Leica My Leica Kit - Joining The "Cult"

gryphon1911

gryphon1911

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Location
Central Ohio, USA
Name
Andrew
As you may have seen in the "Latest Acquisitions" thread, I'm joining the Leica cult. Again, thanks to @MoonMind for his ability to put up with an answer a lot of my questions. :)

I've sent away my trade and am waiting for the transaction to complete. This is the gear that I am planning on getting

Leica M Type 240 in silver/black
Zeiss C Biogon 35mm f/2.8
Zeiss Planar 50mm f/2 ZM

I cemented by thoughts in that I LOVE THE ACTIVITY OF PHOTOGRAPHY with the recent purchase of and extensive use of the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D. Minolta has some excellent legacy glass as well. However, using a camera that is dedicated to stills and has a focus toward that got me thinking that (a) I have way too much redundant gear and (b) I may do some video in the future, but stills is where my heart lies.

I waffled a bit between going Fuji GFX medium format but then - I thought, I already have a fine Fuji X setup, and while medium format may be neat to play with...but it is not something that I really wanted to get into file wise. Not that my computer couldn;t handle it...but I think my usage of it would be limited.

I then, just out of curiosity started to look at the Leica rangefinders and found that the M8/8.2/M240/M262 were within financial reach on the used market. Lenses were a whole different rabbit hole, and this is where Matt really helped me! He did help me settle on the M240 over the M8 (which - depending on how hard I fall for the M240 - I may still get one of those M8's just to experience the Leica CCD), it was the lenses that really confounded me. Luckily, Voigtlander and Zeiss make some great alternatives that should give me the performance that will allow me to experience the Leica style without taking out a second mortgage! :D

I started off with 35 and 50 as I do have the Ricoh GR III and it's 28mm field of view is something I can supplement to the Leica if needed...that or I can throw the Fuji X-Pro2 and Fuji 16/2.8 WR in with the Leica kit to get a 24mm field of view.

Later, I plan on looking at a Leica 90mm or a Voigtlander 75mm to round out the kit. Again, I can supplement the longer lens deficiency for now with the Fuji X-Pro2 and the Fuji 56/1.2 or 90mm/2 as needed.

I'm looking forward to the Leica experience.

I've shot with rangefinders before, albeit all of them have been film - with the Kodak Signet 35 and the Yashica Electro E5000 (a great little camera despite not having a battery for the meter). I don't really shoot with them because of my perceived "hassle" with dealing with film. It will be refreshing to be able to just shoot.

Looking forward to experiencing the Leica system and the glass, perhaps even adapting the Zeiss lenses to the X-Pro2 as well.
 
Fair warning, the 240 is a gateway drug, I had one and now I have the M10-R :ROFLMAO: Congratulations on the new to you kit! Shooting with a RF is addictive and a completely different experience and mind set from todays ultra fast AF bodies. It is good to slow down.

Lens wise, I love Voigtlander and Zeiss lenses but also look at treating yourself to a Leica lens. You can find great deals on used ones particularly at FM and CameraWest. For a 90 I would highly recommend finding a Minolta/Rokkor 90/4. It was a joint project between Minolta and Leitz with some made in Japan and some in Germany. You can find them in excellent condition for around $200. I had one and sold it and quickly regretted that decision. I recently picked up a mint one on ebay for just under $200. My most used lens is the excellent Voigtlander 28mm f2 Ultron II. You can find a mint used one at CameraQuest. Stephen Gandy is excellent to deal with. I usually wait for a return which he sells for a pretty good discount. I have way too many Voigtlander lenses from him! Enjoy and welcome to the "cult"!
 
Leica Lenses For Normal People is a decent resource and IMO worth the $14.99 he charges. Spoiler alert, he likes the Summarits which I do too. They strike a nice balance for speed/price/quality. I have a Summarit 50/2.5 and a 35/2.4, more than fast enough for me and they really are wonderful to use. Both are in mint condition and obviously bought used. I forgot to mention another great source for mint used is B&H. My 35 Summarit was found there. If I want the fast glass, then I go with Voigtlander because I rarely have a need for the very shallow depth of field so paying a lot less for rarely used lenses is a much better way to go for me. Another lens worth considering is the ultra compact Voigtlander 40mm f2.8 VM which is so compact and has excellent image quality. With that lens on, I can easily slip the M10-R in a jacket pocket. In the same vein, the TTArtisan 28/5.6 is way better than it should be for a great price and is also very compact like the Voigtlander 40/2.8. Either one of those lenses will fit in a regular pocket for a two lens set up. Hard to beat. As William mentioned, there is a lot of great LTM glass. I have an old Cannon IVSB along with some LTM Cannon glass that produce wonderful images on my Leica. So many great choices, good luck!
 
Congratulations! I've been tempted numerous times, but the closest I got was the Voigtlander Bessa-T for about 1.5 years. The focus tabs are my favorite part, maybe in combination with the amount of space in between about 2 to 5 to 15 meters or so... basically enough space that you can realistically zone focus in the middle distance. So many lenses nowadays have virtually no moveable space in the focus rings between infinity and about 2-3 m.

The digital Leica sensors seem to be really good. I briefly considered trying to go for an m240 or m262, but realized that I'd have to sell basically everything, including my GR (which is non-negotiable, sorry) and then I'd still be strapped for all but the cheapest lenses. Revisiting Leica is a concern for a different financial season! I went with the Pentax full frame instead and I'm happy with my decision, for at least a good while.
 
After acquiring the digital rangefinder there will be at some future point in time a want to own a Leica lens and when that time comes a Summicron of any focal length and any age is perfect. I'm not talking about the latest APO, no, the beauty of it is that one from the 1960s at about a tenth of the price will serve you just as fine - they're all good, so much so it's possible to have one as your only lens (albeit there will be many people reading this laughing at that possibility).
 
agentlossing said:
Congratulations! I've been tempted numerous times, but the closest I got was the Voigtlander Bessa-T for about 1.5 years. The focus tabs are my favorite part, maybe in combination with the amount of space in between about 2 to 5 to 15 meters or so... basically enough space that you can realistically zone focus in the middle distance. So many lenses nowadays have virtually no moveable space in the focus rings between infinity and about 2-3 m.

The digital Leica sensors seem to be really good. I briefly considered trying to go for an m240 or m262, but realized that I'd have to sell basically everything, including my GR (which is non-negotiable, sorry) and then I'd still be strapped for all but the cheapest lenses. Revisiting Leica is a concern for a different financial season! I went with the Pentax full frame instead and I'm happy with my decision, for at least a good while.
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I had a decent amount of trade that basically covered the whole M240 and part of one of the lenses. I had 4 70-300 range zoom lenses for 4 different systems....insane overlap and honestly, I didn't use the 70-300 zooms that much anymore since getting the 50-250 for the APS-C Nikon Z mount. Also, I had 3 ultra wides in 3 different mounts...overkill...I only need one and that is rare,,,,I hardly ever need to go beyond 24mm field of view. XT4? Yeah...rarely used it, thought I wanted something stabilized for Fuji. Hoping that the newest X-Pro will be stabilized, but if not I can always wait for the price of the S10 to drop or get a used XH1 if I want it that bad. Honestly prefer the Fuji 24mp sensor over the 26mp one. Plus a bunch of other rarely shot lenses that I was picking up to wipe the dust off of more often than shooting with them.

That is one of the reasons I was doing my "Gear A Week" self challenge...to force myself to shoot with that gear I barely used. I talked to the wife and she said I should treat myself for working so hard, so I finally decided it was time to "drink the kool-aid" and see what all the fuss was about in Leica-land.
 
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gryphon1911 said:
I finally decided it was time to "drink the kool-aid" and see what all the fuss was about in Leica-land.
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I'm guessing most people will be disappointed. There is no fuss. Hardly any features. Certainly no kool aid. It's mind numbingly simple. Iso/aperure/shutter speed/OVF are pretty much all one has to work with. It's why I tell the lay man not to bother with a rangefinder. But I love it and I reckon you will too.
 
The only automation is a meter and aperture priority. The meter is fairly old school so it takes a reminder to use. I find I use AP fairly often for shots on the fly though if I have time, especially for my landscape shots I'll work with the meter and the settings.

It's a wonderful way to shoot compared to a super duper automagical wonder cam 😎
 
My Leicas are the cameras I produce my most keepers with - because they force me to slow down as well as reward care and attention to detail with wonderful results.

What's more, shooting this way has made me appreciate this careful approach to image taking in general: I now tend to shoot in a similar fashion with *all* of my cameras. My keeper rate has gone right up over the last couple of years, the total number of images taken has gone down somewhat in spite of daily shooting. That said, I'm not too picky about subject matter, I know that. "Spectacular" is not what I seek ...

Anyhow, my conversations with Andrew have made me break out my M8 again; I took it on today's second (short) walk with its ingenious Voigtländer Ultron 28mm f/2 companion (first version) mounted, and it was a joy, as always. Of course, the M 262 produces better files, let alone the M10, but the M8's exceedingly slow buffer clearing actually makes me almost completely forgo image review and just enjoy framing and shooting, controlling things as much as possible because I want to get it right the first time - just like with a film camera. I put the Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.4 M.C. on it now (again, first version) - this should guarantee some fun for tomorrow.

All that said, the camera that comes even closer to an ideal configuration for me is the M 262 - almost as frugal as the M8 in terms of features, but a lot quicker, with a much better battery, nicer sensor (not in terms of image characteristics, but technical IQ and latitude) and faster, simpler operation, mostly thanks to the thumb dial (I usually use that for exposure compensation - yes, I'm mostly on aperture priority). Actually, you can shoot a M 240 like a M 262 (which is not possible the other way round).

My preferred Leica body would be a M10-E, though: M 262 functionality, M10 body and sensor. But the M10 is mostly there anyway, and LiveView has come in handy about half a dozen times since I acquired it, so it's all good.

M.
 
Honestly, if not for my love of sports, I may not own the Nikon kit I have. Stills shooting or street and portraiture is my passion. It is what I love to do when not shooting for work.

I figure, once I get jelled with the Leica, it may even be my reportage camera too!!

I just want to keep my expectations in check as I can already feel myself getting giddy about it and I don’t even have any of the gear in my hands yet!!

Then again, I never expected to live the Minolta Maxxum 7D like I do. I got the Fuji stuff to try and satiate my rangefinder fix , but now just feels like time to properly jump into THE digital range finder brand of our time.
 
Congrats Andrew. And two good lens choices from the reviews I’ve read.

I also just picked up a used M240 as well, about a month ago. My first M and/or rangefinder. It’s paired with my Voigtlander 35mm 1.4 II, as my only current M-mount lens.

Enjoying the experience so far, although challenging and build quality is top notch (I thought my Q was well built)!

Hope you enjoy yours!
 
rayvonn said:
That's true but it's also true that the rangefinder forced me to properly understand and apply thought to hyper focal focusing which when engaged correctly can be and is often used by me to shoot as quickly and effectively as an AF camera.
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I very often shoot wide open because I love shallow DoF. Of course, hyperfocal works and is very quick. But that's not the way I go about things. I used to do a lot of this in my film days (Minox GT and GT-E). These days, precision appeals more than speed. And I'm not exactly a street shooter, either. And I'm better off that way around here, too - people get very hostile very quickly.

M.
 
CraigC said:
Congrats Andrew. And two good lens choices from the reviews I’ve read.

I also just picked up a used M240 as well, about a month ago. My first M and/or rangefinder. It’s paired with my Voigtlander 35mm 1.4 II, as my only current M-mount lens.

Enjoying the experience so far, although challenging and build quality is top notch (I thought my Q was well built)!

Hope you enjoy yours!
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I probably would still be fumbling through lens choices had it not been for @MoonMind help. He really was able to narrow down the choices.

Honestly, the Zeiss 35mm Biogon was one of his recommendations, but I could not find a used, well priced 50mm specifically from the ones he recommended to me. I saw the Zeiss 50mm f/2 Planar and it is well regarded. I might add some Voigtlander glass in there somewhere sometime - perhaps their 28mm or something longer 75mm, perhaps.
 
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