With the M8 is okay because of the smaller aperture at 4.5.

But but but, this Leica M9 that i purchased has a very low mileage. the last picture i took was only at 473 shutter actuations!!!! its a steal! Its in pristine condition. I want to keep it for collection but then i might need money too. Confusing times. I wanna sold off just the M8 but the pictures it took was amazing too. super sharp. although need to put IR cut filter or else all black shirts becomes purple. uweeekkkk... and the M8 is in silver. its super sexy retro look!

Should i sell or should i keep?

I brought my M8 to New Orleans with the 15mm. 

This is where Nicholas Cage is heading when he'll rest peacefully. He's not dead yet. but very much owned this part of the cemetery. 

Jackson square New Orleans taken by Liam Neeson...Not... by Leica M8

The only thing Fuji cant take is sunstar. Correct me if i'm wrong. but i never got the light to burst into a sunstar with my Fujifilm X100S but with the Voigtlander there she is....

And just look at that color noise on the M8. but why peep when you can just watch and look at the picture of the alley.

Oh.... such tough times. 

To sell or not to sell the Leicas.... 

To buy or not to buy the FUjifilm X100T.

GAS comes and goes.

Leica adventure: Chapter 1 New Orleans (Day 1)

I've been in an airplane for a total of 20 hours now, that's how long the journey is for me to reach America. This time its New Orleans. I could not get my eyes to open, i slept the whole time on my way to New Orleans from Seattle. I remember waking up and this lady looking out of the window, looking at all these white icy lands. I believe that is Colorado Springs. It was beautiful but i was sitting at the aisle, i didn't get a really good look of it but i was too sleepy as well to stay awake. Probably jet lag kicking in. I brought my Leica M8 that i acquired late last year for this trip. This is the start of my Leica adventure.

Upon landing New Orleans, it was already dark and it was cold about 7 degrees celsius, probably warm for some but me coming from an all day summer country, this is totally different. I forgot to bring my jacket which is annoying and only have a flannel shirt which is pretty much thin. I can see my breathe.

I've checked in at Loews hotel and i avoid myself going to sleep, it was just 7pm, i dont want to get jet lag, so i've decided to go to the nearest mall, the Riverwalk Outlet Mall. It was damn quiet. It was like nobody were there. As i explore the mall, there it was, the legendary Cafe Du Monde. Sweet! Its here in the mall. I thought i had to walk down to French Quarter which is 15 min walk from my hotel. Of course i had to get and try the famous Beignet.

And my first bite of the Beignet, i'm a believer. It was just out of the deep fryer , it's super hot and the butter melts inside. Combines with the powder icing sugar, it was amazing. Its best paired with coffee. At this moment i have yet taken out my Leica M8.

It was not until i reached Bourbon Street that i decided to get my M8 out of the bag and have a go. Bourbon street was similar to Vegas but less grander. Neon lights, long straight street, just like Downtown Vegas.

 M8 works well in black and white they say

 I think colors are fine too

 The 15mm is wide, i had to crop some pictures and still the M8 with its 10Mp is more than enough

 The M8 paired with the 15mm Voigtlander is sharp.

 I love taking pictures of alleys

 Huge Ass Beers!

 Another alley shot

Canal Street, edges of french quarter 

 There are lots of these guys, a dollar a block

Hop in a bar and enjoy some music

I think the M8 fared well in low light, most of the shots were in either 1/15s or 1/20s, the slowest i'd go was at 1/8s and i used max auto iso at iso 640. most of the pictures are pushed at an extra stop. Noisy sure as hell if you pixel peep but at normal view, it didn't really make the pictures unwatchable? Is that the word? Well what i'm trying to say is its fine. Print these at 4R 5R should come good. And these are at f4.5. A faster lens should perform well but then if you shoot wide open you had to deal with depth of field, which in my case, i did not have to worry as f4.5 is sharp by 1meter onwards. I used my M8 just like a point and shoot, i have to guess the composition as i dont have the external viewfinder, mostly shot at f4.5 and auto shutter.

Bourbon street is noisy and a tourist place, so people dont really mind me shooting away although i refrain myself from shooting a candid portrait as i dont want to cause a stir. This place is also full of hobos, they might not be comfortable of me taking their photos or at least they wanted me to tip them. Remember i said about New Orleans being dangerous and stuffs, forget what i said, this is just like any normal city, there will be trouble if you're looking for it otherwise you are safe. although a local did tell me not to stroll the city at night alone.

Leica M8 or M9? .... First chapter, New Orleans.

So New Orleans is in line, its job related but also a chance to start my Leica adventure. I wont have much free time, its dusk and dawn travelling but its once in a lifetime journey, i'll take my Leica chances. I only have the 15mm Voigtlander and most of my free time will be at night so crossed my fingers and hope the street lights will be enough for my Leica.

So the question is which Leica should i bring, my M8 or my M9? As of now i'm almost certain to bring my M8. Why? Because its the 'cheaper' Leica, its still expensive but the M9 is much more expensive. I'm talking about security. Ok, this is a negativity side part of me, i'm worried of being mugged! I am pretty much a "too much worry" person so its normal that i get too negative way much but thats a habit i try to lose. Upon hearing New Orleans, Katrina came up, a lil bit of googling, you come across words like warning, danger, shooting and murder, my negativity level just shot up the ceiling. But i try to calm myself, everywhere in the world there will be crimes and dangers, i've been to Washington and Vegas, both have its own crimes and dangers, its common sense, avoid dodgy places at all cost and follow all safety rules and tips. I'd be fine. Anyway, I'm with 2 other guys so we'll be fine.

One thing that planted in my head is i believe everyone knows what a Leica is and how expensive it is. That is of course false but its auto planted in my brain. So i have the tendency to leave my Leica in my bag because i dont want to be seen with a Leica. If i hang the camera over my neck, i feel like its screaming "LEICA!!!!!". I feel that the Leica is an attention seeker and as if i'm walking naked. I'm so over but yes thats how i feel. its my mindset. I need to lose that mindset. Its no good, it made my Leica useless. Why its my mindset because thats how i would react when i see someone with a Leica. I'd go "Wow a Leica". So my negative mindset also tells me that thieves would think just like what i'd think. "Wow a Leica, target acquired". Now i'd understand why people would gaffer tape the red dot, i'm sure a syndicate out there knows about the red dot.

Ok enough negativity, so M8 it is. First, its about the cost. At the moment, these Leicas are new to me, so i will baby them, trying not to scratch it etc, etc, so with the M8 i'm trying to be rough with it, (as a worry person, i care too much and it kills me). At the moment, i cant do that to my Leica M9. It is just so expensive. When i look back on Ebay, and seeing the M9 prices, i realised i cant afford it now but with the M8, its pretty much doable. M8 is getting cheaper and cheaper. in other words, if i want to buy an M8, i could, but not the M9, not now just yet. I cant justify spending another $3000 on my wish list all black M9-P.

Second, the crop factor of the M8 made the 15mm to almost 21mm. and i prefer the 21mm. I dont have to deal with Cornerfix as i like the slight cool vignette.

Third, the RAW files will be smaller. but this is not an issue as i bring along my laptop, i can just transfer the files at the hotel.

Basically, its about survival.

Will my M8 survive? I'm willing and ready. but not with my M9 yet.

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So what's in New Orleans?

These are the list that i have in mind.

1) Cafe Du Monde
2) Bourbon Street
3) French Quarters
4) Preservation Hall
5) Beignet
6) Jazz
7) Riverwalk Outlet Mall
8) Famous Cat Meow Karaoke
9) And if i'm lucky girls flashing their boobs!

That is so far i have in mind.

My first few minutes with my Leica M8 in 2015

Ok, to be honest. its been hours now. If you remember what i wrote in my previous post, i was being a little bit biased towards the M9 as it is full frame, younger, a better version of the M8. I even had the thought of selling the M8 as i already own the M9, not even testing it. But now after testing and using the M8, i just cant let it go.

First, aesthetically, the silver is much more sexier and retro looking. It looked like a toy camera. Film camera? definitely! The 15mm Voigtlander is much better on the crop sensor of the M8. It converts to around 21mm, pretty wide but not so wide like on the full frame M9. I didn't even had to deal with the cyan corners issues. There's a slight vignetting and darken bluish corners but it did not really bothers me up to the level of fixing it in CornerFix program. The exposure of the M8 is pretty much spot on. a bit on the overexposed side but not so much, i find that i need to lower the exposure during post processing in Lightroom. like i said not so much, maybe around -0.2. And somehow this made the LCD looked much better than the one i had on the M9. Now i feel like i made a fool of myself. On previous post i really bashed that LCD on the M9, its still bad on the M8, still a low quality LCD, but i can see my composition and exposure better. On the M9 it was underexposed so much that i pretty much cant see a thing. Like a dimly lit screen. I need to try it again on the M9. See if overexposing brightens up the LCD or maybe it was a lens coding setting issue. But thats the thing, i didnt even code it on the M8, i did not use a UV/IR Cut filter and i dont think i need it. But of course there's the problem with black clothing. i dont need to go on details, pretty much a M8 issue.

I used Auto ISO max on 640 like i did on my M9. Its a bit grainy, the M9 is cleaner but again not so much. ISO640 is usable. I think its enough for normal indoor lighting in most situations. I find it amusing that my Fujifilms used higher ISO in the same indoor lighting albeit at fast shutter speeds. The M8 and the M9 uses shutter speed at 1/8 - 1/15 at ISO 640 and amazingly can capture sharp pictures at those speed, not on the X100S. And again, remind you its at f4.5 on the Voigtlander 15mm, on faster lens probably on a much faster shutter.

Didn't really notice the difference in shutter speed sound, probably a bit louder than the M9 but honestly, unnoticeable. I didn't do a side by side comparison though. But that Leica's shutter sound serenades me. It felt good to press the shutter and hearing the sound it made. It mimics those film days, at least thats how it sounded to me. It makes me want to take more pictures. I've tried the discreet feature, while it's nice the shutter rewinds? or recock after you release the button but the initial click sound is loud to be discreet me thinks, unless its a loud place. My M8 had the Leica grip on it which improves on the handling. At first i'm not really into those with grips look but now it grows on me. i keep on glancing the M8. Wow she's a beauty, just like lady in red!

And i got this baby only at 1196 shutter actuations!

Wide? Yes. Distort? Of course. Slight Vignetting? Definitely.

As seen on the above picture, slight bluish/greenish vignetting can be seen. but like i said it didn't bother me that much. I'm not into accurate colours and what not, i'd love false colour!

On occasion, there are times when the bluish vignette is more obvious like the one pictured below.

So here comes CornerFix to rescue things!

Perfect! Fix the bluish vignetting. Comparing them side by side in lightroom, the fixed picture looked like it had white vignetting put on. It also corrects the overall bluish look to a more neutral slash natural look! But i prefer the darken vignetting picture. Individual taste i suppose.

So is the M8 still worth it in 2015? You bet! Sure it has its quirks and weaknesses but no camera is perfect. It all depends on the user.

Inferior? Never. It compliments the M9 very well.

The only question begs how long will the shutter last me?

First few hours with my Leica M9 in 2015

I'm pumped up! Finally my Voigtlander lens is here. But bummer its not the 40mm because i like bokeh in my pictures, anyway its the 15mm super wide heliar, enough for testing both of my newly acquired Leicas. I've been waiting for these lenses for weeks now. My Leicas are there on the desk, sitting and waiting for the lens. Its odd that my 40mm has not yet arrived since thats the first lens i bought. These HK mail is weird. I hope its not lost though! To be honest i haven't tested my Leica M8, somehow i'm more excited with the Leica M9, maybe because it's younger and supposedly better than the M8 IQ wise but everyone said its the same except for the crop factor of the M8.

I bought the 15mm for my M8 because its the first Leica i bought so that it'll convert to 21mm or 24mm, i love a wide angle lens. i didn't expect to win the bid for my M9, if i knew i was crazy enough back then to get the M9, i should have not bought the M8. Oh well, its water under the bridge now. 24mm is wide enough for me, i never thought to go 15mm wide, but now with the full frame M9, i have a 15mm super wide angle lens.

With this tiny lens to go with the M9, it looks super awesome. For me the size is just right for the Leica M9. If only all Leica M mount lenses are this small. And this is the first time i brought the M9 out into the sunshine. Man, this thing is more sexier under the sun!

Holding the M9 feels solid. like a brick made of metal. Its unlike the Fuji X-Pro1, which kinda feel hollow. like theres a hole inside the body. but with that its lighter. The M9 is heavy but it's solid heavy, if you get what i mean. You hit someone on the head with a Fuji X-pro1, boom! concussion. You hit someone on the head with the M9, boom! dead!

Everyone on the internet cringed at the LCD screen of the Leica M9. That LCD is a joke. I couldn't agree more. It was so bad that it reminded me of the old school Nokia symbian phones of the early 2000s. It didn't serve the M9 justice. It is so bad that it cannot be use for chimping, previewing or checking for focus or camera shake, so bad that its better to just switch off the LCD or dont use it for review thus saving battery power. You have to treat the M9 just like you treat a film camera. Know you got it right after it is developed. The LCD is so poor it doesn't belong on a what used to be a $7000 camera. And it still doesnt belong now! You cant see the great IQ of the M9 on its LCD, you have to look it on your computer. Unlike Fuji X100S, what's on its LCD is what you probably get on your computer screen. Every time i took a shot with the M9 and i'm so used to chimping, i probably think i didn't nail the shot. Ok, it was that bad. Enough of the LCD. Lets talk about something else.

I have to say i got a great deal on the M9. I just check the shutter actuations and it was only 386 shutter count. I mean this camera is seldomly used. Probably a collector's camera. Dont know why it got sold but i believe in "your gain, my loss" kinda phrase. If you wanna check your M9 shutter actuations you have to check your EXIF data, maybe using the free EXIF Viewer for Mac, and check the imageuniqueid number. I could not get it using the built-in "get info" via Mac. Its in Base16, there'll be a lot of zeros, you have to convert it to Base10, just google for the converter, and then you'll got your shutter actuations. This is a link which i find useful on checking your shutter actuations. http://diglloyd.com/blog/2013/20130809_1-EXIF-info-shutter-actuations.html 

The shutter sound is awesome. It reminded me of film days. Like i said, i'm gonna treat the M9 just like a film camera. No chimping. Manual focus. Those are the days. The shutter is not so loud, not so quiet. But i think it's not so discreet though. If you try candidly taking a picture of the guy within 2 meters , i think he can hear you. unless it's a loud street or environment. That is why i really like the X100 series, it is silent.

Rangefinder focusing takes a little bit of getting used to but its fun. I love the experience. I love the simplicity or "i'm in charge" old school kinda thing, although i'm still slow at it. I'm super slow to be honest. Just now i'd try to take a picture of my friend while she posed, i think she posed for more than the comfortable posing time LOL. I was so focus trying to align the rangefinder square patch. I wish there was an autofocus button that i could use so that she dont have to pose that long haha. i'm still learning the system. pardon me lol.

The M9 looks awesome under the sun, i just wanna fondle it all day and all night long.

I'm a JPEG shooter and with the Leica M9 i try to shoot RAW. I've been shooting with both format DNG + Jpg fine, i'm trying to see if the JPG is good enough for me, i know RAW will be great but there's something in the JPG look that i just cant replicate with the RAW file. I know its my limited knowledge of processing RAW and using Lightroom. But after looking at both format, i think i'll stick with DNG (RAW). It preserved the shadow detail better. With the JPG, its kinda darker, more contrast but losing the shadow detail. shadow turns to black. and a little bit greenish too. but that could depend on the lens's coding. I've used the 16-18-21 coding for the 15mm voigtlander. I read around and 21mm elmarit 11134 was recommended. I've yet to try it.

Let's see some pictures right? I only used the M9 for few hours and there's only a few pictures that are worth showing, the others are just snapshots, testing exposures and such. Shooting with the M9 i found that it underexposed a bit. and again i'm not sure maybe its the coding of the lens. I was shooting outside under the sun and it underexposed. I had to bump the exposure in PP to a full stop. I'm still in testing phase and getting to know the camera, i might not get the exposure right yet. The metering i have to be honest is tricky, i'm so used to auto everything in Fujifilm and with its great metering i get most exposure right. But with the M9, if i shoot directly at a light source, of course everything turns dark except for the light itself. Its like spot metering but i honestly dont know what's the metering on the Leica but it feels like spot. so sensitive to bright light. but then again, i'm still getting familiar with the camera. Trying to take a picture of my kid with a bright window behind her, boom! Dark face, bright window. This is a manual camera, just like film. Prepare your Sunny 16 app.

So what its like shooting 15mm on a full frame?

So far my maths is Leica M9 + 15mm Voigtlander = Cyan corners + vignetting. 

This is RAW. Processed in Lightroom.

I don't mind so much of the vignetting. but the cyan corners on the left is worst.

and this is OOC. See how underexposed it is. Probably the lens coding. or maybe it's just the way it does exposure.

There's a program that can fix or reduce this cyan corners. Its called CornerFix. I haven't create my own profile (just take a picture of a white wall and let the program try to fix the cyan and vignetting).

That profile is used as a reference to fix all your cyan pictures. I found a 15mm profile online by someone in the leica forum and used it, here's the result.

Well, it didn't really fix mine, so i guess i need to create my own profile. It did remove the cyan but instead giving a yellow corners instead. I'll post the result of my own profile on another post. But if you search cornerfix on google, it did help a lot of users! Good for you CornerFix!

I've used auto ISO max at 640 and auto shutter, so i'm on aperture priority. Composing with the 15mm is way off. I had to guess the composition. There's no way to compose using the M9's viewfinder, i need a 15mm external viewfinder to compose correctly. The widest the Leica M9 viewfinder can go is 28mm. I set my photo review for 1s, just for checking composition. Thats the only use of the LCD although i felt disgust looking at the quality of the LCD. i was like eeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk! I mean i can go on spilling out my hate of the LCD but you have to tried it yourself. Beat yourself in the head if you say "The LCD's alright".

The menu is simple on the M9. Its brilliant. No mumbos jumbos to deal with. Just set it once and forget. Set and forget. Forget about it!...(imitate Robert DeNiro slang). 

One thing Leica did to the digital Ms is that they staying true to their traiditions, taking out the battery and SD card is like taking out the film in Leica film days. You have to unscrew the bottom plate of the Leica and take it off, its unlike modern digital cameras where there is a flip door for battery and SD card. I didn't mind Leica did this but some are irritated by it.

I've set my max iso at 640 because i read somewhere that its the best ISO to bump up in low light. I could have use ISO1250 but i chose not to. Its about something how sensor meters the light bla bla bla, there's a chart that go with it, i'm not going into the technical stuff or the science of it, i just wanna take pictures. i never understand it anyways and i didn't even try. Here's the science though if you're interested http://blog.kasson.com/?p=2724 . I didn't bother to read the whole thing, i just need to know that i just need to use ISO640, and bump it up in PP (post processing). By the way, thanks Jim Kasson for your research. I just realised there's like 16 part for that one particular topic.

The Voigtlander 15mm center is sharp. I'll post more pictures soon. I love wide angle. I dont have to take that many steps backward to get the whole picture. Although it will get distorted towards the edges. But thats the signature of wide angle.

I can take sharp images at 1/8sec with the M9. Its pretty incredible. No OIS and everything but the Leica M9 still take sharp pictures at slow shutter. Its amazing. The body is so rock solid that it's kinda stable and hard to shake. Of course your hands need to be extra steady. My friend used to say my hands are like a tripod or monopod because i can glide his GoPro videos like it was using a steadicam. So far indoor low light with max ISO640 is sufficient for me. I could pushed it in PP and i still get decent quality. 

So far i'm loving the IQ of this Leica M9. I am probably still in my honeymoon mode with the Leica, so everything is beautiful. Our Love is still blooming. Except for that LCD.