Hi Chiff, would it be difficult to develop the films? btw still waiting for your reply via pm
If you can cook a bowl of instant noodles... than developing film should be no problem... It's actually easier than that. Contrary to popular beliefs... you don't need a dark room to develop film. You only need a dark bag. With modern age technology, you can scan the negatives with a $300 scanner and result could be better than a $3500 5DMkII... for B&W :bsmilie:
Sorry... have to change diapers, feed & burp baby... and discipline 2 older boys who tear the house down when they are together... :sweat:
Finally found sometime to do some work...
OK...
Actually with your budget, you can get alot of stuff... some say, XPAN, some say Leica... well... they are all right and good advice in their own ways...
One thing about XPAN is that price now is ridiculously high... just about one and a half to 2 years ago, a XPAN + 45mm used to trade for about S$1.2K to S$1.5K... now... a beat up condition would set you back at least $2.2K. On ebay, don't expect to find anything less than USD1.8K. Furthermore, if there's anything wrong, repair would cost you a bomb. Spare parts is scare... have to rely on Shriro. And be prepare to pay through your nose.
For Leica M6 (0.72 & 0.58), it's widest framelines is 28mm. If you want to use 21mm or 25mm, you need to rely on external viewfinder. That would compromise on speed when you shoot street. But again, you can use what people call hyper-focusing to shoot and get good result. If you want to save the trouble... I would suggest that you go for the R4A or R4M. They are the only RF bodies in the market today that has 21mm & 24mm framelines.
Leica M4, M6, M7, MP are excellent cameras. If you can find a good bargain, go for it. My personal opinion, I would say, they are more suitable for 28mm, 35mm, 50mm focal length. Do remember the 0.85 magnification on M6 TTL & M7 do not have 28mm framelines.
As for lens, some say Leica and some say forget about used lens, get the BEST, NEW SUMMILUX... :bsmilie:
Well, someone ever told me... Voigtlander lenses are like Toyota. You don't buy Toyota cars to collect... you USE them... Basically, Voigtlander lenses serve the same functions as the Leica counterpart. Leica with it's German engineering and heritage, they are like BMW. Well built superb performance, precision engineering. Some people after spending the money, don't bear to take out the lens to shoot... keep it in the dry cab... for fear that they drop the lens or scratch the elements.. then the lens becomes worthless... Well, it's like people buying Porsche and drive them at 2500 RPM all the time.
Which body to choose really got to depend on your needs. There is no such thing as a multi-purpose camera. If there is, then it probably can't do anything well at all.
If you were to ask me.. my personal preference, with $3K, I would go for a Mamiya 7II... hahahahaha... :bsmilie: