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Why Buy Leica?

Double Negative

Not Available
Sure, we've all heard it before - Leica is a "luxury brand." While that can certainly be said about Leica products, there's a whole lot more to consider. In our newest article, "Why Buy Leica?" we explore the many reasons to consider a Leica system as a photographic tool, rather than merely as an object of desire or luxury good.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Sure, we've all heard it before - Leica is a "luxury brand." While that can certainly be said about Leica products, there's a whole lot more to consider. In our newest article, "Why Buy Leica?" we explore the many reasons to consider a Leica system as a photographic tool, rather than merely as an object of desire or luxury good.
With all due respect, I think this particular article belongs more in the Sunset Bar than in the Leica forum.

;-)
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Actually, I know why I would consider Leica for a photographic "tool." I don't know any other reason to consider it something else...
 

Agnius

Member
Thanks for the article, now I am interested in M9. Oh wait, I have been waiting for M10! Then maybe I'll get M9 ;)
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Thanks a lot, guys! Glad you enjoyed it. :)

Agnius, LOL - if you wait until the M10 comes out, the M9s will be even cheaper!
I was unwilling to wait on the basis of rumors. I'm glad I didn't ... I dig this camera! ;-)

It is interesting that when I pick up the M9 and the Ricoh GXR-M, they are closer in size and feel than I had imagined they might be. That says that the M9 is amazingly small for a full frame sensor camera compared to the others out there in the market.
 

SYGTAFOTO

New member
I can't see myself putting up tens of thousands of dollars on camera and lenses on just because. That would be like betting on stock without looking at the financial numbers just because it performed so well before.

Aside from the brand value, there are specific technical advantages of Leica and rangefinder that attract photographers. Buyers are aware of these either consciously or sub-consciously. What Double Negative's article does is bringing to the surface what these relative advantages are.
 

Double Negative

Not Available
Thanks, Scott - exactly what my point was with the article. Everyone has their reason(s) for buying Leica. Some, sure - "just because" (and why I included that section). Others for some (or all) of the reasons I mention. There's no right or wrong answer. I just thought I'd point out the more tangible things.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Thanks, Scott - exactly what my point was with the article. Everyone has their reason(s) for buying Leica. Some, sure - "just because" (and why I included that section). Others for some (or all) of the reasons I mention. There's no right or wrong answer. I just thought I'd point out the more tangible things.
I never said "just because".

My first two Leicas cost me $99, together with their lenses. They produced beautiful photographs, despite being "ancient junk that nobody wants any more" quoting the salesman at Olden Camera who sold them to me. That was 1969, the cameras and lenses were a beat up IIc and IIf with Elmar 3.5cm and 5.0cm, one of them uncoated, that had been lying about in their junk drawer for a decade. About six years later, one of them needed a shutter overhaul, which cost me $90.

It was because of those two cameras, and the IIIf that my father regarded as a Holy Object, that I have never had to question why. They worked, they produced the goods, and I loved shooting with them even though my Nikon's specs were so much more modern and in any comparison of rational reason I should have dumped the little pieces of junk into the waste bin and considered my $100 a waste of money.

Some things cannot be resolved on specs and rational argument. Cameras are tools for the making of photographs, which are on the borderlines of art and reportage. As such they are tools of vision and feeling as much as they are equipment characterized by specifications.

I've never spent so much money on a single piece of equipment as I did in buying the M9. Doesn't matter what its specs are ... it is a wonderful camera, for my use, not because I want to dangle it around like a status symbol ... and was worth purchasing. No amount of rationalization or specs or whatever justifies the expense. The photographs and how much I like using it does.


Leica M9 + CV Color Skopar 50mm f/2.5

{big grins}
 

dude163

Active member
If we only looked at specs alone then everyone would be driving a Prius , as they are so economical . or using a Timex watch as they are so inexpensive .

There will always be a place for precision made equipment , whether its a Leica, a TAG , an Audi , or a Ducati etc.....

Ive only been a Leica owner for under a year, but the amount of polarization it evokes astounds me , people either are in awe of it or crap all over it and tell me i could have gotten a *better* camera by buying a Canon 5d or a Nikon D3.

But............ what is *better* ? I use my ancient M8 with its 48 yr old lens and it brings me joy, and a smile to my face when I use it, or when I load up the DNG files in lightroom and that's what it should be about. Perhaps taking kid pictures with a leica RF is overkill, but I have a book showing some of the first pictures taken with a leica prototype, and guess what, its of Oskar Barnacks kids and coworkers :)

Bottom line: Does it make me happy? if the answer is yes, then who cares what others think?

for me the Answer is : Yes
 

Shashin

Well-known member
If we only looked at specs alone then everyone would be driving a Prius , as they are so economical . or using a Timex watch as they are so inexpensive .
IF economy is the only spec to judge a product. But naturally it is not. There are more criteria a buyer can have. BTW, I own a Prius.

THE most important criteria for the camera buyers is they think the product, for want of a better word, cool. Then cost is usually a factor. There is nothing inherently better in one camera type over another--cameras are compromises. Justifications for a particular camera are some form of a strawman fallacy.

What would really be nice if photographers could stop being so competitive about their gear, or at least not so insecure, and we could enjoy the variety of the field.
 

wolverine

New member
After reading the article I think it is missing a couple of things. I agree with most of what you had to say, though. So without trying to offend anyone, I will to present a little bit different view.

Why do we take photos? Is it to post on blogs or websites? If so, any point and shoot will suffice and you spent way too much on Leica for the ability to do this. Is it to make a print? If so, then equipment matters. But even if your largest print is 8x10 there is an argument that equipment is less of a factor, but still important.

When I think of equipment, I am still stuck in an analog world where the only variable to equipment that mattered to me was the lens. Stick film in any camera, but give me the right lens. Digital has changed that because the sensor is now an important variable. Let me be clear that at this point I am not talking about the process of taking the photo. To some, the camera matters in that process. I get it. I am talking about the output, the print.

With the print in mind, what do I want that gives me the feeling that I am getting the best output? To me that is the Leica lens. Without a doubt, when I see the print, I am amazed every single time. There is a vision that I just don't get with any other brand. Leica is without peer. I have used them all. Canon L, Nikon's best, Olympus, Sony and Zeiss. I have not used medium format.

So Leica lenses are what I choose to use. The next question in the digital world is what sensor best gives the output that I am looking for? I want to use the Leica lens on the camera that meets my needs. If any camera that took a Leica lens, with or without adapter, worked for me then I would have a lot to choose from. But for my needs, the Leica M9 is what I prefer. I think Leica has done a great job of matching lens and sensor. If I could get what I prefer from a different camera, I would use it. I am not tied to rangefinder or any other process. I am tied to the output, the print. Leica gives me what I am looking for. I am done experimenting. Leica is it.

I hope this makes sense.

Regarding the marketing of the digital camera. Don't be fooled. Leica gets it. They are in a cycle of improvements of the digital camera and hope we upgrade each time they announce a new one. They are just not on the same pace as the other camera makers.

Frank
 
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dude163

Active member
Shashin, I agree, I just chose 1 spec out of many , if I had used 0-100 kmh accel it would be something else entirely :)

BTW My statement wasnt a slur on Prius ownership , I hope it didnt come across that way as the internet isnt always the best for discussion.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
I did not take it as a slur against the Prius. I just arrived at buying my Prius at balancing a lot of specs and used this to say a Prius might be the right answer, but one of many. I have always loved rangefinders, but I understand that to be my problem and nothing inherent in the camera itself.

I just read an interesting article about why folks believe in a particular scientific idea, in this case evolution. They did a bunch of tests and the conclusion was it was not because the folks in question simply understood the science in any deep way, but rather it was just an intuitive belief (this was a survey of students, not scientists). I can make up a ton of reasons I bought a Pentax 645D (the same ones I gave my wife, oddly enough), but it really comes down to the fact it inspires me--i.e., I think it is cool.
 
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boyzo

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