I never wanted a Leica. Overpriced. Especially when compared to Sony, Canon, Nikon or Fuji and Olympus. Each and every one of them is a top brand with considerably cheaper and sometimes even more advanced options. A Leica for me was unintentionally the arrogant way of saying that you were superior to the average photographer. Say, you're driving around in an Audi A6 just because you can afford it, not because it's a better car. I looked at it soberly, same like I drive a Peugeot. But that opinion changed dramatically over the years, for the good.
by Albert Kampermann, webeditor vintage-photo.nl
I am a collector and user (and yes, reviewer) of vintage (especially German) film cameras and have all brands in a display case, from bulky boxcameras with glass plates from the early 20th century to even the first digital ones from the late nineties. And also beautiful medium format 120 filmcameras like Voigtlanders, Zeiss-Ikons, Agfas. And of course so many 35mm SLR's till one looks so similar to another, that collecting comes to an end. But let's be honest: the most beautiful ones I own bear the name Leitz or Leica. Anyone who has ever held an Oscar Barnack Leica from the 1930's in their hands will be happy to share that conclusion. They are, for that time, exceptional advanced film cameras. Rangefinders that fascinate with the aesthetic design of the time.
Beautiful shiny metal with buttons under which magical mechanical processes with hundreds of parts come into play to let you take photos that were unprecedentedly detailed and sharp for the time. Conceived and designed by Oscar Barnack. For the optical engineering factory of Ernst Leitz, who was able to breathe a new life into the productline, next to his microscope factory, namely cameras for the masses. A fascinating idea, derived from the hobbyist Barnack who already envisioned consumer photography. The Leitz Camera became the epitome of German precision mechanics and thanks to the already available knowledge of quality glass, lenses could be manufactured that brought the world into the living room through that small camera. But that also came with a hefty cost, simply because it was all manual work, all the parts, assembly, quality control and (after)sales. It's all done by people. Handiwork. Handicraft.
And that hasn't changed to this day. Where the Sonys and Nikons roll off the assembly line, in Wetzlar, Germany, an employee is still assembling a Leica at a table after a hundred years. A Leica only leaves the factory if it bears the personal signature of Leica. The cost can be explained, but is it worth it, other than out of sentiment, to opt for a Leica? Is a Leica any other camera that stands out and justifies the sky-high amount? In this article I will explain why I am now convinced of the Leica as my rightful camera.
What happened is that I wanted to take pictures with my classic cameras, looking through the lens of 100 years old at the world of today. Medium format, small format. I had broken ones repaired where possible. And I gave my old Leica Barnacks a professional CLA service so they arrived home in almost new working order. They (still) are repairable, and often even still in good condition even from the moment of purchasing, so that maintenance is not even necessary. Not even after all those years. That's just how well they are designed and built with the highest quality materials. Shutter curtains that are still light-proof after all this time and shutter speeds that deviate only a fraction from the day it was made. To be honest, my experience with the Leica film cameras is the best of all. The Barnack rangefinders in particular are a pleasure to work with and the photos are all fantastic. Both digitized on the computer screen and (even better) printed. I use the Leica Elmar and Summicron lenses from that time adapted to my digital Sony and they deliver wonderfully sharp and contrast-rich images. A few years ago I even started using the iconic Leica M6 film camera as my only filmcamera still in use (as it lived up to its iconic status) and have photo books full of prints of a bygone world of processing negatives to photo paper. You look at them differently because they are shot differently. A Leica as an excellent tool that promotes creativity and the peace and quiet that is needed for this. It stops time to experience and seize the moment. Picture after picture.
What also happened is that in this digital age I wanted to have access to a small, light camera during my bike rides and at the same time take high-quality photos. Not such a cheap pocket camera from the well-known brands, but a solid all-rounder. Here I tested the first digital Leica, an old affordable model to be sure, and with the question of 'let's see, Leitz, is it true'? It became a Leica X1 from 2009 for a few hundred Euro. A very nice device with that remarkable Leica design, simple, few buttons, short menu on the screen. It seemed right to me to justify the cheaper price tag, but nothing could be further from the truth. For all its cameras, Leica only opts for 'The Wesentliche', the essentials and no unnecessary bells and whistles. The X1 not only lived up to the high expectations, but exceeded them. The pictures were stunningly sharp, contrasty and colourful too. A saturation that appeals to the imagination, that causes an almost 3D effect due to the many details, referred by others as the popup effect or microcontrast.
You can already feel where this story is going. True. From the Leica X1 came the X2 (again just a little better) and finally the switch to a bigger sensor on the the APS Leica CL and finally even bigger, the Leica fullframe M240. All second-hand, but certainly not for favorable prices. Leicas retain their value. Some only get more expensive as they get older. The X1 now costs more than I bought it a few years ago. I later sold the CL again for the same purchase price at the time. A Leica is a solid investment. Whether the money is lifeless in a savings account or as a working camera in the closet. You grow with your Leica. The need for more, bigger or better. I saw it with my own development from X to CL to M. M is next to the SL high end model or better: Leica heaven. They are the holy grails, almost unattainable for mortals or you have to save money for years. So also for me after long time I could afford a M240, second-hand, with already outdated technology. An iconic digital rangefinder that elevates photography back to a fantastic art in which you can put all your creativity. Where you have to take your time to focus the image, compose, almost as in making music. Choosing the tone, determining the symphony, looking for coherence in elements. Create. So not how fast is my autofocus for that snapshot, can it shoot 4K video in 120p or how many images can I shoot per second, that's not what Oscar means.
Admittedly, it's an expensive hobby. Leicas. But you get hooked on them. Made in Wetzlar, Germany. I've been there, at Leica. Beautiful, sleekly designed buildings with a huge collection of photos taken over the past hundred years. By well-known and unknown photographers. They all have that Leica feel, because the photos have a common denominator. That hard-to-define Leica look. They are modest in content, but ambitious in composition. There is a story in every photo. Leicas are storytellers. And if not only for the camera, also the lenses are top notch, in quality but also in stellar price. Fortunately, other third parties offer alternatives that come very close to the same quality, but are much more affordable and still perform 'Leicaish'.
In the end, after much deliberation, I sold my CL with pain in my heart and paid for a Leica Q2. The most popular camera at the moment. Not unjustified, because the Q2 is the pinnacle of 'Das Wesentliche', the essentials of a camera. With a fixed lens, a 28 mm wide angle, a 1.7 bright Summilux. Buttons so few you can count them on one hand. That's it. But I got the feeling of my first Barnack again. A camera you'll instantly fall in love with. A device that you want to take with you wherever you go. To tell your story, a story that emerges when you bring the camera to your eye and look through the viewfinder. Then you're in the Leica world.
I've really worked with the other brands, big bulky top SLR cameras with a bag full of wide-angle and telephoto or zoom lenses. Heavy bags while travelling, always a lot of hassle to change lenses. Also hung a tripod or gimbal on the backpack. A set-up that didn't actually promote creativity, because you were predominantly always thinking with technology in mind. And if you had finally mounted the camera on the tripod with the right lens, there were still the countless, impenetrable menus on the screen of the camera. Hundreds of possibilities for taking a single photo. I didn't like it anymore. I wanted to take photos without the hassle. No dust on the sensor due to changing lenses, no errors because one of the settings on page xx, subsection xx of the menu was wrong. Without wanting to check everything in advance or even worse, due to insecurity that derives from too many options and settings finally just giving in to 'everything on automatic'.
With the Leica Q2 I'm back to taking photos as art. Uncomplicated hobby. Just apply the basic knowledge in manual mode. Learn and go. Shutter speeds and aperture. ISO and exposure compensation. Compose and shoot. And sometimes, yes just trust the computer in the camera with autofocus and exposure. The camera has the Leica 'memory' inside stored of what a photo technically perfects. You can rely on that, which also guarantees that the quick snapshot will also succeed. Weatherproof, no unnecessary accessories, no bags of lenses, reliable internal stabilization that doesn't make a tripod necessary. Those who come from the analogue era understand the nostalgia from manual picture taking. A desire that has been suppressed by the many digital possibilities that really are not needed and abundantly overturned into options that exceed the wants and needs of many. Especially mine. Back to the basics without compromising on the highest quality. With courage to chose for a single lens that requires creativity, moving back and forward, trying out how to best compose the subject and even more, making the process of photography fun again. Indeed, this includes a high and expensive quality of bold simplicity in a tool that is currently best delivered by Leica. That's what Oscar meant.
Albert Kampermann is blogger and webeditor of vintage-photo.nl