Not sure if this is something that just poisons my Instagram and facebook feed or if it’s a really common thing, but I’ve just finished flipping through some blokes album and it just went from bad to worse the longer it went on.
I think because Leica cameras are well made, and sort of mechanical, and manual, there a bit of a perception that they’re better and going to improve your photography even if you’re not a photographer, or turn you into a good photographer if you’re a bad one. That coupled with the worship for the brand leads to people gushing over this guy’s shockingly bad photos because they think it’s deliberate or artistic or something.
It’s not just one guy, I know a pile of these guys that are watch collectors who bought into Leica rangefinders because they’re expensive and “the best” and produce nothing but badly overexposed, blurry, out of focus, poorly composed garbage, taken under lighting conditions that were never going to produce good results on that camera anyway.
If your photography skills are bad to begin with buy yourself a decent beginner friendly mirror-less camera with autofocus, auto exposure, auto everything. Learn how lightning works, read a book on photography.
Then when you can take a portrait that doesn’t look like something out of a random letter, consider upgrading your gear, but make sure you actually know what you’re doing before buying an ultra-expensive camera and lens that magnifies your failings by design.
You know who you are, go buy a Fujifilm or Olympus or something.
I finally broke down and bought a digital M. I have M3, M4and ZI and a few IIIs. But Film is getting very expensive and inconvenient to get developed. That was holding me back taking pics.
Now I can use all my vintage LTM and Zeiss lenses again and see the crappy pics right away.
Oh and the social prestige I gained when walking alone with my camera …..😁
Leica makes great (overpriced) cameras.
Or are they priced where they need to be for Leica to make a profit? There is no doubt M and R cameras cost a lot of money, but they aren't intended to be consumer-level cameras, either.
Photography is 9-tenths the photographer, and 1-tenth the camera.
I need all the help I can get 😁
Or are they priced where they need to be for Leica to make a profit? There is no doubt M and R cameras cost a lot of money, but they aren't intended to be consumer-level cameras, either.
Let me rephrase: professional camera gear is expensive and Leica makes great tools, but I don't think they offer a good value compared to flagship cameras from Sony, Canon, Nikon, or Fuji.
Let me rephrase: professional camera gear is expensive and Leica makes great tools, but I don't think they offer a good value compared to flagship cameras from Sony, Canon, Nikon, or Fuji.
Lest we forget, Leica is driven these days as much by the marketing department as it is by the engineering department. How else to explain the faux film-wind lever on a digital camera (it's actually a thumb rest) or the Leica phone, which is neither a very good phone nor a very good camera?
Thumb rest says it all.
