Leica shooter...

Work in progress...

The Gallery 1090 at Samy's Camera - San Francisco

No poop...

Gilligan was here...

Get me outta here...

Debris...

The aftermath after all of the storms.

He's dead Jim...

Eureka...

Leica Microscope...

M10 - 48hours later...

48 hours after taking delivery of a Leica M10  (thanks CameraWest for allowing me to be the 1st once again), I wanted to give some feedback on what's it been like without sounding like a Leica fanboy.

Is it slimmer?  YES.  Holding it gives the Leica film body sensation.

Easier to look out of?  YES.  The new 0.72 finder is wonderful.

Lighter?  YES.  Feels close to the M262.

Better menu?  YES.  More like the Q and SL in terms of appearance and function.

Better with less buttons?  YES and NO.  Never had a problem with the buttons before but the less buttons seems ok.

High ISO?  HELL YES !!!  Finally, the image above isn't anything special except it was shot at ISO 10,000.  NO previous M can do this.

Detail retention?  YES.  I loaned my new camera to a few of my colleagues and some of the shots were well under exposed.  I pushed the file 2, 3 and 4 stops.  Not only was the subject looking good, there wasn't any banding or color issues.  Just looked liked a properly exposed shot.

New sensor and processor better?  Oh YES.  Colors, white balance, noise reduction, etc... all was dramatically improved.

Conclusion....
So far this new M10 is living up to what I wanted in a Leica digital rangefinder.  The high ISO is an important thing for me and all the previous M's (except for the Monochrom) fell short of what I wanted.

The M10 just feels good in the hand.  Just like holding my M3 or MP film Leica's.  Going to do some black and white shots with the new M10.  If things work out... who knows, my previous stance that the Monochrom goes no where might be moving on to help fund perhaps another M10.

I have NO regrets for selling off nearly my entire Nikon digital set-up.

Love of Leica...

While I was being photographed (now I know how my models feel)  today for a future promotional spot for Samy's Camera, this customer came up to us and started a conversation about Leica.

He's a long time Leica shooter and to prove it, he has a Leica M6 tatoo on his arm.  Talk about real dedication and love of the brand !!

Leave my pigeons alone !!!

SX-70

As much as I love the look of the classic Leica rangefiners, Canon FTb, Nikon F cameras... there is just something about the Polaroid SX-70.

I only wished that The Impossible Project can somehow get together with FujiFilm and work out some sort of agreement to get the formulation that Fuji knows how to do and create a good integral pack film.

The Darkside is Watching...

Backstreet...

Analog...

Ready the gear...

Complex...

No computers back then.  Can you imagine all the math required to create this engineering marvel?

Wired sky...

Once a typical view of the sky in the city

Outside your door...

Lots of activity during lunch time.

Leica is hip...

After many decades of cameras, the Leica rangefinder is still one sexy camera !

Come rain or Come shine...

White sneakers day...

Might as well...

... if you got an ugly entrance and garage door in an alley, make it beautiful.

Puppy...

Old Watch Maker...

Remember those images of the old guy with specks tinkering with a watch or gadget?  Looks like father time has caught up to me.

(Leica M7, Tri-X 400)

Message from above ???

During the drive home, a heart shaped cloud in the sky.

Playing with itself...

Title needed...

I have no idea what to call this photo... any thoughts??

Man...

Woman...

Concrete canyon...

Discovery...

Passing on the joy of using a Leica rangefinder camera to the next generation.

Demo time...

Helping Leica's find new homes!

What once was old...

Is new once again.  This M9 was totally re-done by Leica and tonight has a new home!

Addiction...

So much for ending our addiction to cigarettes.

Trouble...

Cat playthings...

Morning rush...

Corner reaction...

While on the streets.... the dude was trying to score some action, the gal on the right was doing the cellphone reaction thing and the gal on the left (the subject of the advances) was trying to ignore the dude.
Ah.... life in the big city.

McQueen

The owner of this Mustang repair shop was obviously inspired by Steve McQueen - still one cool dude!

Tied up...

Courtyard...

Still morning...

Lunch...

Stay Puft...

Looking upwards...

Damn those power lines...

What you get when...

... you hand a Leica SL over to a bunch of photography, video and art students who I have the pleasure of working with daily.  Shots taken by Kate and Neko