Embracing obscurity

A farewell to status symbols

I don’t write about gear, am not interested in comparing brands of tools. Nor in doing advertising for companies that can’t help themselves emblazon their products with logos.

That said, there is one brand I want to discuss, in particular my multi-decade relationship and recent parting.

Leica.

Supposedly the company that everyone loves to hate, though I can find very little honest review of it, or its luxury goods. The closest thing, are clickbait titles which claim to be about why they are selling some Leica, or dislike the brand. Only to be about replacing their current camera with the latest model, or trading a kidney for further purchases.

Lecia’s reputation is built on a solid foundation of excellent glass production and precision machining, in building their mechanical rangefinder cameras, the M, and brilliant lenses. There is absolutely no denying that they innovated and built well regarded photographic tools, from the M3 in 1954 to the M6 in 1984 (produced until 2002).

The romance

I owned two M6s, that I purchased used in the early 2000s for rock bottom prices, as everyone moved to digital. Everything about these cameras was a joy; small, light and nearly silent. A tiny battery powered the light meter and lasted for months, though the camera functioned without it. These were the photographic equivalent of Swiss watches, filled with tiny gears, entirely mechanical in function.

They were smaller than clunky SLR’s (film or digital), which encouraged constant carry. The cliche is, the best camera is the one with you, and I always had my Leica. I had a knack for range finder focus, even with moving subjects at F2, and was happy.

Some ten years passed, life changed and I was about to move countries, though this time I didn’t think my ageing film scanner would survive the trip. With a heavy heart, decided my film days had come to an end. There was absolutely no way I could afford a digital M, so I sold the stable of lenses and two bodies. One of which, a friend of mine still owns, and uses daily, a further ten years on. That camera has been going strong for 29 years and there’s little reason it won’t continue to do so for a further 29, and so on. This is where Lecias reputation comes from, not to mention the long list of well known photographers since 1959 that used a mechanical M to produce their work.

Whom among us hasn’t made the false correlation between great creators and the tools they used. And yet, I can only imagine, that if these greats had started their careers today, they’d be using the best tool available. Not necessarily what someone used 50 years ago.

It’s worth mentioning that I, along with a large number of M users then and now, didn’t own any Leica made lenses. They were just too expensive, and there are third party options, that are as good and sometimes better than what Lecia offers for a fraction of the cost, sometimes a tenth kind of fractions. Though no one has built a successful M mount compatible body, there were a few attempts, but none are still produced.

The fall

Several years and a few cameras later, I found myself in the very fortunate position to be able to afford a contemporary digital M (second hand). The M10-M. I knew better, and yet I told myself it would be just like the old days with my beloved M6 loaded with Tri-X. That the naysayers were likely disgruntled DSLR shooters, or worse yet, phone photographers that had never used a rangefinder and didn’t know how to use a fully manual camera.

The fundamental problem is a digital M is no longer a Swiss watch, it’s a computer in a metal box. A metal box which was designed some 70 years ago for a different medium, with different constraints and kept backwards compatible to ensure the family of lenses would work, and form stay more or less the same. Leica is cramming circuit boards and components made by third parties into this box and then charging multiples of every other camera company for a tool that is less functional, less reliable and with worse quality control. Don’t mistake my criticism for a desire for maximalism, I don’t need or want the new features, nor bells and whistles that most companies push on their users to entice them back onto the wheel of consumption. I cherish a well made tool that does one job really well, I just can’t say that a digital M fits that description.

Leica used its reputation for producing a tool used by working photographers, to produce a luxury good, a status symbol for the wealthy and those seeking validation.

Many wax lyrical about Leica’s “look”, a bizarre statement as historically the “look” was whatever film you loaded into the camera.

People reviewing Lecia’s will justify the high costs with the fact that Lecias are hand made to exacting standards and yet every single model has been plagued with mechanical and software faults, leading to people only having a working copy after multiple returns. No one talks about other electronics being hand made, yet they are in the same way as a Leica, components are produced in fabs and then assembled by hand.

Why does a battery cost $240, or an external charger $600. These items are produced by third parties for Leica, and still cost five to ten times of any other brand.

Why do Leica lenses cost $5,000-10,000? When third party producers sell them for a tenth the cost, for the same small market. Using excellent materials, with similar or better technical specifications.

Or the thumb grips, something that most agree are necessary to make the camera comfortable to hold, a small piece of metal for $311 that renders the flash shoe inoperable. Why?

All that said, I was lucky enough to have a functioning unit, that I used to take many photos I love, over several years. Though there is very little chance it will be around for 29 more. Components fail on digital Ms, requiring their replacement if available, they are no longer repairable in the way their mechanical predecessors were. Never mind that its already difficult to source batteries, and only gets worse with the passage of time.

Reckless consumption

Ultimately I didn’t want to further the madness that pushes so many photographers into thinking they need a Leica. That they haven’t made it unless they can take a selfie of one around their neck or better yet in front of their face. Or to be honest, people discounting the quality of my images because I used a Leica. On more than one occasions someone said “oh, of course your images are good, you’re using such an expensive camera” but as a tool, a digital M is less capable at taking photos than practically every other camera one tenth its cost. And if you are looking at second hand units, probably one twentieth. These days most stand alone cameras are really excellent and surpass what film could do in terms of detail and low light performance and yet the majority of the great photographers we admire did just fine with 35mm film.

The path forward

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest no one needs these kinds of luxury goods. Let luxury be a really cozy jumper, or an exceptional meal. Something made with care by a passionate creator. Status symbols which are really no more luxurious than things a fraction of their cost without the particular branding are a con. If you can’t figure out what to do with all that money burning a hole in your pocket, give it to charity, if don’t know where to start, an organization like givewell can help.

If you grew up in the digital age where every camera was fully automatic, its true that using a fully manual camera with a prime lens will help you better understand photography. Though your existing camera probably has a manual mode, and every company makes a few affordable primes. My favourite being a 40mm, but that’s a story for another time. Or buy a used film or digital camera for a few hundred dollars that will take photos that are generally indistinguishable from those taken on the latest Leica.

I am embracing obscurity, without the need of a status symbol around my neck. I’ve moved to a more mundane camera manufacture, that produces an excellent, reliable workhorse of a tool. I don’t need to baby it, or worry about it crapping out. It gets out my way and lets me capture the things I see. Depending on time of reading, I am selling or already sold all my Leica related kit and will have a large pile of money left over to save and invest in the real luxuries of life, none of which have a brand name on them.