Yes, the 2023 film prices are a bit daunting. I have never been a "spray and pray" photographer and I am lucky enough to have stocked my freezer with Tri-X a couple of years ago, but I have begun thinking about bulk loading again which I haven't done for almost 40 years apart from emulsions only available in bulk like Kodalith and Fine Grain Release Positive. Kodak isn't any cheaper in bulk but Ilford appears to be a bit better from my last check, so it may be HP 5 for me in the future. I haven't gone mirrorless yet so my stash of Zeiss Contax lenses from the 1930's and 50's can't work digitally for me at the moment. There may yet be a full frame mirrorless in my future for precisely that reason.
Or... possibly a Leica M??? With film prices the way they are I have to admit a digital M that is fairly optimized for simple manual focus may be the way to go sooner or later.
You may want to take a look at the Canon R or even the RP as they are a bargain and can mount just about any lens ever conceived with decent, simple controls. As noted the Zfc control scheme just doesn't cut it for reasonable comfort in the control department for manual focus lenses. I'd say it's a tie right now between the X-Pro 2 and the Canon R. The downside of the X-Pro 2 is that lenses like M or Contax rangefinder etc do not have enough flange distance to function with a speed-booster so they will be narrower in field of view.
Yes, the 2023 film prices are a bit daunting. I have never been a "spray and pray" photographer and I am lucky enough to have stocked my freezer with Tri-X a couple of years ago, but I have begun thinking about bulk loading again which I haven't done for almost 40 years apart from emulsions only available in bulk like Kodalith and Fine Grain Release Positive. Kodak isn't any cheaper in bulk but Ilford appears to be a bit better from my last check, so it may be HP 5 for me in the future. I haven't gone mirrorless yet so my stash of Zeiss Contax lenses from the 1930's and 50's can't work digitally for me at the moment. There may yet be a full frame mirrorless in my future for precisely that reason.
Oh... if you want sticker shock go look at a roll of Portra 800 holy CRAP...
Or... possibly a Leica M??? With film prices the way they are I have to admit a digital M that is fairly optimized for simple manual focus may be the way to go sooner or later.
You may want to take a look at the Canon R or even the RP as they are a bargain and can mount just about any lens ever conceived with decent, simple controls. As noted the Zfc control scheme just doesn't cut it for reasonable comfort in the control department for manual focus lenses. I'd say it's a tie right now between the X-Pro 2 and the Canon R. The downside of the X-Pro 2 is that lenses like M or Contax rangefinder etc do not have enough flange distance to function with a speed-booster so they will be narrower in field of view.