The Wonderful World of Leica ?

Albion Place, Leeds - Leica Sl (typ601) + Sigma 45mm f2.8

I don’t want you to think by adding a question mark after the title of this blog that I am not a Leica convert. It’s only been a week since I got my hands on my new camera. The design of the Leica SL (typ601) is a thing of beauty. It looks so good both sat on a table and in hand. It feels solid, well made and comfortable. I have had my fair share great cameras in the past. I was a committed Fujifilm user for several years. A few months ago, I switched to Panasonic full frame. Great cameras, loads of tools to help you take great photographs and capture stunning videos. The problem was they had too many buttons, too many options. Whether it is a thing with growing older but I need my tools to be simple, well made and good quality. Panasonic are great quality, well made but not simple. I looked around and my thoughts turned to the Leica SL (typ601). It was a less capable video camera, it lacks image stabilisation and the battery life isn’t as good as the Panasonic S5. The image samples I saw taken with it however have a certain something. It isn’t necessarily about the ‘Leica colours’ or the stunning monochrome images. Ok, they are a factor but there’s something more, almost indefinable. With a good lens and a half decent photographer using them, they create images with something sprinkled on them.

I have this theory about Marks and Spencer. Their food has a certain something about it. It is as if M&S sprinkle a special dust over their food which makes it taste ever so slightly better than other supermarkets. It doesn’t smell different, look that different but tastes as if it comes from M&S. Leica are like that. They produce images the same way other camera manufacturers do, have similar specs to other cameras but produce images with a sprinkling of Leica on them. The raw files are like no raw files I have ever used. The colours aren’t flat but look as if they are the finished article. Interestingly, the SL has a 24MP sensor the same as the Panasonic S5 yet the raw files are 10mb larger on average than the Panasonic.I can’t work out why but they just are. The dynamic range of the S5 is slightly greater than the SL but I seem to be able to pull out more detail from the Leica files.

I have found myself in old familiar locations this week taking photos with my new camera. I look at the image after Ive taken it and find myself smiling at the captured image on the lcd screen. Of course, I’ll still make a mess of compositions and take dud photos but the ones I’ve nailed, I smile at. I haven’t done the before and it takes some getting used to. I was also stopped in the street whilst in Haworth. A couple came up to me and the husband said ‘wow, is that a Leica?’ . I said yes and explained it was a secondhand one and maybe not as expensive as he thought it would be (he did ask me how much it cost). I have shot with some very nice cameras but I have never been asked questions about them. I guess you can’t always go unnoticed when using one. Ultimately, I have always wanted a camera I want to pick up and take out. I want to enjoy holding it and feel over faced by buttons. Leica do make very expensive, sometimes ridiculously expensive cameras but they make them well. They are hand made by workers who are paid well to do so. They are engineering works of art, designed to produce stunning images. How stunning depends on the ability of the person holding one. I am far from highly polished when it comes to photography. I can produce some good photos, photos of which I am proud. I know with this camera in hand, I have to up my game and make art worthy of the tools I have at my disposal.

Manual or Auto?, That Is The Question.

Ricoh Magic.