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Why are you using the Leica M?


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Just honest Answers....

is it like driving an old-timer with all that inconveniences of old, mechanical solutions?

Is it the purity of the interface?

Is it just old habit one know from childhood dreaming of fathers camera which is finally affordable for some?

Is it the slogan of Leica telling us its the only one, the real thing? 

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All of the above I guess. My Grandpa was a photographer who always shot with a Leica. My childhood was spent with my Dad telling me how much he wanted a Leica. I hit 30 and decided that I would get something special, we aren't rich so these sort of purchases are special occasions only. I'd been shooting with a Fuji X100 and XE1 until then which had really got me back into photography but the new Fuji cameras with the millions of Q buttons and pages of menus started to put me off the system. I bought my M9 knowing it was a bit of a 'silly' purchase. No close focusing, no live view, no EVF but after trying one out I felt like a real photographer. My confidence increased, my skill improved (at least I think it has others may disagree). I had to send my M9 off to get dead pixels repaired on the sensor and picked up my Fujis again, still great cameras but the bond had gone.  

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I like the little lenses and not having mirror slap, and it's a lovely looking camera (whichever M it is). I also like to versatility afforded by the vast array of lenses. Modern camera systems have modern lenses created for them. Technically they are great but lacking any character. With the Leica M I can use a lens from 1930, 1980 or 2000, each having it's own character.

Pete

Edited by Stealth3kpl
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A Leica is a camera but it also has an emotion that is hard to describe until you pick one up and put it to your eye. 

 

It is a passage into another world of seeing and feeling where you become part of what you are photographing. It's little click gets between the heart beats as you hold your breath and squeeze the button.

 

A Leica is a way of life and it's what you think of in the morning and last thing at night. You feel this inanimate lump of pure engineering and caress it's curves and marvel at it's beauty and workmanship.

 

You share your soul with your Leica and in return it feels and sees for you because it also has a heart and soul and when you become in harmony the two of you can make those who understand just for that moment stop and truly think.

 

That is a M Leica.

You're amazingly poetical, Paul ;) For me, it is the tool that has suited me best since 1976 - for most uses. Nowadays it is probably an old habit that I won't give up.

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I initially got an m10 because of the rangefinder and small lenses. Its such a joy to use when compared to bulky dslr's. I suppose the Leica mystique is a factor too. But I really wanted to jump off the endless gear band wagon and stick with one system for the next four years and having the creative controls at your finger tips has been a blessing. I love how I can get the exposure I want on the m10 without digging through menus and relying on lightroom. With the m10 it's cut my editing time and in some cases I don't need to edit at all. In my mind the high price is offset by so many things it can do and the quality of images it can make. I am more impressed with it everyday.

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I like the little lenses, just having three controls to worry about (shutter speed, aperture and focus) and, of course the rangefinder that makes focus simple and framing serendipitous.

 

I like not viewing through the lens since the view would be yellow most of the time.

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My feeling is most M users are not interested in rangefinders anymore. Just give them a compact SL with M mount and they sell their M with little regret. Reason why we will never see a modern M i'm afraid but i may be wrong.

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Because, at least at the moment, I feel as though I'm producing images that are far and away more worthwhile than at any time previous. I don't think its particular important to fully deconstruct why this is the case. Partially, it is that less indeed can be more, as the Leica experience is, out of necessity, one that in crucial ways requires more thinking and active participation than most other modern cameras.  More though, it comes down to the flexibility and range of the M system palette.  The breadth of glass, old and new, sharp and creamy, cheap and dear, the alternate commentary each provides, affords me more a sense of painting, or at least an interpreting a scene, rather than a merely recording it as a series of 1s and 0s.

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47 years ago I was already shooting with two rangefinders a voighlander and a Leica...then to Nikon SLR, then an M3, more cameras, electronic Nikon, then DSLR with Canon, 4 years ago I started looking for lighter cameras, went to Sony A7R and A6000,this year,  looking to upgrade my gears, the Canon 1DX was out because of the weight, the Sony A9, not only have prices gone up and the system is becoming heavier with the new large G lenses...then my wife suggested why not move to Leica, and I followed her advise and now with the M10.

The blog I posted in March, hinting I am moving platform from Sony, saying in jest maybe an iphone 9...

https://tonyniev.wordpress.com/2017/03/06/the-evolution-of-my-travel-camera/#comment-58 

Edited by tonyniev
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