scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Virtually all posts comparing cameras on this site usually mention Sony, Nikon, Canon with the occasional mention of Fuji and Olympus. Very few posts that I’ve seen discuss Leica and very few photos are posted that came from a Leica body. Are there many Leica users out there or do people just collect them to admire their looks, their feel and their ergonomics. Do people who use Leicas use any other brand and if so, how do they rate the quality of the end result compared to the other brand X cameras in their collection?

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

This site is a little low brow for Leica owners.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Given the expertise of many of the pros on this site, I imagine there must be at least 1 Leica shooter or a Leica collector. Maybe those folks dont want to appear condescending to the rest of the low brow hedgehogs.

BebuLamar

There are many Leica users on this site. One thing I noticed about photographs made with the Leica from professionals that many of them are very good but few are very sharp.

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

I use my Leica about as much as I use my Nikon. I posted a photo here a few months back taken with my SL: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-729414-1.html#12937005

I also have some Leica lenses which I use more frequently than the camera. A favorite is to put my 90mm macro-Elmar on my Fuji X-T2 and photograph in the garden. https://photojoes.net/tomatos.jpg

billmck Loc: Central KY

:-)

Bill

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Given the quality of Leica glass, I can’t imagine it is the fault of the camera/lens. Too many other variables come into play that could degrade overall “sharpness”.

BebuLamar

I guess it's because of the type of pictures that were taken with the Leica.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Sounds like the skill of the photographer is not up to the task.

BebuLamar

Nope! Look at Henri Cartier-Bresson photos. He is certainly a good photographer and his photos are great photos but they are not tack sharp and he only used Leica.

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

I was out yesterday with my D850 and my Leica Q2mono. Although my workhorse is the Nikon, I love to get out with the Q2. But when posting images...the make of the camera is not very important unless it's part of the experience.
When you sit down to a great meal, you don't inquire as to the stove used.

tcthome Loc: NJ

These photos look sharp to me.

Haden123

Manual focus is the biggest factor: great glass and old eyes do not go well together without autofocus.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have never been a Leica fan. I know the quality of their cameras and lenses but I also know that there has not been a single image made by Leica that could not have been done with another camera. I have seen many Leica images and that famous "Leica look" I have not been able to see.
Their camera and lenses are ridiculously expensive, not that Japanese made premium cameras are cheap. Professional Canon and Nikon lenses have excellent quality and the majority of photographers in this country and around the world use them.

I once talked to a professional German photographer who was praising the quality of Leica but he was using Nikon. The Nikon SP rangefinder of 1957 was such a good camera that Life magazine dumped Leica and began to use the new professional Nikon rangefinder. Although the M3 at the time was a better camera the results with the Nikon were excellent for publication. By 1959 Nikon introduced the F body and the rest is history. If you remember it all started during the Korean conflict when David Douglas Duncan was introduced to Nikon optics.

I go shooting often and I have been in several workshops around the country and I have not seen anybody shooting with a Leica. In my travels I do not remember seen anyone using a Leica. Where are they? Do not look among sports photographers which is ruled by Canon and Nikon.
I know there are excellent photographers here who own Leicas and I have nothing against them, on the contrary, we should use what pleases us and makes our photography as we envision it. Cameras and lenses are only tools.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Too be fair to Cartier-Bresson, most of his “Decisive Moment” photographs show action, not static images. The Leica he used is multiple generations older than current Leica cameras. I’m not sure what film he was using, but it is also possible that the film and chemistry used to develop his photos contributed to perceived unsharpness. And rangefinder focusing is not well suited to action photography. Back in the day, sharpness was not considered to be the holy grail that it is today. Composition and subject matter were what mattered, and of course, he didn’t have Topaz software to sharpen his images.