Leica is lending me a 24mm-90mm for NYC Fashion Week

Calzone

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I am really greatful that Leica is lending me a 24mm-90mm SL lens because I am in a huge bind. My gal kinda got signed as a model and is a big Fashion Blogger and will definitely be in the "Big Tent" wearing the designer's clothes during NYC Fashion Week.

I shoot a SL but with manual focus "R" glass which is not the best for shooting at fashion speed.

I contacted my friend John who is the Technical Specialist for the SL and "S" cameras, and John came through for me. Also Shirley, the Marketing Director, who made this enormous favor happen is someone I met about 4 years ago at PhotoPlusExpo when I was inquiring about trying to get a silver version of the Monochrom that was only available in Europe.

Anyways, the world is not that big.

Anyways I strongly feel I need to post about the support I am receiving. I only contacted John yesterday, and this morning I got the positive response from Shirley.

Cal
 
Excellent, good to hear that Calzone!

The SL24-90 is a big thing of a lens, but that weight seems to fall away once you start using it and see what it's capable of. Although I have tended to use my R lenses most of the time with the SL, the more I use the 24-90, the more I realize that it is actually a better performer most of the time. The AF and OIS extend the range of the camera for hand-held work quite a bit, and the metering system works "more flawlessly" with a greater range as well.

Have a great time at your shoot!

G
 
I am so greatful for the support. I am so surprised and I got such a fast response. For me it was a shot in the dark.

I too love "R" glass on my SL, but I need the right tool for the job. The AF will make my job easy.

Cal
 
Good to hear, Cal. How about your MM? Any sign of that?

John

John,

As you know I took advantage of using the waiting list to get four more months of use out of my Monochrom. I used the free shipping lable and only shipped my Monochrom the middle of December. No six month wait for me.

Because of the holidays and the Christmas to New Year's shutdown I was told to expect my camera back in 8-10 weeks instead of the usual 6-8 weeks, so it is still early yet. Perhaps right around the beginning of February my baby will come home.

John the Service Manager mentioned that the camera will be overhauled and will come back to me like a new camera. Interesting to note is that in February my Monochrom will be four years old. Other than the warts everybody knows about I had 4 years of trouble free service.

I only had two batteries and did not drain batteries like other people experienced, and I tended to fill cards faster than draining batteries. Also a friend from the NYC Meet-Up gave me a third battery from a digital M he sold when he upgraded to a M-240 or M-246. Know that my camera displays silvering around the edges and corners from heavy use, and the covering was worn smooth in a place from my fingertips due to my use of an aftermarket grip.

I bought the SL to tide me over, and it has proven to be a great camera. Why all the haters? The M10 will create the same clean huge files as my SL, and I think the upgrade from a M240 is a huge leap. 14 bit and 48 MB more information in the SL and M10 is a lot.

I'm hoping for a SLM (Monochrom SL) later this year at PhotoPlusExpo. Perhaps next year will be a M10M which will be another crazy camera. For B&W surely these cameras will be supreme. I feel kinda lovestruck because I am so happy.

Kinda funny when I shoot my Monochrom after having owned the SL for a while. The Monochrom is a very primitive camera by comparison, and for me the experience is like shooting a film M where all you have is a basic camera. LOL.

BTW I did a bone-headed thing when I shipped my Monochrom: I shipped the camera without any note so for a while my camera was kind of anonomously delivered. When I e-mailed John the Service Manager he told me he already took care of it the day it arrived. LOL.

Cal
 
Shirley just E-mailed me. The lens should be delivered to the Leica Store in SoHo Monday for me to pick-up.

Thank You Leica!!!

Cal
 
Hope you get your MM back soon. I received mine a couple of weeks ago, with a new sensor, cover, and adjustment. It could be my imagination, but the VF seems brighter.

I was told eight weeks, then ten, and it finally took twelve. Not exactly great service, but not a big deal with the way I shoot in winter. The pause was actually good because it gave me downtime to consider what's next for my photography.

John

John,

As you know I took advantage of using the waiting list to get four more months of use out of my Monochrom. I used the free shipping lable and only shipped my Monochrom the middle of December. No six month wait for me.

Because of the holidays and the Christmas to New Year's shutdown I was told to expect my camera back in 8-10 weeks instead of the usual 6-8 weeks, so it is still early yet. Perhaps right around the beginning of February my baby will come home.

John the Service Manager mentioned that the camera will be overhauled and will come back to me like a new camera. Interesting to note is that in February my Monochrom will be four years old. Other than the warts everybody knows about I had 4 years of trouble free service.

I only had two batteries and did not drain batteries like other people experienced, and I tended to fill cards faster than draining batteries. Also a friend from the NYC Meet-Up gave me a third battery from a digital M he sold when he upgraded to a M-240 or M-246. Know that my camera displays silvering around the edges and corners from heavy use, and the covering was worn smooth in a place from my fingertips due to my use of an aftermarket grip.

I bought the SL to tie me over, and it has proven to be a great camera. Why all the haters? The M10 will create the same clean huge files as my SL, and I think the upgrade from a M240 is a huge leap. 14 bit and 48 MB more informatin in the SL and M10 is a lot.

I'm hoping for a SLM (Monochrom SL) later this year at PhotoPlusExpo. Perhaps next year will be a M10M which will be another crazy camera. For B&W surely these cameras will be supreme. I feel kinda lovestruck because I am so happy.

Kinda funny when I shoot my Monochrom after having owned the SL for a while. The Monochrom is a very primitive camera by comparison, and for me the experience is like shooting a film M where all you have is a basic camera. LOL.

BTW I did a bone-headed thing when I shipped my Monochrom: I shipped the camera without any note so for a while my camera was kind of anonomusly delivered. When I e-mailed John the Service Manager he told me he already took care of it the day it arrived. LOL.

Cal
 
Hope you get your MM back soon. I received mine a couple of weeks ago, with a new sensor, cover, and adjustment. It could be my imagination, but the VF seems brighter.

I was told eight weeks, then ten, and it finally took twelve. Not exactly great service, but not a big deal with the way I shoot in winter. The pause was actually good because it gave me downtime to consider what's next for my photography.

John

John,

Thanks for the insider info. I really miss my Monochrom. Check out the post in the Piezography Pro thread from earlier this week. If you like huge mids to print big and to resemble medium and at times large format the MM is the camera. Particularly a match made in heaven with the new Piezography Pro.

Like I said, "I couldn't be any happier."

Cal
 
Once a Leica, always a Leica

Once a Leica, always a Leica

That proves why once you get a Leica, you will always stay with Leica.
 
Hope you get your MM back soon. I received mine a couple of weeks ago, with a new sensor, cover, and adjustment. It could be my imagination, but the VF seems brighter...

... Not exactly great service...

I just got an MP back from NJ today with a new top cover. They note that they replaced both front glasses and it too seems much brighter. A lot brighter in fact.

They did not use the orange infill paint I asked for on this black chrome body, so I guess it is going back to NJ since I had to pay extra for orange infill paint as used on the M6, 7, and black anodized lenses as it was "special order" for some reason. Customer service is not at all their strong suit sometimes... :bang:
 
Great for you Cal, I am sure the SL with the AF zoom will be the better tool and will produce excellent result.
Good luck and good light when doing the fashion shoot with Maggie.

I hope for a M10M at some point of time. Last night I shot some concert pics with the MM, just short of 300 shots in like 1.5 hrs, which is way more than usual but the artist was on fire. Some posts to follow in the MM thread. I ran into the "data transfer" warning message 6 or 7 times, when the MM would not expose the next shot. In certain situation it is really slow but I got a lot of good shots and the IQ is just:D
 
Great for you Cal, I am sure the SL with the AF zoom will be the better tool and will produce excellent result.
Good luck and good light when doing the fashion shoot with Maggie.

I hope for a M10M at some point of time. Last night I shot some concert pics with the MM, just short of 300 shots in like 1.5 hrs, which is way more than usual but the artist was on fire. Some posts to follow in the MM thread. I ran into the "data transfer" warning message 6 or 7 times, when the MM would not expose the next shot. In certain situation it is really slow but I got a lot of good shots and the IQ is just:D

Klaus,

Today is the expected delivery to the Leica Store SoHo, so right after work I will pick up the 24-90, and I will be heading to a rather huge opening party that is on Spring Street in SoHo that begins at 6:00 PM for "The All Woman's Project II" that presently is on Vogue online.

http://www.vogue.com/13526581/all-wo...rsity-fashion/

All the models and crew from this project, as well as the fashion world were invited, and to give you an idea of the size Lyn was allowed to invite 6 guests. Anyways this is one of the bigger pre-fashion week events.

Wednesday is another opening, and there is also a Pop-Up that involves some designers we know: one of them is a jeweler. It seems Lyn's agent is making arrangements for her to be "dressed" by designers that she likes to attend the big shows.

http://www.elitemodel.co.uk/special/mainboard/lyn_slater.web

http://www.today.com/style/63-accidental-icon-lyn-slater-breaks-fashion-barriers-t107396

After I get my 50 Lux-SL I will likely have to buy a 24-90.

Cal
 
Cal,

What great news for you!

Hope it all rolls smooth and you two have a wonderful week!

I expect you'll post some of your photos here after it's all done!?
 
Klaus,

Today is the expected delivery to the Leica Store SoHo, so right after work I will pick up the 24-90, and I will be heading to a rather huge opening party that is on Spring Street in SoHo that begins at 6:00 PM for "The All Woman's Project II" that presently is on Vogue online.

http://www.vogue.com/13526581/all-wo...rsity-fashion/

All the models and crew from this project, as well as the fashion world were invited, and to give you an idea of the size Lyn was allowed to invite 6 guests. Anyways this is one of the bigger pre-fashion week events.

Wednesday is another opening, and there is also a Pop-Up that involves some designers we know: one of them is a jeweler. It seems Lyn's agent is making arrangements for her to be "dressed" by designers that she likes to attend the big shows.

http://www.elitemodel.co.uk/special/mainboard/lyn_slater.web

http://www.today.com/style/63-accidental-icon-lyn-slater-breaks-fashion-barriers-t107396

After I get my 50 Lux-SL I will likely have to buy a 24-90.

Cal

Guess that 50 SL is still not shipping huh.
 
Guess that 50 SL is still not shipping huh.

I have advanced from number 7 to number 4 on a pre-paid waiting list. Still a long wait to go as it seems that dealers get a trickle of one a month.

The wait is painful, but what can I do? Still greatful for the loaner.

BTW as an early adopter of the Monochrom I waited 5 months for delivery from one of the bigger dealers.

Cal
 
Cal,

What great news for you!

Hope it all rolls smooth and you two have a wonderful week!

I expect you'll post some of your photos here after it's all done!?

Devin,

It is all very surreal. I can't believe all this is happening, and it seems this is only the very beginning. This really is not my gig. I definitely am not a fashion photographer and studio shooting is not only hard work involving big crews, I really am not at all like the pros who are doing it, meaning any good. Anyways I do what I do which is street/location photography that is urban.

So much is going on, and there is all this ongoing stuff that is beginning to ground swell. For instance there is some future taping for that I can't mention further this I don't know how it will be used. Broadcast TV?

Everything is not on a scale that you or I can imagine. There is talk, but then again there are so many things happening, and it seems lots of filtering and rejection of offers/solicitations.

Since you do Instagram (I don't) when Lyn posts a shot I have taken generally there is 3K likes within 24 hours of posting, but there are shots that get 4K and even 5K likes in 24 hours.

Check out her Instagram at IconAccidental for the shots. In January 2016 she broke through 10K followers which took her over a year to get there. At last count earlier this week before all these releases Lyn had 82K followers, and by now there are many more.

Yesterday's shoot in Greenpoint was for a major luxury retailer, and the stills and video will be released during NYC Fashion Week which officially begins February 9th but is really 9-10 days. Add onto this all the pre and post events.

Cal
 
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