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Theorizing is one thing; actually using the Leica rangefinder on an extended basis is another matter. The Leica performs much better than you might think just looking at the specs. The basic camera design, now 60 years old, still works! Leica, don't change the basics! Here's what I found during my recent Japan trip with the M9, with 35 Summicron-ASPH and 2.8/24 Elmarit-ASPH.

 

1. The size and shape are perfect. It's comfortable. Camera round my neck, spare lens in a leather waist pouch. Not too heavy.

 

2. So are the ergonomics. Controls are simple. So quick to change aperture and shutter speed.

 

3. Yes, "chimping" is useful, but the M9's LCD is painfully slow.

 

4. Aperture priority auto exposure is quick and mostly accurate, but manual exposure is still easy and useful.

 

5. The viewfinder is excellent, but is the rangefinder easier/clearer on other Ms?

 

6. Focusing does require more time than AF -- tricky with people, sometimes -- but rewards with accuracy, for the most part. I do find it trickier to get the perfect focus with the M9 compared with film Ms, but part of that could be because I can blow up the image instantly and be more persnickety. Another reason may be the nature of the digital sensor versus film.

 

7. The camera is absolutely hopeless for handing to others to take a picture (this happened a few times). I carefully focussed and set the exposure -- and then the person automatically stepped back two feet! Why!? And everyone too busy to redo. Point and shoot AF would have been better!

 

8. Results are pleasing.

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My experience exactly from 'day 1' of the M9 to now.

 

Your point 7 is the only irritation. I always say, "you can't do it". They always insist. I am still right. Never had a sharp pic of me shot by anyone 'borrowing' my M9, or any Leica. Anyway, it's for me to use so what does it matter.

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Point 3 amuses me - how did we work with film? Reviewing may not be as fast as on some cameras, but its usually fast enough.

 

Nobody that I've handed any of my Leicas to has ever been able to take a decent shot....

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... The basic camera design, now 60 years old, still works! Leica, don't change the basics!

 

Well the classic smooth shutter release of the earlier film M cameras has been replaced by a mediocre notchy 3-stage affair in digital Ms.

 

Nick

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I've never wanted a photo of myself taken by someone else.

 

But aside from that, I'd agree with the points.

 

Except, I haven't found the LCD slow. I press play when I want to and the photo's there, instantly. Any faster and it would show me the next shot before I'd taken it. A bit like a Nikon1 I suppose.

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I bought a Leica R lens one time at a Chicago dealer. I wandered over to the nearby Art Institute and a nice 12 year old volunteered on his own to take my picture.

 

He was more fit than I and I could see the whole package going down the street at a high rate of speed.

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I bought a Leica R lens one time at a Chicago dealer. I wandered over to the nearby Art Institute and a nice 12 year old volunteered on his own to take my picture.

 

He was more fit than I and I could see the whole package going down the street at a high rate of speed.

 

:D

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I'm sometimes bamboozled by tricky textures and hunt for focus. I consider myself pretty good at getting focus nailed quite quickly now after years of practice. I have room for improvement. But nothing makes you realise how accomplished you are until you hand it to someone who has never used a range finder before. Most people get the concept but just don't have the dexterity to get it right. Practice makes perfect of course.

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On the question of handing a Leica to someone else. Some years ago,I handed my R8 with 80/1.4 Summilux to my then 9 year old grandson to photograph his mother's (2nd) wedding from the sidelines. He had 36 perfectly focused images, all beautifully composed, many with moving subjects. Made me feel like an amateur! He still has an exceptional eye at 15. Just handling that heavy camera must have been difficult for him.

 

I have future hopes for him.

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Michael, quite possibly, but I also wonder how the new M compares?

 

Re "chimping" and the LCD. I don't rely on it but wait till I see the results on screen but as it's there it can be useful, and it does take a while to snap into focus. Not essential or a biggie, though.

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I find the RangeFinder mechanism quite intuitive.

 

Gave it to my wife, explained how it works, two practise shots and she nailed it.

 

Gave it to my dad for a family portrait of us, two practise shots and he nailed it.

 

Johann

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Your observations are spot on with my personal experiences. I usually carry my M9 and my X2. The X2 is great for handing to my wife or a pedestrian for a quick portrait. It is also useful when going into a low light situation and having an available pop up flash. My M9 is a total love affair, and I feel helpless without it by my side.

 

-Eddie

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Hi David,

 

Theorizing is one thing; actually using the Leica rangefinder on an extended basis is another matter. The Leica performs much better than you might think just looking at the specs. The basic camera design, now 60 years old, still works! Leica, don't change the basics! Here's what I found during my recent Japan trip with the M9, with 35 Summicron-ASPH and 2.8/24 Elmarit-ASPH.

 

 

1. The size and shape are perfect. It's comfortable. Camera round my neck, spare lens in a leather waist pouch. Not too heavy.

Yes. Usually a 2.0/28 Summicron ASPH & 1.4/50 Summilux ASPH (FLE) for me. The second lens in a very small LowePro pouch on my belt or in a small daypack.

2. So are the ergonomics. Controls are simple. So quick to change aperture and shutter speed.

Yes

 

3. Yes, "chimping" is useful, but the M9's LCD is painfully slow.
Only to check the histogram from time to time so I'm really not bothered by the screen as much as I used to. For reasons unknown the screen on the Monochrom seems to be much better to use.

 

 

4. Aperture priority auto exposure is quick and mostly accurate, but manual exposure is still easy and useful.
.

Yes, but I often use the camera on auto and direct the centre of the VF to the area that gives me the shutter speed I want, half-depress the shutter to lock, recompose and shoot. Faster for me in variable lighting situations. Real pain is that the shutterspeed isn't displayed in the viewfinder in manual. I do miss the excelens system of matching needles over a shutter speed scale such as in the old Nikon FE/FMs

5. The viewfinder is excellent, but is the rangefinder easier/clearer on other Ms?

I only have the M9 and Monochrom so can't comment.

 

 

6. Focusing does require more time than AF -- tricky with people, sometimes -- but rewards with accuracy, for the most part. I do find it trickier to get the perfect focus with the M9 compared with film Ms, but part of that could be because I can blow up the image instantly and be more persnickety. Another reason may be the nature of the digital sensor versus film.
. Never had an AF camerexcept for compact P&S. I don't miss what I've never had and I really like keeping control of focus..

 

 

7. The camera is absolutely hopeless for handing to others to take a picture (this happened a few times). I carefully focussed and set the exposure -- and then the person automatically stepped back two feet! Why!? And everyone too busy to redo. Point and shoot AF would have been better!
. So true. I have to prefocus and set manual exposure with adequate shutter speed to avoid camera shake. I do find that with standing them in the right spot and telling them where to aim the centre focusing patch in the viewfinder I tend to get the composition I want. Otherwise you get the subject-in-the-middle-of-the-photograph look every time!

 

 

8. Results are pleasing.

:eek: Pleasing? Is this some sort of East trans-Tasman Antipodean understatement?

Over here on the Western side of the that little waterway the results from the M9 and Monochrom would be described as bloody f@%#ing amazing :D.

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Leica, don't change the basics!

 

But they did. Not necessarily for some abstruse theoretical reasoning that it would be an improvement, but actually because of the fact that photographers have changed in response to technology. Anyone willing to manually adjust exposure, or to manually focus is already in a small minority. If you don't need to examine a histogram and then demand that everyone re-assume their positions for another shot, and if you are willing to wait for the free time to mix some chemicals and do the darkroom stuff, then you are no longer a minority. You're an endangered species! I can't blame Leica at all for changing as markets change; they must do as they need to survive. As long as they allow me to bumble along in my archaic ways I shall support them with purchases. I don't want to change, and since it isn't how I earn my living, I don't need to do so. I do need to satisfy whatever drives me to spend money and time on cameras and photographs. Let's hope we intersect somewhere for a while yet.

 

Chris

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