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Does your M grab people's attention?


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if i am shooting around other pros, i take a lot of flak for using the M--"old school", "wow, look, a rich pro", etc, etc.  with non-pros I hear  "my uncle used to have a camera like that"...more than anything.  I tape mine up so they look like crap, which helps.  You don't want to be walking around the third world with a famous name on your camera.  recently we had a CBS crew in to do an interview, and I asked if i could take a few stills during the taping.  lucky i had the black 240 on hand.  when their film guy saw it he advised the "talent" that i some 'serious' gear and it was ok to use during their interview.  they would have been afraid to let me use my big DLSR due to noise.

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I almost never get any notice.  But yesterday at a small curio shop in Normandy, the proprietor said "that's a a beautiful Leica".  After we bought some kaleidoscopes for our grandchildren, I asked him if I could photograph him and last night sent him a copy (M-P 240).   He had some very old cameras there so I think his level of knowledge was different than the proverbial man in the street, who has no idea what a Leica is and doesn't care. 

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My lllf usually attracts attention when I use it. Someone either recognises it for what it is, or is just curious why I'm using some funny old camera and always ask "where do you still get film for it, I thought that had all finished now".

 

But my Lomo Spinner camera and Kodak Box cameras attract more attention when I use them, which can be a pain if you don't particularly want to stop and talk about them!

 

I guess a lot of people buy Leica today as a fashion statement, so like to get noticed wearing it :) I suspect a lot people who wear a Rolex also do so to get noticed for it in the same subtle way. Both make the same kind of statement.

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I cannot remember the last time someone noticed my M. We spent a week in Taos and I carried my chrome 240 everywhere with chrome Summicron attached. No one asked me about it At one point, I ran out of "film" and that was embarrassing to me since I did not have another  card in my pocket.

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I infrequently get comments.  

 

When I do they are only rarely because the camera is recognised as a Leica, but more often because it is a fascinating piece of industrial design (often thought to be a film camera) which attracts the interest of all different sorts of people.

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I got one or two comments on my black-paint Leica M—formerly M9, now M (Typ 240)—every couple of months, i. e. rarely. And no comments at all (so far) since I taped over the M's red dot (but not the white letter 'M'). I am surprised how much of a difference it makes.

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I got one or two comments on my black-paint Leica M—formerly M9, now M (Typ 240)—every couple of months, i. e. rarely. And no comments at all (so far) since I taped over the M's red dot (but not the white letter 'M'). I am surprised how much of a difference it makes.

Mine has a 'discrete' black dot, barely noticable so I think it's just the camera.

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Yes, teenagers ask a lot... last time this year it happened,  I was taking pictures on Langemark Cemetery I got two questions about the M. They immediately recognize it as something special and they like what they see.

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I guess a lot of people buy Leica today as a fashion statement, so like to get noticed wearing it :) I suspect a lot people who wear a Rolex also do so to get noticed for it in the same subtle way. Both make the same kind of statement.

 

Everyone knows what a Rolex Is, very few people have even heard of Leica.

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Everyone knows what a Rolex Is, ..

Yes, of course:

 

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Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

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Wow...

I wrote earlier about my experiences in downtown Chicago this past weekend.  I totally forgot about this:  We were in Ireland on vacation at the end of March and we stopped in a pub.  One of the patrons said to me, "Wow...that's the new Leica."  I told him it was and asked if I could take his photo (in the photo section of this forum).  After I took it, he came over to me and asked if he could see it.  For some strange reason, I took it off my neck and handed it to him.  He held it and said it was "heftier than I had thought it would be."  He told me he was a photojournalist of sorts.  And I smiled and said that I'd like it back...while chuckling. 

I have NO idea why I did that...a total stranger.  Not my best moment, probably.  But, I trusted him.  And it worked out okay, but I'm not doing that again.

BTW, about ten minutes later, my wife and I saw him walking toward us on a nearby sidewalk....he just passed us by.

So, my point is, my Leica is definitely getting noticed.  I don't mind.  But, that's not why I got it.  I got it because I had thirty years experience with the M4 and wanted back in.  I like using it.  Wasn't comfortable with the other mirrorless options I tried.

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I took some photos at an event last year. I had to do some portraits of dignitaries meeting Princess Michael of Kent. Her minder asked, as I was taking the photos, if my M was suitable for the task without flash. I replied yes and he came over to chimp at the screen. He was happy and walked away. This isn't a direct answer to the original post but sort of applies :-)

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...One of the patrons said to me, "Wow...that's the new Leica."  I told him it was and asked if I could take his photo (in the photo section of this forum).  After I took it, he came over to me and asked if he could see it.  For some strange reason, I took it off my neck and handed it to him....

I have let other people that I don't know take my picture on a couple of occasions with my film MP; fortunately, it was not dropped on either occasion.  In thinking back, it was probably not a wise decision on either occasion.  I won't be doing that in the future, given the price of M gear.  From here on out, I will carry my old Olympus Stylus Epic for occasions when others ask to take my picture. 

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