leica Q2M: a new toy
As much as I believe photography is not about your equipment, new ‘gear’ (or toys for adult photographers) does bring an excitement to get out and shoot things 📷.
Holding a new camera and seeing what it is capable of is a joyful exploration.. A bevy of thoughts and tactile responses await from the moment that box is opened up.. what’s it like to use, how does the shutter feel and sound, are the menus complicated, intuitive? Was it worth it?
The only piece of hurt is the hit to the wallet, and in my case here most recently, a large hit at that..
Overpriced?
I bought a Leica.. and if you know cameras, you know I am much poorer thanks to that. Some think of these German-made devices as preposterously expensive, and some Leica fanatics (Illuminati-Elitist-Hipsters?) wax poetic about some “Leica Look"“ that transcends physical reality - some quality no other maker of lenses in the world has ever known or will ever know...
I feel my reality is somewhere in the middle.
32,000 iso
Black & White
I felt compelled to acquire a niche device within the niche.. a Monochrome camera (which only shoots in black and white) with a fixed 28mm lens.
Limitation Breeds Creativity
Having limits can bring out new ways to solve problems, help develop new methods and introduce ways of thinking. In my case, shooting in black and white lends to a heightened awareness in regard to light, shapes and shadows.
Sometimes it’s as simple as moving your feet to get a better composition, and other times seeing the world through that black and white viewfinder gives you something you hadn’t ever noticed before.
Slowing Down
I slow down more when the world is in black in white (whether in camera or in my mind). and it changes how I perceive light in a subtle yet distinct way.
