A stroll in Warsaw with my A7R II and 35 mm f/1.8 testing a Sony → Leica Lightroom profile

I haven’t dedicated time to photography as a hobby for many months now, if not years. Sure, I have my camera or cameras with me when travelling, but not just for the fun of it. Is this something I can change, or have I just lost interest?

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 200.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 500.

I’ve been hooked on the look of analogue film recently, looking for ways to replicate that digitally. This naturally led me down the rabbit hole of looking for other interesting cameras besides my A7R II and A7C. I’d decided that I wasn’t taking photos because I was lacking inspiration. And the best way to get inspired is to spend some money on new gear. Naturally.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 800.

This got me looking into going back to analogue cameras. My last one was an Olympus OM-4 and OM-2 with a bunch of primes. This was a long time ago, but I was already dreaming of getting a roll of Kodak Gold 200 developed. Maybe another of Ilford HP5 Plus. Portra for sure! And Velvia, I can’t not get some Velvia. Since I was considering getting back into film, perhaps it would be best to get a Leica M6 or M7 instead. What‽ How much are they now‽ And you can still buy new ones‽ The price increase on that 35 mm Summicron is insane!

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/320 s, ISO 100.

Well, then why don’t I try to play around digitally instead? I found this Sony to Leica Lightroom Classic profile from @meshna and decided to give it a try. All the photos in this post are using that profile, and the main adjustments were exposure — I think I touched contrast once. I pretty much left everything else alone.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/5, 1/10 s, ISO 100.

This was also the first time that I strapped the Sony 35 mm f/1.8 to the A7R II. I usually use the Sony 28 f/2 instead as my walk-around lens. Wide enough to capture tighter shots in dense cities, but I can always crop in if needed. The 35 mm lens lives on the A7C normally, but I thought this would make a nice change.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 500.

Speaking of lenses I haven’t used in a while, I haven’t used a 50 mm in a while — I might need to do something about that.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/4, 1/60 s, ISO 320.

My typical travel setup for the A7R II is the aforementioned Sony 28 mm f/2 and my mechanical Zeiss Makro-Planer T* 100 mm f/2. I love that lens for its bokeh, semi-compact size, ability to shoot great portraits, and ability to get 1:2 macro shots as well. Very versatile, but no AF, which is sometimes frustrating.

Below you can also see me experimenting with the 2.7:1 aspect ratio, which is basically what the Hasselblad XPan shot. I remember seeing an ad for this camera in a magazine when I was around 8 years old — must have made a big impression on me.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/4, 1/60 s, ISO 400.

I’m very tempted to get a Sony 85 mm f/1.8 to grab instead of the Zeiss 100/2. I’m still not sure if I’ll do it, but it is on my radar.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 250.

Ultimately, I’m still tempted to get a film camera, but I have released some built-up tension in this regard. And all it took was putting on a new lens, forcing myself to spend a few hours taking photos, and trying out a new profile in Lightroom.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 800.

I’ve included two shots for comparison below. The first one uses the default Sony Camera Neutral profile for the A7R II (not the default Adobe profile). The second uses the Sony to Leica profile instead.

Shot with Sony A7R II + FE 35 mm f/1.8: f/1.8, 1/60 s, ISO 250.

The processing on both images was very different. The first “Leica” shot is basically just exposure. The second one uses the Sony profile, and it could use some WB correction (I didn’t change it on purpose, for comparison’s sake). Apart from that, it has adjustments in shadows, highlights, exposure, and contrast.

I’m not sure if I’ll stick to this new profile, but I am now considering finally upgrading my A7R II to the new A7R V. I don’t really need to upgrade — I’m still perfectly happy with what the A7R II can do — but I am tempted to. Also, the A7CR has piqued my interest too.

Anyway, this just goes to show that sometimes we need to force ourselves to do something to get some enjoyment out of the whole experience. And just a small adjustment to our workflow, a small experiment with colour, can be all the change we need.