Why Leica?

I started photography 12 y ago. I started with a Nikon D3200 and very quickly, a year after, I bought the Nikon D800. At the time I looked at Leica but it was too expensive as I didn’t know if I would still have the bug many years later. So I bought a Fujifilm EX-1 which I still have today.

Why buy a small camera? To be agile when you go somewhere and not have a bulky camera and big, heavy lenses.

So I turned 50, and still had the bug more than ever.

I therefore decided to accomplish one of my dreams, to buy the holy grail of cameras. I bought a Leica M10-P with a summilux 35mn 1.4. The perfect combo…. For me (everyone is different).

And I bought a Voightlander 50mn 1.2 for portraits. However the quality of the Summilux 35mn is so good that I use this lense most of the time.

What is my experience with my M10-P so far?

Well I carry it everywhere I go, even if I take another weather-sealed camera for wildlife or landscape photography (such as my Fujifilm XT4).

The fact that everything is manual, even the focus, means you take the time to compose your photograph, and the result is quite unique. The Leica look. I think only photographers who use a Leica know what I’m talking about.

In fact, most of my best pictures have been taken with my Leica, and one of the reasons is because it’s so compact that it’s easy to carry in a small bag and because there’s no compromise with the quality. And the manual process forces you to compose your picture. I love it.

So, 12 years after having started photography, if I were to advise my younger self about the choice of camera, I would say:  forget about the latest camera gear; go and buy a second hand Leica camera with a Leica lens in a Leica shop where you know that the camera has been revised. You will have in your hand the best brush to paint a story with light… Yes a camera is still a tool and it will never replace your creativity; it might enhance it but that’s all.

So my journey with Leica is still going, and I’m now the happy owner of a Leica M6. But that’s  another story… that I will share with you.