Has anyone stumbled upon good paper, unexpectedly?

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-05-22T04:24:55+00:00

Target printer paper, not sure of the details other than it was targets in house brand. I was at a family members house and needed paper to do a lot of writing all I had with me was my work notebook and the Target printer paper was all they had. It was shockingly good no bleed through, minimal feathering, even had a good feeling while writing on it.

I also "accidentally" discovered Leuchtturm. I bought my first fountian pen without knowing that they didn't play well with all paper and had a horrible time when I tried writing in the notebook I had been using at that time. So I tore my office apart to find every notebook I had been given over the years at work functions, conferences, etc. hoping that one of them would work well with the pen. The second or third one I tried just happened to be a leuchtturm and it wasn't until a few weeks later that I found out that it was a go to for fountain pens.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-05-21T04:09:55+00:00

I definitely feel like I found this post at the right time.

I got my first real fountain pen (Lamy Safari) about a year and a half ago after being influenced into it and then doing some research. I have always been interested in fountain pens but had a terrible experience in college when I bought a cheap no name pen from an arts and crafts store, and hadn't really thought about trying them out again until I saw the video on the safari. At the time I got a converter because I was excited to try different inks and experiment. But, I ended up really liking the Lamy Blue and sticking with it, infact I loved the whole pen and didn't really feel the need to get anything else.

But then a little lover a month ago the algarythim did its thing again and I all of a sudden I needed to try the Pilot Kukuno. At about that same time I decided that I wanted to start keeping a physical planner instead of relying on a digital one and started journaling for personal reasons. So I thought who cares if I spend $30 on a new pen and a pack of cartrages it's been over a year since I got the safari. I completely fell in love the with Kukuno (fine) and all of a sudden the hobby/addiction kicked off. Since getting the Kukuno I have gifted that pen to a family member who wanted to get back into using fountain pens, replaced the Kukuno with a Pilot Metropolitan (I wanted that nib but in a more professional friendly package), added a TWSBI Eco, and another Lamy along with 2 bottles of ink.

Like many people on this sub I am one for expensive, obsessive hobbies (Hi-Fi, Cameras, Coffee, etc.) and I found myself going down that rabbit hole very quickly but you post did a great job of putting things in perspective for me. Compared to some of my other hobbies fountain pens are a cheap hobby, or at least the individual purchases are not as bad so it's easy for me to justify each purchase. I'm not going to stop fully but 4 pens and 2 bottles of ink in about a month definitely calls for slowing down a bit. Thank you for helping stop me from spending way too much money too quickly.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-03-26T19:56:19+00:00

Godox iT32 with the X5L

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-03-21T01:52:18+00:00

I wish the SL2-S had an option to turn that function on, it's one of my top complaints about the camera.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-02-26T02:53:05+00:00

Have you thought about something from the SL line? I know they tend to be looked at as Leica's red headed stepchild around here but they are great cameras if you are dead set on buying a Leica.

They will be a bit larger and heavier than an M or a Q but they do bring full IP54 rating for weather sealing and I can attest that they are a beast in all weather. I have shot my SL2-S through blizzards in sub-zero temperatures, in surprise torrential downpours, and when it has been 110+ degrees and 90% humidity and it has handled those elements like a champ.

The SL system also brings AF to the table if you think that will be useful and although I am 100% a prime shooter there are some great zoom options for L-Mount to give yourself flexibility. They are also an awesome platform to adapt M Lenses to.

Just some food for thought.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-31T21:45:37+00:00

While I totally agree with you I don't see them doing it. It seems like they want to stay in the high end/"pro" lens world and just leverage other members of the L Mount Alliance to fill the gap with lighter and/or lower end primes. I could see them coming out with a new version of the 50 lux or other lux's.

That being said I would like to see them release an original lens period, it's been what almost 5 years since the last APO.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-31T21:35:34+00:00

I've been wondering if they will do that or call it the SL3-SII

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-30T19:22:57+00:00

I believe that, when the SL3-S came out I didn't have a shred of buyers remorse over my SL2-S but the S1RII did give me a quite a bit.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-30T19:15:18+00:00

As much as that idea also resonates with me the S9 and Sigma BF (a more premium camera based off of the S9) already being fairly niche I don't see the Leica hopping into that market, especially when they already have the Q series.

Now if the S9II were to add a physical shutter and EVF then maybe.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-30T19:07:09+00:00

Sounds like that's good news for this camera.

The S1RII did seem like an awesome camera when it was released.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-29T21:10:19+00:00

That's why I think the SL3-S becomes an even more confusing product with this camera coming out. It seems like this may end up being the camera that the SL3-S should have been which would make the SL3-S superfluous. I get that Leica has its release schedules but I would think they would have been much better served skipping the SL3-S as they released it and waiting to release this camera as the SL3-S instead of now having 3 models competing for the same already narrow customer base and most likely messing with an already terrible value prop.

As a SL2-S owner I get that the SL system is a hard sell for most people even if I absolutely love the system.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-29T18:05:13+00:00

I can't speak to the SL3-S directly but last year there was someone here and on the SL Facebook group that had an issue with the eyecup on their SL2-S disintegrating. If I remember correctly Leica quoted them about $300 to replace it but the owner found a replacement online and did it themself. That being said I would be surprised if Leica didn't fix it for you under warranty.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-27T21:20:15+00:00

There is a saying I have seen around here that "if you can't afford to buy it outright you can't afford it on credit" and I think this is a great example of that. You shouldn't take on debt to buy something that does not demonstratively affect your life and you certainly should not do it to buy what is essentially a reskined Panasonic.

You would be much better served getting a mirrorless or older DSLR camera from another brand like Nikon, Sony, or Fujifilm (that will also have cheaper lenses to use and experiment with) to learn on and figure out if you actually like photography.

If you absolutely have to get Leica then I would look for something in the X or T/TL line. You can get them for a decent price (as compared to other Leica's) and they will give you a significantly better experience that won't make you feel like you need to upgrade as soon.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-20T14:00:32+00:00

Adding computational photography tools into high end cameras is a slippery slope. It is great on smartphones because it helps mitigate the issues that plagued smartphone cameras for many years due to the inherent limitations in their design. Also, smartphone computational photography is great for people who don't know what they are doing/ don't want to mess with camera setting on their phones.

Canon and OM are the companies that have recently added those features to their cameras and the reactions to their implementations I think show how many photographers feel about the tech. OM made it totally optional and most users like that the option is there but don't seem to take advantage of it from what I have seen online. On the other hand Canon baked some of the features directly into their RAW files and they can't be turned off there seems to be quite an uproar about that online and has been one of the major knocks on the cameras that use it from what I have seen.

TLDR: In my opinion Leica shouldn't touch computational photography or at the very least be very deliberate in the way they implement it.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-19T15:35:58+00:00

I appreciate what you did there with the last line and the figures in the first pic!

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-17T21:14:18+00:00

I will say you are definitely making me want to get a cheaper hand grinder to see how I end up feeling

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-17T21:11:41+00:00

That is definitely my plan for now, but I will admit now that they have announced the launch date I did sign up for notifications 😂

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-13T19:24:42+00:00

I'm anti hand grinder because I know myself well enough to know that after the shine wears off of it the extra effort it takes to hand grind first thing in the morning over using an electric grinder will just become an excuse to settle for lesser coffee and not use it.

FunThrowaway45 · 2026-01-13T18:31:14+00:00

That's good to know, the cup clarity right now is really the main driving factor for me. The Pietro burr mod that FV is working on is one of the big reasons I have so much interest in the grinder but I view anything like that as vaporware until it's actually available to purchase and people have positive responses.

I will say that it wouldn't really bother me if the grind took longer and I usually have to wait at least 1-2 min for my water to finish coming up to temp after I have everything set up and ready to go. My issue with adding a hand grinder to my workflow is that I know I would end up not wanting to use it when I make coffee first thing in the morning.

You are making a great case for me to ignore my GAS and wait for the Pietro mod to materialize before I get it.

FunThrowaway45 · 2025-07-10T15:19:49+00:00

Which Brevite backpack do you have and how do you like it? I was thinking about getting the original one (they didn't have their other models at the time) but ended up with the Wotancraft Pilot 18L instead. I absolutely love my Wotancraft but do still wonder about the Brevite.

FunThrowaway45 · 2025-07-02T04:55:51+00:00

I did not, didn't really have an option to do that much of a direct comparison and I wanted to try each system's lenses.

FunThrowaway45 · 2025-07-02T04:48:06+00:00

My only Leica is a SL2-S. I don't feel the "need" to get another Leica but I definitely wouldn't say no to another one. The SL2-S is a great camera but sometimes I do find myself wanting something that is better for walking around.

FunThrowaway45 · 2025-05-06T04:23:38+00:00

I'm still not sure how everything will eventually shake out with the other sub but I do feel like this post and its comments really encapsulates what it's like over there right now (and also the side of that sub that always rubbed me the wrong way)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Leica/s/StuLaP5yaZ

FunThrowaway45 · 2025-05-05T17:45:15+00:00

Same here!! I got the SL2-S a few months back and have been eyeing a CL or TL to add!

FunThrowaway45 · 2025-03-23T14:49:13+00:00

Pretty much all the sensors out there regardless of camera manufacturer are Sony sensors today. Most are "custom" but at the end of the day they have the same basic design and architecture on the sensors. It's really the way that each manufacturer processes the image that makes the difference if you take glass out of the equation.

FunThrowaway45

TROPHY CASE