A
Leica M Series Rangefinder camera is quite 'different' from a
digital single lens reflex (DSLR) but I keep coming back to it for
consideration! I have included some links to articles from Leica M
Photographers and added my thoughts to the subject.
There are two videos further down the page that
overview the physical and menu features of the Leica M9 digital
rangefinder camera.
Ralph Gibson
- He has worked with a Leica M Series 'Film' Camera for 50 years and he gives this exclusive
interview for Leica Camera.
Perhaps not the best video in the world but never the less an
interesting introduction to Ralph Gibson and his style of photography.
He started out with a Leica M3 Rangefinder 35mm 'film' camera and in
recognition of his long-term use of Leica M series cameras, Leica made
50 units specifically designed from his input.
He still uses one to this day, the 'Ralph Gibson' Leica MP 'Film'
Rangefinder with .85 viewfinder and frames for 35mm, 50mm and 90mm Leica
M 'manual focus' lenses. He still prefers film and I have to admit that
MP appears very tasty!
Bruce
has this head on approach to 'street photography' which I find a bit
extreme and he certainly is not shy. I am not sure that this approach
would work in Scotland, where you have to be a little bit more discreet.
Craig Semetco
- This is a video on how he started with Leica and he uses a Leica MP
and M9 for 'street' photography. The second video is more about the M9
and provides image examples of his more artistic work.
I like Craig's
approach to street photography which is not so direct and draws into it
an artistic quality. Both the videos are excellent examples of what can
be achieved with a Leica M Series Camera.
The Leica MP, M7 and M9 Rangefinder Cameras seem to be photographic
tools that are used by photographers, like Ralph Gibson, who specialise in 'niche' photography with a desire for a 'visual' style of
their own. The Leica M camera and manual focus lenses are 'fit for
purpose' and deliver the 'look' that the photographer desires as well as
the 'handling' and 'pace' that matches their type of photography. Other
photographers who use a 'professional' DSLR camera for photography,
which is usually wildlife, sports or landscape photography, very often
purchase a Leica M System to slow down their photography and to enjoy
the minimalistic' controls it offers for street shots and 'everyday'
use.
The Leica M has evolved from its 35mm black and white film use in the
1900s world of reportage and street photography to it's present 'full
frame' M9 digital sensor format. It's relatively small size and weight
remain true to the original film camera design along with it's basic
controls for adjustment to ISO, aperture and shutter which remain
uncluttered and it's bright viewfinder and manual focus lenses, which to
all accounts, are a joy
to use.
When I read the reviews and watch
the video articles, the true strength of the camera is invariably missed
as the 'primary strength' is the 35mm 'full frame' capability of the
MP film or the M9 digital sensor in a lightweight and compact camera
body. For me the 35mm, 50mm and 90mm focal
range are the pre-requisites lenses to be used with a 1.4x viewfinder
magnifier fitted for the 50mm and 90mm lenses. Mind you, my ideal
solution could also be 2 x lenses, the 35mm and the 75mm, making an even
lighter M system. It would be nice if
the expected Leica M9.2 or a future M10 had a .85 viewfinder option with ONLY the 35mm,
50mm and 90mm 'individual' frame lines.
The metering system of the Leica M Series is excellent and the exposure
can be manually adjusted + or - using the control for exposure
compensation, the aperture select ring on the lens barrel and a
dedicated shutter switch or simply set it to A for aperture priority and
whatever aperture you select on the lens barrel will automatically
select an appropriate shutter speed. The ISO rating on a film M is
pre-set by the chosen film speed and on a digital M9, it is selected
from the menu as viewed on the LCD. The LCD has no live view, it is for
menu driven item changes and for viewing digital images in playback.
The Leica M rangefinder focus system is different from autofocus which
can be found in a DSLR, micro 4/3rds mirrorless and digital compact
cameras. With the Leica M Series camera, you have to manually focus the
lens on your subject to bring a SPOT in the centre of the
viewfinder which is misaligned (in 2 parts) into alignment (1 part) in
the viewfinder. This SPOT will automatically move out of
alignment when you centre the viewfinder on another part of the scene
which is at a lesser or greater distance, whereby you again have to
focus the lens to bring the SPOT (1 part) into alignment. The
great benefit of this is that once you have focused on the part of the
scene you want (for example a person) you can then change the scene
composition and the person remains in lens focus. In all cases the
viewfinder projects the scene as ALL in focus, similar to the
naked eye. There is no 'out of focus' part of the scene similar to
looking through the lens of a single lens reflex camera, you will not
see a blur bokeh background through the M viewfinder, you have to
imagine it! This may seem a bit complicated but it is not, the M series
rangefinder camera can be also be used with great accuracy to set-up a
pre-determined 'depth of field' focus area by manually turning the lens
barrel to match 'depth of field' distance focus markings against the
chosen aperture setting. With an aperture of f1.4 which is usually 'wide
open' the 'depth of field' is very small, almost waver thin and as the
aperture is closed down, f2, f2.8, f4, f5.6 onwards, the 'depth of
field' increases in size. This is excellent as the photographer can
pre-set the 'depth of field' or even use 'hyperfocal'
settings and then concentrate on capturing the shot without touching the
lens, aperture or focus again. This is one of the reasons that the Leica
M Series Rangefinder camera is so popular for 'street' photography.
The Leica M Series camera has bright frames that are superimposed in the
viewfinder to match the chosen lens and at 35mm the frame line is almost
all the viewfinder and as the lens fitted becomes focally longer, 50mm up to
135mm the frame line becomes much smaller and it is difficult to view
the scene and also to match up the rangefinder focus SPOT for alignment.
Most M camera photographers will fit a 1.4x magnifier (screw on) to the
viewfinder when using 50mm, 75mm, 90mm and 135mm lenses. In this way the
scene is magnified and the SPOT focus alignment in the viewfinder
is easier to match up to the given scene. One area that is a 'wrinkle'
is that some Leica M lenses, which are long in the barrel, can be seen
in the lower right of the viewfinder, and the tip of the lens creeps
into every scene viewed, especially in the 35mm frame line with a long
35mm lens. This is aggravated when a lens hood is fitted!
I think the most fascinating part of using a Leica M9 is the reality
that your mind has to conceive the final image captured as the
viewfinder does not reflect any changes when the camera controls are
adjusted. Fortunately the learning curve is a great deal faster as you
can quickly view your image on the digital screen and make any changes
to the next attempt. In the old days with a Leica M, you had to wait for
the film to come back or develop it yourself in the darkroom. That still
applies today if you purchase the 2011 '35mm film' variants, the Leica
MP or M7 cameras. Either way, it still makes you think more about your
photography and it is only when you become more adept at using the camera
that the the pace will quicken.........should you so desire?
I cannot begin to compare my present Panasonic GF1 MFT digital camera,
the Leica X1 or even the Fuji X100 to the Leica M9. The cameras all have
similar controls and in fact it could be argued that the GF1 has even
better controls but that is where the similarities end. The GF1 MFT 2x
crop sensor and Fuji X100, Leica X1 APS-C 1.5x crop sensor cameras have
limitations for subject isolation from the background because the lenses
used are 20mm and 23mm to deliver a 35mm 'field of view'. The Leica M9 has a 'full frame' sensor and the 35mm
lens delivers a 'field of view' of 35mm which remains relatively 'wide'
and yet provides ideal subject
isolation at greater distances from the camera with the Leica 50mm and
90mm lenses delivering even more. These 'full frame' focal attributes
should not be taken lightly as they offer the photographer greater
powers to deliver the necessary 'visual' impact in their images.
If you couple the Leica M9 to the latest generation of Leica M manual
focus lenses, especially the f.95 and f1.4 aperture lenses then the
photographer is guaranteed the ability to deliver awesome image quality
with the lenses set 'wide open' and producing ideal subject separation
from the background when required and ALSO the ability to shoot 'hand
held' 35mm and 50mm lens images in low light and under street lights.
My choice of lenses for the Leica M Series, especially the M9, is the
'new' Leica 35mm f1.4 ASPH Summilux-M and the Leica 75mm f2 ASPH
Summicron-M. My 50mm choice is not a Leica M lens it is the Zeiss 50mm
f1.5 Sonnar Lens.
I am not sure that I have a 'niche' area of photography that is suitable
for the expensive Leica M System? Perhaps in time, I will find a method
in my photography that can demonstrate my own style and then who knows
the Leica M9, the expected M9.2 or even a future M10 might prove most
suitable?