At some point on your photographic journey, you're going to want to shoot with a Leica. You're going to want to see for yourself what the Leica hardware brings to your images. You're going to be at least tempted to do it, and you'll give it some serious thought. I've been there, but I never really wanted to lay out the cash required to get into the M-system. I turned my attention instead to the Leica reflex cameras and they've kept me pretty busy ever since. As with all film cameras, they are not being made anymore, but they definitely had a good run (1964-2009). The penultimate Leica R camera was the R8, which is unique looking, let's put it that way. A few years ago they were practically giving them away, and the lenses were pretty affordable, too, at least the non-exotic ones. That is not so much the case anymore as folks have discovered these remarkable photographic tools. The first lens I bought was a 35mm f/2. Believe it or not, the camera and lens together cost about $600 -- it will be at least double that these days, unfortunately. At any rate, I took this set-up with me on a trip to Washington, DC, and spent about an hour photographing near the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. I had a roll of Ilford HP5+ in the camera and I shot the entire roll there. Here's one of my favorites from that shoot. I like the contrast in this photograph between the new architecture and the reflection of the classic architecture in the windows. I was at f/8 to test the sharpness of the lens. It did pretty well in that regard, I'd say. (Click to see the image larger.) These lens designs are all pretty long in the tooth by now and it is worth noting that they can't really compete with more modern lens designs on the technical side. I'm willing to carry that burden.
On the following shot, I thought the composition was cool, but I was also interested in how the built-in light meter would handle the contrasty scene. Suffice it to say that the R8's meter is very trustworthy and accurate. I hope you enjoy the images.
