Never sell a Leica M

[Tommi]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I actually took this to the extreme, and sold my ALL photo gear.

I got into "serious" photography when I bought my first DSLR in around 2005 and as you can imagine, gear and stuff cumulated over the years although I regularly sold stuff to get some better stuff.

About five years ago I had like four different camera systems at the same time - including M 240 and a few lenses - and was feeling anxious about photographing rather than enjoying it in any way (neither as an experience, as gear-hauling, nor as photos themselves) and decided to heavily lighten my bag.

I did kind of a reset. Sold everything. Thought that photography WAS my hobby and I don't enjoy it anymore. Thought I'll be happy with my iPhone only, thought it is sufficient to record and document my life. Quite soon I got Ricoh GR III and "found out" photography again. Now I'm sporting Ricoh, Fujifilm GFX and Leica M11.

So yea, don't sell your Leica, you'll end up buying another one. 🙂

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Olaf_ZG]

I started two years ago with Leica: a m8, an old cron, a Q, a sl. All has been sold as I wanted to upgrade. I bought the oldest to see if it was my thing. It was, so I upgraded, and needed to sell. 
To me, the perfect m is the m10m, a great sl is the sl2, and the q was upgraded with a q2 but then replaced with a rolleiflex 😎. Long story though, waiting for the Q3/45mm…

[Nshah]

I had a M10 monocrom and sold it. I use SL2-S and planning to go back to leica M , maybe to M11M. Not because Sl2-S is a bad camera, it is very good. But the reason is different.

I have been an amateur photographer for the past four decades. I have very busy(needlessly) work life. I have accepted that now at my age, I cannot expect to stand out as a world leader photographer amidst the billions of images inundating the internet. Photography serves as a personal journey for me. I sometimes hardly share my images and mostly delete them.

Using a rangefinder camera for me is an effective means of dealing with stress. Maybe because it reminds me of younger days when I used film cameras and as nostalgia. But this for for personal reasons I I have decided never to part with my Leica M camera.

Frankly distinguishing between a photograph captured with a phone and one taken with a Leica M posted online can be quite challenging.

I don’t want a technically competent camera , I want a camera that brings me peace and joy. To me, the Leica M transcends being just a piece of equipment; it acts as a form of therapy. I makes me calmer and brings back memories of the younger happier days. 

[DadDadDaddyo]

Beautifully said, Nshah......

[jakontil]

I dont need a camera that takes good pictures, all i need is a camera that makes me look cool and M always fits that bill

[IkarusJohn]

I’ve been thinking about my photography.

Two things drive my gear choices - the gear that best suits the images I like to take, and the gear I like to use.

I’m not a runner and gunner, street photographer or into photographing birds or sports.  I dislike bazooka lenses, zooms and huge cameras that do more than I need, with overly complex menus and choices.  So, I’m consolidating.

My type of photography tends to be landscape and situational, with family and the like.  I have a nice collection of 10 M lenses (perfect for me), and I will keep my M-A, Monochrom & M10-D, with limited intention of replacing them when they die.  Despite my views on the M11, I love the M system - will see what’s available when I need to replace my Monochrom.  

Current thinking, the SL, TL2 and lenses (including the fabulous Elmarit-R 180/2.8 which I’ve bought twice?) go, replaced by the X2D and one lens (I already have the 38V).

[Jeff S]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

4 hours ago, Nshah said:

Frankly distinguishing between a photograph captured with a phone and one taken with a Leica M posted online can be quite challenging.

 

Exactly. So, for even better therapy, why not start printing and experiencing the reward and joy from making beautiful prints from that M?  Your pics will mean more and, with time, might make you a better photographer, and editor.
 

Jeff

[DadDadDaddyo]

After getting my printer that loads with two 100-foot rolls of paper (one Glossy and one rag matte) the next thing I got was an archival storage binder that can handle 17x22 inch sheets.

Not everything I print ends up in a frame. And not everything I frame stays in a frame forever. I've got lots of matted and framed prints, but even more, unmounted, in that storage binder. 

Going through that binder is hugely rewarding...Wow... some pretty good stuff in here... maybe I'll take this one out and put it in a frame for a while.... oh, and that one over there can come down for a while... I'll exchange it with this one...

So some stuff is up for keeps, practically, and other stuff kind of rotates in and out. 

This approach at our house to display and storage evolved over the past 20 years or so.  My wife is a painter. I learned of a great, simple frame design that works one way for paintings, and the other way for mounted and matted prints behind glass. I've built something like 50 or 60 of them. We're still running on those at home. 

[IkarusJohn]

Back in the day when I had a dark room, I had to print to see the end result (apart from slides, which were expensive to print well).

These days, I don’t print much.  I could print every shot I liked, and would soon be buried under paper.  I don’t hold to the benefits of printing.  That said, I have a mountain of film spanning over 40 years which needs scanning (I’m being lazy, and I haven’t yet mastered the software).  My intention is twofold - a printed book or two and a very small select few (at most 3 or 4 prints) out of that lifetime of output.

Taking the image gives me great pleasure, then processing it, perhaps using it onscreen in some way, then filing it.  Printing everything I like would be a waste of time and paper.

[Jeff S]

I print everything worthy of printing, not everything I like. Even then, only a limited number emerge from work to final print stage. Making selected print portfolios (I use print binders) requires the same editing care, discipline and sequencing skills as making a book for me.  I find that doing my own matting/framing for a very, very limited selection of prints each year has other rewards… for me and for viewers/recipients.  My photography has both slowed down and progressed over the years by printing, especially early on through darkroom work and large format. That discipline remains with my digital shooting and printing.  But, as always, different strokes.

Jeff

Edited August 20, 2023 by Jeff S

[IkarusJohn]

Yes, different strokes.  I wouldn’t suggest that my approach is either universal, or relevant to anyone else.

[Paulus]

I did regret selling my first MP so I bought a new one. Sold that one ( MP a la carte) but I did regret selling the second one so I bought a third one. A very nice used MP . Kept it for 7 years finally sold it, because I sold my dark room. 
Did not regrets selling that last MP. I use my M240 and M10 all the time now. What I sometimes regret is not printing the picures any more on Sliver Gelatine Print.

Sold my Elmarit -M 28 , looked at some pictures with it yesterday. A little regret, but the 24 is also very nice. My view. If you have plenty it will help you dampen the blow of regret. 

[Jeff S]

1 hour ago, Paulus said:

 What I sometimes regret is not printing the picures any more on Sliver Gelatine Print.

 

Hopefully you still print at home while using your digital cameras. Lots of great papers and inks these days. (And there are some labs that can make traditional fiber prints from digital files.)

Jeff

[Paulus]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Jeff S:

Hopefully you still print at home while using your digital cameras. Lots of great papers and inks these days. (And there are some labs that can make traditional fiber prints from digital files.)

Jeff

Frankly, I don’t know where to stack them anymore…to many of them. 

[RexGig0]

I did consider selling my first M camera, a new M10, after I had dropped it, within a month of buying it. The internal damage was significant, so, it had to go to Leica USA in NJ. I still had my DSLRs, so, selling the M10, upon its eventual return from NJ, would have been a reaction to what had seemed to be a bad omen. My only M lens, at that time, was a Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, bought pre-owned, so, I could have recovered much of its cost. I could have simply told my acquaintances that the Leica M system was just not my cup of tea, and been done with it.

Between us, my wife was (and still is) the more-senior photographer, and totally devoted to the Nikon system. There were still some nice Nikon and Zeiss SLR lenses on my mental list of grail quests. Indeed, it was while studying the various Zeiss lenses, and beginning to acquire a couple of them, pre-owned, that had first normalized the idea of spending multiple thousand US dollars per lens, on one or more of the Otus line. It would have been relatively easy to simply cancel the Leica M experiment. (I actually bought my first Zeiss Otus lens, an 85mm, at the same time I bought my pre-owned Summilux and new M10. Together, they cost less than either of the Nikon “super-telephoto” lenses I was considering, but had postponed, due to still having to rehabilitate a left rotator cuff injury.)

There was, however, some of that desire to “get back onto the horse that threw me.” There was, also, the wonderful background blur that I could achieve with the Summilux, that no SLR lens could match. At a fortuitous moment, a pre-owned M Type 246 Monochrom became available, which “rescued” me from quitting the M system. A nice aspect of the 246 is that it handles high ISO shooting quite well, being slightly more-capable than the M10, in that regard. So, I now use a “team” of somewhat disparate M cameras.

My left shoulder healed, but, a year of being unable to hand-hold long, heavy lenses, to photograph birds, had acted to cool my enthusiasm. My wife, whose wide interest in nature photography had been the major driving force in shopping for long lenses, had focused on plants, fungi, and the smaller beasties. We can rent/borrow an 800mm f/5.6, a 600mm f/4, or 400mm f/2.8, if we ever truly need that capability. (We are getting too old to want to tote their weight or bulk, especially while traveling, anyway.)

Buying into the Leica M system has helped to mitigate clutter. Not only did I cancel the idea of any of those above-mentioned telephoto lenses, I have not added any additional Zeiss Otus lenses, since that first one. Using the excellent Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/1.4 ZM, on M cameras, has diminished any perception that I need to acquire a Zeiss Milvus 35mm f/1.4 lens. The excellent Cosina Voigtlander Nokton 21mm f/1.4 VM, while not a compact lens, effectively canceled several ultra-wide-angle SLR lenses. 

[jimtong]

I agree. Done that. Sold 3 M lenses and M240. Being through Fujifilm and Sony and now back to M11 and feel at peace with myself.

[mboerma]

The post should have been titled: "Never buy a Leica". Because once you start you are a lost soul. I think that should be a stick post at the top of each forum. 

[fededuran]

Well, I own an M11 and an M11M. The Mono version works flawlessly, the M11 still freezes no matter what pseudo theories I use in order to eliminate the various issues that affect the camera and which are very well documented on this forum. So I'm indeed thinking of selling the M11, keeping the Mono and, maybe, trying a Nikon Z8 for those cases in which I cannot let a client down (yes, I also use my M11 for work, as many others). 

Edited October 2, 2023 by fededuran

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Pelu2010]

On 8/11/2023 at 8:45 PM, w00tw00t said:

Came here for a funny PSA. I sold my Leica M11 because shooting with it I felt like such an imposter, comparing my lame pics to the all the amazing pics others get. And the cost of the camera kept nagging at me. So I made the stupid decision to sell it. And now I’m missing it so much I will probably buy another M10 or M11 soon. 

Lesson is - Never sell a Leica M. You’re going to end up buying another one anyway. They are such beautiful cameras that made me want to take it out and shoot with it every single day. 

Have fun with your Leica M folks!! I’ll be back in the mix soon! 

My last two shots with my M11 before I sold it: 

 

 

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!

I got mine stolen abroad and it felt like dieing. 

Even worse it was a minilux... And the prices kept climbing and climbing .... 

It was the best point and shoot I ever had. 

Beside the Q´s. These are the first cameras that give me back the feeling. 

 

cheers Peter 

 

 

[Sensorix]

Am 19.8.2023 um 02:17 schrieb Nshah:

it acts as a form of therapy. I makes me calmer and brings back memories of the younger happier days.

You nailed it, I confirm. 👍