Struggling to fall in love with the M9

[TacTZilla]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Thanks everyone for all the useful tips and insight.

 

Regards

Bob

[fursan]

Hi Bob,

 

Lovely work on your website.

 

Coming from a slr/dslr it took me some time to get used to my Ms. Film and M8. I wasted

a lot of film, and shot everything for a few months with my M8.

 

Slowly, I began to feel when a shot was in-focus, exposure the way I wanted; etc. Even

now I am learning. But I enjoy the journey and the destination ( prints ) make me smile.

 

I use my Nikon too. I love it. But for street, daylight, dusk, portrait in reasonable light

I reach for the M. Macro, tele and when I feel just lazy, the nikon is with me.

 

Give it some more time and then decide.

 

Good luck.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[mhoersch]

I find "struggling" to fall in love a somewhat difficult concept. Either you fall in love or you don't. I don't think that any amount of struggling has ever helped anyone fall in love with anyone or anything. So, just relax and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, just move on...

[earleygallery]

Interesting thread.

 

I bought my first Leica - a lllf - out of curiosity mostly. I really enjoyed using it and decided I'd sell my SLR to buy an M so I could use newer lenses etc. I really regretted that, I just didn't get on with the M3 and missed many of the benefits of SLR photography (previewing depth of field, using filters and previewing effects, accurate framing etc.). So the M3 was traded in for an R3.

 

I still use my lllf and R3 and various other cameras, but I gave M photography another chance and love it now.

 

It can be quite a culture shock moving from SLR to RF photography. Like others have said I'd give it more time to adjust before making any final decisions. If it's not for you it's just not for you. My guess is if you do stick with it you'll probably buy another DSLR in the future for certain subjects/situations.

 

Sorry to hear about the arrest! I'm sure you're aware of the 'advice to photographers' thread on this forum. It would be interesting to know about your experience. I wouldn't let it put you off from getting out there and enjoying your photography again - these incidents are becoming quite common and if the latest UK proposed changes to the law are passed it's going to get a lot worse over here! If you're confidence has been dented by the experience try going to some public events first - where no one will mind you taking photos.

[earleygallery]

I'm thinking about getting a cheap light meter like the Weston Master. Might that be a good idea?

 

Meant to comment on this point too. The meter in your Leica is a fairly basic affair compared to your Nikon. A hand held meter is always a good idea but I'd buy a new digital meter - the Weston is an old piece of kit now and may not be realiable, and certainly not as sensitive as a new ditigal meter.

 

I like incident readings - where you take the reading from the light source rather than reflected off the subject. Although the M9 has AE it will only improve your photography to have to think more about exposure than simply relying on the camera to work it out!

[TacTZilla]

Interesting thread.

 

Sorry to hear about the arrest! I'm sure you're aware of the 'advice to photographers' thread on this forum. It would be interesting to know about your experience. I wouldn't let it put you off from getting out there and enjoying your photography again - these incidents are becoming quite common and if the latest UK proposed changes to the law are passed it's going to get a lot worse over here! If you're confidence has been dented by the experience try going to some public events first - where no one will mind you taking photos.

 

Many thanks for the advice.

My confidence is fine and I've no problem with shooting again in public, but due to circumstances I can't just go into at the moment, I have to avoid a the same thing happening again, and it likely would if I went out shooting.

 

You will get to hear the full story soon as I had a major newspaper do a 400 mile round trip to interview me about it. Hopefully it should help change current polic(e)y throughout the UK.

 

Cheers

Bob

[tdtaylor]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Have to admit I am curious. Please post a link to the article when available. AND GREAT PHOTOS!

[wilfredo]

Bob,

 

In time you can regain the DSLR equipment if you decide to go that route again. I understand the money thing, that's a major factor for me not purchasing the M9 but today I had a chance to play with one and really enjoyed it.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/people/116109-leica-friends.html

Edited February 16, 2010 by wilfredo

[Bixi]

It's early days yet and I haven't had much chance to use the M9 due to many issues. I've taken a few hundred shots.

 

I moved from a Nikon D3 and I have to say, at this moment in time, I'm regretting it. I will give it more time, but, as of today, the only redeeming features I can find with this camera are its size, weight and simplicity. I don't want to start listing the negatives as, after such an investment of the body a 3 new lenses, I really, really want to like it.

 

Am I missing something?

 

Please help me to love it.

 

Cheers

Bob

 

Dear Bob,

 

I have a lot of sympathy for you and your honesty is to respect.

 

I used to have a NIkon D700 and I love that camera. In September 2009 I got a M9 with a 50mm Summilux and a couple of other lens. The M9 arrived, the D700 was sold.

 

The first few days I was wondering if made a hugh mistake. I had no idea how to handle a Rangefinder camera. I was so in tune with my Nikon.

 

The only way for me to find out what to think about my new M9 was to take it with me wherever I went. For a week I had my camera around my wrist. In the house and outside.

 

Now I know. I have a stronger relationship with my M9 than I ever had with any camera I owned in my life.

 

At this point most of my images on my website were taken with my M9.

 

Good luck and I hope that you'll become a good team with your camera.

 

Best,

Bixi

http://www.birgitkrippner.com

[Nikkor AIS]

Love the dog shot's Bob.

 

Gregory

[TacTZilla]

Thanks folks.

 

Starting to have some fun with it now.

 

B

 

[viramati]

Well I'm in love.

I also have the D700 (not sold yet but never used) and I love my M9 more and more every day. I find I am now using it 90% of the time with the lux 50 ASPH and it is the best combo ever. I used to use the D700 with the Zeiss 50 1.5 and that too works really well but with the compact size of the M9 it really is a camera that you can carry with you all the time.

 

by the way great shot Bob

Edited February 16, 2010 by viramati

[jaapv]

Thanks folks.

 

Starting to have some fun with it now.

 

B

 

 

A+

[SJP]

great picture!! Have more fun.

 

 

And.....told you so:D

[diogenis]

hahaha ! dude, you have it! lol great pics!!! kudos

[ashlee52]

If you aren't currently able to get out and around, then a Leica may not seem to have much advantage... classically they are "out and around" sorts of cameras.

 

Different people find different things to love (and hate) about Leicas. Personally I find two advantages... M cameras are small enough that I actually will take them with me while SLR kits are two much to drag along... and most importantly I compose better when I can see outside my framing. By seeing how the photograph is cut from the broader view I get MUCH better composition and balance between what is included and what is excluded from a photograph.

 

While Leica glass is spectacular, in the end so are all my old Nikon primes. And when you go to general photo sites you see incredible pictures taken with very basic cameras today. At f8 most cheap digital cameras give pretty terrific results, and certainly every DSLR does.

 

One can take a great picture with any camera... to me the essence of Leica equipment is that it increases the odds that you actually will 1) have the camera with you and 2) see the photo that is there to be taken.

 

Incidentially, and perhaps showing a bit of my age, the other cameras that I "see better" with are Rolleiflex TLRs. The square format, the formality of a groundglass view, and the waist level perspective have always given me better pictures. What I wouldn't pay (within reason) for a digital TLR... and how easy it should be to build one. (The Hasselblad digital backs are available, but man are they expensive... and they have a crop factor.)

[too old to care]

Incidentially, and perhaps showing a bit of my age, the other cameras that I "see better" with are Rolleiflex TLRs. The square format, the formality of a groundglass view, and the waist level perspective have always given me better pictures. What I wouldn't pay (within reason) for a digital TLR... and how easy it should be to build one. (The Hasselblad digital backs are available, but man are they expensive... and they have a crop factor.)

 

Agree, I used a Rollie for years in my wedding photography business. It finally died and I replaced it with a Mamiya TLR. Not the same quality.

[d2mini]

I have a D700 and just bought the M9 before xmas.

No way I am giving up my D700. It just isn't possible for the M9 to replace it. Fact.

My D700 is my money maker, and it's my go to camera for shooting fast moving objects like my pups.

That said, I took both on my xmas trip to Europe and guess which kit almost never left the hotel room and when it did I almost wished it didn't.

The M9 was just so much more fun and easy to travel with all day.

I posted this gallery here before, but if you haven't seen it, please take a look.

All but two of the images were taken with the M9 and 35 'cron. And if I didn't tell you which two were the D700, I bet you'd think they were the M9. The end images are usually going to be too close to call, especially viewed online. It's more the experience of the M9 that is so wonderful. Of course the 18mp is nice too.

 

Europe 2009

[dannirr]

Why would you invest in something you don't already know if you like?

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[ken_tanaka]

Hi Lucien.

 

Sadly I had to sell the D3 and lenses to buy the M9 (and everything else in the house that wasn't nailed down)

 

I do miss it.

 

B

 

Simple solution: Sell the M9 and move back to an slr camera.

 

Rangefinder photography is not for everyone's tastes. As noted earlier it does take more effort and takes quite a bit of practice to become accustomed to the camera. But even the most adept rf snapper will have to concede that the camera is significantly more limited than an slr. Frankly, that's why the 35mm rangefinder teetered on extinction and still does, Leica excepted.

 

Sixty years ago the rangefinder was the fastest and most compact way to grab good candid snaps. But today that's no longer true. There are a plethora of alternatives.

 

I very much enjoy my M9 and admire it for what it is. But I am a realist and realize what it is not. I estimate that I use an M body or one model or another for perhaps 30% of my own work, with the rest being mostly slr and some p&s type work. I think that the most reasoned and seasoned M9 users here would offer similar sentiments.

 

If you're an amateur and pursue photography as a pastime you owe it to yourself to, first and foremost, enjoy your time with the camera, The bottom line is not the camera you use but, rather, the images you make. You will not be able to improve and expand with a camera you don't enjoy.

 

So forget the history, mythology, folklore, and the other muckety muck about Leicas and just bail back to the slr photography that your enjoy and that allows you to concentrate on the images rather than the tool. You should be able to get most of your money back through resale.