The Leica Experience

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I like people asking me about my Leica, not that they do it very often. The problem I have is when they want to tell me about their camera

 

Steve

[ezc203]

Conversation is a 2-way street no?

[wlaidlaw]

I have met some really interesting people, who have come up to talk to me because I was using a Leica. I met a lovely elderly gentleman in the subway in Tokyo, whose father used to sell Leica cameras before WW2. He gave me his card and asked me to come and visit him and his wife, so he could show me some of his Leicas. Sadly I only had 3 days, fully occupied, in Tokyo so it was not possible.

 

I thoroughly enjoy people coming up to chat to me. I have always found they are very polite and understanding if you ask them to wait a bit while you take your photograph or graphs.

 

The only irritating approaches are when I am walking around with a Viso/560 Telyt/Televit/shoulder brace, when small urchins come up and ask "Wossat mister n'a rokkit thingy n'it".

 

Wilson

[stuny]

At an industry show last June (It's on again next week), as I walked through the exhibits I noticed one of the exhibitors stalking me. About 30 meters later, when I stopped to see an exhibit he approached me and began talking Leica. Fine.

 

A half hour later I passed another exhibitor who shouted out for me to get a real camera instead of a lowly Leica. Strange.

 

At the market earlier this week an employee asked about my D2 and then went on about his father's Nikon. Fine.

 

In our travels or in NYC it's not that common to see another Leica and I've welcomed the greetings, sometimes brief, sometiomes long, but I can't recall ever having been interupted while actually shooting.

 

Also in our travels it's not unusual to run into a photographer leading a photo expedition. Never seen any Leicas in any of them (though we might on the next trip), but during down-times photo and travel dicsussions have always been good.

[Knomad]

I've met some fascinating folks after they noticed my Leica. I hope to meet many more.

 

Most people don't even notice it. The few people who know what it is can generally recognize it from across the room.

 

Two of the more memorable experiences:

 

One day about 10 years ago I was photographing a model at Elephant Rocks in the Missouri Ozarks. We were generally trying to avoid distractions by the few hikers passing through, so we'd pause and wait til they were gone. Then as we were walking among the wonderful huge boulders perched on top of the granite base and looking for the next location to shoot, we came around a corner and came face to face with an elderly gentleman carrying an M5. Although it was fall and the leaves on the trail had allowed us to hear most people approaching from hundreds of meters away, this fellow hadn't made a sound... a classic Leica stealth photographer, probably trained by decades of street photography. We had a fascinating discussion about photography out there, in a beautiful setting two hours from the nearest major city. I think the model became a little bored.

 

The second incident happened in Berkeley, on Telegraph Avenue. I was photographing an exotic young lady as we moved down the sidewalk, and as I took one shot I noticed a subtle movement in my peripheral vision, back in the shadow of a doorway. There was a tall well-dressed fellow back there with a black M6 and a 35mm Summicron, and he had just taken our photo, we'd unexpectedly wandered into his street photography excursion. We just smiled and nodded knowingly at each other, with a side glance at each others Leicas, and went on our separate ways. Sometimes no words are needed to communicate.

[wildlightphoto]

My subjects don't wait around while people converse and besides most people don't know how to act around wildlife without the animals bolting so I'd rather not chat while I'm in the zone.

 

Once they see what I'm doing most people will go out of their way to avoid disturbing the animals but some are either oblivious or feel that talking is more important than the hours I spent earning the animals' trust.

[Archiver]

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The second incident happened in Berkeley, on Telegraph Avenue. I was photographing an exotic young lady as we moved down the sidewalk, and as I took one shot I noticed a subtle movement in my peripheral vision, back in the shadow of a doorway. There was a tall well-dressed fellow back there with a black M6 and a 35mm Summicron, and he had just taken our photo, we'd unexpectedly wandered into his street photography excursion. We just smiled and nodded knowingly at each other, with a side glance at each others Leicas, and went on our separate ways. Sometimes no words are needed to communicate.

 

I love that story!

 

Last year I wandered around the PMA, held in Melbourne. A number of exhibitors asked me about the M9 I had around my neck, and I met two very cool gentlemen who had M8's. One was from out of town, the other more local. We had a fascinating chat, and I felt very much like we were members of a secret fraternity, using cameras instead of secret handshakes.

[roydonian]

Once I was approached by a chap, who then revealed that he was carrying a Contax IIa and a IIIa in his bag. I would never have seen those beauties if he had not approached me. Although he was a 'Contax' man he was intrigued to see how a digital rangefinder performed and I have lusted after one of those Contaxes ever since.

 

I've never ever seen anyone using a Contax, though an elderly gent who saw me with my M6 stopped me to say how nice it was to see that some people were still using the old Contax.

 

I've got a Contax II and a Nikon S3, and occasionally use them. Great fun, but you rapidly realise the reason why the M Leica came to predominate the photo scene of that era.

 

In the UK, the pre-war Conax is fairly affordable, but its shutter is likely to be living on borrowed time. The Russian 'Kiev' equivalent is cheaper and significantly younger.

 

Best regards,

 

Doug