Leica M9 as the only camera?

[dwbell]

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Could I have only one camera, period, regardless of what it is or costs?

 

Nope.

 

For one thing I love getting new cameras, I love keeping my old ones. I love advancements in technology, I love "new" shiny stuff! =)

 

On the other side it's a tool. Soldiers don't have one gun that suits all. House painters don't have one brush. Mechanics don't have one spanner (although a big hammer seems to get a lot done pretty efficiently) and photographers are limiting themselves if they have just one tool. In my opinion.

 

I've fallen back in love with my 5DII recently after over a year of solely M9 shooting. My daughter on the carousel at the christmas market. ISO 3200, servo focus and burst mode with a 24-105L zoom. Composed using feet and zoom to get a nice balance (zoom is a compositional tool too) then just followed her around until she came through the area of my composition and squeezed off 5-6 frames. Checked the exposure instantly on the big clear screen on the back, TTL and it was bang on, took it back to my eye and did the same thing as she came round again. No fuss, all automatic and I got a load of great expressions.

 

Doing this with the M9 and a hand held meter is a craft, almost and art, prefocus, "pick your shot" blah blah. I know, I do it, and I enjoy it. But I would have come away with maybe one shot in focus and probably not a good expression. If the final image is what we're all about as photographers, then the 5DII was the right tool for the job. My wife doesn't give a <cough> what I took it on. My portrait clients don't give a hoot either, they like instant review through the tether on the laptop.

 

Horses for courses in my opinion. I love both, but to hope any camera can replace all the others is off the mark at this point in time. For me, at least.

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[jaapv]

 

I do miss the extra few stops of my 5Dii with the beautiful 50mm f1.2 lens, but I have no desire to go back. If I did, it would just stay at home.

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Do I smell Noctilust in the air?

[Photoskeptic]

I shot an M8 exclusively for three years. There were times I missed having a longer focal length, but they were few. Anyway I sold the M8 and bought a Nikon D700 because I wanted FF. Surprise, surprise, surprise - I ended up mostly shooting the same focal lengths as the M8. I do have a 180 which I use sparingly. Now I'm ready to go back to Leica (but this time will keep the DSLR).

[dewsweeper]

I have read this thread with great interest, as I am in the process of switching my 35mm format gear all from Nikon (D700 and F5) to Leica M9, M3 and MDa (one set up for Viso for macro & tele; one set up for super-wide).

 

I started this process when, for health reasons, I physically could not lift my Nikon gear this summer. I took my old M3 out of mothballs, and spent a month shooting my room with film. I fell in love with it again.

 

I slowed down, found myself back in charge of my focus and exposure, and happily exploring available light. I had to adjust to frame lines and having only one lens. I discovered what I knew as a freshly-minted photographer: I don't need what I don't have. I need discipline: the discipline to create the shot with the tool I have.

 

I am a pro photographer, and most of what I shoot professionally is interior and exterior landscape and macro. I am not trying to capture the expected tight shot of the wedding ring being slipped on the bride's finger or the football at the fingertips of the receiver. I do chase ever-changing light, mood, texture, and impressions of places though, and for this, Leica is simply superb.

 

When I was well-enough to get back to work, I hauled out the Nikon gear again. I turned off the autofocus, switched to manual metering, and found my photography had improved dramatically. I liked the security of chimping my shots. But I missed the rangefinder, and I missed my little Summicron.

 

I tried using an adapter on an Olympus Pen, to get a poor man's M9, with mixed results. I tried an adapter to use my Viso lenses on the Nikon. Nothing really suited me. So I tried, and then bought an M9, and have been putting a lens kit together. This weekend, I put my Nikon gear up for sale.

 

Courses for horses, as many here have already said. After intense experimentation, I decided my personal and professional vision is best delivered with the Leica tools. This was not a decision based on mathematical analysis and the reviews of strangers, although I read everything I could get my hands on.

 

This should be a decision based on the way your tool aids your vision.

 

Much has been said about the rangefinder learning curve. That advice is sound, and should not be ignored. But beyond learning how to use the tool, you need to determine whether you are willing to embrace new methods of work. It will be a discovery process. You seem to confuse the gear with the creative expression. If you don't want to shoot concerts, just say no. Many extraordinary concert photographers prefer a Leica for that job, so having an M9 will not excuse you from that work!

 

Many astonishing photographic moments have been captured in all categories by photographers using Leica. If your photographic needs are best satisfied by the way Leica products handle light, then buy them, and commit to mastering your tools.

 

That is why I've dropped the Nikon gear. I want to pick up a camera and work instinctively, from muscle memory. I've chosen not to confuse my muscles.

 

Leica is simply the better equipment for my photographic expression.