N.delaRua
Well-known
When I brought my M6 with me on the infamous Red Dress Run in New Orleans (a charity event on Bourbon street where everyone wears a red dress and bar hops), the friends I was with were surprised for a couple of reasons. First, some knew that a Leica was expensive, and this being the red dress run, they thought I was crazy to risk a camera like that. Second, many just could not comprehend why anyone would should film with digital technology being where it is. Third, my dress just barely fit me...
I have been contemplating the same two questions lately. However, first I think I need to set a little background. I grew up shooting film, and it is how I learned photography. My father is an avid camera colector, and I grew up around Contaxs, Nikon F's, Leica's, Hasselblads, Cannons, Minox, Polaroids, etc. He has them all. I would tag along at the old school photo shows and drool over lens and accessories I had read about in his collector books. I have fondled and shot film cameras from every generation and from every stage of technological advancement, and then I was allowed to shoot the M3 with the DR Summicron.
Here is my favorite picture from that first roll with the M3.
When I was so luckily asked what I wanted as a college graduation gift, I responded a Leica M6 TTL. I have to admit I was utterly underwhelmed upon first using the camera. What a technological dinosaur. Three years later, and I feel the same way.
However, after some acclimatization, the essence of the M made itself known. Simply put, it got out of the way. It allowed me to focus on composition, and exposure. I was hooked. So few buttons and dials. A functional depth of field scale. These are literally the few qualities that I make the camera feel more like a tool than a piece of equipment.
I've shot with many digital SLRs... They have left me feeling cold. Sometimes I like to imagine the number of unique settings given the amount of options one has... It must be over a 100 million. I recognize their utility, and I recognize a M's limitations. Yet, I feel more liberated with limitations than a 100 million possibilities.
For the first time in my ownership of this magnificent tool, I am contemplating selling it. For a camera that seems to share its ethos, the Fuji X100S, is near. Its most revolutionary features are the inclusion of a Quick button, aperture dial, shutter speed dial, and a color array imagined after the random distribution of silver halide crystals. No more expensive film, no more costly scans, no more digitizing negatives, no more wishing for the access, time, and money needed to create wet prints. Is it the easy way out? Can a digital camera with its 100 million possible combinations truly get out of the way?
I don't care about brand names. Other than my M6 being an exceptional tool and its sentimental value as a gift, I could part ways... However, too many times I have felt technology is fives steps forward and six steps backwards. I don't have the financial means to feel comfortable owning two tools of such value when its only a sick little hobby. I could take paying gigs, but in the past that always took all the fun out of t. For all that I read and all that I see, I am not sure a digital camera can ever reproduce the euphoria I feel when I get a roll back of photographs....... but then again maybe I am just deluding myself.
I have been contemplating the same two questions lately. However, first I think I need to set a little background. I grew up shooting film, and it is how I learned photography. My father is an avid camera colector, and I grew up around Contaxs, Nikon F's, Leica's, Hasselblads, Cannons, Minox, Polaroids, etc. He has them all. I would tag along at the old school photo shows and drool over lens and accessories I had read about in his collector books. I have fondled and shot film cameras from every generation and from every stage of technological advancement, and then I was allowed to shoot the M3 with the DR Summicron.
Here is my favorite picture from that first roll with the M3.
When I was so luckily asked what I wanted as a college graduation gift, I responded a Leica M6 TTL. I have to admit I was utterly underwhelmed upon first using the camera. What a technological dinosaur. Three years later, and I feel the same way.
However, after some acclimatization, the essence of the M made itself known. Simply put, it got out of the way. It allowed me to focus on composition, and exposure. I was hooked. So few buttons and dials. A functional depth of field scale. These are literally the few qualities that I make the camera feel more like a tool than a piece of equipment.
I've shot with many digital SLRs... They have left me feeling cold. Sometimes I like to imagine the number of unique settings given the amount of options one has... It must be over a 100 million. I recognize their utility, and I recognize a M's limitations. Yet, I feel more liberated with limitations than a 100 million possibilities.
For the first time in my ownership of this magnificent tool, I am contemplating selling it. For a camera that seems to share its ethos, the Fuji X100S, is near. Its most revolutionary features are the inclusion of a Quick button, aperture dial, shutter speed dial, and a color array imagined after the random distribution of silver halide crystals. No more expensive film, no more costly scans, no more digitizing negatives, no more wishing for the access, time, and money needed to create wet prints. Is it the easy way out? Can a digital camera with its 100 million possible combinations truly get out of the way?
I don't care about brand names. Other than my M6 being an exceptional tool and its sentimental value as a gift, I could part ways... However, too many times I have felt technology is fives steps forward and six steps backwards. I don't have the financial means to feel comfortable owning two tools of such value when its only a sick little hobby. I could take paying gigs, but in the past that always took all the fun out of t. For all that I read and all that I see, I am not sure a digital camera can ever reproduce the euphoria I feel when I get a roll back of photographs....... but then again maybe I am just deluding myself.
