My first 'what is that camera? Is it a Leica?'

[physiognomy]

I've read the threads now and again about how some of you are asked how many megapixels your classic rangefinder/TLR has, but never once has anyone mentioned the camera I carry (be it old or new)... I've often wondered if I would really walk up to a stranger & say 'nice camera' (unless of coarse I really meant the bearer of said camera 😎 ). Well today I understand your surprise when someone pipes up & sais something...

Alas it wasn't a pretty girl (but then I saw no blue moon/flying pigs either), and admittedly it was while leaving a 'trendy/artsy, organic/free trade etc' coffee shop around the corner from campus, but I was surprised. The two guys seemed perplexed by the Leica (Tower type 3) that wasn't a Leica, but very interested. I didn't have much time, but I quickly sorted them out on Leica clones & standard LTM lenses (they also had trouble with my Canon lens not being on a Canon?)... It was just nice to talk to someone face to face who was really interested in rangefinders...

Maybe I'll go out & look up a local photographic society... I just read Frank's post on getting into a photographic 'slump' & I think talking to others face to face will really help my creativity.

Cheers!

Peter

 

[kmack]

A few weeks ago someone saw my big ole honking Kiev 3 and said "I used to have a Leica just like that. I got it a a yard sale for $20 bucks" I smiled and walked away.

 

[ywenz]

I feel weird and geeky talking any camera lingo with someone who obviously dont know anything about it. I usually just dumb it down by regarding my Leica as:

"it's an old german manual film camera. Here try it, it's heavy as hell because it's all metal"

 

[Ash]

*ghormless joe bloggs* "meh...tal?"

 

[trittium]

I feel weird and geeky talking any camera lingo with someone who obviously dont know anything about it. I usually just dumb it down by regarding my Leica as:

"it's an old german manual film camera. Here try it, it's heavy as hell because it's all metal"

that is exactly what I say

 

[furcafe]

I get the "Is that a Leica?" question all the time, whatever RF I carry. About a 1/2 of the time, the guy (it's always a guy) is an old . . . sorry older (i.e., over 50) fellow who either used to have 1 themselves or knows of someone who did. Another 1/2 of the time, it's a young, art-student/aspiring photographer dude who's into B&W &/or manual cameras. Only very rarely, like once or twice, have I encountered someone who can really tell the difference between a Leica & a Contax or Nikon RF, etc. I've met more than a few people, however, who can distinguish a TM or M Leica from non-Leica RFs & cameras, which probably says something about the "iconic" status of their industrial design.

 

[Chaser]

I feel weird and geeky talking any camera lingo with someone who obviously dont know anything about it. I usually just dumb it down by regarding my Leica as:

"it's an old german manual film camera. Here try it, it's heavy as hell because it's all metal"

I do pretty much the same thing in an atempt to temper my urge to nerd out to the unsuspecting. and I try to keep my camera straped to my wrist when i let people look through because, well, I can't run all that fast after them I they decide they really like it.

 

[anaanda]

the same,

I have an Xpan and someone actually asked if was that epson digital rangefinder. (it seems after talking with him that he was somewhat of an experienced photographer)..I was doing some photgraphy at a recent wedding and someone asked if my canonet was a "leica". I don't have a Leica but it must be nice when you actually have a Leica!

 

[ywenz]

yes, all the chics flock to you when you have a leica in hand.

 

[Andy K]

I was asked (by a tourist type guy with a honking great lump of Nikon Dslr hanging from his neck) of my Olympus OM-1, "Is that a Leica? I ask because I know Leicas are small like that..."

I guess the word 'Olympus' across the front of the pentaprism was a giveaway.

 

[Marc-A.]

Hello,
I must say that almost each time I go out for shooting with my Leica III (or the M2) there's someone (guy or girl) who notices the camera. Yesterday, a guy stopped me in the street and said: "oh I've got a black one ... an M7 in fact" ... I wanted to reply "ooh shut up" 😀
Once a woman was coming towards me, then stopped just in front of the camera, and, without looking up at me, said "I was right" ... then she turned back! 😕
Just one more: I was in Oxford, shooting in the streets, and an old man simply said to me, with a big smile, stars in eyes, and his wonderful british accent: "you've got a lovely camera ... lovely!".

 

[matt fury]

I've got plenty of "That camera is old!" comments, more from my QL-17 somehow than my M4, but never the "Is that a Leica?" My usual answer to my friends about my Leica is "Just some old camera that I paid way too much money for."

 

[ghost]

it's either "close, but no cigar" or "yeah, how'd you know?"

 

[AOI Photo]

Ive ogtten stopped two or three times with my Kiev. Once a man came running about 50 feet yelling "Is that a Contax?" He was most dissapointed.

Recently at a street fair an older gentleman stopped and asked if He could try it out. He had an m7 and was looking for something cheaper to carry at events like this. Which mad me think why would you spend so much on a camera you were afraid to use?

 

[wyk_penguin]

You guys are lucky (esp. if someone identified your Kiev as a Contax). I get asked if my TLRs are Leicas.....

 

[Heath]

I have been asked if my Neoka (my avatar) is a Leica, my Yashica A is a Rolleiflex and if my Moskva is a Super Ikonta. I was talking to a guy today who had a Sony something-or-other digi and he was admiring my Kiev 88 TTL. He knew it wasn't a Hassy, but at least he knew what a Hassy was.

Heath

 

[tkluck]

Usualy they just ask "Is that digital?"

...maybe I should use a sharper crayon when I write Leica on my lens caps.

 

[kvanderlaag]

The Zorki 6 gets me asked about its Leicaness a lot. I just smile and tell them that no, I left my Leica in my other pants.

The M2 gets me told to "Go digital!" usually in passing or from a distance. Apparently some people used to shoot with them, but film is dead, and digital's the way to go.

The CL just gets me stared at like an irritating Japanese tourist.

 

[simonankor]

I had a guy ask if my Kowa Super 66 was a Hasselblad... he knew what a Hasselblad was, and he had a Kiev 88 himself.

The Kowa looks nothing ilke a Hassy!

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

A Kodak. That what my neighbors say.