where leica fits into my world...

I no longer have any Leica stuff (excluding a panaleica dlux2 which doesn't count). I have had, two M6s, an M7, an MP and M8 and an M8.2, just in the last 7 years. I have enjoyed using them all, but no longer feel that I need them. There is plenty of other stuff capable of producing images indestinguishable from Leica - I picked up a second olympus E400 with kit lens recently for £120 and having tested my original against my then Leica M8 can confirm that there is very little real world difference. There, perhaps, was a time when you bought Leica because it was synonymous with technical perfection - look at how many old Ms still function as they should - but I don't think that is as true today. The one very positive thing I will say about Leica is their commitment to supporting long discontinued products - that does have value and could be worth paying extra for. Leica has luxury product cache and limited supply and there is probably more people with the funds to buy that there is available product, ergo the price inflation. I am very pleased that these folk haven't realised that one can do just as well with a lot less thereby keeping the price of non Leica equipment affordable. I'm glad I had the opportunity to use Leica equipment - it made me realise that I don't need any of it.

Now wehere's my R-D1 :)
 
I sold my 111f (which was klunky though nostalgic) to buy a Bessa-T (which was so much fun with that 15mm lens on it).

I still have my Leica Digilux 2 ($1900), but it resides under glass, replaced by a Nikon D60 ($250) which is much more flexible and is more of a workhorse. The D2 attracts lots of glances when it's on my shoulder, and the D60 looks just like everyone else's camera, but at the end of the day, the $250 D60 blows the doors off the $1950 D2 for making pictures.

I do, however, truly envy people who can drop lots of money on luxury items, whether they are cameras, yachts, airplanes, whatever.
 
Steveh said:
I've given up Leicas since I realised (after 3 M6s and an M8) that I liked the idea and the look of them more than I liked using them. Financially I could afford to buy an M9 and a couple of new lenses without too much pain but somehow it seems wrong to me to spend so much on camera equipment, and I don't think I could bring myself to do it
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This parallels my current state--of wondering if I want to pay for a FF DRF. I can afford it, but do I want to? I have enjoyed an M8, but really want FF-something. With Leica, that something (an M9 or M10) really makes me wonder if I couldn't be just as happy street shooting with something else.

Leica bodies and lenses are top-notch. No question. But the digital bodies have a very limited life, which stresses me a bit when I consider their cost. The lenses, however, seem to hold up for eternity.
 
PointOmega said:
As the owner of an M6 and more recently, an MP, I can see where the OP is coming from. The "Leica" I love probably disappeared in 2006, or whenever they released the m8. Without meaning to offend, I think of all the digital models as iPhones in M6 clothing. Apart from the great lenses, Leica's genius was analog; minimalist teutonic engineering, fantastic craftsmanship. That's what made Leica, and what defines Leica, in my admittedly biased opinion. But that Leica is gone. I only wish another producer, even a boutique company, could manage to keep producing analog rangefinders. A dream, probably, but a good one.
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or couldn't some company (nikon or canon or ...) come out with another, much more reasonably priced DRF. i suspect nikon and canon aren't really interested in carving out some percent of one percent of the camera market.
 
I had a few Leica's over the years and I was not smitten. But the M3 is a different story. Now I am screwed.
 
My world? Central, at least to photography. I've been using Leicas for well over 40 years, Ms for just under 40. I just like the way they handle. Why change? Yes, I have other RFs as well, but I like Leicas best -- and with digital, there's no real choice in RFs. Digitally, I don't see much choice outside RFs either: a tub of lard DSLR or a cigarette packet with a screen on the back. Leicas are just the right size.

Cheers,

R.
 
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