Leicaphilia: Confessions of a camera fondler

Dear Nico

I do exactly the same as yourself. I was using ‘perfection’ and ‘imperfection’ in a tongue in cheek way as neither is perfect. The only real perfection is what satisfies us and that is what we try to achieve with Lightroom or darkroom etc.

Yes the convenience and ‘time to image’ of digital is very attractive. However, this post actually encouraged me to go out this afternoon and shoot some film on a Leica IIIg. I like the thought-provoking Leicaphilia website, even if its title sounds like it might be a ‘reserved sin’ (you can Google that) in the Catholic Church.

William

Interesting article! Did you write it, Mike??

And William, ‘ironing out the perfections’ in LR is exactly what I do with pictures taken with my Leica Q (and before that with an M9). However, I do like digital cameras, because of the fast workflow. I use an M2, but I don’t develop film myself, and it takes about a week and a half before I get my film back from the local photo shop…
Anyway… 😉

Mike, this resonates with me. I watch the feverish online discussions, every time a new digital camera appears, with no little sense of bemusement. In most cases, the new model has incremental improvements over the last model, which do not justify further investment, unless having the latest model is essential to ones photography or, dare I say, general feeling of ‘well being’.

Occasionally, I break out and acquire a new digital model, but, as I get older, my critical criteria include how compact the camera is to carry or easy it is to use with my glasses on. My purchasing decisions largely consist of such mundane stuff rather than pixel counts. However, my main ‘consumer desire’ is focussed on acquiring vintage Leicas. Peculiar chap that I am, I get more excitement out of seeing something rare that I want in an auction catalogue, than from any announcement of a new camera from Wetzlar or Tokyo. As for tactile satisfaction, nothing in todays range of ‘plastic computers with lenses’ beats a vintage Leica or, indeed, any camera made in the great days of metal, vulcanite, chrome etc film cameras.

I also use the vintage cameras to capture images, but not as often as I should. There is an article on the linked site about photography called ‘Photography and the Revival of the Imperfect’, which expresses much better than I could ever do, my feelings on the film versus digital debate. I recently commented on a 50 year old picture by Don McCullin of sheep being brought to the slaughterhouse in London (would you see that today?), by saying that the marvellous atmosphere of impending doom for the sheep could only be achieved today by ironing out the ‘perfections’ in today’s Monochrom and Lightroom. To a certain degree, the ‘imperfections’ of film do have their artistic advantages, but digital is not perfect either, just easier to manipulate. Are the manipulated digital images of today any more satisfying or artistic than film images? I think not, but I would like to leave that as an open question to be answered over time.

Going back to the tactile reassurance of my vintage Leica collection, there is always the worry that one might never stop. Having more cameras than you actually need is not per se a particular worry, though. I also collect jazz records and have many of them on 78s, LPs, 45s, CDs and stored online. I cannot listen to them all every day, but I can listen to them any time I want to. It is now sometimes easier to use streaming and identify that mystery bass player from a 1936 session on an online discography, but nothing beats owning something physical. It is the same way with vintage Leicas, and that is why I will probably keep on collecting vintage Leicas until I run out of space, at least.

William