Day 7 - The Price is Right(er)
As a reminder, when I started this thread/little "blog" about the GAS attack, I did so with full intent on holding on not buying any gear as per my promise to myself earlier this year. Most of the deals I could resist, this is the one that tempts me so much I'm at this situation where I'm almost broken. And I might break down during the day, by bedtime I regain my sense and tell myself to wait up.
As expected, the seller lowered the ask by €90 so we are just below €3k on this CLA'd silver
(my favorite) MP240
(the most sensible M body for day-to-day for the price IMO) with only ~4000 actuations
(nice, if true) on it. With
two original batteries so it's like a really nice deal, for me anyway. I'm not a big barter, never been a successful haggler. I just like when I can get a really nice working camera without having to buy it brand new.
Anyone who has GAS sometimes makes up these irrational little reasons for themselves to justify their new gear-to-be. Somebody might absolutely "need" 45 megapixels on a camera even though they never even saw a print picture. I liked the X100T a lot for its flash sync even though I hardly ever used flash. The M follows a similar route. It's an M, it's what all the masters used. (Not actually one of my personal made-up reasons.) Leica cameras have the smallest shutter delays, that must account for something right? (Actually many "imperceptibly" small delays can still be perceived by humans, and smaller delays overall contribute to positive user experience.) Likewise, I have literally nothing but good things about EVFs but can appreciate how the OVF will always be the fastest, most responsive than any EVF, by the laws of physics. Again with the delays and ways to minimize them. I'm perfectly accustomed to faster battery consumption with the EVF cameras but still the idea of a DSLR-tier battery charge on the M240 pleases me.
Yesterday I watched again this
wonderful comparison/shootout video by BigHeadTaco, putting the M240 + 28 Summicron head-to-head with Leica Q. While the Q came out ahead, understandably, this video somehow still convinced me to go for the M. That's how the power of desire works (against your wallet).
The soundtrack for tonight is Hans Zimmer's and Lisa Gerrard's Gladiator score from 2000. Seems fitting, even though I have a go-to song when I'm gassy, Moby's Mistake.
I'm pretty much overcome. Even though I do have some big expenses coming up (moving to a city 300 miles away) in the spring this is still something I'm currently fitting into my budget. No use to fight the gas.
In this extreme GAS pressure I can even figure out good reasons to get the camera now (while breaking my promises). Not to forget about the camera having my initials on it (actually the biggest reason to get the camera... j/k) but about the whole moving thing. Perhaps the single largest reason I'm moving to a town is to get my practice on. I'm happy where I live but rural woods is not the place a street photographer feels at home. And when I move, it's apparent that there's a photographer's honey moon period to ensue. What better time to get a camera that needs love and daily practice... It should be a grand opportunity to bond with the camera, which I'd like very much. If that makes sense. I think you Leica shooters know what I'm talking about.
😉
And while I'm on a roll here, as I each night think to myself how the Fuji makes all the sense and M makes little to none (to my style of shooting anyway) this one thing is very apparent: Leica is one for the experience. Every street photog seems to drift towards Leica at some point in their life, and it's okay if they decide it's not for them. But it sure seems like something you have to see for yourself. With the all-sensible Fuji X-T3 or a nice second-hand X-Pro2 lies the problem: I do have a pretty good picture of what the bodies are like, having used Fujis before. With Leica, it's a wonderful mystery at this point, will I be able to commit myself to the full M or not. With Leica, it's a "now or later" kind of situation, and why not choose, "now".