One reason why I think some move to Leica digital M is they are not like say Canon. With many of their(Canons) upgrades you need to buy new lenses. They are not the only camera manufacturer to do this. It is good for the bottom line. Also making cameras and equipment with a usable life span thus having to upgrade when it gets old because the company no longer supports the cameras/lenses. This is also something used in a lot of business models.
Once I find something that works really well for me I am not one to easily want to change with a so called upgrade. For large format film I still think a Deardorff large format camera is as good as it gets. For medium format film I would still have my 500 C/Ms if I still had a darkroom. I still have my Canon F-1s. Never a need to upgrade any of those cameras because the so called latest/greatest maybe really wasn't. It's hard to jump off the gadget go round but at some point I realized that it's not the gear holding me back.
"The camera doesn't make a bit of difference. All of them can record what you are seeing. But, you have to SEE."
Ernst Haas
As Fred mentioned earlier cameras have all become very capable when talking about things like IQ. The M 10 series is full capable of capturing what I see, The problem I struggle with isn't the technical part of the equation but the visual part. Leica rangefinder's, especially the M 10 Mono fits the way I see and work.. Thats the reason I own it.
"The fact is that relatively few photographers ever master their medium. Instead they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage chase from new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never staying with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, becoming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since they don't know what to do with it."
Edward Weston
I need my equipment to just be part of the creative process. I don't want to think about the gear when I am working. I want it to be second nature. I need it ti be an extension of my vision. For me it can take a very long time for that to happen. So when it has happened I am very reluctant to make a change.
That is one reason I have 2 M 10s and an M 10 Mono. The process is like breathing. It just happens. The stuff just gets out of the way so I can create. For me and the way I work the more stuff thats put on a camera the farther away I get from that. So if Leica wants me to buy a new camera they need to keep at least one digital M that is in line with the way I work. Or I just stay with what I have until it no longer function and can't be repaired.
Mar 16, 2026 at 09:21 AM
Previous versions of airfrogusmc's message #17004160 « M10 is the king according to... »
