Leica owners are just showing off!

I don't think that there are too many people own a Leica or buy a Leica to "show off".
Last week on a vacation in Lisbon I only saw two other people shooting film. One had a Nikon FM anther a Canon AE-1. All others were carrying large digital SLR's with zooms and the shade mounted in storage position :D. I felt only one single time a person recognized my MP passing by with his girl friend because he was directing her to look. So with film nowadays you are totally old fashioned, no questiones asked. And basically no one recognizes a Leica, at least seriously too few people to use it as something to "show off". During the night in Paris we had to stay because of the no fly zone over Europe and after a 15hrs train trip and 11hrs by bus from Lisbon to Paris, I was walking around there and obviously it takes an Aston Martin pushing the pedal to the metal at a traffic light to make some heads turning, no one cared about my M3 - I didn't mind though;). I hope some pics of the 17 rolls I shot, will come out nicely and these I will show off after scanning :D.
 
historicist said:
I once got arrested in Japan because it turns out foreigners have to have their passports with them at all times.

Anyway, I got taken off to the police station by four plain clothes detectives, one sitting either side of me so I couldn't jump out of the police car, which was very exciting. They were asking me what I was doing walking around, and found it a bit hard to believe a tourist would spend a day strolling and taking photos.

They asked me if I was taking pictures of military bases (seriously! this was in the middle of Fukushima city) and were very disappointed that my Leica didn't have a screen on the back to check. They then proceeded to tell me my camera was out of date and I should buy a new one, one of the detectives went and got his 8 megapixel Casio point and shoot to recommend. I was very offended having spent all that money and not getting at least some recognition...

In Europe, in my experience a lot of people recognise a Leica, and most young people at least seem to think it's pretty cool.
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Truly bizzare story. Fukushima is not exactly a big city, so maybe the police didn't have anything to do that day other than hassle a foreigner...
 
I've certainly checked myself in the mirror before heading out to see how the camera looks. Stupid, but I have worse habits believe me. Let's face it, if we're talking about M3's or other silver cameras (black ones blend in) they ARE pretty, and rare to see on the streets. People generally do notice them. They may or may not know exactly what they are, but they know they aren't normal cameras. Fellow photographers go to these types like bees to a flower, unless they're the DSLR zoom crowd, who probably think they're quaint. That's the really fun part, when someone who has a DSLR in their hand peers at your gear and walks off w/o a comment if they see it's a Bessa R that LOOKED like a Leica.

And have you ever noticed how the DSLR shooters hold their cameras? Either clutched tightly by the lens at all times, or w/ their arm over it to shield it from view? Are they afraid someone is gonna see it says CANON and run over there and grab it? Makes you just want to slap them. Then they go to their cars and you get to listen to their alarm go off for ages, then when they get out of their yuppie SUV you get to hear the alarm again. If they're out w/ their kids, they clutch them tight and look around like they're sizing up everyone as a kidnapper or something. Those people seem to live their entire lives about acquiring something, then live in constant fear some one will take it away. Miserable way to live if you ask me.

I've been fortunate to strike up a lot of friendly conversations when out and about, and it isn't only Leicas. Use a folder or a TLR and you'll attract attention, and usually smiles. People in general really like them. As for trying to disguise my gear so no one recognizes it, it seems like a real waste of time. Hey, it's an old heavy camera w/ sharp edges. Just whack someone w/ it if they try to steal it, which by the way has never happened to me in any city. That generally happens when people leave them in cars.
 
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I think a lot of people buy a Leica purely out of curiosity ... just to see what all the fuss is about! A percenatge of them will sell them again without ever really puting them to any serious use. There's been a fair few M8s go through the classifieds with only a couple of hundred acuations on them and you have to ask yourself why did they buy the things in the first place?
 
Roger Hicks said:
To whom? Who is going to be impressed by "I own a....'?

Most people don't even know what a Leica is. Of those who do, relatively few care, or realize how much new ones cost. Very few can tell an old one from a new one. If you're rich enough that a Leica is a plaything, you're not going to be impressed, even if you do know and care.

Do they buy it to impress people at their local camera clubs? How many even belong to a local camera club? If they do, how many care what the others think? Or would spend thousands just to impress them?

Maybe you can pretend to show off on line, but as most people hide behind pseudonyms, they could just as easily lie. And who would care anyway?

Of course there are lots of really incompetent Leica photographers. And incompetent Nikon and Zorkii and Canon and Yashica photographers. And? Being able to afford a Leica doesn't automatically make someone a bad photographer, any more than it makes them a good one.

So who are the intended targets of these smug rich bar stewards who want to boast about their Leicas? Whom do they hope to impress? The more I think about it, the more this puzzles me. EDIT: To clarify, I'm not sure they exist, at least in significant numbers. But I am sure that surprisingly many people think they exist. Why?

Cheers,

R.
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I've read and re-read this post a couple of times, and don't for the life of me understand what point you are trying to make.
Leica???? Who cares anyway.
It is not now, nor has it ever been about what you've got, but only about what you do with it that counts.
To quote Mendelson Joe, a very wise Canadian,
"The name of the game is results. Not Schmaltz"
 
rbsinto said:
I've read and re-read this post a couple of times, and don't for the life of me understand what point you are trying to make.
Leica???? Who cares anyway.
It is not now, nor has it ever been about what you've got, but only about what you do with it that counts.
To quote Mendelson Joe, a very wise Canadian,
"The name of the game is results. Not Schmaltz"
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What Roger says clearly, is that it makes no sense thinking people use Leicas to show off, because almost no one apart from the owner can distinguish them from bad cameras. An opinion most of us around here share...

Cheers,

Juan
 
If nobody buys them to show off, what's with "Hermes Edition" and such?
Is that just a stealth version for the jet set crowd?

Cheers,
Gary
 
Well no one needs a Jag or a Beemer to do the shopping or drop the kids off at school ... but I see plenty of both brands in supermarket car parks and drop off areas at the local schools! :p

People with money like to spend it ... and advertise the fact that they can!
 
parsec1 said:
Not too sure about 35mm but their large format lenses are very well regarded indeed.
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I have the sense that their bayonet mount 35mm lenses weren't quite up to the quality of the M42 mount lenses. I'm not sure why. It may be that I read some reviews back in the day. I have a couple in bayoney mount that I intend to test and see. They don't feel as well built, but may be optically as good.

But their M42 mount lenses were quite good. I realize part of it is that it may be not as many were made as say Nikon or Canon, but you will have a hard time finding them today, at least on ebay. And when you do, they don't go cheap. I have a hard time justify buying them now. Of course part of that is that I have a 135mm, 35mm, two 50mm, and a 28mm, as well as a 50mm macro. But I would like a 24mm or the 19mm. I just can't afford them.
 
Keith said:
I think a lot of people buy a Leica purely out of curiosity ... just to see what all the fuss is about! A percenatge of them will sell them again without ever really puting them to any serious use. There's been a fair few M8s go through the classifieds with only a couple of hundred acuations on them and you have to ask yourself why did they buy the things in the first place?
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I agree Keith and my original kit a Bessa R2 was a purchase out of curiosity to see whether I actually liked using them after I'd got used to my Leica R4 and R8. I foolishly:bang: picked up an M6 in a shop just to look at, big mistake for my wallet as I just had to have one. Quite a few down the road now along with some nice glass. Left, sold up, went D700 and then came back and finished up with what I actually use along side all my film and digi Nikons. If you love taking pictures then it's likely at some point you'll want to try them. It's not showing off, it's an appreciation of something so simple yet beautifully engineered which accepts some great lenses and ultimately has rewarded me with some, I think, great pics. Same could be said for my Nikon F's though!
 
It isn't unusual for people who suddenly come into a lot of money to purchase a lot of high-end items. I'm sure Leica sold, and sells, many cameras to that market. Whether or not going on that kind of spending spree is showing off is, i think, a matter of perspective.

I agree with Roger that the Leica name is widely unrecognized outside photographic circles. That means that carrying one is a poor way to show off, since photographers won't be impressed, and everyone else won't have a clue.

Two people have recognized a Leica in my hand. A few others have remarked on the "old" camera. The latter seemed most interested that I was using film.
 
For pure show off value, I find a Polaroid Land 250 can't be beat. I actually had a car of college kids stop to comment how cool old school is (on a college campus).
I agree with others who have said that a Leica only has show off appeal to other photogs and a small group of others. Certainly, it's a poor investment if that is your intent.

I understand they can be made to take pretty decent pictures by some people though.
 
Juan Valdenebro said:
What Roger says clearly, is that it makes no sense thinking people use Leicas to show off, because almost no one apart from the owner can distinguish them from bad cameras. An opinion most of us around here share...

Cheers,

Juan
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I've never seriously questioned peoples motives for using any particular brand of equipment (other than gooning my Canon-using photobuds) or photographic format, and frankly don't see how it is anyone else's business anyway, so on a personal level, I still don't "get" the original post. It's not something I've ever given even a moments thought.

"Everybody does what they do.
I do what I do. You do what you do. And he does what he does."
RBSinTo's Law
 
Like the other said, my guess is that, the number of people buying Leicas just to show off would be small. And these people probably would be quite unsuccessful at showing off.

As much as I like my Leica, I find it hard to understand why anyone would think they can impress others with something which is mass produced, especially with a camera.
 
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I must live in a different world than most here, because I find that the Leica brand is very recognizable, even between the non-photogs. Hollywood filmmakers and such seem to agree, as they often try to portay "artsy", "classy" or even "adventurous" roles as Leica users. Big Fish, Blood Diamonds and the Chanel No. 5 add come to mind. They producers of such didn't pick Leicas because they were incospicious- quite the opposite, they picked them to make a statement about the characters. And I do think there are some Leica users out there that do the same. I woulnd't call it showing off, but "making a statement".

On a personal note, I find it almost impossible to use any rangefinder during a whole day without someone asking "Is that a Leica?" Which nowadays is not, as I don't own Leicas anymore for the time being.
 
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I think there are people who buy/own Leicas to "show off" (not that there's anything inherently wrong with showing off) & impress people, but the intended audience is the small world of other Leica snobs, a subset of the slightly larger universe of brand-conscious camera gearheads/nerds/ geeks, or the slightly larger still subset of photographers & non-photographers who don't know much about Leicas but recognize them as "serious" cameras, not the general public. I put those folks in their place by carrying something truly rare & cool, like an Ektra or Foton, not some commonplace tool like an M3. ;) Like micromontenegro, I get quite a few people who assume any old RF camera is a Leica, but I enjoy taking the opportunity to correct & bore the hell out of them by pointing out that there were other companies that made nice RFs.

As a photographer who also happens to be a collector, I'm personally more annoyed by the reverse snobs, fortunately of an equally small #, who look down on any shooter who cares or talks about gear, no matter the brand, as if that somehow makes them a bad photographer.
 
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I wonder if train-spotters have an elite brand of notebook they argue about? Obviously they would all use the blue series Lakeland H2 compound pencil …


;)
 
Don't know about train-spotters, but there is a whole world of Moleskine afficionados.

Sparrow said:
I wonder if train-spotters have an elite brand of notebook they argue about? Obviously they would all use the blue series Lakeland H2 compound pencil …


;)
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