I rushed into rangefinder (rf) photography, buying a Leica (which I lusted after for a long time), and then "slumming" around a bit. I tried an FSU (former Soviet Union) camera, and a few fixed lens rf's. I found I liked M mount camera's, with or without meters (preferably with). I even went back and shot a little with a TLR. I'm hopelessly hooked on Leicas and my Minolta CLE. I've spent quite a bit of money on my "hobby," and now I'm looking to sell off those 'flights of fancy,' so if you get a chance visit my Pbase gallery and check out the gallery of cameras I have for sale.
http://www.pbase.com/harpman
All that said, I shot with a Canon VL over last weekend, to try it out. It's an interesting camera, a screw mount with some interesting features. It had a 50/1.8 lens on it. I ran it through as much variety of exposures as I could. I've yet to process the film, but I was really shooting with it to see how it handled. I've seen enough of the 50/1.8 over on RFF to get an idea on how it's going to look, and I actually own a chrome Serenar 50/18. What I needed to do was use the camera, and see how it compared to shooting with a Leica.
So many comparisons are made between Leicas and other cameras, particularly the Canon P and the V series, that I just had to see for myself. Most of those comparisons, usually end up with the non-Leica user blowing off the Leica and stating that their P or V series is just as good (if not better). I've yet to handle a P, but I have now handled a VT and a VL—shooting only with the VL.
My initial impression was that the VL is OK. It's heavy and feels well made. It didn't give me that feeling, the one I get when I handle my Leica, my CLE, or even my Bessa R2. In fairness, one outing isn't enough—even though it was for the above mentioned cameras.
I'll post pictures here when I get them processed. I shot some digital images of the camera, so look for those in the next few posts. I'll try to get the VL again to shoot some more with it. I used it under the pretense of potentially buying it. I just may do that. This could truly be my last fling into non-Leica, non-M mount cameras. I will probably never get the lust for glass out of my system, though. But that's for another time.
Cheers All!
