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dromo-kratis. I like it :) Kalo dromo - subscribed ;)

I was totally in the dark…… and bought a Leica M. What did I know….

Back in 1989 I earned my first money and had the chance to buy a M4-P without lens for all my money I had at this time. I didn’t do it and that was a mistake. After shooting many years with Olympus and Nikon I sold everything I had and bought a Leica M6 with a Summicron 50. The first Kodachrome slides blew me away. I had never seen such pictures before. In the beginning of the digital revolution (we shot with 5 Megapixel in 2005) I sold the M6 with all optics. Another mistake, I found out later. My analog pictures at this time looks much better than any digital shot I took at the same time. In 2018 I bought digital M. After several Leica M’s I found the M that will stay, I think. The look, feel and weight is closer to the M6 than any other digital M. I use it for my Job and I like it. Near every shot I took with the M, I remember. Not so with the SL. I love and hate my M 11 at the same time but I think I will keep it. The shot’s look so special. I think It’s a mix of camera technique and the way I took a picture. The M is not a photo cumputer like any other camera. So you have to watch a scene, adjust sharpness and aperture and think about the look before you shoot, cause you don’t see what the camera see’s when you look through the rangefinder. When you shoot with a Leica M you are a part of the scene.

The body is magnesium, not plastic. Most photographers these days don't seek heavy cameras on purpose.

I noticed you wear eyeglasses and you wear them while holding the viewfinder to your right eye. Can you explain the relationship between the camera’s diopter and your eyeglasses? Do you have a dominant eye, because mine seems to be my left eye which makes seeing the scene while using the viewfinder impossible?

It was one evening at my local camera club and we had a quest speaker come along and he brought along his camera that he used for street photography. His name was Matt Stuart and he handed me his Leica to get a feel for it and I was totally smitten, it felt so good and solid, when I held it up to my eye and focused with it I was totally won over. Sadly, I had to hand the camera back but then I started saving like mad and bought one with a 50mm lens. It is always my go to camera that I use the most, I still have my Canon 5diii for the shots that I need speed for but for just me I always grab the Leica.

Can I ask where you purchased the M8?

I would love a comparison from you of the Leica and Fuji X Pro Rangefinder.

Back in the film days I used an R4. My friends in labs running the autoprocessors at the time noticed how much better my negatives looked. Later I jumped into rangefinders. Largest and most comprehensive lens selection as well. Everything else beside Ms bore me to tears. Enough said.

I was introduced to Leica in college when I used a Leica M1 on a microscope. Before I purchased my first Leica rangefinder (the M1 was not a rangefinder), I used Argus C3, Minolta Hi-Matic 9, Canon QL17, and Contax G1 35mm rangefinders. I also used Fuji 6x7cm and Fuji 6x9cm medium format rangefinders. The Leica M6 with 21/35/90mm lenses was my first Leica rangefinder. Years later, I purchased two Leica M10 digital rangefinders. Regretfully, my two M10 rangefinders were not as reliable as my M6.

Good points!

Same here. Sold my big Sony equipment for one camera and one lens: Leica M240 with Summilux 50. The experience is much, much better than with any feature monster. Over the last month I've added a 35 mm and a 15 mm Voigtlanders. That's it, no more g. a. s. any more …

Where do i begin. Started as a pro, when 20 years old. Now at 69,still shooting. When i was young, it was 35mm,2 1/4, even 4X5. All great but bulky and heavy. I did use an R4 Leica for a while. But favored 2 1/4 Hasselblad. Currently at my age with back problems. I only shoot Leica M10R, and M10M, with five lens,ranging from 21mm to 90mm Thambar. I mostly shoot B + W. Also i use the electronic view finder on top. SLR habit from the old days. I saw one mention,they bought the camera because it looks good. How times have changed. We the PROS back they never bought cause it looked good. It had to DO the job.

This is the best LEICA review I ever read or watch,

When I first "got into" photography, it was the 90s, and I was a canon eos shooter. I had many canon cameras. In the early 2000s I became obsessed with the idea of rangefinder/leica-style cameras, and basically switched to voigtlander R cameras (R, R2, R2M). Then came a day when shooting film was "too expensive" and I sold all that, and tried to switch to digital. M43 was my game then. Then, somehow, I stopped doing photography. I wasn't satisfied with the digital cameras I had used, and I didn't want to spend on film. For a while I didn't really have any "serious" camera. I did get a fuji X-E1 and the 80-200mm zoom for occasions when I "needed a telephoto" but mostly that camera sat on the shelf. When the X-Pro 3 came out, I read about it, and decided it was time to get back into photography, and that that was the camera for me. It would be like my old voigtlander cameras, but digital. Well, I went thru a lot of fuji cameras. Buying and selling and never settling. Then I heard about the SL2-S and how that was a great platform for manual lenses, and full frame ("better than aps-c"). Got an SL2-S. Then a leica CL. Then a Q2. Then an M10-R. I was thinking that finally this would restore the joy I had when shooting my old voigtlander R cameras. I have no problem dealing with a rangefinder. I'm ok with manual focus. But somehow it doesn't work for me, anymore. Now I'm spoiled with EVF preview, highlight warnings, and especially an in-view histogram. I prefer shooting with my leica CL (manual focus 28mm lens) over the heavy, slower to operate M10-R. Honestly, it's a shock. The M is supposed to be the ultimate, the best shooting experience. Like I said, I can shoot with it, and I'm comfortable. (It's kind of amazing how easy a leica M is to focus with the long-base rangefinder.) But I'm spoiled by shooting with EVFs. So, I'm going to sell my M10-R, and declare myself officially "over it". But now I'm not going back to fuji. I'm stuck on leica, but not the M. Now my "kit" is an SL3, a CL and a Q2.

Es gibt noch eine weitere echte digitale Messsucherkamera, die Pixii, mit einem sehr interessanten Nachhaltigkeitskonzept. Man kann die Kamera upgraden, wenn es technische Neuerungen gibt.

Myth crap. Done all that, too. It’s still a camera. You change not because of the camera, but because you want to be an artist regardless whether you will ever be one. Now you come up with the classic clichee arguments to make it happen. Video number 9.373.597 of the same self-BS talks. I have all the Leica types, multiple models. My best photos were shot with the Minolta XE. Not any of the M, the TLR, the digital, the analog, the … Now having a Minolta XE again, I’m not sure I’d get that same feel and attention to the photography. A M, many M get me near that, but it’s totally not it. So it’s a personal thing what tool actually fits you best, and it’s not features arguments and it’s not brands, brands make nothing to photographers.

I love my M3

I really identify with what you describe in having a near analog experience - depending on how you use the camera of course. The tactical feel and intuitive handling was something that came to me after buying it. I mainly bought my M10 for its good looks and classical design and the simplicity of shooting in a very basic analog like way. About the "one day I will buy me a Leica" thing: If you are convinced you would like to buy into the Leica M Eco-system, exchange one day for here and now. You could start with an M3 or M4, or an M8 like you did or one of the other affordable options. The cost is immense, if you measure it buy the prevailing M11 but less is more. Så just jump into an affordable body and mount an affordable 35 mm or 50 mm from either Leica or one of Voigtländer, Zeiss, 7Artisans, TTartisan and the other M-Mount lens offerings out there. Don't wait. If you get hooked on the rangerfinder way of shooting, you will probably not look back or take your other gear out of the bag or only infrequently. In short, (re)entering the world of rangefinder photography was like coming home again after a long time. I currently scan all my negatives back from the seventies and am amazed by the quality and clarity of my FP4 negatives shot with my mother's Agfa Super-Silette as a teenager and the complement my M10 photos very well. Thank you for the inspirational and very recognisable experience you shared in your video!

I had a walk around street shooting opportunity with an M10P and a 50mm Lux. The experience was closer to my analog work and the files were nice. But objectively, there was nothing I could not have done faster and easier with my Sony, probably with better results too. I think Leica is about feel and experience, but not necessarily best results. It is also a very limiting camera. Some say limits help refine vision, but if you have vision you do not need artificial limits.

Liked your Leica M journey. You are correct that Leica M’s aren’t for everyone. My journey started in late 50’s when someone gave my mom a Leica IIIF. Just the feel and precision was a unique experience. I took a photography course in college and got a Nikon F which an uncle got for me when he was in the USAF. I always wanted to pick up an M2 or M3 but never made the commitment until the early 70’s when I bought a used M2…..they had stopped production since the M4’s were in production. Been an M shooter since. Like you mention Leica range finder cameras are not for everyone but for those who use them you’ll be hard pressed to make them trade in their M’s for another camera. To those who hate Leica M’s I only have to point out that they haven’t changes much since the Leica M3 when it was introduced in 1954 so they must have gotten it right. Also let’s see how many of the newer cameras will be in 70+ years. My M2’s and M3 are still working as if new. I also shoot with a 1935-1936 Leica IIIa which after a recent CLA works like a champ. Please do a follow up on your Leica M journey.

Great story - similar story here: several Fujis, loved especially the XPRO1 and its sensor, wanted to try CCD sensors, bought the M8, then got happily lost down the Leica rabbithole and now have others too. But like you I still kept the XPRO1 and will never sell it.

Hi. We need more test shots. Compare videos. Some commercial work maybe. I wanna buy same as spare cam for art wow shots

With no hand grip, total deal breaker, I hold my camera for 2-3 hours shooting an event. What was Nikon thinking with that non-hand grip in a $2000 camera?

Leica Mistake! - The biggest mistake I ever made was selling my M Monochrome. Still stinging after nearly 2 years since that move.

Awesome story, Leica Said only needed 74 images 😂 I’m with ya! I’m a Leica junky too.

Q2, M246, R4. Agree!

Besorg die den Nikon Handgriff und die Unterseite ist aus Metall. Dann noch ein Voigtländer für Z-Mount und alles passt.

Well said. Very comprehensive, deftly avoided the trigger points in the discussion ha. For me, I found my way to Leica by realizing time and time again that the fewer features I had to deal with, the better I could focus. I think some people's brains naturally work this way. I stopped using autofocus a few years ago and that helped a lot. Attaining focus became intentional when I wanted it, but I could also ignore any sort of camera interjections and simply use DOF and intention to place focus by "dancing" with myself and my subject (zone focus, etc). But, still, I was using this Sony that's just covered in buttons and dials which I never, ever touch. Plus, EVF and focus peaking. Just, no. I want to see the world not another damn screen. So eventually I picked up a beat up old Q to test the system. Immediately sold all my other gear. The color, the handling, the simplicity.. it just worked. Within a few months I had picked up a M240 and that's it. Once I held and used an M body, just immediately right. Colors are good almost SOOC, OVF is so satisfying, Rangefinding is exactly how I wanted to work this whole time. And, of course, the FEEL. Brassy, heavy, chunky, satisfying clunk of machinery with every action. Meters off the shutter, which I love. The list goes on and on. I totally get why anyone would shoot with any other system. Makes all the sense in the world. But Leica is exactly what I want, across the board.

Hi Dromokratis, just found your story, dromokratis, great stuff man! I too picked up a Leica M8 just last year on MPB, only 3,995 shutter actuations?!?! not too bad I guess, thought I was taking such a risk at the time, the fact you hear Leica no longer repairs them and all the various components that are now impossible to replace, I was actually thinking I could of been purchasing a very expensive paperweight, but those thoughts have left me now, I love shooting with this camera, I was thinking of the M9 as my next purchase, but even with replaced sensors they have been problematic I have heard? so I want the M240 next, and originally was planning to trade up from the M8, but now I will definitely keep the M8 also! they are such beautiful cameras!

I shot only one rangefinder, Mamiya 7, so not much I can say. I have now q3, but that's another story and being leaf shutter does come in hand so to say. Interesting take with number of pictures and general quality from the shoot. A good video overall. Thanks Man 🙂

What I like is also that they produce in Europe and the people involved are decently paid. That matters to me, still well, it is a big amount of money and one worries what happens if I loose it, crash it and so on. 🙂

Nice work, that was tough being surrounded by land mines. ❤😂🎉

I’ve had the Leica M9, and I adored using the camera. Sadly no more as it got damaged during a fall. I miss it so much. It was such a good fit for how I like to work, and the image quality is excellent. What I liked about the M9 was the fact it was just a camera. A lot of cameras are now very computer like in operation, with bells and whistles that aren’t always needed or necessary. Like you, I was much more considered in my work when using the M9. Higher keeper rate etc.

I have a Nikon D850 and several lenses but since I bought a Leica Q2, in December 2020, the D850 hasn't moved - it's all just too bulky, heavy and complicated. I'm thinking of selling the Nikon gear and getting a pre-owned M10 R or M11 and a single lens. Selling all my Nikon gear not will only pay for half an M11 so I'm taking my time over a decision 🙂

Du hast das Review sehr gut gemacht. Alle wichtigen Punkte dieses Panzers hast Du erklärt, aber….can it play angry birds?😂 Weiter so Brudi. Herzlichst…Der Bratan🫡😉

Geeeeez, photographers complain a lot lol, SMH

I have Sonys in the closest but picked up a M9 and have been shooting with that exclusively for two months now. It’s not perfect but I like it, and it makes me think more to get the shot. I actually like the jpegs as well.

I have an M2, an M3 and an M6 TTL and also a TYP 240. The TYP 240 is the closest experience in digital to using an M film camera, almost indistinguishable from an M6. It is a super tool focused on photography and absolutely no gimmicks. It only has what you need to make the camera do what you want it to do, not the otherway around.

Nice video. There is one alternative - Pixii A2752.

Interesting observations re. build quality. Every other review I watched claim build quality as a forte. And a cut above Fuji.

Thank you for the review. I do not understand why you are comparing this to a Leica build quality. The leica cost 3 to 4 times more than this camera. You went and bought this one in a completely wrong mindset. Just FYI, you can use your Leica lenses on you Nikon ZF aswell.

nice journey. Thanks very much for sharing

Nice video. A journey for sure. For me, I believe it had to do something with the colors, build quality and reputation Leica has. I ended up with the Q2 earlier this year. I found a deal that I couldn’t pass up. The form factor, full frame sensor and the lens fit my needs. It’s a joy to shoot. Before I shot with the Nikon DX format.

Ωραία τα λες παικταρά μου ! Fuji boy εδώ αλλά κοιτάω την Zf... καλή επιτυχία στο κανάλι !!

I dont think you know about nikon ecosystem. You should stay with Leica and Fuji. Dont waste your time with Nikon.

Voigtlander Z-F adapter & lenses combination does the trick. Complete with functional aperture ring. A decent grip is quite inexpensive.

First thank you for sharing this video, I have the exact same M8 even the red soft shutter (lol) I totally agree with you that camera is super special, the images are just so different, I'm sure it's the CCD sensor. I dont mind the 10 megapixels and lets not even talk about the black and white images!!! Thanks again and enjoy your Leica's

Very honest review but you can only get so much for the price!

First one I've heard the camera is too light!