With RED DOT or Without?

With RED DOT or Without?

  • With Red Dot (Shouting I have a Leica!)

    Votes: 76 35.7%

  • Stealth

    Votes: 137 64.3%
  • Total voters
    213
Yes, the red dot was soooooo conspicuous people stopped me from photographing them whenever I pulled the camera out of the bag. I actually used it as a lighter! 🙂 It does come in handy when there's a power outtage: you can find your way in a dark tunnel with your red Leica dot. 😉
 
I voted for stealth, but only because I prefer the look of Leicas that do not have the red dot. I don't seriously think that dotless Leicas are stealthier. That said, I do like the looks of the M4-P. I think the dot looks a lot better down lower on the body and not up on the top plate.
 
Well, the camera came with a red dot on it and I never thought anything of it, nor did anyone else that I ran into. I mean it's really tiny. Then I read on RFF about what an "issue" it is, and how you are supposed to replace them if they fall off, or cover them up with tape (along with any of the writing on the camera), or spend twenty bucks to get a black one. Or how if you leave it "bare" you're shouting. Wow, all I ever did was take pictures with the silly camera and now I have to deal with this dilema. 😕
 
I got rid of my only red dot Leica, the M6 TTL. Now all I have is an MP, M3, and IIIf RD. It's a great feeling. Like I'm free now. I don't have to worry about this problem anymore. 😀
 
Pablito said:
Well, the camera came with a red dot on it and I never thought anything of it, nor did anyone else that I ran into. I mean it's really tiny. Then I read on RFF about what an "issue" it is, and how you are supposed to replace them if they fall off, or cover them up with tape (along with any of the writing on the camera), or spend twenty bucks to get a black one. Or how if you leave it "bare" you're shouting. Wow, all I ever did was take pictures with the silly camera and now I have to deal with this dilema. 😕
Click to expand...

Ditto. Setting at the key board I can't even tell you if any of my three Leicas have a red dot or not.
 
It gives fondlers something else to obsess about. Most of the time nobody even notices that I'm taking pictures. "Stealth" is determined by you, not your camera. Try acting like the camera is part of you, like operating a Leica is as normal as breathing.

Any normal person, one who isn't familiar with Leicas, wouldn't have a clue as to the red dot's significance anyway. On the other hand serious Leica shooters will feel sorry for you for having to work with one of the late model Leicas lacking hand lapped and fitted brass gears.

In some situations just carrying the cameras can result in a confrontation, such as the one that I got into on Sunday at a political rally of sorts at a polling station. She didn't want to be photographed! I got photos of the fist coming right at my face just before she clobbered the side of my head with her other hand. I just kept cranking and firing. They're not quite sharp from motion blur (1/60 at f/8 with the 15mm Heliar) and focus at the very close distance, but good enough for her to be identified. Yesterday afternoon I found out that she was a guest at the Miami-Dade County jail. The state attorney's office loved the series of pictures! http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com The Bessa L is bright chrome finish, the 15mm Heliar is black. I was shooting "amateur" Kodak Gold 200 for nice bright colors in the drizzle.
 
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Hide the camera in a drawer, in a locked cabinet, in a dark room. Very stealthy. Place it in a paper sack, with holes cut out for the lens to protrude from the front and for your eye at the viewfinder. Carry it like you were carrying a pint of cheap hooch. Also very stealthy. Carry your camera under a rain coat, like a flasher, opening the coat to scare people as you snap. They'll be preoccuppied with the threat of being flashed and will never remember whether or not you had a red dot, black dot, covered-with-gaffers-tape dot, no dot, pink polkadot or were carrying a Kodak Instamatic.

I've had no dot, red dot and black dot. Seems to have had no impact on my results. Aesthetically, I liked no dot best. No offense intended to anyone, but IMHO, I think this whole thing is silly. One of my favorite cameras posted on RFF by another member is his (can't remember who you are) hand-painted, red MD. I love the kitschy irreverence of that. And it looks cool, too.

Check out the YouTube vids of Gary Winogrand out shooting. He rubs the camera on his face (an M4, btw) while deciding what to look at. He treats it, as Al says, like it's part of him. Like many things, if you believe something, it almost becomes true. Gary treats the camera like an extra finger and it nearly becomes one. Then, he gets to his office and rather unceremoniously plops the Leica into a file cabinet drawer (also containing dozens of rolls of undeveloped film). He does lock the cabinet.

I treat my gear with care only because I can't readily afford replacements or expensive repairs. My gear doesn't rise to the level for me of religious icons or relics that need to be treated with obessive reverence. It's a tool. If the gear were paying for itself and all my bills, I'd be less concerned about how it looked. It's a tool, not a fashion statement.
 
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marke, I tried rubbing my M8 on my face while waiting in the international arrivals area this evening at Newark, NJ Liberty Airport (picking up my daughter returning from Paris). For some reason, not sure what, my pictures don't look like Winogrand's shots. Must be the damnable black dot. It certainly can't have been anything about my skills, eye, timing or aesthetic judgment.

Seriously, I love the video. Gary seems so happy to be out there. I enjoy his work generally, but it sure was fun to see him doing it.
 
I have two Leicas with red dot, M4-P and M7 so I voted "with red dot". However, for me it is not worth the time and money to think about alternatives to that red dot. 🙄 $20 for a black dot (that is no longer available from Leica due to patent reasons, BTW) buys me 6 rolls of Tri-X 135-36 ... 😉
 
I went stealth for a while but it didn't seem to make a difference. Black or chrome dot or not a Leica is a sexy beast and anyone can see that😉
 
I like the stealth not for wanting to be inconspicuous but because I like the look of the early Ms. Yes I have seen a video of a street photographer shooting without people noticing him. I forgot the name and link though. it's not the camera but rather the movement and blending with people that makes one stealth.
 
So I want to cover my red dots with tape - seems all the cool kids are doing this ... What's the best way to protect the finish (black chrome)?
 
Guys, you're so not getting this. The Dot is there to distract your subject in the event of your being detected photographing (you know, when your cloak of invisibility is blown), allowing you to take said subject's photograph while s/he is trying to read the inscription on the Dot. (Al* wasn't using a Leica the day he was physically assaulted, though I doubt it would've made a difference.)

The M2 I'm using has no Dot. Should I feel deprived? 🙄


- Barrett

* The details in Al's blog leading up to the attack are at least as upsetting as the attack itself. Quite sobering.
 
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The paint on my red dot was coming off so I helped it along with a little lighter fluid. Now I have a silver dot. The best dots are the ones that get the most use
 
amateriat said:
(Al* wasn't using a Leica the day he was physically assaulted, though I doubt it would've made a difference.)
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about that. My insurance agent said that red dots raise people's blood pressure when viewed too closely. In fact, he told me that he would rop me as a client if I wouldn't get rid of my M6 TTL. or at least change the dot to black.

Seriously, that's crazy about Al. I hope things work out with all that.
 
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