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The Leica M9 is so exotic

Deliberate1

By Deliberate1
in Customer Forum

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chinavol

chinavol

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Oh, those were happy times!!! I made the mistake of allowing my wife to visit a Leica store with me. I can still remember the look on her face when she saw the Noctilux in the window with all those zeros in the price tag. I will spare you her comment...

 

I had a black X1 so the black M9-P went into the fold unnoticed.

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johnbuckley

johnbuckley

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A week ago, taking photos at Seattle's Pike Place market, a guy directly behind me said, Whoa! You mean Leica makes DIGITAL cameras? Whoa!

 

I smiled and said yes.

 

And several times, I've had people -- kids especially -- ask why I am using such an old camera!

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Peter H

Peter H

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Nowadays the most anonymous camera is a big DSLR with a big fat lens because there's so many of them everywhere you look. Who but a geek ever took a second glance at one of those?

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bpalme

bpalme

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Interesting... I've actually had the opposite experience than most of you. I'm in New York and I'll often take my M3 with me when I go out to dinner or a bar and 7 times out of 10 someone knows exactly what it is or asks "is that a Leica?" perhaps it's Leica's elevated status as an object of style that's resulted in fashionable New Yorkers knowing about them.

I agree. I used to work in NY and was asked a few times there about it.

But I grew up in the middle of no where so not many have heard of it there.

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Double Negative

Double Negative

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Shooting a local festival yesterday, a fellow photographer noticed my M9/Nocti combo and immediately called me out on it. He was quite impressed. Covered in a Luigi case he didn't realize it was digital at first. Like myself, he also shoots Hassy. It was a nice chat.

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siglo

siglo

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It's happened to me several times that people ask to take my picture with my own camera, having just photographed them (I add this here though I'm using an M6TTL). Usually they have no clue how the camera works but happily snap away thinking they've obtained perfect focus because the VF is so clear :)

 

So as not to appear rude and turn down such offers, I've tried to perfect a one or two sentence rangefinder training to give to those who ask to take my picture.

 

It's going so-so. Naturally, I know precisely what information needs to be conveyed but still I fail each time, which is evident because all photos are invariably out of focus.

 

I have a feeling a large part is due to the inability of the average person, who has little to no interest to learn rangefinder photography, to absorb the training, however brief.

 

So now I'm trying to perfect a polite thanks-but-no-thanks-I-know-what-I-look-like sort of excuse.

 

/p

 

When I am in the situation where people offer to take my picture with my camera, I usually ask "Do you know how to focus a range finder camera?". I've only had one "I think so" from a German gentleman in Abu Dhabi who managed to take a photo of me with my MP in perfect focus. Usually, their reply is "a what camera?"

 

If they don't know how to do so, I don't bother explain to them. It's just too much of a hassle. I just ask them to stay still and not move, I focus the camera on their face, hand them the camera and ask them to point it back at me and press the button without moving. That way, I accommodate their request without being rude and I also get focused photos of myself.

 

I never got a request from a total stranger to use my camera though. Usually it's a family member, friend, business acquaintance, or someone wearing a name tag in some sort of service\store I am using. I might decline if it was a total stranger on the street just to be on the safe side.

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siglo

siglo

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I haven't faced that yet cause I tell them all you have to do is press this button. I imagine if they are an SLR user they are going to fiddle with the rings on the lens.

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k-hawinkler

k-hawinkler

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In 2011 I attended a David Hobby and Joe McNally workshop on lighting.

During a break David Hobby was mingling with the participants and noticed my M9.

So I handed the camera to him and asked him to take a shot, without further explanation.

Of course, his shot was well focused.

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StephenPatterson

StephenPatterson

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Are we EVER going to see any photos from India??? I mean really, you were gone THREE WEEKS and have been talking about this trip of a lifetime for months and months on the forum (as well as seeking advice in preparation for departure on topics such as, in no particular order: SD Cards, Batteries, Lenses, Chargers, Hats, Insect Repellant, Malaria, Tooth Paste and Religion, to name but a few).

 

I think at this point we are ALL entitled to at least ONE photo of a temple or SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!

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Borbarad

Borbarad

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...but not for the reason you think. This past week I returned from my first trip to India. I had my M9 and assorted lenses. No one in our group had any idea what a Leica is, only that it must be some sort of exotic instrument, or an anachronism, because you actually had to focus the damn thing. Imagine that. The anonymity was perfect.

I will have more to report once my brain has processed the experience.

David

 

 

Got it spot on. Only If there is a another photographer (Moslty Pro) my M9P might be identified as... "...oh.. ah... is that... the M9...?"

 

B

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Rick

Rick

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Interesting... I've actually had the opposite experience than most of you. I'm in New York and I'll often take my M3 with me when I go out to dinner or a bar and 7 times out of 10 someone knows exactly what it is or asks "is that a Leica?" perhaps it's Leica's elevated status as an object of style that's resulted in fashionable New Yorkers knowing about them.

 

Really? In what dream? Rarely does anyone ever have any remote idea what is sitting on the restaurant table in front of me.

 

I am always miffed by posts on other forums that proffer this sort of idea that Leica owners want to own this M camera for its status cache. What are they talking about? Anyone who really owns one knows that nobody has any clue what the value of a M9 + Summilux 35 is when, it is sitting on a restaurant table.

 

If, Leica owners really were buying cameras to show off status, they would be buying Nikon/Canon FF DSLR + Bazooka-lens-O-ramma to pretend they were professional photographers.

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cornellfrancis

cornellfrancis

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Really? In what dream? Rarely does anyone ever have any remote idea what is sitting on the restaurant table in front of me.

 

I am always miffed by posts on other forums that proffer this sort of idea that Leica owners want to own this M camera for its status cache. What are they talking about? Anyone who really owns one knows that nobody has any clue what the value of a M9 + Summilux 35 is when, it is sitting on a restaurant table.

 

If, Leica owners really were buying cameras to show off status, they would be buying Nikon/Canon FF DSLR + Bazooka-lens-O-ramma to pretend they were professional photographers.

 

I would actually say that quite a few Leica owners buy Leica for the luxury / prestige factor. That's clearly part of Leica's marketing strategy. All you have to do is take a look inside any of these new Leica boutiques. Feels like walking into Hermes or Louis Vuitton. Hard to say an m9 titanium is just a photographic tool...

 

Of course some people buy Leica purely as a photographic tool and think nothing of the status or luxury factor just as some people buy a Porsche 911 gt3 purely as a track car with no thoughts about showing it off at the local restaurant.

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Deliberate1

Deliberate1

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OP here. Only awkward photo moment was when someone would want to take a picture of me with my camera. Like the obligatory Taj Mahal shot. I explained that it must be focused. If that did not deter them, I would either pre-focus for them or set the aperature at a wide enough f stop to incorporate the universe. Then I would put the camera strap over their head and only then hand the camera over. I would not tell the person that they were now holding 591,541 rupees worth of camera and lens (50mm Summilux ASPH) - more or less. No reason to temp fate.

Stephen, images to follow.

David

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Rick

Rick

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I would actually say that quite a few Leica owners buy Leica for the luxury / prestige factor. That's clearly part of Leica's marketing strategy. All you have to do is take a look inside any of these new Leica boutiques. Feels like walking into Hermes or Louis Vuitton. Hard to say an m9 titanium is just a photographic tool...

 

Of course some people buy Leica purely as a photographic tool and think nothing of the status or luxury factor just as some people buy a Porsche 911 gt3 purely as a track car with no thoughts about showing it off at the local restaurant.

 

I would say that the prestige factor is all from Leica's side. They are the one that pushes that. Most Leica owners are simply embarrassed for Leica when they use Seal and smarmy Leica boutique stores and the sales of tacky special editions.

 

Your average Leica owner would rather buy their camera from the same nice camera salesman who leans over the old smudged-up glass camera display case in the back of the local camera store. Then, disappear into the streets to make photographs with amazing optics.

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StephenPatterson

StephenPatterson

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Your average Leica owner would rather buy their camera from the same nice camera salesman who leans over the old smudged-up glass camera display case in the back of the local camera store. Then, disappear into the streets to make photographs with amazing optics.

 

When I deal with Ken Hansen I don't even get a glass display case to lean over!!!

 

The Leica boutiques, at least the ones in China, really are the biggest waste of resources. Perhaps someday Leica will create a proper store here, but for now the ones I have visited in Shanghai and Hong Kong, are worse than useless.

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/customer-forum/227126-arrogant-dealer-2.html#post2002700

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