It has been a while since I returned to the nearby military base to take some pictures of the F16 military aircraft. A place I love to go to test new or different materials of camera equipment and to hone my skills as a photographer. The speed, the noise, it all gives a photographer an adrenaline kick.

It’s been soaking wet the last few days so I’ve been praying for a nice weather forecast so I can have a nice day. It’s not the best idea to be in soaking wet conditions with very expensive camera equipment.

My camera equipment today would be the Canon R3 with the Canon 500mm F4 and a new 1.4 extender. This will help me reach t0 with a 700mm lens. I also have my Leica M Monochrome combined with the Leica 50mm Summicron F2. You can see the difference in the image, it is a completely different setup. It’s on a different level. The Leica weighs only 1.7 kilograms, whereas the Canon equipment weighs over 5.5 kilograms.

From the moment I started my second chapter in photography a few years ago, I picked up my first Leica. You can read about it in my biography, and it is always like a match made in heaven. Even today, when I took the test.

The first visible images are taken with the 500mm F4 Canon lens and an extender that brings me to 700mm, a very long distance. But also the weight is hard to handle and brings the problems of the body to the surface.

In addition to the Canon 500mm F4, I had one of my favorite lenses in my backpack, the Canon 300mm F2.8. It has always been one of my favorite lenses. It has a very nice sharpness and a very fast response time.
I used the extender 1.4 as an extra tool to put all the materials to the perfect test. I immediately felt the fast responses when I was capturing the first images, even more sharpness when you see the images.

It was already clear to me that I liked the handling and performance of the Canon 300mm F2.8 much more than the big, heavy 500mm. The handling simply made a big difference when working in the field.

In addition to my Canon gear, I took my beloved Leica M Monocrom. This camera is over 10 years old and only produces black and white images. But for this feeling and the fact that it can only take 3 pictures per second, it is a step back in time. The results of these pictures taken with it.

Conclusion:

I am more than blessed to be able to work with both systems. I love the Canon materials because they are like a tank. Super strong, fast, reliable and most importantly durable. Certainly when used in dusty or wet conditions as everything is perfectly sealed to deal with the harshest conditions. But something magical always happens when I use the Leica cameras. When I release the shutter, I just hear this soft click that takes me back to the days of film cameras. I have to hold my breath to capture the moment because it doesn’t have image stabilization and a lot of other electronic stuff that other cameras have. It is just the super camera and all manual, no tracking focus or auto focus, just you and capturing the moment.

Again, in that moment, I know why Leica made me love taking pictures. Every time I pick it up and say, okay, I am going to take the time to capture moments. My hectic, busy life just comes to a hold and the only thing I do is capture moments with great energy.
No suffering, just let the world stop and enjoy the creative moment. And what do we need to get more energy… I guess yes…

Being creative that works for you!
Not to make others happy.

You can only make others happy when you are happy.

I know what I am going to work on in the next few weeks.
You can read it here: ….

Because something is on the way….

Thank you