Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/04/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I find this a very interesting topic, as I never related to the gear in a similar manner as some of you! My earliest Leica pre-M4's was around 1962-3 when a friend let me play with his whatever model Leica it was. It was Leica ... "gee isn't this what Bresson uses?" But I didn't get all hully gully over it being a Leica. However, when I became more aware, it seemed many of the finest photojournalist's used a Leica and if they shot what they did with a Leica..... READY? :-) We have nearly all done this.... "If he shoots those kind of pictures with a LEICA .... SO CAN I! " :-) WRONG! :-( We eventually learn it's the human holding the camera that makes the difference! Not the LEICA! I bought "3 M4 bodies and 4 lenses. .. 21 - 35 - 50 Summilux - 90 Summicron!" Some time later when the Noctilux was available I bought one. The first one available for sale in Canada! Still have it, it's never been cleaned and it still works just fine! ... :-) And no lens shade for over 30 plus years! Because one of the pins fell out and lens barrel and Leica wanted a fortune to replace the pin, so I obviously gave them an unrepeatable comment! :-) ....... and the lens hasn't had a lens shade since about 1980! :-) Eventually moving along to "3 - M5's," sold... "3 - M6's, sold 2." Finally 3 - M7's" sold! Now only one M8! Frustrating on occasion! :-( Hopefully a few up coming projects may well change that and it'll be "3 - M9's! " WHY? Well that's how I've shot my assignments for the past umpteen dozen years. Please don't ask... WHY! Basically I hate changing lenses and I write with my cameras! No time for fiddling when things are happening! And today, my 21 year old grandson attending a photo academy is carrying my first purchased M6 and having a great time with it, while also carrying a digital SLR Canon of some kind! I shoot with an M8, love the camera. never think about the good, bad and uglies compared to an M9. Yes I would like to have an M9 or three, maybe shortly. What I still can not fathom: the M8 and M9 difference? ....... the clients I shoot for with an M8, still ooohhhh and ahhhhh over the end product of my shoot. So, as long as they do that and pay my invoices it might be a tad longer before I pop for an M9! Please don't start to tell me about the difference one unto the other, as I'm somewhat aware of the difference. And I have no doubt I will have one or three in the not to far future. I think the most important factor is... my lenses will give me what I actually see in the view finder. Rather than me using wider, as in a 21mm so I don't have to be concerned about clipping a frame if it were a 35mm lens. But I do peek at the screen and if it's cool? No problem move on. A slight OOPS? Take a step back and shoot it again! :-) See how easy it is to make corrections? ;-) And no I never slept with one other than while in an unheated tent on the Arctic ocean ice! :-) In a sleeping bag. I did keep two of them in the sleeping bag to keep them warm. Well I hoped that was the case! :-) Were my main concerns about the M's at the time??? No, I believe my thoughts were more of "what if.... the ice broke-up in the middle of night and "what the hell do we do then?" :-) cheers, ted