The Camera that started it all...
The Camera that Started it All…
I had been researching for months. I developed my interest and enthusiasm for taking photos on my iPhone by buying lenses to push the boundaries and limitations. Yet, I desired more than what a phone camera could provide. I had had cameras before but I was never serious. They were mostly point-and-shoot film or digital Canon cameras. Good for what they were. I once won a Samsung camera and lenses at an art auction. It was decent. And I even bought a Sony Alpha camera with a kit zoom lens when I thought I might get serious. But somehow the bug didn’t bite. The menus were too complicated, and the equipment was too expensive (or so I thought at the time). I laugh at this now, given the path I have chosen. I wonder if the “sliding door” may have led me in a different direction earlier, if I had chosen one of the other options I was considering at the time, FujiFilm XT3.
By September 2020, I had decided to invest in only one camera and one camera system. I wanted a 'real' camera. A camera that was haptic and old-school, and one that would teach me and help me grow as a photographer. I found the camera that would be the camera to rule them all… one that could do anything and everything (so I envisioned)… The Leica Q. Silver version.
I thought it was sexy and refined, and with a vintage look in a modern design. And I loved that camera. I learned so much. A camera with one focal length, a superb fast lens, a Summilux 28mm F/1.7, where I had to use my feet and not the conceit of a tele lens to get in close and intimate. Yet wide enough to capture landscapes and environmental portraits to tell the bigger story. I was completely smitten, bitten and addicted to the Leica “gateway” camera…
However, as time went on, I needed more… I 'needed' a fix. I needed more variety in focal lengths. What had been a burning passion was also turning into a business proposition, and I needed to quell these insatiable desires… but how was I going to afford it? And keep the Q?
Alas, as much as I did not wish to part with my beloved silver Q, I traded it in for a Leica M10R and bought two lenses: Leica Summilux 35mm F/1.4 and Summilux 50 mmm F/1.4. An incredible camera with two of the most stunning lenses in the Leica M series of lenses. This would surely take care of my burgeoning passion for photography and career.
As the pandemic subsided, my photography grew, and I acquired and traded cameras such as the Leica CL, SL2, and Q2... These were swapped for the M11 and SL3. The Leica Q2, unfortunately, was stolen... and I bought a pre-owned Leica TL2 instead. I had TL lenses from the CL; why not make use of these little gems? I bought a Leica M-A film camera and added a FujiFilm GA645... also a Kodak half-frame Ektar H35, a Polaroid Now+ and the new Leica Sofort 2. I added Leica M lenses, such as the Noctilux F/1.25 remake, and lenses from Voigtlander, Zeiss, and Light Lens Lab, with focal lengths ranging from 28mm to 90mm. 50mm is my most favoured focal length. With the purchase of the SL3, I included SL lenses, such as a 35mm F/2.0 APO Summicron.
I am now content. I have rationalised my photographic gear, and I am very happy with my current selection and choice of gear for the right occasion. I want for nothing...
Except last week, I saw an immaculate Leica Q in silver. For sale. Boxed with all the original accessories. It is like new at a price far lower than I originally paid and lower than I sold my dear Leica Q for. I couldn't resist. It is a nine-year-old camera. It has had 2 version upgrades since its release, with the latest being the Leica Q3, featuring a 60-megapixel sensor. But it is, for me, the perfect Leica Q. The everyday carry that is always ready to shoot. I never felt the same connection with the Leica Q2, despite it having 'improvements' like a higher-resolution sensor and weather sealing. Maybe it's that each new Q variant only comes standard in black. There has been a Reporter version and a monochrome; however, there is something unique about the silver Q.
I felt truly excited unboxing my new Q. It was the kind of excitement I felt when welcoming a best friend I hadn't seen for such a long time... And to hold it in my hands... It has perfect weight, beauty and form... and instinctively knows the camera... unparalleled.
I am grateful to be reunited with a camera that has given me so much joy and sparked my love and passion for photography... once again.
“The Leica Q will teach you the art of walking. Good walking shoes is the first important feature of any photographer. A portable camera is the next. You will miss your 90mm lens and your 50mm Noctilux the first days with the Leica Q. Now you got to move your feet and use your head to compose. One lens is all you got. It's brilliant. This is the camera for training of the eye and mind....”
~ Thorsten von Overgaard
