Charles S
Established
I have had an M9 since October, so my story with it is still evolving, but I wanted to share, being curious how others have experienced their changes in camera and how they have overcome some of the challenges that that poses.
I have been photographing on-and-off over the last 30 years. I started with a Petri rangefinder and then moved to SLRs, then digital, P&S then DSLRs until I longed back for the simplicity of my first rangefinder.
I decided to give it another shot. I tried a Contax G, then a CL, then an M6, then an M8 and finally made the plunge for an M9.
The M8 was easy to use, took some time to “master” and I progressively bought more lenses to the point of overbuying. After about a year of use, I started to feel confident enough to make the investment in a used M9, as they have become more affordable recently. The timing was motivated by having planned to spend a week in Mumbai to focus solely on photography, having the luxury of time between jobs.
When I got the M9, I was very happy for a short while, until my expectations of the output increased and I started to be disappointed that it was not a step forward, but rather a step back.
The setup that I was used to on the M8 had changed because there was no crop factor; as a result I changed the lenses I used normally. However, they rendered differently, I had issues getting my subjects in focus, the DOF wasn’t the same, I had issues with the colors – never understood why I didn’t with the M8 BTW. After a while, it started to undermine my confidence. I even considered selling the M9 and taking my M8 on my travels.
After doing some experimentation I concluded, arrogantly, that the issue couldn’t be me, it had to be the camera or the combination of the lenses and the camera. I made an appointment with Leica as they have their own repair shop in Switzerland, took my set and some printouts and explained my problems to the head of the service team. With a quick look at my most used lenses, he confirmed there were issues with them and that also the rangefinder needed to be re-calibrated. I felt some validation. When I picked up the set a couple of hours later, he told me that also the sensor was not placed correctly, and that they replaced some of the circuitry, which was a bit of a surprise, given that the camera had been in Solms for some repairs just before I bought it ( I have the receipt; it was a long list of parts that were replaced etc). Anyway, technical issues solved, artistic issues unsolved.
Shortly after having my camera fixed, I went to Mumbai. I spent the whole week photographing the city and its people (I have posted some of the better images on an earlier thread on this forum). I brought a number of lenses, but decided to start with only my 50 Cron until I would feel that I had it fully under control again, before using any of the other lenses. I stayed with the Cron the whole week. Gradually, the confidence came back. Gradually, the “I can operate the camera by feel rather than having to look at it” came back. Gradually the fun came back. GradualIy I felt I was progressing again. After coming home, this momentum continued, and I feel now that i can make the camera do what I want it to do.
So no more excuses, only the artistic challenges remain. The really hard work has started again.....
I have been photographing on-and-off over the last 30 years. I started with a Petri rangefinder and then moved to SLRs, then digital, P&S then DSLRs until I longed back for the simplicity of my first rangefinder.
I decided to give it another shot. I tried a Contax G, then a CL, then an M6, then an M8 and finally made the plunge for an M9.
The M8 was easy to use, took some time to “master” and I progressively bought more lenses to the point of overbuying. After about a year of use, I started to feel confident enough to make the investment in a used M9, as they have become more affordable recently. The timing was motivated by having planned to spend a week in Mumbai to focus solely on photography, having the luxury of time between jobs.
When I got the M9, I was very happy for a short while, until my expectations of the output increased and I started to be disappointed that it was not a step forward, but rather a step back.
The setup that I was used to on the M8 had changed because there was no crop factor; as a result I changed the lenses I used normally. However, they rendered differently, I had issues getting my subjects in focus, the DOF wasn’t the same, I had issues with the colors – never understood why I didn’t with the M8 BTW. After a while, it started to undermine my confidence. I even considered selling the M9 and taking my M8 on my travels.
After doing some experimentation I concluded, arrogantly, that the issue couldn’t be me, it had to be the camera or the combination of the lenses and the camera. I made an appointment with Leica as they have their own repair shop in Switzerland, took my set and some printouts and explained my problems to the head of the service team. With a quick look at my most used lenses, he confirmed there were issues with them and that also the rangefinder needed to be re-calibrated. I felt some validation. When I picked up the set a couple of hours later, he told me that also the sensor was not placed correctly, and that they replaced some of the circuitry, which was a bit of a surprise, given that the camera had been in Solms for some repairs just before I bought it ( I have the receipt; it was a long list of parts that were replaced etc). Anyway, technical issues solved, artistic issues unsolved.
Shortly after having my camera fixed, I went to Mumbai. I spent the whole week photographing the city and its people (I have posted some of the better images on an earlier thread on this forum). I brought a number of lenses, but decided to start with only my 50 Cron until I would feel that I had it fully under control again, before using any of the other lenses. I stayed with the Cron the whole week. Gradually, the confidence came back. Gradually, the “I can operate the camera by feel rather than having to look at it” came back. Gradually the fun came back. GradualIy I felt I was progressing again. After coming home, this momentum continued, and I feel now that i can make the camera do what I want it to do.
So no more excuses, only the artistic challenges remain. The really hard work has started again.....
