Leica makes you happy – part 2

Leica gives you the feeling that you are holding something special when you unpack it. Wrapped with so much love...

Anyone who tries to take photos with a Leica for the first time will probably feel like they have gone back many years - clunky design, no autofocus, no real viewfinder, no program mode. In fact, the camera feels good in my hand, the build quality is excellent and there are details that are simply endearing. The Leica M is my first camera where I don't remove the hot shoe cover straight out of the box. While with all cameras I was always sure that I would lose the thing very quickly, with the Leica the cover can only be unlocked by pressing a small button - anyone who loses this small part must be very unlucky.

The minimalist design means hardly any change for me, but rather a welcome reduction to the essentials. “Pure photography”, but built by experts. I also use the middle autofocus point with my other cameras almost without exception and expose my pictures almost 100% in manual mode. Arrows or a round dot in the viewfinder indicate what the exposure recommendation of the Leica M is. In contrast to my Experience with Fuji cameras, the control wheel on Leica does not adjust. With Fuji the exposure compensation has always been wrong. Another advantage over the Fujis is the existing shutter. When changing the lens, the sensor is immediately exposed on Fuji, while on Leica only the shutter is visible. I see the supposed weight disadvantage of the Leica (680g) compared to the Fujis (X-Pro 1: 440g) as an advantage because it means I can handle even longer exposure times. The lack of a mirror is even more noticeable compared to my Nikons because of the lack of flywheels. In addition, the Leica M - similar to my Nikon bodies - is protected against splash water.

The biggest change is the rangefinder and the delicate focusing option. However, I quickly recognize the advantages of the system. While I take photos through wide-open lenses with all other viewfinder systems, the rangefinder shows everything sharp from front to back. What's more: it doesn't matter which lens I screw on the front - the rangefinder on the Leica M always shows approximately the image with a 28mm lens. This allows me to precisely identify disruptive elements in the background and, for example, eliminate them by changing my location in the image. If I take photos in a busy street, I can see in time if someone is about to walk through my frame - and I can wait or include them in the picture...

Focusing with the rangefinder requires practice, but in fact this fine motor system is so ingeniously built that the double image even shows you which way you need to turn the distance setting on your lens.

Another advantage arises when taking photos with a gray filter, because while the viewfinder image becomes darker with DSLR cameras, this is not a problem at all with the rangefinder system. The viewfinder image remains nice and bright, focusing is no problem.

Of course, this anachronistic system also has a huge disadvantage: with longer focal lengths, the part of the viewfinder that is important for the image is already very small. That doesn't make focusing any easier either. But Leica wouldn't be Leica if they didn't come up with some useful and overpriced helpers. I got one for my old eyes and my 50s Viewfinder magnifier Bought it, it turns the viewfinder image into a 35mm lens. This makes focusing at half-distance much easier.

Who mentioned in the first part, I spent a lot of time with the lenses before purchasing, but little with the camera. Maybe that's why the Leica M always surprises me. The first time, however, was on Christmas Eve, when I was sitting in front of the TV with my loved one (that's my amazing wife) and one of our cats made an amusing face. I quickly get the camera and am curious to see what it does in these undefined lighting conditions. And yes: I'll buy a Leica for a few thousand and now show you cat pictures...

I ask myself whether buying the M was worth it and quickly grab my Nikon D800e with AF-S 58mm f/1.4 from the next room. The combination isn't exactly a nose drill set...

The obvious difference is the cat's gaze - with my DSLRs I've never managed to get the four-legged friend to look at the camera. So far this only worked with the small cameras from Fuji or Panasonic. Now also with the Leica...

Of course you can also see a difference in the bokeh. Whether you like the Leica lens's typical handling of light sources better or worse than the admittedly very creamy bokeh of the Nikon glass is certainly a matter of taste.

In the two pictures you may not see a difference that justifies the additional charge. I ask you to consider two things. Take a closer look at the colors again, in my opinion they look clearer and purer with the Leica. But what put a big exclamation mark on my forehead was the fact that the Leica image came out of the camera like that. At Nikon I had to do some work in post-production to make it look somewhat like the Leica image. In the unedited original, this washed out something came out of the camera.

In the last month I took around 2000 pictures and I was always happy about the brilliant colors and the exact quality of the white balance. I often become aware of this, especially with skin tones. This photographic recording device shows its strengths here.

The Leica M is a great camera, but it's not a point-and-shoot. You have to get the camera. You will be rewarded with sensational files and a wonderfully restrained shutter sound.

My starter set is rounded off with the Noctilux – more of that in the third part...