Quote:
Originally Posted by Bassnut
Thats BS. I don't deny Leica quality at all, but lack of control for even more money is snobbery and plays to a sort of placebo effect, "it must be always awesome at default settings because Leica knows best". It's similar with insanely expensive audio gear that only has a volume knob. It's wanky and just a market differentiator based on arrogance and ego. The green setting on most DSLR has the same effect without the lack of versatility when you want it.
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Fred, a bit harsh. The proof is in the pud old son. I love the images coming out of my Leica - they suit my shooting style and the raws are awesome given the intent - that typical street grunge look. The WHOLE point about street photography, if you've ever done any, is NOT to have to fiddle with dials and settings. You pre-set your average focal distance as required by hand, and let the aperture priority do the rest in accordance with the lens you have mounted and pre-set ISO. You've got about a second to compose, shoot and make it look like it wasn't you before your subject walks out of frame. A big SLR is not going to do you any favours in these situations - and neither is a sub-quality compact - even though some great street photographers have proven that "simple" is best by taking great shots with the iPhone (
http://www.justwhatisee.com/). The main premise behind Leica M-series is top quality optics and mechanics in a small and inconspicuous package. To coin a crappy and overused phrase - it's the weapon of choice amongst the best street guys in the world.
As far as pricing goes, they are prohibitively expensive, yes. The latest M9 Monochrom black and white machine is bang-on ten grand, body only. A 50mm f/.96 Noctilux lens is twelve grand. Go figure. What's a Canon 1D Mark-IV worth, body-only?
Horses for courses I guess. I have't been accused of being a snob before, so you're in luck - you're the first to do so and partly get away with it.
