X100 or Leica M9

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peripatetic

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Well there I was on Sunday morning walking through Kew Gardens with my family.

Some posh bloke was with his wife and teenage boy. Taking discreet pictures with his Leica M9 and Summilux.

They seemed very nice. Both my girls 7 & 3 had cameras and everyone was taking pictures of each other and all the beautiful spring flowers.

I clocked the M9, but did not feel the slightest bit intimidated; after all I was in the elite X100 club! Only minutes later a man with a Canon 5DMkII and 24-70L lens passed us by staggering under the weight of his equipment. We felt very sorry for him. (I was rather pleased I had left mine at home.)

Actually the posh bloke seemed a little self-conscious about his camera; but I forgave him because he clearly cherished it. I did have a fleeting thought (quickly suppressed) that I would probably have swapped cameras if he'd asked nicely.

My latest blog post has some pics from Kew this weekend, and musings on the use of the X100 for portraits.
 
Here's my take, I spent the last three weeks lugging around a D2Xs and a 24-70 and my back hurt, it draws a lot of attention and can be quirky in a lot of regards. Then I have my M4 w/ a 35mm Summicon, but it costs as much as the Nikon rig, so I'm guarding it equally well, though it was lighter. Here's where I think the X100 comes in to play, a light weight beater that I'm not dead worn down by weight or worth.
 
I would be perfectly happy walking about with my Canon S95. For light carry about casual use I don't feel any need for anything different.
 
Hmm I feel the same with my recently aquired Panasonic G1, or one of my film OM's.
Its nice to know that you all are not conifned to just the PS and have expensive gear at home.

Cheers.

ron
 
shashinka-ichiban said:
Here's my take, I spent the last three weeks lugging around a D2Xs and a 24-70 and my back hurt, it draws a lot of attention and can be quirky in a lot of regards. Then I have my M4 w/ a 35mm Summicon, but it costs as much as the Nikon rig, so I'm guarding it equally well, though it was lighter. Here's where I think the X100 comes in to play, a light weight beater that I'm not dead worn down by weight or worth.
Click to expand...

Beautifully put. I'm not sufficiently wealthy that an M9 is pocket change. But I could afford one if I really wanted it badly enough. But it really does bother me to think of walking around London carrying £8,000 around my neck. Somehow £1,000 doesn't seem nearly as problematic. I saw a chap at lunch in the city the other day with a £20,000 M9-Titanium. Good on him for actually using it, but he was standing in the shiny buildings and walking in the opposite direction to Billingsgate market.

I remember in around 1996 I was in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I had just spent £500 on a Canon EOS 50E SLR and was very much enamored of it. But walking around I was very conscious of the fact that the average income of people there was around $50 a month. And it made me very self-conscious to be carrying round a year's salary on a strap. I ended up carrying my camera in a plastic shopping bag, and would lift and shoot, then let it drop back into the plastic bag. I wasn't (very) afraid that someone would mug me, I was insured after all, but I felt like a rich, disrespectful foreigner, even though in the UK I was earning a lot less than most.
 
I'm baffled why anybody imagines people are taking any special notice of them just because they have an M9. In a year of ownership and getting out a lot with my M9 the two comments I have had are both along the lines of 'interesting old camera'. And thats what a potential thief will think as well (if you believe there is one hidding behind every lampost), that its a quaint old camera and worth nothing. I suppose if you have a shiny new X100 its tempting to think everybody is sneaking a sly envious glance in your direction, but in the wide world 99.99% of the people passing by couldn't give a toss. Nobody cares!

Steve
 
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Have carried my M9 around nearly all the time since got it in September 2009 and have had a handful of comments in that time, often of the nice old camera, my Dad used to have one kind. In the couple of weeks of owning the X100 have already had 3 people express interest it maybe because of all the hype. Generally don't feel to worried about carrying the M9 around even in some of the stranger areas I like to explore as it generally stands out less (it is all fully insured). I am aware though that if I have my full leica kit in my bag its value is that of small sports car so I do use a battered old billingham bag with label removed and cover all labels and markings on any of my cameras
 
250swb said:
I'm baffled why anybody imagines people are taking any special notice of them just because they have an M9. In a year of ownership and getting out a lot with my M9 the two comments I have had are both along the lines of 'interesting old camera'. And thats what a potential thief will think as well (if you believe there is one hidding behind every lampost), that its a quaint old camera and worth nothing. I suppose if you have a shiny new X100 its tempting to think everybody is sneaking a sly envious glance in your direction, but in the wide world 99.99% of the people passing by couldn't give a toss. Nobody cares!

Steve
Click to expand...

In NYC, it isn't the same. I get "nice Leica" a few times a month while out and about. Makes one think people here know more about things than one might think. People everywhere in the world are more savy than people give them credit. Photography is universal and so is the internet. People know about Leicas...just not as much as Nikon and Canon.
 
No, I got it:

Golf or cricket? While some may concentrate on the apparent similarities --play with a ball, you hit a ball, grass found on premises, numbers to keep score, "interesting" wardrobe, and having waaaaaaay too much time on your hands--, others would point out the differences --you cannot compare them, unless you really are distracted by the similarities.

Of course, the golf guy might feel intimidated by the rugby player passing by. All while the kids played jumpin' jacks.

The point is...
 
X100 and with the difference in price go on a real nice vacation to somewhere pricey where you can take some cool pictures.
 
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