Thailand with the Leica V-Lux and M6
by Christoph Ackerman
Dear Steve,
My name is Christoph Ackermann and I work and live in Regensburg, Germany, as an IT consultant. Before I got my first own camera, the Leica Vlux 114, I mainly used cameras, which I borrowed off my parents..
A few months after the Vlux I bought a Leica M6 and I got afflicted with the G.A.S. I read your blog a few years now and you influenced my buying decisions very often and made me buy many cameras and lenses, that I don’t needed but I enjoy using. Thanks for all your work and enthusiasm. (Thank YOU Christoph for reading what I do and trusting my opinions! – Steve)
Time to Travel!
This report is about my trip to Thailand with these two already mentioned cameras: the Leica M6 and the Vlux 114. My intention was to use the Leica M6 as my main camera and my Leica Vlux as digital backup. When I arrived at Bangkok I realized that I forgot to pack any film…not my much-loved Portra 400, no Ektar or TriX. In Bangkok is a large shopping mall, the MBK center, which has one floor for camera stuff and electronics. I only managed to get one roll Kodak Gold, which was already expired. But one film for a two-week trip?
So the Vlux became my main camera for the trip and the M6 the backup or the camera for special occasion shots. I think little remains to be said about the M6. It’s already well-known by the community. The Vlux 114 features a 1″ 20,1 MP CMOS sensor along with an F2.8-4.0 25-400mm lens, a pop-up flash and image stabilization. In my opinion it’s perfectly usable up until ISO 800. So despite it’s limitations it’s quite a versatile camera.
The first five images were shot with the Leica M6
In and around Bangkok there are a lot of sites and attractions to visit. I only stayed for four days so I only visited a few of them, like the Grand palace and the major Buddhist temples, the Jim Thompson House, the Lebua Hotel (known from the film Hangover 2), the Asia Antique Market, China Town, the Floating Market and Ayutthaya, which is an ancient capital city of Thailand. But Bangkok is not only known for its sights but also for its night life and for its shopping facilities. The best way to go from one place to another is via Skytrain, cab and for short distances the tuk tuks (three-wheeled motorbikes).
The Thai people are known for being really friendly and laughing a lot. But they are also very religious. Temporary ordination and spending some time in a monastery is the norm among Thai men.
The rest of the images were shot with the V Lux 114
From Bangkok I went to the island Koh Samui for beach holidays.
During the whole vacation the Vlux grew close to my heart and is now the swiss army knife camera for my vacations.
I hope you like the pictures and feel inclined to visit Bangkok or Thailand in general.
Greetings from Bavaria, Germany
Christoph
I liked the 2 ladies
Thanks WataruM!
other than the ergonomic changes and the different JPEG output, you also got a free version of Lightroom 5 in 2014.
https://www.eyeem.com/u/saulaire
Thanks for this review : great one !
I like this web site.
I really like the pictures here.
Photography is an art ! It really depends of our artistic mind. Camera is a tool, it’s also a joy.
I ve used a lot of cameras, purchased them all over the world, sometimes with the most famous camera hunters (like http://www.japancamerahunter.com), a few one has given me the fun, the pleasure : analogic, digital ; Rollei ; Sony ; Nikon ; Leica ; Contax ; Olympus ; Minolta ; Canon ; Hasselblad ; Konica …all brand new !
My list :
1. Leica M3
2. Contax T
3. Rolleiflex 2’8 F Zeiss Planar
4. Nikon FM 3A
5. Nikon FA
6. Contax S2b
7. Minolta Hi-matic 7Sii
8. Nikon 28 Ti
9. Rollei 35 RF
10. Sony A7 R2
11. Olympus OM1 n
12. Leica R6.2
13. Contax G2
14. Hasselblad 500 CM
15. Fuji X-Pro 2
16. Leica M9
17. Nikon D700
Why Leica M3 number one ? I will add M2 for one who prefer 35mm lenses.
The Leica M3 is a masterpiece. This is the most enjoyable camera on earth for his incredible majestic efficiency, his silence, his durability, his finder, his lenses (according you can adapt Zeiss Contax G2 lenses by japancamerahunter), his extrem simplicity who drives you on the pure photographic composition experience without leds, pins, a lot of commands, and his noble materials : brass, …
For me the best camera on earth is the Leica M3 !
Find one with a Canon Ltm 50/1’4, less than 800 US $ and simply enjoy it !
The second one is the Contax T, because this is the only real high level pocktable camera with a Zeiss Sonar gem 38mm f/2’8 which provides a high level of definition. Just care of it like a baby or a girl ! His lense is simply awesome for the size !!!
Saulaire
Thanks for the compliment!
Great Photos! Assuming you don’t develop your film yourself (perhaps a bold assumption), where do you get your film developed? I ask because I haven’t been that particularly happy with who’s been developing my film lately.
Thanks Jason,
There’s a drugstore chain called “DM” in Germany. I bring my film there for developing.
Love the images. I still shoot film as well and also own the fantastic V-Lux typ114. I’ve owned it since release in 2014 along with the Panasonic equivalent which is the FZ1000. The ergonomic changes Leica made for the V-Lux make it very nice to hold and look at compared with the FZ1000. Also the JPEG output
is absolutely fantastic. Leagues better than the FZ1000. Over the course of a year I tried to tweak the FZ1000 jpegs in-camera settings, but nothing yielded the same results consistently across different situations. The RAW files however are identical. I eventually sold off the FZ1000 after that year but the V-Lux has been with me now for over three years. Keep shooting!