一起徠呀！徠卡相機的一切 徠卡m6 2023年短評

Hi Internet, my name is Ross, and these are my thoughts on the Leica M6 after using it for a year. I was a wedding photographer for four and a half years, but I decided to sell all of my wedding gear to fund the purchase of the Leica M6. On paper, that makes zero sense at all. If you compare spec sheets between any contemporary digital camera and the M6, the contemporary camera wins, hands down. So you may be asking yourself, why would you do this? So something happens whenever you take between two and a half to three and a half thousand photos in a day during a wedding. Something to do with the joy and the excitement of photography becomes lost. I began to desire something with challenge, something with intentionality, something that would require a bit more effort from me. And above all, something that required focus, something that would push me to want to create instead of just stumbling upon photographs. You see, modern cameras are so good in terms of their focusing ability, their low light capability, their focus points, their ability to recover detail in shadows and highlights. That you can almost just hope for the best and stumble upon a photo that happens to be okay. And that disappointed me. I wanted something that required more desire to take a photograph, to make an image. I didn't want to let the camera just do the work where it felt like I was just along for the ride. I wanted to actually intentionally make art. And so I landed on the Leica M6. Having shot film for a while, knowing that I wanted a fully mechanical camera and a range finder and an interchangeable lens system, it became clear that the Leica was an option. And I ended up picking the M6 because of the ability to check exposure via the built-in light meter. And though it is insanely expensive, I hope that I will own it until the day I die and it can be passed on to my family to come. So my initial impressions of the camera were frankly fear. I was terrified of breaking the camera. I was terrified anytime something would bump into the camera. I was terrified that I would drop it in some way, that the strap would come off. It was just a fear-filled experience and a sense of fear to live up to the badge. So much iconic and beautiful work has been made through these systems that I felt almost like an imposter, like I wasn't ready to use a camera of this caliber. Furthermore, it felt like the sensation of Christmas. This has been a camera that I have looked at and lusted over for so long that it felt like I would never have the chance to own one. And so to actually have one in my hands that was mine was a surreal experience. Like many people, I was entranced by the spell and the allure of these cameras. And whenever I got it, I realized this is just another camera. This is just another tool. It still is just a function to capture and record light. That's all it is. However, one thing that did stand out to me was the incredible nature of the lens that came with the camera. I have a 35mm Summicron. And the sharpness that I have been able to see and witness through this lens is just unlike anything else I've ever experienced in my photography. The ability to render scenes with almost like a 3D pop of contrast is surreal and exciting and makes me want to take photographs. And I think without a doubt, it's the best lens I've ever had the joy of using. And I hope nothing bad ever happens to it. Another impression was the weight of the camera. It's light enough that if you have it over your shoulder, you can forget that it's there. But whenever you pick it up, there is a quality and a weightiness to it that feels serious. And finally, the last of the first impressions was that the camera is so beautiful that I would look at it and want to pick it up. And I would want to go and capture things with it. I would want to take it with me wherever I went. And never knowing what I might find. It almost entices me like Frodo to the ring. Where I want to be with the camera. I want to use the camera. I want to do justice to the camera. Though, at the end of the day, this is just a camera. And the same film that goes in this machine is the same film you should get in certain point and shoots where you forget that you're even using a camera. It's really just a beautiful metal box It will hold film and funnel light in towards that. And that's all it is. There is a magic to it. But boiled down, that's it. Though, despite it from a utilitarian point of view being just a box to hold film, there is an undoubted magic to this camera. It is perfectly machined. It's perfectly made. Everything is in the place that it needs to be. There is nothing that is distracting about the camera. There is nothing that gets in the way of the shooting experience. It's wonderfully silent. And it doesn't remove me from the moment because of the beautiful big range finder window. It's just gorgeous to use. But I will say that I have experienced the flaring on the range finder patch that is kind of notorious with this camera. But you get on with it. It's fine. Ultimately, this camera is not going to make you a better photographer. It's maybe going to change the way that you photograph. But it's not going to make you a better photographer. However, because all of the additions have been stripped away from it, it changes the way you view a scene. It changes the way you interact with subjects. It feels a lot more free. It feels a lot more intimate. It feels a lot less distracted. It's undoubtedly the most beautiful machine I own. The most beautiful camera I've ever used. And I hope that it will last me the rest of my life if it is maintained properly and serviced. Which is just a wonderful thing in an age where we upgrade digital items every... feels like every few minutes. So it's a nice change of pace.