Since I do, I'll start: 1...
Leica M6, 35mm f2 Summicron. Easily pocketable, though more often it's in my hand for quick shots. Or slow shots.
How many people carry a leica in the pocket?
well, yeah, no m-mount camera is going to fit in a pocket.
Frank, I'm not a big Leica shooter
-- I shoot most of my stuff with
Rolleiflexes, and the rest with Kodak
Brownies and a view camera. But
my wife shoots a Bessa and a Leica,
and the Leica is built better. It's not
just a matter of noise. The lens barrels
brass easily. The plastic on the bodies
discolors, and the paint on the metal
wears visibly. Granted, my wife works
her gear hard. But after a year or so,
the Bessa looks beat, while the Leica
looks pretty much as it did when she
bought it.
So the camera has some "patina"? So what? A beat up looking Bessa doesn't attract a lot of attention, and it is inexpensive enough so that you won't care it it is beat. A camera is not jewelry for me. I don't want to attract attention with it. I want to make a photograph. A little scuffed paint or a little brassing never stopped me from doing that.
Pardon the following series of rants....
Rant 1: I have a minilux. Piece of garbage. Useless brick, tiny godawful VF, very cheap foldup mechanism. One of the worst cameras I ever had the poor judgement of buying. Want it? $100 to the first PM. I miss my konica hexar AF and would, in a heartbeat, reach for that before the f@&%ing minilux.
Rant 2: IMHO it's complete nonsense to get a decades-old camera just because it's a Leica and you think that it'll make some difference. Are the leica prices inflated? Uhhh... yeah! So then why would you, with your tight budget constraints, settle for less camera because you're interested in a brand that is inflated in value? Sorry, it's just not logical to me! We're in a tanking economy in which the cost of *new* products has never been so low (see rant 4 for further details). Think about it! Spend wisely!
Rant 3: I also don't understand this business of trying to suggest various MF camera when a person posts, in a very clear way, that he is interested in a compact 35mm RF.
Rant 4: Shouldn't we be encouraging the purchase of new cameras anyway? Sorry, but sometimes these threads start to sound like antiques road show. Look there are plenty of *new* cameras out there that aren't that far out of your range. Not only will you be under warranty, but in many cases you'll be getting a better performer as well, with the option of spending your hard-earned money on lenses. But perhaps most importantly, you will be helping to keep analogue cameramaking alive.
Rant 5: I agree with Chan Tran , if you get a camera that has excessive object value then you may not feel so inclined to use it in the way you'd like, or in a way that'd be productive. I use olympus xas as pocket cameras, and they are superb. What's more useful, the camera you have with you often, and use often, or the camera that you're afraid you might scuff. Like I said before, the really nice thing about the xa is that if you are mugged, you can throw the camera at your mugger. They won't expect that, and you won't care.
Personally, with the aforementioned budget, I would save up a bit and get a bessa or Zeiss Ikon than go for some old M with which I'd immediately have to sweat the shutter and CLA and baby. You want fantastic used camera for a realistic price? Go for a contax g2 or xpan or TX1 and be happy.
Rant 1. Who cares?
Rant 2. He has a small amount of money to spend. That isn't going to hack anything new. As far as Leica vs. anything else. I suggested soemthing else.
Rant 3. If you have no idea why I suggested a Fujica GS645, keep quiet. That camera will fit in a large coat pocket and blow your bloody Leicas out the water, all day, every day.
Rant 4. Want a new camera, buy one and leave us bottom dwellers alone. I have better things to do with my money that carry a camera out of the store and watch it depreciate in from of my eyes.
tim in san jose
That camera will fit in a large coat pocket and blow your bloody Leicas out the water, all day, every day.
Jeez, you must have really big pockets and a strong belt.My everyday shooter for 35mm is a Nikon F5.
Pardon the following series of rants....
...
Rant 2: IMHO it's complete nonsense to get a decades-old camera just because it's a Leica and you think that it'll make some difference. Are the leica prices inflated? Uhhh... yeah! So then why would you, with your tight budget constraints, settle for less camera because you're interested in a brand that is inflated in value? Sorry, it's just not logical to me! We're in a tanking economy in which the cost of *new* products has never been so low (see rant 4 for further details). Think about it! Spend wisely!
...
Rant 5: I agree with Chan Tran , if you get a camera that has excessive object value then you may not feel so inclined to use it in the way you'd like, or in a way that'd be productive. I use olympus xas as pocket cameras, and they are superb. What's more useful, the camera you have with you often, and use often, or the camera that you're afraid you might scuff. Like I said before, the really nice thing about the xa is that if you are mugged, you can throw the camera at your mugger. They won't expect that, and you won't care.
... QUOTE]
Re #2: It is a fact that a decades-old Leica is still an effective picture-taking instrument, is a pleasure to handle thanks to its precision engineering and costs around 1/5 to 1/6 (purchase price plus complete CLA) of the price of a new one (M7) which essentially is the same camera but with a meter added. Moreover, Leicas are really quite cheap to own in terms of cost per year over a long period. BUT ... if you want to use another kind of camera, I'm not going to argue with you!
Re #5: Yes, you CAN be over-protective of a pristine Leica. The best way to avoid this is not to buy one but to make sure that any you do buy have a harmless small dent or scuff to the chrome so that you will never worry about using the camera (I have 12 Leicas, all but 4 are like this and 6 of the remaing 8 get used regularly). Not that there is really anything wrong with searching out and collecting pristine Leicas, joining clubs of like-minded folks and being as obsessive as you like - it's simply got nothing to do with photography!
How many people carry a leica in the pocket?
My M5 is 3 times the camera the Leica III is
but would probably be to heavy for your lass.
I only know one person with a bloody Leica, another APUG member who used his M4 in self defense against an assault by a big guy with a knife. The guy with the knife ended up unconscious with a broken collar bone. Leica cleaned the blood and flesh out of the rewind at no charge when they found out the M4 was used in self defense.
And they say the Pen F is mightier than the sword ...
Lee
How many people carry a leica in the pocket?
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