I recently went on about native M photography.
Went on a bit. Trying to narrow things down.
Sidebar: The human mind is an amazing thing. All at once it behaves and reacts in a certain manner based on so many present and past variables in and out of our control while at the same time the subconscious will shield things from the conscious self all while attempting to analyze proceedings as if we could be impartial about examining the machinations of our own minds. In an attempt to be more succinct or even blunt, we often pretend we understand why we do what we do. And that is the case here. With every post that I write where I am bold enough to say, “Aha! This is why I do what I do.” it is often followed by the realization that I am partially if not completely off… Anyhoo. Back to our regularly scheduled program in 3, 2, 1...
That previous post was largely in defense of rangefinders in general. There are relatively “sensibly priced” (This is all nuts if you think about it too much.) film M mount options (Bessa R2 and Hexar RF come to mind) and point and shoot film rangefinder options (Canonet and Konicica C35 Automatic come to mind) available. But digital M?
Wildly expensive. Largely because Leica, with the exception of some wonderful RICOH madness (That triggered a new GAS rabbit hole while researching it for this post. More to come.), is the only game in town. I would love for another company to pull a Bessa, Zeiss Ikon, or Hexar RF M mount film camera hat trick and create their own M mount digital camera. Seems a no brainer. A take my money proposition if there has ever been one. To me. But perhaps I am one of only a few prospective customers for such a thing out there. Until that unlikely day comes Leica is the only full frame digital M mount game in town.
So you see my fascination has less to do with the name Leica and more to do with Leica being the only full frame digital option. Reminds me of many years ago when someone asked why I was fascinated with full size German luxury cars. I corrected them. I was not. But I grew up with American made, massive RWD, V8 sedans and they had all pivoted to FWD, V6 sedans. I mean… A Lumina? Eesh. With simple, straightforward mass market RWD V8s gone, the Germans were all that was left.
Like those 7 Series and S Class models I am beyond considering the usual asking prices for new Leica M models. But Leicas have one major difference. Where used 7 series and S class cars are well known for being high maintenance money pits Leica M bodies are known, with the exception of sensor corrosion-prone M9s, for being pretty robust. As laid out in this earlier post this is part of how I landed on the Leica M Type 240.
But, Leica pixie dust set aside, at almost $3,000 and up this is still a steep asking price for a non IBIS having manual focus digital camera. With one exception in my case. Seems a slightly dinged (top plate in my case)…
…and an out of calibration rangefinder (repaired for free by KEH) can get you down to about $2,300.
Still ridiculous if you ask my logical side, but beats the heck out of $9,000 new and $5,000 to $9,000 for a used copy of a newer M10 or M11 model. But here is another thing to consider. While not what one would consider inexpensive $2,300 is only a little more than the much maligned, aesthetically unloved M5 and much less than the much celebrated film M6, new or used… A digital M in the neighborhood or less than a film M w/ AE. Ideal? No. But it was clearly the best option if I insisted on having a full-frame digital M.
And, I evidently did.
Massive caveat. If M lenses are the end goal a sane person could certainly make do with adapting them to any number of full-frame mirrorless cameras. Have used them with Canon…
But, is just not the same for me. As stated in the post linked at the top it is not about M mount lenses and actually about…
100% digital rangefinder goodness my friends.
This is confirmed by the fact that I do not own a single Leica M lens.
After a day of shooting the M 240 and 7Artisans 50mm f/1.1 side by side with a favorite medium format film camera recently, I noticed something.
- Tangible image attributes.
- A decidedly quantifiable and unique aesthetic.
Take a look at this image of my son.
As mentioned, I shot images back and forth with medium format film. The image above was taken with the M 240 and 50mm f/1.1 7Artisans, but when I first posted it, I tagged it with the information from the medium format film camera. I quickly realized my mistake and corrected the Instagram post…
…but I do see why I made the mistake in the first place. That is it. The look. The one that I am after when I use medium format cameras. Now I will be the first to admit that the lens plays a large part. This photo years ago was taken with this same lens adapted to Sony with a TECHART AF adapter.
Assuming one could apply logic to such an inherently illogical pursuit this would seem to be the way to go. But once the novelty of being able to use AF with an M mount (or near any SLR lens with the right M adapter) wore off I had to admit something.
I do not enjoy using the TECHART AF adapter.
While mostly solid over time I found that the adapter was prone to occasionally falling on its face, requiring a camera reboot if not some additional fiddling. And then even under the best of circumstances, the AF takes a minute to catch up to proceedings. Do you know what never requires fiddling, reboots, or delays? Focusing with a rangefinder. And as stated above I do not find focusing for myself with focus peaking to be something that I enjoy. Not as much as rangefinders that is. Over time I have realized that, after purchasing all of the SLR lens adapters, I no longer use them adapted to mirrorless either. Why? Similar to my rangefinder experience, I much prefer manual focusing SLR lenses with the wonderful, focus grid having native SLRs. Where I do not have a film camera to use it on, I have sold off all of my SLR lenses, and I have a bucket of adapters that have not been touched in years. Wait… Where was I? Right.
Vintage Digital M Mount Musings
All of this gets me to this point. Why do I use an over a decade old M mount camera and third party M mount lenses?
Because I like it.
Because I enjoy it.
Because I want to.
No pie charts, bar graphs, GAS committee, or any other justification needed. Put more bluntly I go with the summation from my friend and fellow photographer, Anthony Smith.
You are grown.
It is his phrase for when he sees me winding up to do a full on justification ramble fest. And it sums up my current thinking nicely.
If you can, why not?
We live in a world that often seems like it is hopelessly on fire. Finding ways to claw back a little of our sanity, capturing a moment of beauty here and there when we can, and finding some enjoyment is a win all around. It need not be prohibitively expensive. A bit of $50 gear can bring as much joy.
So from here forward, whether M mount or any other distraction, I will try and spend less time justifying my decisions along the way and more time enjoying the journey.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 
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