Poll: How many of you have used/use a Leica?

[jamaio]

I still have and use an M7 for fun, and even picked up a "LeicaPanny" DigiLux 3 last December, which makes a good general purpose tool which is much easier to carry around than the full Canon kit.

[VincentPhotography]

I use my M6 on a regular basis shooting Ilford HP5 plus 400 and Kodak E100 slides. There are a few 35mm lens that come close to the quality of my 50mm Summicron f2 but under really close inspect my scans are true gems. That camera is like a VIP pass, I swear when I use the M6 in places I get no hassles from anyone, go in with my 1Ds and security will have me surrounded and 20 questions. My Minox 35EL goes where neither can go and comes out with the goods. Like a small cell phone, I hold it up to my ear and shoot when it's time. Both cameras are straight shooters that require estimating and total awareness! I think that's where we draw the line, if we want to use our brain or the cameras brain.

Just rejoined the Leica world...

Got an M8 with a Summicron f2.0 28mm, to get my familiar 35mm focal length from the "good old days"...see my post here for more info

I wanted a pro camera I could have on me always. Like a "ladies handbag", ya know, it's always by my side whenever I leave the house...and due to it's total stealth feel it doesn't flag me as a pro.

I've only had it for a couple of days, but so far I am super happy with it. The 2500 iso is crazy usable. It takes a while to get used to again - using a rangefinder again, remembering where the aperture ring etc is after 10 years of peering through Canons...

I intend to use this as my standard wide angle camera - at events up to now I was juggling several Canon bodies, now I will be set with the M8 at effectively 35mm and my Canon 1dmkIIn loaded with either a 24-70 or an 85mm

I also tried using a 550ex flash on it, and it works fine in manual mode.

The attached shot at 2500 iso, 2.0 and virtually no light...apologies for the funny face, heh, it was kinda late, but look at the lack of noise. Cool!

Will

[Bob Morrison]

Does this count? Back in the early 1960s I had a Canon rangefinder that was a copy of an early Leica and used Canon screw-mount lenses. If I recall correctly, I had a 28mm with an accessory viewfinder, a collapsible 50 mm and a 75 mm that was an awesome portrait lens. Bought it from a soldier who got it in Japan while he was there during the Occupation.

[Tim Smith]

During the early 70's I was fortunate enough to have the use of an M3 and 3 lenses (35,50,135). It was loaned to me by a man I worked for during my college years. I don't know how he came by it or why he had it, but it was a pristine camera and it was a very generous thing for him to have done. Once I finished school, I had the camera and lenses serviced and returned it to him.

I loved that camera though, and it was hard to part with it. He offered to sell it to me but I was just starting and there was no way I could afford to pay what it was worth.

I think of both the man and the camera as being examples of the very best.

[Ed Albesi]

Originally Posted by Bob Morrison

Does this count? Back in the early 1960s I had a Canon rangefinder that was a copy of an early Leica and used Canon screw-mount lenses. If I recall correctly, I had a 28mm with an accessory viewfinder, a collapsible 50 mm and a 75 mm that was an awesome portrait lens. Bought it from a soldier who got it in Japan while he was there during the Occupation.

Hi Bob,
Canon screwmount cameras count certainly.

They were born as textual Leica copies, sharing even the lenses screw mount. Canon screwmount lenses were a lower costing and optically valid alternative to original Leitz lenses. Some of them have optical designs newer to their german counterparts. There were also some innovative optical designs that established reference landmarks at their time, as the Canon 50/0.95 or the 85/1.5.

The 50/0.95 (derived from a Canon TV camera lens) is the fastest normal lens ever produced for a 35mm camera.

A fact that very few people remember is that Nippon Kogaku (later knew as Nikon) introduced their "Nikkor" line of lenses to be sold with the first Canon rangefinders.... Only later in time did Canon produce their own lenses and Nikon their own camera bodies.

Ed

[jamaio]

I use a Leica M7 and, for general event coverage where the output is for the web, a Leica DigiLux-3.