The Cult of Leica

Tōrō

H
Tōrō

  • 1
  • 0
  • 21
Signs & fragments

A
Signs & fragments

  • 4
  • 0
  • 61
Summer corn, summer storm

D
Summer corn, summer storm

  • 2
  • 2
  • 60
Horizon, summer rain

D
Horizon, summer rain

  • 0
  • 0
  • 59

Recent Classifieds

Forum statistics

Threads
198,821
Messages
2,781,375
Members
99,717
Latest member
dryicer
Recent bookmarks
0

gr82bart

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Messages
5,591
Location
Los Angeles and Toronto
Format
Multi Format
"Asked how he thought of the Leica, Cartier-Bresson said that it felt like “a big warm kiss, like a shot from a revolver, and like the psychoanalyst’s couch.” At this point, five thousand dollars begins to look like a bargain."

http://leicaphilia.com/the-cult-of-leica/

Regards, Art
 

Theo Sulphate

Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2014
Messages
6,489
Location
Gig Harbor
Format
Multi Format
A kiss is much, much better than any Leica (and I have quite a few).

A fine revolver, of which I have many, is more fun than any Leica.

I haven't experienced the psychoanalyst's couch.

Interesting article, though.
 

Ai Print

Subscriber
Joined
May 28, 2015
Messages
1,292
Location
Colorado
Format
Multi Format
Really wonderful article, such an amazing history this brand has and willl continue to have. I bring a Leica along to every job I go on even if not the primary tool.

I feel like leaving it at home would be like leaving one of two eyes at home: what is the point of that when life is best seen with eyes wide open?
 

Arklatexian

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
1,777
Location
Shreveport,
Format
Multi Format
Appreciation of the best tool for the job at hand is not a cult.
Oh please don't say that. I was looking forward to being a Leica Cultist. I have never been part of a cult before. But you are "correct", of course, so I shall wait until a cult comes along that makes sense for me to join. Maybe there could be a 4x5 Crown Graphic, with rangefinder on top cult. I am sure there are fewer of them so I could be, not only a cultist but an elitist as well.......Regards!
 

Ko.Fe.

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
3,209
Location
MiltON.ONtario
Format
Digital
You have to read more about HCB than just a single quote from HCB to get what he was saying about Leica kiss.
As for 5K$ price tag for new Leica these days, guess what. It is only rangefinder camera made these days. Film and digital. Plus it is made in EU.
As for cult, yes, I have seen enough of it on LUF.
But where are some like me. To me it is the tool of choice. I can't stand SLR (physically) and EVF (also physically). Plus some technicalities.
I have Leica cameras and no cult, not Leica lenses on them. I also have non Leica cameras and Leica is superior in handling and build. The only problem is age of many film Leicas and service...
 

Dali

Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
1,857
Location
Philadelphia
Format
Multi Format
The only problem is age of many film Leicas and service...

But servicing 50+ years old camera from any other brand is even harder...
 

removed account4

Subscriber
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
29,832
Format
Hybrid
youxin ye is not very old, and is a fantastic repairman for leicas.

as for the best tool for the job, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.
as they say at the car dealership .. YMMV
 

guangong

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
3,589
Format
Medium Format
While my Leica III cameras are a constant companion, for a definite photographic outing I tend to take an M camera. The main reason that there is no Nikon rf or Contax cult in the same sense that there exists a Leica “cult” is because introduction of Leica M3 was so superior that it drove all other high end rangefinder cameras from the market. To some extent, the M3 was influential in the rise of the SLR because Nikon had to find some way to compete. At the same time Leitz was slow to appreciate competition from the slr and lost a large part of a potential market to Nikon and others.
With regards to price, some younger members of APUG buying used cameras in a depressed market do not seem to realize how expensive quality cameras were when new. One could buy a new car for the price of a new Contax IIa and a couple lenses. I managed to get a new Nikon kit from Japan in 1959-60 for $189 (if I remember correctly), much cheaper than the asking price in the USA. My tuition at Columbia at that time was $15 per credit hour...now $500 or more. Retina cameras, not cheap, were known as the poor man’s Leica. Only in recent years could I afford Hasselblad lenses for my Hassy camera. In some ways we are living in good times. Many on APUG who suffer from GAS today would have been free from this affliction a few decades ago...myself included.
 

Ko.Fe.

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
3,209
Location
MiltON.ONtario
Format
Digital
But servicing 50+ years old camera from any other brand is even harder...

I was only into Leica and FSU. Later is often DIY, but I can't do it with any Leica.

youxin ye is not very old, and is a fantastic repairman for leicas.

as for the best tool for the job, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.
as they say at the car dealership .. YMMV

YY sends cameras to DAG then it is for outside of the box thinking.

If you need to use cars analogy, then Leica is specialty vechicle. Not SUV, sedan or minivan.
 

michr

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2012
Messages
440
Format
Multi Format
Oh please don't say that. I was looking forward to being a Leica Cultist. I have never been part of a cult before. But you are "correct", of course, so I shall wait until a cult comes along that makes sense for me to join. Maybe there could be a 4x5 Crown Graphic, with rangefinder on top cult. I am sure there are fewer of them so I could be, not only a cultist but an elitist as well.......Regards!

Sign me up for the 4x5 Crown Graphic with rangefinder cult, the whole Leica thing is a granfalloon anyway. I remember people going on and on years ago on the Internet about the image quality of Leica. And I was nearly convinced they were the best until I learned about larger film formats. Who cares if one miniature camera is slightly better than the others when it's completely outclassed by the big stuff?
 

Ai Print

Subscriber
Joined
May 28, 2015
Messages
1,292
Location
Colorado
Format
Multi Format
Who cares if one miniature camera is slightly better than the others when it's completely outclassed by the big stuff?

Outclassed by who's measure? I use 35mm, 120 and 4x5 and as one gets into the more dog and pony show logistics of using LF, spontaneity and reaction time goes right out the window. 4x5 is fantastic stuff but it is not where my best content is made so it is my least used system.
 

michr

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2012
Messages
440
Format
Multi Format
Outclassed by who's measure? I use 35mm, 120 and 4x5 and as one gets into the more dog and pony show logistics of using LF, spontaneity and reaction time goes right out the window. 4x5 is fantastic stuff but it is not where my best content is made so it is my least used system.

Outclassed meaning the category that Leicas fit into 35mm, while they may or may not be the "best in class", they aren't in the same class as the larger formats. And also meaning outclassed in image quality, since no matter how good the lenses supposedly are, they can't compete with a negative that is much larger (12 times in the case of 4x5). Does Leica glass have 12 times the resolution as any large format lens, let alone compared to the best? If you want convenience and spontaneity then Leica isn't the system either. Have they made a camera with autofocus yet?
 

faberryman

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
6,048
Location
Wherever
Format
Multi Format
If you want convenience and spontaneity then Leica isn't the system either. Have they made a camera with autofocus yet?
Other than the M-series, Leica's full frame and smaller cameras are all autofocus. Pick the right tool for the job.
 
Last edited:

Richard Man

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2005
Messages
1,301
Format
Multi Format
Lecia cultists? There seems to be a bigger group of "non-Leica Cultists" ;-)

// EDIT: I meant "anti-Leica Cultists", ha ha
 
Last edited:

faberryman

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
6,048
Location
Wherever
Format
Multi Format
Lecia cultists? There seems to be a bigger group of "non-Leica Cultists" ;-)
So if you are not a member of a cult, you are in a cult. Not seeing it. Now, if you want to talk about the "anti-Leica cult" rather than the "non-Leica cult", we can have a conversation.
 
Last edited:

BradS

Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
8,120
Location
Soulsbyville, California
Format
35mm
I'd really like to try a Leica but it just does not make any sense at all from a **rational** cost / benefit point of view and all of the usual and customary Leica fanboy foaming at the mouth and blathering on about how it is the finest, best, most superlative mechanical device ever made is a major turn off.

So, its not that I am "anti-Leica"...I'd say that I am really turned off by the hype.
 

Richard Man

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2005
Messages
1,301
Format
Multi Format
So if you are not a member of a cult, you are in a cult. Not seeing it. Now, if you want to talk about the "anti-Leica cult" rather than the "non-Leica cult", we can have a conversation.
That's what I meant ;-)
 

Richard Man

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2005
Messages
1,301
Format
Multi Format
I'd really like to try a Leica but it just does not make any sense at all from a **rational** cost / benefit point of view and all of the usual and customary Leica fanboy foaming at the mouth and blathering on about how it is the finest, best, most superlative mechanical device ever made is a major turn off.

So, its not that I am "anti-Leica"...I'd say that I am really turned off by the hype.

I haven't bothered to check, but my impression is that there are far more "those Leica cultists are so <sad, deluded, foaming at mouth...>" threads than actual "Leica Cult" threads ;-)
 

Theo Sulphate

Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2014
Messages
6,489
Location
Gig Harbor
Format
Multi Format
... introduction of Leica M3 was so superior that it drove all other high end rangefinder cameras from the market. ...

From specifications it would appear that the Nikon SP is superior. Certainly the way they handle framelines on the viewfinder is clever. Just looking at specs, I can't think of anything an M3 can do that the SP can't match.

https://www.cameraquest.com/nikonsp.htm

I wanted an SP and when I had an opportunity to hold and use one, I quickly realized it was awkward for me to hold and use, whereas the M3 is nice.
 

chip j

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
2,193
Location
NE Ohio
Format
35mm
The SP was supposed to be the best-built camera That Nikon ever made. Any comments on this??
 

removed account4

Subscriber
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
29,832
Format
Hybrid
So, its not that I am "anti-Leica"...I'd say that I am really turned off by the hype.

dude, its not hype, its lenses that make sunshine, its german quality not that other junk ..
you don't get it man, i guess you can't afford it :smile:
 
Photrio.com contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
To read our full affiliate disclosure statement please click Here.

PHOTRIO PARTNERS EQUALLY FUNDING OUR COMMUNITY:



Ilford ADOX Freestyle Photographic Stearman Press Weldon Color Lab Blue Moon Camera & Machine
Top Bottom