How often do you run into other Leica users?

[Marc B-C]

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5 hours ago, willeica said:

The real trick these days is to spot someone who is using a standalone camera, and not a smartphone, to take photos. In 2017 I said here that where I lived over 90% of people who were taking photos were using smartphones. That number is now probably closer to 99%. Of the 1% I don't really look at what camera make they might be using.

William 

I was in Oman few years ago with a Fuji X Pro 2. The location had hired a pro photographer to photograph the area and they were buzzing around on an electric buggy. The cart stopped and the photographer started a friendly chat with me about the Fuji. His main stated reason for stopping? He was stunned to see someone else using a real camera and not a mobile ‘phone!

I can only be certain of one instance of seeing another Leica user and that was a tourist, like me, at the door of the Leica store in Soho New York. Odds were probably in my favour at that point.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Marc B-C

[willeica]

3 hours ago, Marc B-C said:

I was in Oman few years ago with a Fuji X Pro 2. The location had hired a pro photographer to photograph the area and they were buzzing around on an electric buggy. The cart stopped and the photographer started a friendly chat with me about the Fuji. His main stated reason for stopping? He was stunned to see someone else using a real camera and not a mobile ‘phone!

I can only be certain of one instance of seeing another Leica user and that was a tourist, like me, at the door of the Leica store in Soho New York. Odds were probably in my favour at that point.

I was in Oman in 2006 before smartphones or social media or digital Ms were born. We stopped at a Shell station to fill up our vehicle when two young Omani lads (late teens /early 20s) saw me with a digital camera (a then new Nikon D200). They asked me to take their photo which I did. I showed them the photo on the back of the camera which they liked. The photo can be seen here https://www.macfilos.com/2018/08/09/2018-8-5-oman-a-special-country-and-a-magnet-for-photographers/ We then got in our car and we drove away. I doubt if they ever saw that article, but that was the way of the world back then, a mere sixteen years ago. To the two young fellows I was a tourist with a camera and the make would have been a matter of sublime indifference to them. Today I could take the photo with a phone and send it them or more likely I could use their phone/s to take the photo. 

William 

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[RexGig0]

Other than arranged meetings, one photography class, where first saw a screw-mount pre-M Leica camera, and occasionally at the nearest authorized Leica dealer, I have never encountered another person with a visible Leica camera, that I can recall. That nearest Leica dealer, Houston Camera Exchange, is a multi-brand, pro-oriented camera store, where seeing a Leica camera, other than inside the display case, is relatively rare.

We do not live in a area known for attracting tourists, but it is the metropolitan area of Houston, Texas, and I am in the city of Houston, itself, regularly. By population, Houston is the USA’s fourth-largest city. Perhaps, if I spent more time in the Museum District, I might see more Leica users.

Edited February 18, 2023 by RexGig0

[stuny]

Thinking back on it, the only time recently I've seen more then one Leica user on the same day in the same town was in a rather expensive town - Palm Springs, California.  One was using a Q2 and the other, about an hour later, was using a mint M3.

[Guest]

I live in the Bay Area (San Francisco and thereabouts), we have a ton of Leica folk, and they're of all ages, shapes and sizes. The young gent (pic 1) from Oakland decided to go full film, Leica M4 (I believe), and a 500 Hassy. Robert (pic 2) is doing the classic Leica thing: one body, one lens.

Q2 are very common, M this or that of course, fewer SL, very few T, no more X, and I must be one of only a handful with the S system. Many gimballed Sony around, though, they do a lot of movie productions around here. Very inspiring environment I must say.

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[Ray Vonn]

Not that often at the moment to be honest, for some reason it seems to be seasonal, more in summer, not so much in winter.

[LocalHero1953]

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I have met this SL user twice in town and chatted with him - a nice guy. Martin is well known for his interesting and attractive daily posts of local sights and scenes on Facebook. (And, for all I know, he is a member here under a different name). In fact he noticed me, rather than me noticing him. On both occasions I was sitting on a wall in the city centre looking at my camera in puzzlement: I think I was testing the face recognition and tracking performance of the SL the first time, and of the SL2-S the second time. 

[williamj]

I saw one this year, but it was in the Leica store in Sydney. The other Leica user had a chrome M7. I’m not sure that it counts if it’s in a Leica store, though, because you’d expect to find Leica users there. Otherwise, I’ve only definitely seen a Leica in the wild once in my life, in the 1970s, a two lug M5 at an airport. The other sighting is a possible, a man with a silver Barnack camera on the Pont Neuf in Paris in 1987 but it might have been a Barnack look alike, I wasn’t close enough to be able to say for sure, which is why I don’t count it as a definite. 

Edited February 19, 2023 by williamj

[Erato]

Leica is relatively popular here in Taiwan. He's another Leica owner I met while my friend and I were roamed around at the holiday booth.

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ELC8E, M10M

Edited February 22, 2023 by Erato

[ymc226]

I was at the Huntington Library in Pasadena last month with my daughter.  I had a Fuji Klasse S but I saw at least 3 youngish people, all in separate parties, with Leica Ms.  In years past, the sightings were very infrequent in Santa Monica and if they were, the Leica users were middle to old aged males and very touristy appearing.

[cboy]

Went to a street photography workshop in Sydney recently and all attendees had either a Leica Q or digital/film M. I would see a occasionally one or two out in the street on my normal walkabout. 

[Studienkamera]

2 hours ago, cboy said:

Went to a street photography workshop in Sydney recently

Was it the one organised by Leica Akademie Australia? If so, how did you like it (per PM if you like)? Thanks.

[wpo]

In 2008 I visited Florence with my family. First time on the market place a Leica M user asked me if he may take a photo from me and the camera I was using. A camera he had never seen before: Bolex H8 RX DS8 😂 😍 Two days later we met him again on the top of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore where he was taking photos together with two friends. Both were using Leica Ms too. During this week I met more than half a dozen of Leica and Leicaflex/R users at different places in Florence. Also two Hassi users - one of them on the Ponte Vecchio taking lots of photos from his girl friend as far as I remember - and one with a Linhof T70. I think, my Bolex was the magnet for a lot of other photographers to approach me for a short and friendly talk. 

Whenever you stay in Florence for a few days, don't forget to visit the Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia. It is a must-see for everyone interested in photography and its history. It is the largest and most impressive photo museum I have ever seen.

Edited February 25, 2023 by wpo

[Bart D]

never

[logan2z]

I was walking my dog in our small, Northern California town this week and saw a girl, probably on her '20s, with an SL2 slung behind her back. 

I've often seen people carrying Leicas in San Francisco, but it's very rare to see someone in this town with a camera of any kind, let alone a Leica.  

[Almizilero]

Am 18.2.2023 um 18:54 schrieb HandofSand:

I live in the Bay Area (San Francisco and thereabouts), we have a ton of Leica folk, and they're of all ages, shapes and sizes. The young gent (pic 1) from Oakland decided to go full film, Leica M4 (I believe), and a 500 Hassy. Robert (pic 2) is doing the classic Leica thing: one body, one lens.

Q2 are very common, M this or that of course, fewer SL, very few T, no more X, and I must be one of only a handful with the S system. Many gimballed Sony around, though, they do a lot of movie productions around here. Very inspiring environment I must say.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Great pictures!

I just love the guy in the first one. Just casually going out with two classic cameras, having a beer and wearing a hat that is just the best reinterpretation of that stupid slogan ... That's the life!

[Olaf_ZG]

Almost never, but this weekend a lot. First in the Leica store in Rome where some guys had a kind of workshop. All had shiny m’s and then later on a guy with a sl reporter with m lens… 

[DenverSteve]

Hardly ever, regardless where on the planet I roam.  I get more interest in my cameras, such as, “what camera is that?”, than any interest, by me, in what others are shooting.  I honestly never look at what others are doing.  I didn’t choose to carry Leicas based on what I’ve seen others use.  As a professional photographer, I research and evaluate camera purchases based on what results I am after.  Otherwise, it would be even more folly to spend upwards of $20,000 on a limited camera system. 

[Olaf_ZG]

On 3/21/2023 at 9:09 PM, DenverSteve said:

I honestly never look at what others are doing.  

Probably that’s my problem, I always look. And therefore notice. My eye and mind hardly rest when I walk around. Should have found a job in spionage …

 

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Hallo,

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[jdlaing]

What is spionage?

Edited March 23, 2023 by jdlaing