For M8/8.2/9 owners

telemetre said:
The reactions I got for my film M (have it for 4-5 years) , were "what an odd looking camera", "Leica, hmm, never heard of it", oh and angry (?) looks from an elderly Italian gentleman.

All in all I think Leica M's are a pretty lousy choice for showing off, but maybe gold plating can take care of that?
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Hahaha an angry look??! :eek: :D
Now I really want to know what he could possibly have been angry about... (you weren't taking photos of him, were you?)

I have not yet used my M8 very much, most was while I was recently in Japan and I wore it for about 8-9 days while I was just walking around or on the train - practically everywhere. I had taped up the logo and "M8" text because honestly I was a bit anxious of being rolled for it, and I just wanted to take photos unnoticed. But really I don't know how much more a little red dot is going to make people notice you...

One guy at a bottle shop said "you have a very nice camera", I'm sure he recognized it. A friend I was travelling with noticed an old guy on a train checking out the camera, but being a non-Japanese speaking person in Japan there was not much chance of someone asking me about it.

Next mission is to wear it everywhere I go around home, and see what kind of reaction it gets.
 
Such cranky folks here getting upset that someone likes their camera. Most of the time I like when people stop and ask me... especially the sexy european women.
 
I have had more comments recently since I started using a Barton braided neck strap;
http://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=19_77&products_id=4031

I may have to back to a plain black :rolleyes:

Going the other way have you approached a stranger to ask about their camera ?

I admit to one, but it was a hasselblad H3D being used on the street and he wasn't a dentist :D (Well he said he wasn't)
 
I was at a photo exhibit, and I believe it was the photographer who asked me if the M8 was a "classic M3", I have since moved to the M9, perhaps he will think it is an M4 next time?

I notice other RF's, --seeing a Bessa in public almost demands a question as to the name they use to post on RFF.

Regards, John
 
Was shooting my M7 today and someone asked me if it was an M9.:) But the reverse is more common, people saying I'm using an "old school" camera when I shoot with my M9.
 
if picking up chicks is the name of the game then TLRs are the way to go
i shoot w/ my Hassy and i've been approached by other ex-Hassy users
 
Well, if you are buying a camera to get chicks, I think it's a losing effort most of the time. I would say there are better things to attract women with than cameras.
 
i live in São Paulo, Brazil, and never ever I was asked about any of the cameras I had with me by random people on the streets, but a camera salesman at a flea market once asked me how old my R-D1 was.. 15, 17 years old? ;)

In the US I've been asked "is this a Leica" or "beautiful Leica" a couple times... again about my R-D1! In Europe I saw many more people shooting rangefinders than in the US, but no one ever asked me about the cameras I was using.

I wouldn't mind it, really, I think it's nice to see people recognise a different camera apart from the Nikon/Canon block, even more if it's a folder, or a TLR etc..
 
While using an M3 years ago, I was once told by one character who noticed I was using a rangefinder, that I would take better pictures if I stopped using "that old piece of s**t"....
 
A 70 year-old woman commented on my m6, "that's a nice camera." Iv had many comments on my x100 as well as m6. When I had my m8 many asked why I was using a film camera. Peeves me when "professional" photographers laugh at me for using film.
 
I get many more comments about my chrome M5 than my other Leicas. People are impressed by that brutalist masterpiece. All but one of the comments regarding the chrome M9-P have been from young women, already interested in film photogrpahy. I think one person to whom I showed the darkened LCD screen thought I was trying to have a lend of them as the conversation stopped suddenly at that point. Recently, when I was carrying the M9-P in one hand, strap around the wrist, a woman in her 50s kept stride with me and asked me what it was. "Aaaah! The M9." She is a professional photographer. Clearly she hadn't been sure it was an M9, and clearly she wanted one. She turned away from me to reveal her backpack. "That's my D3 in there." She's a professional photographer, a tiny woman, and she just cannot keep lugging that heavy rig. I let her hold it - it's not that light, and I extolled the virtues of the D3. But I think she was won over, if not before she saw it.

In the same part of the city I saw someone with an X100 last year. My first thought was 'Leica'. It took seconds for me to decipher the face of that camera and recognize it as the same as my own X100.

My M9-P then passes for an M2 in the eyes of almost everyone. But contrary to JSR's contention above, carrying an old film camera or look alike is almost as good as walking a dog for starting a conversation.
 
In my experience, Leicas (& film cameras in general), mostly attract attention from middle-aged to elderly men. I've had guys literally stare for several minutes before working up the courage to engage in conversation. Since I carry my cameras on a strap "bandolier" style, this often results in them staring @ my chest. I find this phenomenon so predictable, & creepy, that I joke that I now know what large-breasted women feel like. Yo, eyes up here!

I was down in Miami to check out Art Basel & mentioned this to some non-photographer friends during drinks. They laughed, but thought I was exaggerating. Later on, though, as were all standing on the street waiting for the valet to bring their car up, 3 middle-aged European (German, I think) guys walking by suddenly stopped in their tracks, stared @ my Leica & talked amongst themselves for a good 30 seconds, & then 1 of them asked "Is that an M9?"

I'm putting this out there since this could be useful information for straight gals & gay dudes looking for a photo sugar daddy.

jsrockit said:
No experience... because I'm usually too shy to capitalize. It's probably happened a grand total of 10 times in 2 years (in which woman comment on my Leica or Fuji). I guess my point is that if you want women who are attracted more to your belongings than you, you might as well get a fancy watch or car or fancy clothing... something they know is worth crazy loot.
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Years ago I was walking down a street with my black Contax G2 in hand. I passed a homeless man sitting against a wall who kept yelling "Leica! Leica!" as I walked by.
 
The only two times people perceived my M8 as a Leica, it were both elderly gentlemen who obviously knew what a Leica was. Only one of them, however, realized it was digital -- himself being a Sony a33 user, so pretty up to date.

In that sense, there isn't really ever any chance to "show off" -- besides the fact that this is the last thing I desire to do with my M8 ...
 
I don't have a digital Leica (I have an M6TTL and an M4-P). Strangely, I get the polar opposite reaction insofar as I have had pople asking to have a look at photos I've taken immediately after hitting the shutter.

On the few occasions it's happened, the would-be viewers seem very surprised that I still use film. At that point I make my excuses and leave as I cannot understand digi-crusaders, despite enjopying using my own digita cameras from time to time.
 
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