All rights to this photograph is reserved the photographer
I was changing lenses on my camera, kneeling down and this cool old guy sat down right next to me. I had my range finder and was delighted I was able to take a few shots of him without his notice. If I would have tried that with my SLR he would have definitely noticed!! I am really loving shooting with this little Leica M6!! Not to mention, the dynamic range of film is wicked!! This was shot with an M6 (non TTL), 50mm f/1.5.
Why I use a Leica:
I am brand new to Leica, and back to film after going digital around 8 years ago! I am loving film, and really loving using the M6 rangefinder! There are a lot of reasons I wanted to get a Leica rangefinder:
- The camera is dead sexy and build quality amazing!
- I was tired of carrying around a huge Canon 1DsMk II SLR camera with heavy pro “L” lenses. I wanted the same or better quality with a much smaller & lighter M6 that I would take with me everywhere!
- I love street photography the best, and it is hard not to be noticed with a massive pro SLR stuck in your face and the loud shutter flapping away! The Leica is so small and quiet!
- I have a tendency to take too many photos with my SLR and was tired of sorting through all of them in Lightroom! I knew that a manual film camera would slow everything down, that I would take fewer photographs making each one count! No more “spray and pray” hoping that one of them is good!
- I figured a fully manual camera would change my approach and philosophy. I was growing tired of my style and wanted to see growth & fundamental change in my photography. Two rolls of film into it… and I am thrilled to already see a difference! I had around 70 shots, and loved half of them!! Typically, with my SLR, only 5% are shots I like, and a lot less would ever be printed. Many of the shots from my M6 will be printed and hung on my wall!
Please visit Chris Prefontaine’s Flickr photostream for more Leica shots.
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Chris, your reasons for using Leica are almost identical to mine. Even though I use an R7 rather than an M6, it and its lenses are far more discreet than the 1Ds III and L lenses I used to use! Very nice images by the way.
Your reason for shooting film and using a Leica RF is well articulated. You describe the Art of Photography beautifully which is missed in a photoshop crazed world.
“spray and pray” – down with that sort of thing!
By the way, very nice images. First class.