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Leica Journey: Unexpected and Educational


fcracer

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interesting reading and beautiful pictures!
I agree on everything in particular on point 8
I live in Florence and I have a Leica M10-p just yesterday a guy who had a Q2 around his neck stopped me to talk about photography and we have set up a photographic output for the next few weeks!
sorry for writing bad english i use google translate!
I'm a bit ignorant!

Edited by aral70
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On 1/16/2022 at 9:34 AM, shanefking said:

Fantastic article Farz, very thoughtful writing and great photographs.  
 

I bought my M9 used from a friend, and shot with it for over 7 years, only upgrading to the M10 last year.  I expect to remain in that “many years to upgrade” category of users 😎

Thanks Shane! Wow, seven years with one camera! You must have an incredible bond with that machine. May I ask a personal question? Did you keep that camera or did you sell it when you got the M10? I'm feeling nostalgic about selling my M10; it sounds stupid to have that feeling, but I travelled to so many places with it that it somehow brings back all those good memories. I've been trying to minimize my impact on this earth and so I'd like to see the M10 go to someone who will use it rather than sitting on a shelf... but the pull to keep it is so strong...

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On 1/16/2022 at 6:54 PM, Boojay said:

Really great, enjoyed reading your thoughts but mostly admired your images which were a wonderful mix and a travel adventure in these horrible covid times!  Thank you.

 

Thank you so much! Ironically, it now looks like the rest of the world is opening up and moving on from COVID, while we here in some parts of Asia are continuing to focus on a COVID-Zero policy with no opening to the world in sight :(

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On 1/16/2022 at 7:27 PM, aral70 said:

interesting reading and beautiful pictures!
I agree on everything in particular on point 8
I live in Florence and I have a Leica M10-p just yesterday a guy who had a Q2 around his neck stopped me to talk about photography and we have set up a photographic output for the next few weeks!
sorry for writing bad english i use google translate!
I'm a bit ignorant!

Your English is fantastic, I understood everything you said :) I'm so jealous that you get to live in Florence. I was fortunate enough to spend two nights there in 2019 and fell in love with the city. My dream is to one day spend six months in Florence in between jobs so that I can recharge myself. I took some pictures from the few nights I had in your city, but I know I did not do it justice: https://fcracer.com/florence-italy/ 

I can only imagine how fun it would be to spend a lot of time in Florence with a Leica M... that's what dreams are made of!

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On 1/15/2022 at 7:51 PM, fcracer said:

With the M11 launched, many may wonder what the point is of an M camera in 2022. Many years back, when the M10 launched, I had the same questions. I wrote the following post to share my unexpected and educational journey into the M world.
 

Hope you may find it an enjoyable and relatable read: https://fcracer.com/leica-journey-unexpected-and-educational/

Thank you,

Farz

@fcracer  Probably a lot of people wonder what's the point of making images with a supposedly "antiquated and obsolete" rangefinder camera and lens that sells for an admittedly  godawfully high price when there are cameras and lenses that are more modern and are supposedly "just as good as a Leica."  I would argue that in our current automated everything era, Leica M cameras and lenses are even more relevant than they ever have been.  Moe Jaber hit the nail on the head:  "In a world dominated by soulless, mass-produced and disposable goods, objects that are made by artisanal hands retain a soul and warmth that connects us with our humanity, past and present."

There's no two ways about it - the M11 and a lens like the 35mm Summilux or the 35mm Summicron APO are painfully expensive.  But the fact is, when we invested in the M system, it was not "cheap" we were looking for. 

Your essay and images are outstanding - thank you for sharing them with us.  As @Boojay observed,  "...Really great, enjoyed reading your thoughts but mostly admired your images which were a wonderful mix and a travel adventure in these horrible covid times!"

Well done!

Edited by Herr Barnack
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On 1/16/2022 at 12:51 AM, fcracer said:

With the M11 launched, many may wonder what the point is of an M camera in 2022. Many years back, when the M10 launched, I had the same questions. I wrote the following post to share my unexpected and educational journey into the M world.
 

Hope you may find it an enjoyable and relatable read: https://fcracer.com/leica-journey-unexpected-and-educational/

Thank you,

Farz

I really enjoyed that - well done, a fantastic read. Also accompanied by some beautifully shot photographs. The ones from Agra brought back some lovely memories of a trip there a few years back. 

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On 1/18/2022 at 4:03 AM, Tp2000 said:

I really enjoyed that - well done, a fantastic read. Also accompanied by some beautifully shot photographs. The ones from Agra brought back some lovely memories of a trip there a few years back. 

It's notes like yours that make all the effort worthwhile, thank you! I'm always hesitant to put images online because most photographers have a critical eye. I'm the first to admit that I'm learning, and even wrote a post about how the gear really doesn't matter (https://fcracer.com/its-not-about-the-gear/). I'm so pleased that the images from Agra brought back memories, because that's ultimately why I got into photography, to record memories that I can look back on with fondness in the future. Cheers!

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On 1/17/2022 at 7:50 AM, fcracer said:

Thanks Shane! Wow, seven years with one camera! You must have an incredible bond with that machine. May I ask a personal question? Did you keep that camera or did you sell it when you got the M10? I'm feeling nostalgic about selling my M10; it sounds stupid to have that feeling, but I travelled to so many places with it that it somehow brings back all those good memories. I've been trying to minimize my impact on this earth and so I'd like to see the M10 go to someone who will use it rather than sitting on a shelf... but the pull to keep it is so strong...

Thank you, yes if it wasn’t for the sensor corrosion and the declining availability of batteries I could happily use that camera indefinitely.

I still have it, with the intention of keeping it as an emergency backup body, but I’m also considering passing it along to another photographer if they plan to use it well.  I currently also have a Canon 5D II as a backup system— again a dinosaur by digital camera standards, but  it works.

If I were in your shoes I’d sell it to someone who would use it.  The way I see it, these machines are workhorses as much as they are jewels of design.  Very few working photographers can hope to ever afford a new Leica body, and I think the photography community as a whole benefits whenever more financially-secure Leica shooters pass along older models into the used-camera ecosystem.

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On 1/28/2022 at 2:46 AM, shanefking said:

Thank you, yes if it wasn’t for the sensor corrosion and the declining availability of batteries I could happily use that camera indefinitely.

I still have it, with the intention of keeping it as an emergency backup body, but I’m also considering passing it along to another photographer if they plan to use it well.  I currently also have a Canon 5D II as a backup system— again a dinosaur by digital camera standards, but  it works.

If I were in your shoes I’d sell it to someone who would use it.  The way I see it, these machines are workhorses as much as they are jewels of design.  Very few working photographers can hope to ever afford a new Leica body, and I think the photography community as a whole benefits whenever more financially-secure Leica shooters pass along older models into the used-camera ecosystem.

Thank you for the suggestion on the M10. I did indeed end up selling it to a new owner (for the price I estimated in the article no less). I have to say the new owner made the feeling of letting go of this wonderful camera a lot easier; he is so enthusiastic about the M and learning about how it all works. We spent a good hour going over the rangefinder and tips and tricks that I've learned over the past four years. He sent me some images he took with his new camera and I can tell the Leica passion has infected him too!

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On 1/18/2022 at 12:19 AM, Herr Barnack said:

@fcracer  Probably a lot of people wonder what's the point of making images with a supposedly "antiquated and obsolete" rangefinder camera and lens that sells for an admittedly  godawfully high price when there are cameras and lenses that are more modern and are supposedly "just as good as a Leica."  I would argue that in our current automated everything era, Leica M cameras and lenses are even more relevant than they ever have been.  Moe Jaber hit the nail on the head:  "In a world dominated by soulless, mass-produced and disposable goods, objects that are made by artisanal hands retain a soul and warmth that connects us with our humanity, past and present."

Can't agree with you more. In a world of automated everything, it's so refreshing to have to think and take the time to do something. I imagine that when AF came out, people felt relief from having to do it manually, but here we are now, feeling satisfaction and a release of daily stress by having the enjoyment of our physical movement causing something to come together into something beautiful. 

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Thanks for taking me along with you on your journey with Leica.  Your article was very well done, clearly delineating your experiences along the way, many of which I could relate to in my own journey with Leica starting about twenty years ago.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson so aptly stated, "It's not the destination, it's the journey."  Leica is all about the journey.  It is not necessarily the picture you capture, but the capturing that matters most.

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13 hours ago, fcracer said:

Thank you for the suggestion on the M10. I did indeed end up selling it to a new owner (for the price I estimated in the article no less). I have to say the new owner made the feeling of letting go of this wonderful camera a lot easier; he is so enthusiastic about the M and learning about how it all works. We spent a good hour going over the rangefinder and tips and tricks that I've learned over the past four years. He sent me some images he took with his new camera and I can tell the Leica passion has infected him too!

That’s great!  I am so happy to hear that!  Your beloved M10’s journey continues, hopefully for many more years of making great images and memories.

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Hi. Amazing journey you have there. Thanks for sharing. I've been using the various M's since late 80s. I'm still in love with my M6 from those years and sold off the others. Nowadays I'm using my M10 with my Mandler lenses. It is a journey which I don't intend to stop.  I have other "wives" such as the GFX, Sonys etc (relegated to the dry cabinet) but the M and its lovely lenses will always be my first and true love. 

Sincerely

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