Dithered over this for weeks and weeks, unsure as to whether it would offer me any added value over an above the existing kit (1DIII / 5D & a G10 for mobility), but I happened to be passing Park Cameras on the way home from a meeting yesterday, and popped in to try their demo - turned in to a dribbling baby having held the thing, but as they had none in stock, left the shop empty handed (which is a good thing!).
Plenty of time for more evaluating last night, and the decision was made - luckily I was able to lay my hands on a new one today (also a Park - reserved stock that no one collected in time), so I am now the proud owner.
Just need to wait for the kids to come back home from their mates so I can actually get out and about to use it! Test shots around the house are fine and all, but I want to put it through its paces.
All the reviews are pretty much bang on with their conclusions - most of the controls are very well put together, the back 'wheel' being the weakest link - but nothing serious. Pictures are sharp, perhaps 1/3 - 2/3rd's of a stop underexposed to what I am used to from the Canons in some cases, but the dynamic range is excellent, and now Lightroom supports the RAW format, lens correction natively, the workflow is as simple as.
I've not had much experience with range finder style cameras (this is *not* a rangefinder camera, it just looks like one), so pleasantly surprised by the optical view finder - bright and clear is an understatement, and the framing window within the viewfinder adjusts when you focus, so any parallax effects are minimised - the OVF is a highlight for me, as you can see not only what is in frame, but also what is about to be in frame.
