Is... is that really a LEICA you have?!?!?!

[lemalk]

I had a friend, who runs his own television and video production studio, freak out over my camera.

He didn't freak out because it was a Leica, but because it was SO OLD.

The lens, from the 50s and the body from the 70s, really threw him for a loop.

He didn't recognize the brand, but he did volunteer that his mom had a "Ya..Yashica?"

 

[Vics]

I went downtown today for the end of the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California (cycle race) and the first guy I encountered had an F3 and a Domke bagful. He turned to me and said, You're farther back in the stone age than I am! An M3 for Gad's sake! Next you'll tell me it's loaded with black & white!" I had to plead guilty. Great day of shooting the spectators and all the support team stuff. Shot 3 rolls of FP4 and two of Velvia (my first color in many years.) Perfect cool, overcast day. Beautiful all-enveloping light. Can't wait to see the pics.
Vic

 

[Nando]

Do you frequent Soo, Ontario or Soo, Michigan? And I gather you're probably here in the summer and not during the winter? I'm about a two hour drive from both Soos' and usually travel up there several times/year. If you see a tall, bearded guy (mostly grey) with a MP around his neck, it just may be me.

Jim B.

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario but I visit the Michigan side on occasion. Unlike most sensible people, I do the opposite - I spend the winter in Canada and summers in Portugal. I grew up in Canada but would very much like to move to Portugal permanently one day and I already have a condo in Coimbra. The reason why I'm not moving now is that I find wages there to be ridiculously low for such a high cost of living. About three years ago when I was very seriously looking at moving there, I calculated that it would actually be cheaper to work here in Canada and spend my summer vacation in Portugal every year than to to live in Portugal all year round - that is, if I had the same job there as I did here as a school teacher. However, that doesn't mean that living and working in Portugal would be bad or unfulfilling - just more costly.

I'll keep an eye out you Jim but if you ever plan to come up here, let me know. I would love to meet you.

 

[Graham Line]

Was lurking around a popular bookstore here about a year ago, M in hand, watching a fairly animated couple carrying on a conversation as they approached. Two seconds before they reached the right spot, a guy popped up in my face saying "I have an M7, I have an M7." Missed the shot.

 

[splitimageview]

I was shooting a club meeting in a local restaurant, and a good friend of mine commented on my M7: "hey, that thing looks like it was built in the 50s."

I said, "No, it's actually a current model." He acted quite shocked.

Then I said "Here is one that really IS from the 50s." I then showed him my M3. He then said "I think that one looks better than the new one."

I'm not sure if he was referring to the lack of a red dot, or what.

 

[Holmz]

.... and that it must be nice to be able to afford such toys because I lived in America (though I actually live in Canada)...

This is always the wrong opening line to use on a Canadian.

 

[bigdog]

I don't own a Leica, but I was surprised that on a few separate occasions people approached me and asked if I was shooting for a newspaper after seeing my Bessa R2a 35mm Ultron combo. That never happened shooting with my SLR?

 

[Keith]

I was at a function with my Ikon and someone spotted it and said "Ah, a rangefinder ... not a Leica so what is it?" I told him it was a Zeiss and handed it to him to have a look because he seemed like he knew his way around cameras. He looked the camera over then noticed it had 'Made In Japan' on the bottom plate. As he handed it back to me he commented on it's Japanese origins and wanted to know how that could possibly be if it was indeed a Zeiss.

It was very noticable that the instant he realised it was Japanese manufactured he was completely uninterested in it! Takes all types I guess! 😀

 

[Nando]

This is always the wrong opening line to use on a Canadian.

Nah... In Portugal, many people have the false perception that anybody who emigrated to another country, and especially the United States, is incredibly weathly. Having a Leica must mean that I'm rich and if I'm rich it means that I'm American. I must say, however, if I had a spent some time at the beach and got a good tan, the photographer would have probably called me a Brazilian. Here in Canada, everybody thinks I'm Italian.

 

[bafonso]

I don't own a Leica, but I was surprised that on a few separate occasions people approached me and asked if I was shooting for a newspaper after seeing my Bessa R2a 35mm Ultron combo. That never happened shooting with my SLR?

Yeah. I once went into a bookstore with my ql17. I was also asked if I was from a newspaper 🙂 never got asked that with an slr... but then again, I've never had any :>

 

[kully]

Was lurking around a popular bookstore here about a year ago, M in hand, watching a fairly animated couple carrying on a conversation as they approached. Two seconds before they reached the right spot, a guy popped up in my face saying "I have an M7, I have an M7." Missed the shot.

This made me laugh, last summer I was walking along the Thames with my g/f with a Seagull TLR on my shoulder - we both 'jumped' when a bloke walking past blurted "M...M....M Medium Format!!" and almost fell into a bush.

 

[payasam]

In the second half of the 1980s and during most of the 1990s I was quite active in photography in public places with other photographers present. There were some pleasant encounters with people who knew that my camera was an M3, but far more often I got a sort of sneering "Russian camera" remark.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

People where I am have never heard of 'Leica', but they know I have a 'Kodak'.

 

[projectbluebird]

I was waiting for a bus one day, shooting with my M3 and a yashica MAT-124. An older gentleman was walking down the sidewalk, and stopped with a look of wonder upon seeing my cameras. He came over and we chatted for awhile about similar cameras he had used "many years ago." He could never afford a leica, but he'd had a rolliecord. He was amazed that I was still using film at all, as he hadn't seen anyone using a "quality camera" in several years.

We chatted so long, I missed the bus I was waiting for. and the next, but it was worth the wait. I think we probably both came away with a story.

 

[kievman]

I dont own a lieca, too expensive for me, plus I have other issues with the rangefinder patch, (too small compared to my kievs etc) but since I bought a kiev 4 am a few months back ( I used canon and contax g cameras for years) I have recieved so many inquires at gallery openings, show etc aboout my kiev. In some ways the kieve (especially the 4am, with the big hump on top for the light meter, makes it a more exotic camera then the Liecas, I live the U.S., and russian cameras are rare here, but poeple do know about Liecas. the hump does make it look like a SLR, but it really does not resemble any other rangefinder made in the last 30 years. people are shock by the fact that its a all metal camera and it doe not take batteries! Unlike the crappy digital cameras common today. - Michael

 

[javimm]

It has happened about 6 or 7 times since I bought my M6 in June. Two remarkable ones:

The first one, I was shooting a "Minutero". A Minutero is a photographer that uses a huge wooden box, takes a picture and develop it in place. He uses a technique that give a very old look to the pics. He shoots on paper, not negative, and then he takes a picture of the paper to deliver a positive. Anyway, I was shooting him doing his thing and then he turned around and shouted out loud "Oh boy, that's a Leica you have there". The place was packed. Everybody turned their eyes to me so I shot and escaped from there. Afterwards, I talked to him and he was a nice person that appreciates that people still shoots film.

The other one happened in the same place. There are a group of several amateurs where I usually shoot, having the latest and greatest digi bodies and lenses. Then among them there's a man about 60-65 years old. The conversation was like:
- "Now thats a great camera".
- "Thanks".
- "But you know little boy (I'm 30, so not little boy here) that film is dead and you can achieve way better results with digital. Look at my Olympus E3. It's fantasitic and its zoom lenses can deliver the same quality that a Leica lens can. Even digital B&W is better than film. You can use all three channels in Photoshop and do much more with it..."

At that point I felt I didn't want to argue just a bit about that. He didn't know that I also have a Canon DSRL, and that the digital look, process and result have led me to use film again. So I stood quiet ala Homer Simpson and let him talk during 15 minutes.

I really didn't care. I was using my M6 and a 50, had a 35 in my pocket and nothing more. He was lugging two huge DSRLs, two big lenses (a short but big WA to tele in one body and a big tele in the other body), a huge bag and a tripod. Not the best equipment to shoot unnoticed in the street.

Apart from that I enjoy talking gear with people in the street. Other encounters have been very pleasant. I respect a person that shoots digital for whatever reason, as long as they respect what I choose to use.

 

[santino]

I was only twice asked if my Pentacon Six was digital and if I were from the press. 🙂

 

[Rob-F]

I was shooting with an M7 at the Missouri Botanical Garden when an employee came racing across the rose garden to ask if this was a Leica. "Wow, I haven't seen one in years. They went out of business. How old is that?"

So I explained, "no they did not go out of business, and this is the current model." I showed him the in-camera metering and Aperture priority features. He couldn't believe it.

IfI wear a Rolex, no one will notice, which is fine. But if I wear a Citizen chronograph, I get, "Wow, is that a Rolex?"

 

[veraikon]

I am better than him because I had a Leica and that it must be nice to be able to afford such toys because I lived in America (though I actually live in Canada).

just tell him next time that you was forced to buy a Leica because it was the single camera build in Canada and Portugal. 😉

 

[Paul Jenkin]

Leica Lust.....

Leica Lust.....

Since buying my first Leica (an M6) just before Christmas 2007, I've carried it (and the 3 lenses I own) with me on my daily commute to work in the City of London.

On a few occasions, I've taken it out of the bag and used it to record the odd street scene. To some extent, it's almost like throwing a cloak of invisibility over myself as people don't seem to be the slightest bit bothered about being photographed by some bloke holding a quirky little 'point and shoot' type camera.

I've also got a Nikon D300 with a 17-55mm f2.8 on the front. This is not the smallest or subtlest combo you'll ever see. Maybe it's the yellow and black Nikon neckstrap; maybe it's the camera itself, but as soon as I point it at anyone, they usually run for the hills!

I'm sure there's a deep psychological reason for this but the Nikon's been consigned to the Travel and Landscape only assignments - whereas my little M6 is an almost constant companion.


One youngish (30's) guy (a fellow photographer) did actually come over to where I was shooting and start chatting about Leica's and asked why I use that and not one of the quality digital P&S cameras like the Fuji F40 etc. I said that I found the Leica more discreet because that the screens on the backs of digital cameras light you up like a Christmas tree and make it obvious you're taking photos - whereas you can pre-focus the leica and shoot from the hip if you feel so inclined. Not many digital P&S cameras offer that.