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Is Leica only good for street photography?


mingmac

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Im new to it and curious about this issue. I have read many articles and many people talked about Leica that it is a good camera for a street photography so I wanted to know more how much this beauty can produce the works for me. Can this beauty do other kinds of photo that make people WOW? Please help me smarter. Thank you.:)

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Im new to it and curious about this issue. I have read many articles and many people talked about Leica that it is a good camera for a street photography so I wanted to know more how much this beauty can produce the works for me. Can this beauty do other kinds of photo that make people WOW? Please help me smarter. Thank you.:)

 

Welcome mingmac,

 

you can do all kind of photography with the M-system. It is not limited to street photography. But it is not the best work horse for macro and tele photography.

Search for photos here on LUF or flickr to see the broad range you can use it for.

 

I am a former C user who realized that the 70-200 2.8 IS was just a 1.8kg burden that was used very rarely. Further I very much more prefer the ergonomics and the reduction to the essentials of controling a picture in the M-system. The M-System lays the control over the picture taking process into your hands. So do not expect that "this beauty can produce the work for me". The M-system will rather inspire you to learn and take control of the picture.

The learing process is just part of the fun ;).

 

Regards

Steve

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Guest darkstar2004

The M system is very capable and versatile; in all the world, I seriously don't think anyone makes better lenses.

 

The areas I can think of that would require equipment other than an M system are -

Architectural (the view camera rules)

Macro (the "N" 200mm f/4 micro rules)

Wildlife and sports ("N" and "C" teles rule)

Underwater (Nikonos rules)

Panoramic ("H" XPAN and/or "F" GX617 rule)

 

Other than those specialized areas, M cameras and lenses can do it all.

 

There are wedding photographers who work only with Leica M cameras and lenses.

 

M cameras excel at documentary (which is a different beast form street photography), low light, travel and landscape work - as well as plain old photographing your life and your loved ones.

 

I can't think of a better system for travel photography than the Leica M system.

 

The M system is the ultimate all-around system - JMHO.

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  • 4 weeks later...
The M system is very capable and versatile; in all the world, I seriously don't think anyone makes better lenses.

 

The areas I can think of that would require equipment other than an M system are -

Architectural (the view camera rules)

Macro (the "N" 200mm f/4 micro rules)

Wildlife and sports ("N" and "C" teles rule)

Underwater (Nikonos rules)

Panoramic ("H" XPAN and/or "F" GX617 rule)

 

Other than those specialized areas, M cameras and lenses can do it all.

 

There are wedding photographers who work only with Leica M cameras and lenses.

 

M cameras excel at documentary (which is a different beast form street photography), low light, travel and landscape work - as well as plain old photographing your life and your loved ones.

 

I can't think of a better system for travel photography than the Leica M system.

 

The M system is the ultimate all-around system - JMHO.

 

 

 

 

And its suppurb for photographing Children!

But first learn to focus.

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This is a fair but pretty easy question, IMHO -- surely all that & more . . .

 

Leica lenses are wonderful, and the Leica Rs can easily do it all & are good for anything 35m. So, the answer is that Leica is good for street photography (where luck & timing are typically more critical than either masterful technical skill or the camera, in any case), and for anything else this side of larger formats. And now, with the new superized R, S2, maybe there, too, although the pricing may make it more of a curious success d'estime than a practical item.

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Try looking through the Photo Forums - the English and German

 

nice friendly reply there to a new member. love your work matey.

 

And its suppurb for photographing Children!

But first learn to focus.

 

INDEED!! it seems for children, you just can't take a bad shot with a leica m. and it's great you can shoot with the lens wide open without losing quality.

 

as for other styles of shooting, i personally am relatively new at using a leica m. i still can't seem to take photos as well as i did with slrs and dslrs, but i enjoy shooting with the m so much still. weird, it just makes me want to shoot more and get better at it. it's surprising how different it is. i love the fact you can see the subject during the exposure.

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I think Andy's advice was very good in response to your question - look at the photos people have posted on the forum and you will quickly see that Leica is good for a vast range of subject matter.

 

You don't say what your interest is in, or which Leica camera you are referring to? Leica M, R or one of the digicams? The new S2 perhaps?

 

The camera is a tool, the photographer makes the images.

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A good photogrpher can produce superb photographs using a empty sweet tin with a pin hole cut in the side. Imagination not equipment, is the limiting factor in photography. Just remember Eadweard Muybridge took high speed stop motion images using plate camera technology in 1878. His solution was not to go out and invent a massive camera that could change plates very rapidly but just to use several cameras each taking a single frame.

 

The choice of our equipment can make some shots easier than with other equipment but nothing is impossible if you take the time to apply some creative thought to the image process.

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You don't say what your interest is in, or which Leica camera you are referring to? Leica M, R or one of the digicams? The new S2 perhaps?
Exactly. Most of the replies in the thread are M-centric and as everybody says, they are good for everything except macro and tele. But you can buy Leica SLRs too. What are you interested in?

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Mingmac -

 

Welcome to the Forum. Your question actually begs soem more detail from you as to what you would like to shoot (mentioned by James Earley above). Want to see more from Leica? Try my site. Most of the 7,758 photos on it (categorized) are from one Leica or another, in all sorts of situations; www.barbara-and-stu.com.

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There has been a time, maybe one or two generations past, in which EVERYTHING from fashion to scientific was done with a RF camera and three lenses. Sometimes I take a look to photography almanacs of the '50s. What elegant simplicity in those pictures! Other than the iconic Cartier-Bresson have a look at the works of gentlemen of the like of Horst P.Horst, Andre de Dienes, Robert Capa, Jean & Michel Dieuzaide, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boubat, Mario de Biasi, Fulvio Roiter just to name a few.

It's the photographer, not the tools.

If you do not go that far, have a look at this forum's galleries. Every time I do I'm astonished by the quality of the works of some members here. I wish I were half as good as they are.

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