Use Leica Exclusively? or alongside DSLR/Mirrorless, etc?

Over the last few years I've use my iPhone a lot for so-called street stuff, but have also used the Sony a7s for about a year as well Nikon D800 with a bunch of primes. But my m240 has hardly left my hands since I got it in the fall, I'm really enjoying the slower process of shooting with the Leica.
 
Since I don't do much actual work aside from selling a few prints and second shooting or assisting at weddings or commercial shoots I pretty much just use my Leica M3 because I just like the system. I love the lenses, I like the feel, I love rangefinder focusing and I love film. I shoot my Rollei a fair amount as well but usually not for day to day stuff. I also have a Yashica T4 and a Canon F1 laying around that never ever come out but I keep as backups.
 
Ruffmeister said:
Curious to know if any have just gone down the M route exclusively. In a way I like the idea of having just one setup as in the past, I've found this often liberating. I do love the bokeh from the Canon FF. I just don't like lugging such a thing around when I'm out, which is why it's not used a lot.
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I put together a Leica M digital setup with thought, as needed I would use it alongside my Olympus E-M1 outfit, like take an M9 or M262 with a 35mm Summicron somewhere like the Arboretum to shoot landscapes, with the E-M1 and 40-150 to do closeups.

As it's turned out, the only place the E-M1 has been the last three months is in it's bag, in the closet, with little hope of getting out anytime in the near future.
 
M7 and X1 from Leica here + Polaroid (SX70 and 600) and Impossible I-1, and Nikon (mainly FM2T), sometimes my old Rolleiflex and the Zeiss Super Ikonta when I'm in the mood for medium format...
robert
 
I shot with Canon for years. Then I picked up Fuji's X cameras and my 5DIII sat on a shelf for a year. So I sold all my Canon stuff and went all Fuji. I still have an X-Pro1, X-E2 and XT-1 and a bunch of lenses. They see very little use these days, as I just prefer shooting my Leicas...M4-P for film, MM and M9 for digital.
 
I do most of my serious shooting with my Nikon D700 as it offers so much more than what my Leica cameras can do (telephoto, macro, autofocus, low light capability). However, it is a heavy camera (at least to me) and when I want to carry a light camera and/or for street photography, I'll use my Leica M9 which I really like to use. My Leica film cameras (M3 and M6) aren't getting much use these days. I recently bought a Fuji X-Pro 1 because I wanted to try a mirrorless camera. Haven't used it very much yet, though.
 
Earl, I checked your entries on tumblr and the are so good I am following you there.
I thoroughly enjoyed your subject matter and how they were composed and shot.
Excellent stuff!
 
I've got quite the selection to choose from when it comes to cameras but I still reach for my Leica. I might get a 50mm Summicron to compliment my 35mm but I don't think I really need much more.
 
Nikon and Leica M film gear in 35mm.

If you like your D5 there's a chance you'll not like an M9. I owned one and tried to love it for a couple of years. In the end after constant problems I dumped it. Despite the problems and if it had worked as it should using it was like stepping back to the Nikon D1 that I owned in the early 2000's. When it worked image quality was excellent but no better than the Canons and Nikons I've owned and currently own. Matter of fact the M9 has a very limited dynamic range by current standards, it's as slow with a very shallow buffer comparable to the D1 Nikon I had and the LCD is about as bad as the D1 also. Reliability was terrible. It was like stepping back to the D1 in features and speed but not as dependable although better images.
 
Shoot Leica Exclusively? or alongside DSLR/Mirrorless, etc?
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I shoot with my Leica M-P 240 about 95% of the time. My other cameras are an M4-P, a Hasselblad XPAN II with the 45mm lens, a Rollei 35 SE and a Nikonos V.

I do not own a DSLR and don't really see myself buying one down the road. I have zero interest in pad or phone based photography.

There's just something about the M camera system...
 
Great to see this thread getting more replies as times goes on 🙂

I went out shooting with an X-T and M8 yesterday and most of the time shot with the M8.
I found that you soon get accustomed to the M, and when switching to use the X, the bells and whistles end up becoming a little frustrating. I know you can treat it like a manual camera but it just doesn't work/feel the same - personally not for me anyway.

I'm partly thinking of sinking my Fuji kit for an M9. I'm pretty certain I could use the M9 for pretty much everything I shoot.

I think a 1 camera 1 lens situation is a good idea. It can certainly help work more towards your photography. Depending on what you're shooting, an M understandably wouldn't suit everyones needs in their work.
 
Leica M Digitals and Nikons, for me.

Mirrorless is another fad. Looked at a few some time back and it was like seeing television from 6 inches. Plus the time lag. Yuch
 
David Hughes said:
... The world would be a better place if people were forced to go for a walk without their phones at lunchtime...
Click to expand...

I don't know about being forced, but I agree the world would be a better place if more people put down their phones and txt messaging for a while every day and remembered to look around a bit more of the time. I see so many people with their nose stuck into a phone lately ...

G
 
Godfrey said:
I don't know about being forced, but I agree the world would be a better place if more people put down their phones and txt messaging for a while every day and remembered to look around a bit more of the time. I see so many people with their nose stuck into a phone lately ...

G
Click to expand...

Because we are all playing Pokemon Go.
 
I've always stayed within the same infrastructure for a) cost reasons (no need to duplicate lenses for multiple systems), b) for familiarity, and c) because I can do with one system all I want to do. I used to exclusively shoot with Leica Rs in the 80/90s, then switched to digital Nikons, then made the switch back to film using Nikon (love the AI-S lenses), and now I am exclusively using the M system because it is future proof: I can add a digital M further down the line and use my existing (stellar) Leica M lenses on both film and digital Ms.

I would only be tempted to have multiple systems if I'd shoot with different sensor formats (35mm and medium or large format).
 
One other point:

I find simplicity and limitations extremely liberating. That's why I find shooting B&W film on fully mechanical Ms so appealing. Sure, if I had a DSLR, I could do different things (e.g., shoot in low-light conditions or with long lenses), but that wouldn't make me better as an artist.

When I had a Nikon D810 with an all-round zoom lens, I missed a lot of interesting scenes because the camera was so big & heavy that I didn't have it with me at all times. My M is aways in my pocket and ready to shoot. I don't even have to turn it on! 🙂
 
As far as 35mm now goes, I shoot Leica. All my Fuji X gear has gone and at the moment I am not missing it.
I got really hooked with the digital M and for pretty much all my photography, it fits the bill. The simplicity of it is just great in my view.

I may hop to a DSLR at some point if some paid work comes my way to which I ideally would have something with AF but as far as personal shooting goes, the M is spot on.
 
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