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Why are you using the Leica M?


i-Leica

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I love stuff that is built to last without compromise on materials used.

 

Like my M4 is 50 years old. It looks like new (almost), it works perfectly and it is a marvel of precision engineering. It's hard to find stuff these days that is built to last.

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None of in OP.

Painting is not old timer.

Pinhole is the only purity.

Next to none of the tens of millions in country of my childhood had Leica.

Leica slogan is lost in translation for me. German-English-Russian.

 

Why do I Lieca? Do you prefer to watch original movie or remakes? I prefer original, remakes are weak. Only Leica is original RF for me. The rest is weak remake. Would it be on film or digital.

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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? 

 

ONLY for the lenses

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I've spent a lot of money on four third (not micro) cameras and lenses, They made sense for me at the time: long focal length and fast lenses in a relatively compact form; only for them to pull the plug on the whole system.

Now for me photography is only an hobby, I scaled back in focal length and I wanted to invest in a system where 40 years from now I can still use the lenses and be able to buy new and updated cameras.

Manual focus isn't a problem for me: I only used the central focus point with auto focus and recomposed for every shot anyway, with manual focus I'm a bit slower, but I can manual bracket and that give me close to 100% nailed shots even at 1,4f.

It doesn't hurt the fact that now I make considerably more money :)

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For me it's a few things that mostly result in better pictures when I'm using an 'M':

 

1) Most of the things I photograph do not require I achieve focus in an instant, so the rangefinder doesn't slow me down at all

2) With a mostly manual camera like a Leica 'M' I am forced to slow down my workflow a bit if I want technically good results.  When I slow down my workflow, I think more about the image--composition, appropriate focal length/subject distance for the perspective I want, appropriate aperture for the depth of field I want, etc..  When I spend more time thinking about the image, I take a better photograph.  This is by far the biggest advantage of an 'M' for me.  I am much more disciplined when I shoot an 'M' camera

3) I like the rangefinder because it helps remind me of other ways I might crop or zoom--through my choice of lens or the movement of my feet

4) Those lenses are really amazing even wide open

5) Fairly small and light system (though the image quality on Micro 4/3" is getting good enough that this is less of an advantage than it once was)

6) Lenses are fast enough and the chip is large enough to allow creative use of depth of field

 

That's really it for me.  I suspect that there are a hundred cameras out there which are technically able to meet my needs, but I wouldn't take pictures that were any good with them.  I know this from experience.  My pictures improved dramatically when I gave up zooms.  They improved again when I switched to Leica 'M'.  Neither has anything to do with actual improvements in the camera or lenses--if anything the opposite can be claimed.  But the lack of automation and features forced me to use my brain in ways I wouldn't bother to or, at least, didn't bother to when I shot with AF DSLR's and zooms.

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I use an M camera because I prefer to buy the best tool I can afford  - one that is also built to last. I also have ‘control’ issues! So all I need, really, is a black box with almost all controls and decisions left to me.

 

When I create a good image I know it’s because of the superb optics and my skill and I thank my glass and practice. When an image is bad I know it’s because I let my end down and I always think, “I have a lot to learn!” M cameras, once learned, generally do what is rationally asked of them, no more... no less.

 

What else can we ask of ourselves and our equipment? Taking responsibility is a wonderful feeling, owning both successes and failures (this latter is where I have learned most of what I know as a self-train photographer, anyway.)

 

I also like my old Nikon F3HP, by the by, and am not a Leica snob. Both it and my M cameras just feel right in the hand and the head. And this is not an inconsiderable fact when you want to use something a lot!

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Is it the purity of the interface?

This is the only one that comes anywhere close to the reason I use Leica M cameras.

 

The reason is some sort of a combination of natural viewing and framing, consistently fast and accurate focusing, great image quality, and user-friendly ergonomics in a small, travel-friendly package. It's not the perfect system, though. I do wish it was somewhat lighter (I can live with the weight given the build quality and feel), much more affordable (I cannot really live with the price of admission given my salary level and tax rate), and provided 4k video capture capability (lack of it means I need to have a secondary system that takes up resources). With 4k support I really would also like IBIS, which is a terribly tall order. The M system is anyway a good compromise that has no clear rival.

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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.

 

So true. Sometimes I have the feeling that my Leica is sort of alive and really wants to perform perfectly. It sees things I don't even notice. Digital as well as analog.

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Because it will last beyond you and me, it has soul, it will survive three or four generation. Built like a tank, good looking, make me want to take it anywhere and shoot with it..I can write a long paragraphs about why M..but I'll let others to continue ;)

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