Love is called M9

So, recently i have been looking to bring 'something new' into my photographic arsenal.
It started with getting the Canon 50 mm F1.8 lens. Although i was very happy with this little, very light, F 1.8 lens it was not exactly what i wanted.

Since the release of the Leica M9 in 2009 i have been drooling over this camera! My family and myself travel quite extensively and i was just getting to the point where i wanted to dump my big camera bag with all the gear. It became such a shlep to go through customs and on plains, taxis and opening the bag to get the big Canon/lens combo out.... you get the picture.

Problem was however, R 75 000 for a camera was... ridiculous? Or was it? Well different strokes for different folks as they say. So not long ago i managed to get one of these elusive little buggers (there is a worldwide shortage). I have never been so happy!

Sure i can bore you with all the technical specks of this camera, but i wont. Instead i will tell you my experience with the M9 in the last 12 weeks.

What drew me to this camera wasn't the mega size 18.5 MP, or the full frame or this or that...
No i was looking to get a camera that slowed me down and bring me back to enjoying photography again for what it is, an art form.

Yes, the Leica M9 is a manual camera. You have to think a bit of what your final image must look like before firing away. This means setting the F-stop to what you want, every time, ISO to choice and MANUAL focus onto what part you want on the scene in-front of you. Did i mentioned that all this comes in the form of a body and lens the size of a compact camera!

                                 
                                  This pic of my beautiful wife was made at ISO 160. F2.5 with
                                  the 50 mm Summarit lens. In camera Black + White, no post
                                  processing.

Sure a lot of people will argue all day long on why they would never buy one of these, the price, the high ISO noise etc, etc. All i can say is it is a personal choice, and i made the best decision ever.
The pics the M9 renders is in its own class.
Forget all the critiques you can give me on this image, you can do a critique on every one of Henri Gartier Bresson's images,- and yet they are still masterpieces. Incidentally they were all made with a Leica camera and a 35 mm lens.

As you search the net, you will surely find many, many reasons not to / to buy this camera. All i can say is that photography for me is back to the beginning again, you cant wait to shoot the M9 and come home to see what you achieved or failed.

So i will start to post more pieces on the Leica M9 as time goes by and for the people out there i will add a workshop on the M9 or any other M cameras to the classes i do on photography. Let the people speak.
I will end off for now on the M9 with a few images i made in Moticasino recently. All done with the 50 mm Summarit F2.5 on the M9.