Bill Pierce
Well-known
It’s a rangefinder forum, and I’ve been asked, once again, what I think of digital Leica M’s, specifically the M10. For me their primary function is to provide a digital body for photographers who used the Leica film cameras, already have a collection of Leica lenses and do the type of shooting that benefits from a bright line viewfinder. Obviously, the expense of going to the store and buying new lenses and, maybe, a back up body is far beyond most folks. And that built-in bright line finder only has a range of frames from 28mm to 90mm - and the ones that are probably most usable are from 35 to 75mm.
Who are the photographers that fit into that 28/90 mold? Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Arnold Rothstein, Ralph Gibson, Will McBride, Eva Rubenstein, Robert Doisneau, Alfred Eisenstadt, Ben Shawn and Charlie Gatewood among others. Not an equipment freak among them, indeed many of them often worked with a single camera and a single “normal” lens. But they did pay a lot of attention to what was in front of the camera.
All of them used what was at the time a very small, quiet camera. But, there are smaller and totally silent cameras available today. However, only a few of them of them have a bright line viewfinder where everything, near and far, is sharp and you can see outside of the frame and be aware of alternative framings and action outside of the frame. That to me is incredibly important, more important than the picture preview provided by TTL. (And bright line finders are easier to use in very bright sunlight even if there aren’t a lot of Leica Landscapers.)
Yes, several Fuji cameras have bright line viewfinders. And, while the finders and the information they provide is different, in the long run I really don’t consider either Fuji or Leica viewfinder better than the other. Nor do I think the image quality as seen in larger prints gives one brand the lead. And both have TTL options although the Leica is limited to a Live View rear screen. It is, however, an excellent screen providing a preview of the image whose framing is considerably more accurate than the bright line finder and magnified focusing capabilities that go beyond the rangefinder.
What is the difference then? It’s simple - autofocus vs manual focus. Whether you autofocus with the half press of the shutter button or by assigning focus to another button, photographers with auto focus cameras spend a lot of time checking focus. The rangefinder manual focus shooter tend to set the focus and then deal with refocusing only when they have to. Indeed, some of the best street shooters like Gary Winogrand scale prefocus using the distance scale on the lens, not the rangefinder. They set a distance and stop down the lens to where the depth of field will cover a zone of acceptable focus for what is in front of them. When an instant comes, they shoot - no delay.
What are the other important differences between Fuji bright frames and Leicas? Even though the Fuji has a number of external mechanical controls that eliminate the need to dive into menus when you are shooting, it still offers far more menu options than the Leica and can use a greater range of lenses and does movies. One of the M10 features that is popular with the folks I know is the ability to configure an LCD menu with only 8 items - and most of the folks I know only configure 3 or 4 items. In other words, the Fuji is versatile and can do a great many things. The M10 is simple and limited, but that simplicity and limitations don’t stand in the way of many pictures and can encourage you to spend more time watching your subject and less time playing with your camera.
For me, it’s a good single camera for personal work, not professional. It spends a lot of time with me, recording those things I find interesting or important. I think it is an extremely good camera for that, but, if I did not already have a number of lenses and a zillion years of experience with Leicas, I would probably not buy it even though today’s price at Walmart (only 6 left) is a scant $6,700.39 (or about the price of 4 Fuji X Pro2’s).
While a Nikon D5 or Canon EPS-1D X Mark II are close to that price, a number of RF Forum threads have marked the M10 as overpriced. Still, I don’t believe that’s what I was being asked about. My answer to “what I think about M10’s” would be that as most digital cameras get more complicated, the M10 gets simpler. And for some photography and photographers that can be a real advantage.
As always, your thoughts?
Who are the photographers that fit into that 28/90 mold? Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Arnold Rothstein, Ralph Gibson, Will McBride, Eva Rubenstein, Robert Doisneau, Alfred Eisenstadt, Ben Shawn and Charlie Gatewood among others. Not an equipment freak among them, indeed many of them often worked with a single camera and a single “normal” lens. But they did pay a lot of attention to what was in front of the camera.
All of them used what was at the time a very small, quiet camera. But, there are smaller and totally silent cameras available today. However, only a few of them of them have a bright line viewfinder where everything, near and far, is sharp and you can see outside of the frame and be aware of alternative framings and action outside of the frame. That to me is incredibly important, more important than the picture preview provided by TTL. (And bright line finders are easier to use in very bright sunlight even if there aren’t a lot of Leica Landscapers.)
Yes, several Fuji cameras have bright line viewfinders. And, while the finders and the information they provide is different, in the long run I really don’t consider either Fuji or Leica viewfinder better than the other. Nor do I think the image quality as seen in larger prints gives one brand the lead. And both have TTL options although the Leica is limited to a Live View rear screen. It is, however, an excellent screen providing a preview of the image whose framing is considerably more accurate than the bright line finder and magnified focusing capabilities that go beyond the rangefinder.
What is the difference then? It’s simple - autofocus vs manual focus. Whether you autofocus with the half press of the shutter button or by assigning focus to another button, photographers with auto focus cameras spend a lot of time checking focus. The rangefinder manual focus shooter tend to set the focus and then deal with refocusing only when they have to. Indeed, some of the best street shooters like Gary Winogrand scale prefocus using the distance scale on the lens, not the rangefinder. They set a distance and stop down the lens to where the depth of field will cover a zone of acceptable focus for what is in front of them. When an instant comes, they shoot - no delay.
What are the other important differences between Fuji bright frames and Leicas? Even though the Fuji has a number of external mechanical controls that eliminate the need to dive into menus when you are shooting, it still offers far more menu options than the Leica and can use a greater range of lenses and does movies. One of the M10 features that is popular with the folks I know is the ability to configure an LCD menu with only 8 items - and most of the folks I know only configure 3 or 4 items. In other words, the Fuji is versatile and can do a great many things. The M10 is simple and limited, but that simplicity and limitations don’t stand in the way of many pictures and can encourage you to spend more time watching your subject and less time playing with your camera.
For me, it’s a good single camera for personal work, not professional. It spends a lot of time with me, recording those things I find interesting or important. I think it is an extremely good camera for that, but, if I did not already have a number of lenses and a zillion years of experience with Leicas, I would probably not buy it even though today’s price at Walmart (only 6 left) is a scant $6,700.39 (or about the price of 4 Fuji X Pro2’s).
While a Nikon D5 or Canon EPS-1D X Mark II are close to that price, a number of RF Forum threads have marked the M10 as overpriced. Still, I don’t believe that’s what I was being asked about. My answer to “what I think about M10’s” would be that as most digital cameras get more complicated, the M10 gets simpler. And for some photography and photographers that can be a real advantage.
As always, your thoughts?
