steveyork
Well-known
I've been shooting Leica Ms since the mid-1990's and my favorite is the MP. If it was based purely on practicality, then none of us would be shooting film, let alone rangefinders. In the digital arena, rangefinders make even less sense, because they lose many of the advantages that they have compared to film SLRs and P&S. But it's not based on the left side of your brain.
Shooting rangefinders has more to due with emotion then logic. What camera turns you on at a basic emotional level? You'll probably take better pictures, because you'll use the camera more often, and the more you use it the more skilled you will get.
The one caveat is not to get a camera that is so pretty you feel that it must be handled as a collector item. They're not. They are only tools that give us great pictures and lead us onto a journey of new experiences. Parenthetically, this is one reason I like black paint cameras, even though silver cameras are more aesthetically pleasing. The black paint screams out to be used. Each scuff and scratch will be a memory.
And I do think the current model Ms are the best built of all time. Just pick up a current model, and compare it to a past model in the other hand, and you see it, and you can feel it. As a logical matter, it has no influence on the final product. As a practical matter, based on your likes and dislikes, it probably does, because you'll use it more.
I'm starting to ramble, so I'll end by saying get the camera you see yourself still using ten years for now. Of course, people change, and we all load, unload and then reload camera stuff, but it's kind of neat having a pice of equipment that has been with you during a long segment of your life. Musicians speak this way about their instruments; but that's alittle different. Who knows if film will be around in ten years, but you see what I'm getting at.
Shooting rangefinders has more to due with emotion then logic. What camera turns you on at a basic emotional level? You'll probably take better pictures, because you'll use the camera more often, and the more you use it the more skilled you will get.
The one caveat is not to get a camera that is so pretty you feel that it must be handled as a collector item. They're not. They are only tools that give us great pictures and lead us onto a journey of new experiences. Parenthetically, this is one reason I like black paint cameras, even though silver cameras are more aesthetically pleasing. The black paint screams out to be used. Each scuff and scratch will be a memory.
And I do think the current model Ms are the best built of all time. Just pick up a current model, and compare it to a past model in the other hand, and you see it, and you can feel it. As a logical matter, it has no influence on the final product. As a practical matter, based on your likes and dislikes, it probably does, because you'll use it more.
I'm starting to ramble, so I'll end by saying get the camera you see yourself still using ten years for now. Of course, people change, and we all load, unload and then reload camera stuff, but it's kind of neat having a pice of equipment that has been with you during a long segment of your life. Musicians speak this way about their instruments; but that's alittle different. Who knows if film will be around in ten years, but you see what I'm getting at.
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