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For all who think the M9 looks expensive or exclusive...


noah_addis

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I think she was being ironic. By no stretch of the imagination does any Leica M camera look cheap!

 

actually, she was being quite earnest. she obviously had little concept of anything less than a medium or large format camera being used on an interior photo shoot. my assistant was completely unable to withhold his laughter..

 

it's all relative, i suppose..

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... she obviously had little concept of anything less than a medium or large format camera being used on an interior photo shoot. my assistant was completely unable to withhold his laughter...

 

But then, she could just have confused the names of two brands neither of which she uses herself.

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Just this week I was finishing an article for a magazine and encountered

a fellow who observed the M9 in use and said, "Oh film, how quaint".

 

I used to get this fairly often with my chrome M8/rally Luigi case combo. Hasn't happened recently with the black M9 though.

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this thread reminded me of two American ladies I saw walking into a museum in berlin.... as they went past one said to the other, "do you think they speak American in here?"

 

Ignorance can be quite entertaining and even endearing.

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My black M9 lives in a brown Luigi half case with grip. Not one of the dozens of people who have asked me about my old-fashioned camera have a clue I'm wearing a 10 thousand dollar necklace. So far I've shot (as a tourist) in Vancouver, Kananaskis, Minneapolis, Stockholm and Rome. And I'm just fine with that.

 

It's kinda like my car, a 2007 Audi RS 4. 99% of people who notice it at all, ask me how I like my A4. Only motorheads know it is considered the finest all weather sports sedan ever built. And I'm fine with that too.

 

There's something to be said for understated...

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The only place my Leica got recognised quite a bit was in Japan. As I was by myself, it was a good way to open a conversation with locals. One delightful elderly gentleman talked to me about his Leica and Contax collection, which he had started while working in the German Embassy in the 1950's. You should have seen the smile on his face when I told him I had a IIF, M4 and Contax IIA RD. Most of the time though like others, people assume it is a film camera.

 

Wilson

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O yes it does (they do) for 99.99998% of the population.

 

Another classic myth put about by the kind of people who like to think they are knowledgeable and discriminating because they hang a Leica around their neck.

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Another classic myth put about by the kind of people who like to think they are knowledgeable and discriminating because they hang a Leica around their neck.

 

Neither my M7, nor my M9 get anything more than a passing glance from anyone who isn't a a photography enthusiast.

 

My Canon 5D Mark II, on the other hand, gets constant attention from people who are dying to take a look at the "professional Canon."

 

So that previous statement is very much a truth.

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Some guy asked me last night what kind of camera I had (M9) - I shrugged and said, "I don't know, it was my Dad's"

 

No point getting into it with strangers - was in a fairly rough area

 

40k M8 are around. It is optimistic, but not unrealistic to expect 60k M9 and follow ups during the next years. Last summer there were M8 ads in all the major papers in Germany. Expect the same for the M9 at the latest this year's Christmas or already during the summer when there will be no more waiting lists.

 

Imo putting black tape on the red dot and the "LEICA M" on the top next to the lens reduces the distance from which everyone can see that it is "a 10 thousand dollar necklace".

 

I for one don't know what year's model a car is outside the price bracket of my own car and only buy a new one every couple of years, so I tend to lose track.

But you would be surprised how well many amateurs are informed about gear at all price levels, regardless what camera they personally own. Sorry, but some posts here sound a bit like: "Nobody knows what a Patec Philippe is anyway!"

 

This year will be the first holiday (here in Europe again) without the M8. I'll just put the tri on my old M6 and wear it visibly with the (non LCD) back forwards over the sholder under the arm. I'd rather concentrate on the holiday than glanceing around all the time checking who glances at my possesions. The two M8s with the Luxes 24&50 at home or around here.

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[quote name=tri;1281102Sorry' date=' but some posts here sound a bit like: "Nobody knows what a Patec Philippe is anyway!"

[/quote]

 

I think the point (or at least my point) is that unless you are an expert, a camera is just a camera and a car is just a car. A big Canon with a fast telephoto or a flashy car with a big rear wing will elicit stares, even from those who have no idea what they are. Some people like that, other don't. I prefer to live in my bubble, where the majority of people have no idea what the cost or performance potential of my camera or car are. And for those who ask, I'm happy to talk to them about it whether they can afford one or not.

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Some guy asked me last night what kind of camera I had (M9) - I shrugged and said, "I don't know, it was my Dad's"

 

No point getting into it with strangers - was in a fairly rough area

I was in Cuba this january, with my new M9. and at the end of a day in Cienfuegos while watching the sun set, we were joined by some other (canon toting) tourists. Suddenly one of the other guys pointed to my M9 and said, are you realy using that antique camera?

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The only place my Leica got recognised quite a bit was in Japan. As I was by myself, it was a good way to open a conversation with locals. One delightful elderly gentleman talked to me about his Leica and Contax collection, which he had started while working in the German Embassy in the 1950's. You should have seen the smile on his face when I told him I had a IIF, M4 and Contax IIA RD. Most of the time though like others, people assume it is a film camera.

 

Wilson

 

I recognise the Japan experience. I've never seen so many film Ms in a city block (I was there with the M8 in the very early days), never had so many requests to be photographed alongside a proud fellow Leica photographer, and never had so many informed and interesting conversations with other photographers about the art and craft of making pictures.

 

In London, the best way to start conversations with strangers is to take a dog for a walk.

 

In Tokyo, have a Leica on the end of the lead... :)

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In Tokyo, have a Leica on the end of the lead... :)
Will have to try next time I am over :D

 

I can recall visting in 1987 or so and during a walk in the mountains saw a Japanese woman with no less than two leica's around het neck. This seemed a bit exorbitant to me at the time. I was not "in" to Leica at the time having the opinion "a lens is a lens is a lens" (big mistake in retrospect) but I knew about the brand from discussion with photography inclined friends - primarily for being way too expensive and unreliable as I was told.

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I recognise the Japan experience. I've never seen so many film Ms in a city block (I was there with the M8 in the very early days), never had so many requests to be photographed alongside a proud fellow Leica photographer, and never had so many informed and interesting conversations with other photographers about the art and craft of making pictures.

 

In London, the best way to start conversations with strangers is to take a dog for a walk.

 

In Tokyo, have a Leica on the end of the lead... :)

 

The Japanese tend to mass-buy certain tested-and-true products.

 

It's social proofing at a grand scale. :)

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