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Does your M grab people's attention?


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We went out with some friends and one looked at my camera and said "You don't fool around, do you?" He knew Leica.

 

On another outing a guy says "What kind of camera is that?" I said Leica. I'm not sure he was familiar with the name, but he couldn't stop gawking at it. 

 

People seem intrigued with the M240 and I suspect it's because of its shape and vintage look that lacks the hump on the top of the body that DSLRs have.

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I have two M240 kits.

For tight subtle street, small 50mm lens and no half case.

For general walk about large 35mm lens and leather half case.

The M240 is so small that the half case really changes perceptive size.

Methinks anything more is excessive.

I only use a tripod at home.

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Do many people use a tripod with their M series camera?

Yes, for landscapes very often.

But back to the theme: I made very often street-photos and nobody was recognizing me and my M9 with 35mm or (that's my opinion - but I'm not a Betazoid) was thinking: oh a toy-camera because cameras today are hold 80cm from the eyes or are as big as a Canon or Nikon with battery-grip an a 2,8/70-200 or 24-70.

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I recall a photographer saying to me, there are two types of photographs (1) those taken using a tripod, and (2) those that should have been taken using a tripod.

 

Like Wattsy, I am too lazy to carry mine.

If it's a landscape I'd agree or architecture I guess but for reportage and street (which I always presumed most people used their M for) it would just hinder the photographer wouldn't it?

 

I know looking on here that a lot of people do use their Leica for landscape etc too

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Of course - it was a flippant remark aimed at making me think about using my tripod more. It wasn't Leica specific. 

 

If I could change one thing on my M Edition 60, I would replace the shutter release with a threaded version so I can use a cable release. Without it, my camera is almost entirely for handheld use (which is somewhat limiting). 

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If it's a landscape I'd agree or architecture I guess but for reportage and street (which I always presumed most people used their M for) it would just hinder the photographer wouldn't it?

 

 

Have a look at the large format photographs of Joel Meyerowitz, Stephen Shore, and Joel Sternfeld. Using 8x10 cameras (mounted on a their tripod's) they took 'street photography' to a level beyond the pigeonhole Bresson put it in.  

 

And that in essence is the same pigeonhole that people put themselves in by saying 'why have a Leica and use a tripod?', they buy the camera to live a dream of being HCB, not living a dream of discovering what they themselves see and respond to. So why not try a Leica on a tripod in the street and see if it changes the dynamics of what's going on? As a photographer stood there with a camera you're changing the dynamics of the situation anyway, so why wouldn't formal street portraiture work, or using slower shutter speeds to show the trails of people as they move through a city?

 

Steve

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Do many people use a tripod with their M series camera?

 

For me it depends which role my M is playing. If I'm using it as an M (with a 35/2.4 Summarit) then very rarely. If I'm using it as my digital R solution (with R-M adapter and EVF2) then yes, most ot of the time. (I should add though that most of my R-type photography is of static subjects; if I did action shots, I probably wouldn't be using Leica.)

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I often use a tripod when shooting portraits, its handy to frame the image, then notice something needs adjusting in the background, leave the camera, move the aesthetically unappealing object, return to the camera and I'm ready to shoot, its still in focus and composition still good to go. 

 

I can recommend 3leggedthing tripods, carbon fibre, modestly priced and pack small and light

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