How did you get out of Leica?

Now why would anyone want to leave them once you've got the outfit together?

It's not necessary to have an all Summilux range of lenses; two or three at F/2.8 cover most of what people need for everyday photography. The camera do what they should with no silly frills or gimmicks; the Chinese help with good quality lens hoods and caps and the cameras can usually be repaired and so on regardless of their age.

Think about Leica SLR's if you want Leica lenses - even a Summilux or two - and don't want to spend a lot of your hard earned cash.


Regards, David


PS And I can think of a lot of cameras that are great until they need a repair and then there's nothing available and no one wants to touch them.


PPS And a cassette of film for a Leica cost exactly the same as one for any common camera...
 
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The first time was in the 1980s. I borrowed money from my newspaper's credit union to buy a new Leica M4-P and three new Leitz lenses to use at work alongside my Nikons. It didn't work out well because I had become accustomed to the way Nikons handled and I never felt comfortable with the Leica. The second time was in 2008. I had been using a pair of M6's for several years and loved them. But I had bought my first DSLR in 2007 and had used it enough to become familiar and comfortable with digital. So the Leica gear was sold for a little more than I paid for it.

I had missed using the Leicas until I got my hands on a Fuji XPro1 a few years ago. My eyes are no longer able to focus using a rangefinder patch so AF is a necessity and Fuji delivered it in a body very close to a Leica. Today I can say I honestly don't miss the Leicas. Nice cameras, great history, superb build quality. But they're not made for a half-blind old man now retired with a fixed income.
 
The question implies that someone was somehow bound or constrained to using Leica camera equipment, and that person found a way to "free" themself from that constraint.

This is pretty silly. I use Leica equipment because I want to use Leica equipment, and can afford to acquire it for that purpose. When I don't use Leica equipment, it's because I want to use something else and/or want to liquidate some finances locked up in equipment I'm not using.

"How did you get out of Leica?" ... What's the purpose in asking such a question?

G
 
Godfrey said:
The question implies that someone was somehow bound or constrained to using Leica camera equipment, and that person found a way to "free" themself from that constraint.

This is pretty silly. I use Leica equipment because I want to use Leica equipment, and can afford to acquire it for that purpose. When I don't use Leica equipment, it's because I want to use something else and/or want to liquidate some finances locked up in equipment I'm not using.

"How did you get out of Leica?" ... What's the purpose in asking such a question?

G
Click to expand...

I didn’t read it that way. English isn’t the OP’s first language and there are many of us who originally came here due to using Leicas, but have moved on. There are interesting reasons for moving on as this thread indicates.
 
How did i get out of Leica? Actually, Ko.Fe. that's a very good question, given the predominance of digital work & discussions on RFF. Someone gave me a Fujica 690. The first time i put that negative in an enlarger, I was converted. I sold my Nikons & 2 beautiful Ms... black paint M2 & M4. For 15 years I used only MF & LF cameras. Ironically the iPhone brought me back to Leica. I would make occasional snapshots with my phone. Some turned out to be well composed images or mementos of significant personal events. I missed the printing half of the equation.
I still prefer the real estate and tonal range of larger negatives, but I'm back in the fold, i used an MP & a '34 black iii. I didn't care for the weight & balance of the MP & abhorred the viewfinder filled with lines, so now I'm happily back with a black paint M4 & a CL and a handful of lenses from 21 to 50 for those times when a small camera is called for.
 
jsrockit said:
I didn’t read it that way. English isn’t the OP’s first language and there are many of us who originally came here due to using Leicas, but have moved on. There are interesting reasons for moving on as this thread indicates.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I shoot more medium and large format than I did when i first visited this site long ago.
 
I too shoot more 120 than 35mm these days, as I prefer the image results.
I should sell my M2, but I know that if I do, I will never be able to afford another one, given the way prices are rising, so I keep it. I feed it an occasional roll.
Same with LTM and M lenses - I'll never be able to replace them at a reasonable cost. But at least these are lenses I can use on a digital camera.
I keep my 1930 II just because it is so cool and fun to shoot.
 
I've had at least one Leica ever since I got an M in the late 1990s. The advent of the M8 ushered in a decade of trying new bodies and lenses. That's when the "getting into" phase really took off.

After a while, I recognized that my enjoyment of photography really comes down to the images. While I enjoy the speed, flexibility and low-to-high-ISO imagery that digital offers, when I look at my collections in Lightroom, the scanned film images are the ones that stand out.

Got back-to-basics a couple of years ago. I sold a lot of kit and kept a set of lenses and one film + one digital body. Have kept the R body and lenses too. That's as far as getting out of Leica as I've wanted to do. I hope this stabilizes things for a long time to come.

Like a few others have mentioned, medium format is my true love. But there's nothing like having that small format camera with you all the time.
 
This is a very interesting discussion thread. I have learned that in the end the picture counts, photography is about taking pictures and not about cameras. Years ago I could afford only point-and-shoot cameras, cameras which a "real" photographer wouldn't consider as "real" cameras. But they are cheap, small and easy to carry around. Further, the M9 sensor disaster and an expensive repair of my MP's shutter disappointed me.
 
I have never left Leica, and neither have I left the (many) other cameras that are made by other companies.
 
Into Leica, out of Leica, or any other famous camera - what I thought was really interesting to read were people's personal stories.

That particular camera is the subject which brought people to write in the thread and everyone's story is so interesting to read - their early life, girlfriends, wife, jobs.

For me, the minimalist-feature all-mechanical Leica is a high quality camera that no company will ever make again. I'd never sell mine.
 
Pál_K said:
For me, the minimalist-feature all-mechanical Leica is a high quality camera .
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same until I got Nikon F2. To me all-mechanical quality is equal to durability. Here is no film M build like F2. Ms are Porsche like. Nice to drive on sunny day and on the dry road. Nice to show up with. Nice to have.
F2 is Komatsu. Not sexy and heavy. It is made to be driven through the dirt and still works while and after it. Perfection to last.
 
I got out of Leica in 2010 after dealing with the M8 for far too long (small 10mp files, IR Cut filters, cropped sensor) in favor of Canon and a handful of Canon lenses. I did own an M9 for a short period of time, but I'd already had it with Leica due to the M8 (there's more to tell, but I won't get into it).

However, when Leica introduced the M240 I knew they had gotten close. So I waited for the "P" version and sold all of my Canon gear and jumped back into Leica in 2013 on an M-P 240. By then I couldn't afford to replace all of those Leica M lenses, so I opted for mainly Zeiss and Voigtlander; of my many (11) M-mount lenses only 4 are Leica branded. They're all 6-bit coded and I'm very satisfied with the results.

And last September I traded into a green M10-P, which I believe will be my final stop for some time. With the M10 I think Leica finally got it right!

18568099-orig.jpg
 
Always wanted an M Leica, got M4-2 when I was 60, retirement gift to myself. Stooged around with it for a while, found I liked my old OM-1 better. Sat in dresser for 10 years, just sold it in January.


How’s that for a dull story.

Edit: For a RF satisfied now with a 35RC that cost me $35 from a second hand store. Actually works but I don’t bother with a battery, just use it all manually.
 
I managed to afford a Leica IIIA around 1980 or so. I was using Nikon's and lusted after a Leica. In the time period I grew up in Leica was thee camera. Since then I've had more Leica's than I can remember. In the eBay age I find photographs I took of those I has to sell and am somewhat amazed what I had. I guess my point is I always ended up with more than I could afford and always sold some, and then ended up buying them back. A few years ago I sold a black M4 (probably the 2nd or 3rd I've owned) and now find myself regretting it. I've had eery camera you could think of (and still have too many on my shelves) from Miranda to Exacta but I never stray from from Leica. My Nikon's are indispensable when I need a telephoto or extreme wide angle, close ups, bellows, etc. I bought into the Fuji digital system to replace the Leica M9 but it sits on my shelf unused. I will never (never say never) buy another digital M body but them I will never sell my IIIF ST RD, M7, or M4. I've tried every rangefinder system I think that was ever made but nothing beats an M4.
 
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