[Leica] In praise of the RF cameras and Leica in particular

[richard-lists at imagecraft.com (Richard F. Man)]

I suspect a good number of you started out with RF or have made similar 
discovery long time ago, so this is boring old news to you - but the RF 
system and the Leica in particular is a fantastic photographic tool. Not 
that I am that good a photographer, but I am trying and learning. My wife 
pushed me to get the M7 as part of my 40th birthday present. This is after 
2 years of my renewed interests in photography and collecting OM lens right 
and left. However, one phrase spoken by a gentleman we met back in Nova 
Scotia in 1987 stuck in my mind, "someday everyone wants an M..." Then I 
read up on Leica sites and such. I don't quite get all these weird 
descriptions of different style of photography or looking at object. After 
all, a viewfinder is a viewfinder. Why should it be any difference whether 
it is a rangefinder or a mirrored SLR? But hey, it is my midlife crisis and 
there are worse ways to blow some money....

250+ rolls of slides, plus down to 3 main lens 35/1.4ASPH, 50/2, 90/2AA 
later. I think I see it now. No, generally I do not prowl the streets, 
prefocus and shoot, I just shoot (boring) semi-formal portraits mostly. But 
what a glorious view. With the framelines in the middle of a greater view, 
I see more possibilities of moving (left and right AND front to back) to 
recompose for better lines and more interesting scenes. And what scenes it 
records. While I don't print chemically and instead of scan the slides and 
print on an inkjet, I am most impressed with what I see after printing out 
~30 11x14 prints for my portfolio last week. What glorious colors and 
depth. They look good on 8x10, which is what I used to do, but they look 
awesome as 11x14.

And the M7, primitive to the tee, has just the right amount of "things." 
Personally I would prefer full aperture and shutter speed display in both 
auto and manual modes, plus an easier to use exposure compensation 
dial/lever, but it is close to perfection. We have a Minotla A2, which 
takes darn good pictures, and a Sony T1 that is so small it is always in my 
pouch, but time and time again, when I want to take pictures, out comes the 
M7.

It certainly has been a learning experience. I bought and sold an M6 
(needed the money at the time :-( ). I bought a Noctilux and sold it a year 
later to get the Tri-Elmar. Now the Tri-Elmar sits. I will probably sell it 
to fund the R-D1 or something. The CV 21/4 just got sold. I am not built 
for that angle of view. I am keeping the CV 75/2.5 just because it is so 
small. The 3 remaining Leica lens never disappoint. If a picture does not 
work, it's my problems, not because the lens is inadequate or the camera is 
not good enough.

// richard (This email is for mailing lists. To reach me directly, please 
use richard at imagecraft.com)