That old thing about Leicas being stealthy...

Could not agree more, if you want to be stealthy, buy £150 worth of Lumix TZ-whatever or a mobile phone. Anything unusual will catch someone's eye, and a Leica is unusual. You're likely better off with a Canikon, they're everywhere and people are not surprised to see them.
 
Leica owners are like pinatas of photography world, its about time people stopped picking on them... Interestingly though I see a Leica owner once in a blue moon and then online its full of Leica photographers, the reason could be that they're too stealthy, so much so that they're literally invisible in real life and streets!
 
weird. I spent all day yesterday shooting some street, and I was pretty up-front and a bit more aggressive than usual. yet, no one blinked or cared.

body languange and psychosomatics have more to do with 'stealth' than what camera you are toting around.
 
Last edited:
Leica owners are like pinatas of photography world, its about time people stopped picking on them... Interestingly though I see a Leica owner once in a blue moon and then online its full of Leica photographers, the reason could be that they're too stealthy, so much so that they're literally invisible in real life and streets!

Haha.. true enough, I've only come across one other Leica shooter in all of my outings (in the pits of the American Le Mans Race, in the Audi pits no-less).
 
Eh, I don't know if I buy this either. Wouldn't a Brownie be less conspicuous?

If anyone wants to try the Brownie route, let me know. I have one I have been wanting to get rid of. I just can't bring myself to throw it out. It is now used as an accessory in the house. 😀

As far as the leica being stealthy, here is my recent story.

When I was traveling recently, I visited some family. I stopped by Birmingham, Al and Leeds, Al. These towns aren't huge by any means but the following is what shocked me. I was out doing things, my leica along for the ride on my shoulder. Out of 3-4 hours, I had 3 people approach me and start conversations with me. One guy at a grocery store even had a Leica shirt on!

So the last one is very ironic but it seems the leica has been gathering attention recently. Maybe it is the silver body? It's my first. All others are black.

My new plan, a black dot for this silver M.
 
Zone focus, pre-visualize, bring the Leica up and shoot then palm it. Discreet vs waving an iPhone/point and wave camera at arms length and waiting for it to lock focus and shoot.
 
I am quite sure that 99% of people who use Leicas crave to be noticed. And they get what they want.

I wish I had a penny for every time I've been asked "Is that a Leica?". And for the last 7 years, the answer has always been "no"!
 
Dark jumper, black M, black lens. Slung across the chest it's next to invisible, and falls under the arm nicely when not shooting.

You must have bumped into some serious fangirls, as I myself would be hard-pressed to spot an M, whether black or chrome. Biggest giveaway I found tends to be the ones with a red dot/ Leica M engraved on the front, and found a bit of tape solves that.

I hate people coming up to me when I'm out shooting, simply to ogle the camera, but suppose its not as bad as the TLR effect. Still though, once had a guy on the tram express more interest in the Leica around my neck than his g/f next to him. Perhaps this is what well-endowed women experience on a regular basis! Found the experience quite odd, and wondered what all the fuss was about an M, that cost less than a mid-range dslr, which are everywhere these days.

Just have an M3 these days, but am sorely tempted one day to trade it for a black M6, so I can re-acquire the stealth factor. Had completely overlooked it when deciding to pick up a chrome bodied M.
 
Well, the reality is what one experiences. In the last three years, using the M3 and a year before that with a chrome S3 2000, I have only had two occasions, both last year, when someone asked if I had a Leica. The first was at a Mercedes Benz Club event where a well-to-do couple commented about the M3 because it reminded them of their father's cameras. The second was in the Fall at a parade when an older African-American asked the same question because he was a photography nut but being on Social Security and poor before that, he could never afford one but loved the pictures of Leica cameras in the magazines.

In all of the photo documentary work I have done for the last six months, not one person has ever noticed or commented on the gear.😎

So, in my own experience in the southern USA, I can tell you that ANY 35 mm camera you carry will be pretty much stealthy, only recognized by the wealthier, more "sophisticated" class or downright interested hobbyists. 😉

Now, set up a large format camera on a tripod and that would be different!😀
 
... is a canard. A few years ago I went out street shooting for the first time in, of all places, Paris. Where else to begin, right? On the Champs-Élysées, through side-street after side-street, neighborhood after neighborhood, it dawned on me that everybody had a camera. Either a small P&S or their phone. These technological advances have turned nearly everybody into, well, a reportage photographer. No other way to describe it. There is nothing unique about walking down the street and taking pictures anymore -- everybody does it.

Which, I thought, would actually aid in my covert task, but it didn't. Just the opposite, in fact. Whenever I pulled out my M6TTL, it became the most conspicuous object amongst a sea of tiny handhelds and cellphones. Two girls saw it and shouted "Leica!" because of its uniqueness. I was not expecting this. But the Leica M, supposedly valued because it allows the photographer to be discreet, is an extremely serious-looking piece of equipment in comparison to what everybody else is carrying. It is larger, heavier, and more imposing, as small as it it. You can't help but be noticed.

So, does anyone else find it difficult to disappear when out shooting with one? Or is this just me?

That's what essentially does it.

Instead, simply keep the camera in full view, stay in one place long enough for people to get accustomed to that weird old-looking thing and then snap away. Gary wrote how to go about:

Zone focus, pre-visualize, bring the Leica up and shoot then palm it. Discreet vs waving an iPhone/point and wave camera at arms length and waiting for it to lock focus and shoot.

I have found that tilting the camera downwards after a shot and covering the whole lens with the palm of your hand while doing so (as a result only the top plate shows in the subjects direction) almost directly alters the distinctive shape of a camera for the subject and as a result it is not easily recognized as a camera anymore.

Guess it was just you after all! 😉
 
Last edited:
Sounds over the top. In 35 years of shooting everything from Hasselblads to TLR's to Leicas, no one has ever shouted anything to me other than "No pictures!".
 
Of course Leicas are stealthy, compared to Speed Graphics and Rolleiflexes.
But don't people walk around with Leicas because they want to be noticed? 🙂
 
Might depend on where you live. When I use rangefinders, hardly anyone notices or cares. But then.....I live in flyover country, where most people don't know Leicas from Lomos....
 
I've been in Copenhagen for the last two days, the weather has been good, the crowds have been out (including happy Danes at Tivoli), and I've had my M2 out as well. No one has remarked on the camera except a Brit I happened to stand next to and who was packing a serious Canon DSLR and a large zoom. "Nice Leica," he said. "Oldie but goodie," I replied. And we went back to shooting. BTW, people here seem to be less uptight about having their picture taken than I often encounter in California.
 
Back
Top Bottom