What have you done with your Leica?

[Alex_Es]

I always pair my M8 with a film M-mount camera, usually a Leica. I don't shoot as much film as I used to but I have far

from given it up.

[seismiccwave]

I sold my M3 when a gallon of regular gasoline was 32 cents.

[mark_brown14]

My IIIf used to be my regular camera, but, even though it has film in it at the moment, I haven't used it much at all in the past few years. This is partly due to the fact that I've been busy trying out some of the (mostly fixed-lens) rangefinders currently flooding the market, and partly because I feel more conspicuous nowadays using a camera with such antique styling. But I don't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon - I love the reliability, the sturdy construction, the complete manual controls and the lack of dependence on batteries.

[gray_mason]

Recently received a like new IIIc with some lenses. I'm fascinated with it! Even brought out my trusty

Yashicamat! Using both several times a week.

 

Now to learn about developing B+W film . . .

 

(My D200's a mite dusty.)

[bill_dewberry]

Like Vincent, I have 3 R lenses and no bodies- threw my 2 R 5's into the trash in a fit of their screwed up electronics.

All dressed up and nowhere to go, leica wise.

[gaijin]

I use a Leica R3, R5, IIIa, IIIc, M4-P, M6, Leica 0 (Null) series 40% of the time, an Olympus E510 with Olympus and Leica R lenses 50%, a Canon 10D with Canon and Leica R Lenses 9%, and a Canon D30 (that's D30 not 30D) with Canon and Leica R lenses 1% of the time. But I have fun with any of them 100% of the time.

[r22eng]

A. I use the Leica all the time. My personal project is to capture the moment - interesting and routine. It has been interesting to look back and see how friends (new and old) have changed over time. Just posted some recent events, both film and digital stuff, on flickr:

 

[michael_darnton1]

I really liked everything about my Leicas, and had used Leicas constantly since around 1967, but after waiting for an up-to-date technology digital from them (I know, I know--expecting them to lead rather than follow a half-decade or so behind everyone else is unreasonable) I gave up and sold all of my Leica stuff at the start of this year and replaced it with a Nikon D300 kit. Aside from the weight issue, I'm not sorry I did.

 

The reason I sold is because I realized that digital technology is changing so quickly there is no way that such a hesitant and backward company can keep up with the speed of things now,and I'd always be wishing I had something more modern than what they were offering. I was willing to put up with some of that because I really like the equipment, but I couldn't deal with how very far they've fallen behind everyone else, and it seems like they're falling farther and farther behind by the month. Aside from the support of fanboys (of which I was one for a very long time) I don't think they have a viable product in today's world, so I jumped ship, the same as I had dumped my darkroom while someone still wanted it.

[leicaglow]

A, but there should be the option of also using digital and other formats weekly.

[vic_.]

B. Haven't used the film bodies since buying the digi.

[andrew_gale]

D. Ive never used a leica, despite having two screwmount setups, one being a fake Luftwaffe in gold and dark wood that probably never functioned (very well) to begin with.

 

This will give you a laugh:

 

Once I shot a 12 ex. roll with the other one, all the pictures came out blurry and some as circular images on the film. I though that I had a zoom lens, and one finder was for zoomed in and one for zoomed out. I guessed at the focus distance, hence the out of focus nature of the whole roll.

[dougolupski]

A. Personally, I actually made my self put the digi away a few months ago and packed my bag up with my IIIc and M3 and went to town. I forgot how much shooting Delta 3200 at night was.

 

B. Professionally, I have to. It just isn't cost effecient to shoot film for sports photography. Though for old school themed photos I will pull out a Lomo 35mm or Holga for a customer.

[blowingsky]

A. (M6). And it forms the core of my graphic expression, even thought I also use a D80 Nikon, especially when I "must get the shot" (taking pictures for events, etc.) or am going to a place where I don't want the additional worry of securing my Leica (trade shows at hotels, etc.). And even though I am finally working through how to take a good photo with a digital camera.

[lars_tomanek1]

Over the last year I have used the M8 more often than my M7. However, when I go on a trip I do take the M7 with me and I always like to take some pictures using BW film or a Portra color film. The outcome always pleases me, although I am not sure if there is a big difference in the quality of the prints or in the way I choose a subject and thus take a picture.

 

I just visited Krakow in Poland. It is a very religious place and if you want to take pictures in churches while people are praying, you want to do it with an analog M because of its much quieter shutter. At the end of our visit we went to a wedding and I took pictures with the M7 - quiet and simple as it is, it provided me with the tool I love to use in such moments.

 

I have gotten into the Leica cameras because they are more like an analog music instrument, e.g. Steinway piano, instead of a digital synthesizer. The system has plenty of disadvantages and is expensive but the analog M's are always a pleasure to play on - no other camera, not even the M8, gives you this sound.

 

What have you done with your Mont Blanc fountain pen? I replaced it with a laptop, of course. And how often do I wish I had the time to sit down in a coffee shop and think long enough about the next sentence so that I could write it down with a fountain pen and not make a mistake, which, if I would write the sentence on a laptop, I could always delete? Quiet often and yet it is nothing but a nostalgic moment in today's world. I often take a Pelikan fountain pen with me, but rarely find the time to write with it.

 

Our sensation of what we are doing is different in the analog and the digital world. Practically we cannot but follow the digital world but philosophically we may try to operate at times in the analog sensation, as it is a different sensation of time, an intimacy with ourselves, and the moment. It is slower, more inefficient, and yet that slowness may provide us with more time to reflect on what we are doing, play with a perspective of here and there, being the photographer and at the same time having the opportunity to distance myself from me and reflect about what it is that I am seeking to take a picture off.

 

What's my excuse for so much philosophical gibberish?

 

Lars

[brucecahn]

To keep it simple, A.

[mark_hahn]

A (since we moved past the original question being for M users only)... my IIIc and R4 are my main cameras in use... have some Canon crap and a digital that doesn't get used that much... only kidding about the Canon/digital being crap... kind of ;)

[cj_b]

A. Don't own a digital camera but scan color slides to get hi res digital files. print b&w mostly, the resolution of a silver

print far exceeds any computer monitor.

[terence1]

C. i sold my M3, MP, M7 and all my M-lenses. now i shoot with Nikon D-SLR.

[ray .]

Wow, lots of cool stories, and Lars, thoughtful take on how technology changes us and how we go about things..

 

Well, I just got back from my half day trip and managed to shoot 2/3 of a roll with the M7. It would have been more had I

not had a digicam with me, and also if the M7 electronics hadn't acted up a bit. I was reminded though how the M

viewfinder

is still second to none as far as I'm concerned. With that clear window I can see every little

thing going on with the subject and how it's framed at the time the shot is made. Somehow it's not quite the same with a

(D)SLR.

 

Now time to figure out what's up with the electronics, fix it if need be, and maybe trade it off for an M6TTL.

[travis1]

make that 24 months..

[mohir_ali]

make that 24 months..

 

???

 

(A)

 

If you can read this thank a teacher.

 

If you are reading this in ENGLISH thank a soldier.

 

Sayonara

[nzdavid]

A -- Last week hiking in the mountains. Used slide film. Still really enjoy using film, although I have digital. Also really enjoy viewing

previous slides. (M3, M6 -- both get a good regular workout. Must run a film through IIIa soon as well.)

[jyenyo]

A. used the M7 yesterday and will use my R9 all next week in Hawaii.

[rgerraty]

'A'. A year ago it would have been closer to 'B'.

[rgerraty]

...and nice post Lars. Signed in spirit with my Pelikan - Richard