The Love of a Leica

So an interesting thing happened. After not shooting stills for the longest of time, I suddenly found myself with a heck of a lot of stills photography equipment by way of the ever increasing use of DSLR cameras to record HD video. I suddenly had a camera bag with two bodies, half a dozen lenses of various focal lengths and all the bits and bobs needed to shoot glorious HD video with the depth of field I had always wanted but never been able to get with standard video cameras. And what do you know, I started taking stills again, a few at first, then more and more.

M8, Leica Summicron 50mm f2.8, 1/360

And then whilst reading Phillip Blooms site I read a post about a new camera he had saved up for, the Leica M9. This was a fascinating read, why would somebody, who has his pick of DSLR camera bodies drop close to $10,000 for a camera that is for all practical purposes totally manual, in Phillips words 'exceedingly difficult to use, frame and focus' and then spend thousands more on lenses that ha can't use with his Canon or Nikon rigs? The answer was simple, the 'Leica Look', that almost impossible to describe look that Leica cameras and glass give you. Now I had just gotten back from shooting (video) the World Cup and I had decided that even though I loves my DSLR, it was rather big and bulky and there were many situations where a smaller camera would have been helpful, somewhere in-between a point and shoot and a 'real' camera. So I bought a used Leica D-Lux 3, I figured it would be a great small camera to carry when I didn't want to bring my DSLR camera, but at the same time it wouldn't break the bank. Well it arrived and I have to say right out of the gate I was amazingly surprised, the D-Lux 3 is not the newest camera by any mean feat, the D-Lux 4 was already shipping when I got it, but the quality and sharpness of the images I got was much better than I expected from such a small sensor and lens.

D-Lux 3, 50mm f3.2 1/80

And I have to say, my own personal hatred of stickers on ever flat surface of a camera announcing it has 'MEGA SUPER HD SEE INTO THE FUTURE' features meant that, the smooth, clean, un-marred surfaces of the Lecia was also a tick in the right box. However, very quickly I found that I wanted more, I had gotten used to interchangeable lenses on the DSLR, and the speed of the little Leica's lens was nothing to write home about. So I started reading up on this mythical Leica M9. Being a complete novice to Rangefinder photography, I was only passingly aware of the concept of Street Photography, shooting from the hip and photographers such as Cartier Bresson.

 

M8, Leica Summicron 50mm f2.0, 1/1000

But the more I read the more amazed I was by the constant message, the so called 'limitations' of a rangefinder most users looked on as a benefit, the lenses that were available for the M series cameras were without a doubt some of the finest ever made, quite often you will hear of lenses that were built in the 70's that rival and often outperform the latest L series of Canon or Nikon. The other comment that sealed the deal for me, was a comment made by a photographer, that after shooting stills for years for a living, shooting with a M9 was like a breath of fresh air, he actually 'enjoyed' taking stills again. The reality was I was not going to be able to afford a M9 ( even if I could source one, as the wait time in Australia is still amazingly long) so I looked at the older M8, a camera some say is flawed because of it's smaller sensor, but also many people swear by. I also considered the X1, but it still seemed only a small step up from the D-Lux.

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f5.6, 1/90 

After reading everything I could get my hands on about the M8, I decided that I agreed, the flaws of the camera were for the most part, technical decisions on the part of Leica that I tended to agree with. For example, the M8 has practically no IR filtering to speak of, the IR filter that exists in pretty much all cameras results in a slight softening of the image, Leica decided to make a camera that could shoot as sharp an image as they could, to do their amazingly sharp lenses justice, with the negative aspect of, in certain situations certain polyester fabrics that should would take on a purple hue. I agree with Leica here, I would much prefer additional sharpness in my image rather than limit my camera for those who choose to wear polyester (I much prefer natural fabrics myself ;) now I can't speak for the Leica tech but in my gut I feel that this may have also been a subtle stab at people who wear polyester fabric on a regular occasion, but I can't be sure ;)

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.1, 1/60

So off I was on the search for an M8 that I could actually afford. Realizing I had to start small, I resigned myself to not buying any Leica glass straight away, so in advance of my Leica purchase I bought a 50mm Voigtlander on eBay that was going for quite cheap as it was a screw mount, not the newer M mount bayonet. Then it was just a matter of finding a M8 body to mate it to. It's funny, for such a 'flawed' camera, the M8 really has held it's value, far better than an equivalent priced Canon or Nikon released at the same time, bad for me though, as time after time, I missed out on auctions because the price just went up and up and up. Then, a piece of good luck, the daughter of a prominent Australian painter (he has a hotel named after him) was selling an M8 and a 50mm Summicron in a rush, next thing you know, I was the proud owner of an empty bank account and a camera that scared me and a lens that I hadn't budgeted for. A fellow photographer commented when he heard I had bought a Leica 'that's a camera that owns you, you don't own it'. How true that statement was. I am not ashamed to admit, my first few attempts at shooting were amazingly flawed, I take great pleasure in telling people that in the first week I actually took several pictures with the lens cap on, one of the 'benefits' of not looking through the lens when you shoot.

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35 mm f5.6, 1/2000

For weeks, I would be excited when I got one or two shots that were actually what I wanted, exposed correctly, in focus and framed the way I had intended. But even then, those rare few photos had a look, a something that even now I can't describe without sounding like I am a pretentious twat describing a good bottle of wine, with words like smooth, creamy, luscious and velvety! However shot by shot I got a little better, I started to 'get' rangefinder focusing, I stopped noticing the framing guides for the different lenses and started thinking about the shot and using the extra space around the guides to help me adjust my framing.

M8, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f2.8, 1/750 

The other interesting thing is, other people started to notice, I would take the M8 everywhere (partly out of guilt that I had spent so much on the blasted thing, I had better bloody use it) , and when I started popping up even basic happy snaps from parties or weekend catch up with friends, people would notice and ask me, how did I get my photos to look so good, and I had to be honest and tell them, in this particular case it was not the photographer it was the camera, it was just 'better'.And then I realized, for the better part of 6 months, I have not shot a single piece of DSLR video that wasn't for work, all my personal time has been spent shooting stills, my poor Nikon has barely seen the light of day to shoot stills either, it has been Leica time, every time. But my skills as a photographer have increased in leaps and bounds, more so than any other time I can remember. And the flow on effect is also noticeable, my 'paid work' of shooting video with DSLR's I feel has also benefited, my shot selection and framing and use of depth of field and composition has shown a change, for the better in my opinion.

The saying 'it's not the camera, its the photographer' is still true, but when it comes to Leica's well, lets just say its both!

M8, Leica Summicron 50mm f2.8, 1/500