Are Leica Film Cameras Worth It
Are Leica cameras worth their cost tags?
Leica striking the headlines this calendar week with the launch of its new Leica M11, a camera that's quite possibly its best rangefinder notwithstanding – and too one of its most expensive. With a hefty body-only toll of $8,995 / £seven,500 / AU$thirteen,500, information technology'south sparked the age-onetime contend – can Leica cameras ever justify their price tags, or are they now merely luxury status symbols?
Leica cameras are expensive by whatsoever measure, but they're likewise renowned for their exquisite design, exceptional build quality, superb paradigm quality and unique shooting experience. Over the years, I've used and reviewed many Leica cameras from the Thousand, SL and Q series, and have thoroughly enjoyed using them. Just would I buy 1? That's a tough, and surprisingly complex, question to answer.
I love shooting with Leica cameras because they're beautiful in every style. But I don't own one myself and, right at present, take no intention of ownership one. I mainly shoot with Sony total-frame mirrorless cameras considering of their versatility and the broad range of quality optics they offer. And that all comes long before even thinking about loftier prices Leica cameras and lenses control.
Only that doesn't mean that Leica cameras can never justify their cost tags for other photographers. Later on all, if that was the instance, the company could never develop and launch cameras like the M11. Like most of Leica'due south lineup, the M11 is a niche camera with a very singled-out character – and information technology'south this, aslope other factors like their longevity and toll appreciation, that are of import factors to talk over when considering whether or not Leica's pricing is genuinely excessive.
How expensive are Leica cameras, though? Given its range was given a small price hike back in Apr 2021, information technology's time for a quick temperature cheque on the reddish dot tax...
How much?
Leaving bated the D-Lux range, which are made in collaboration with Panasonic, Leica's cameras are certainly among the priciest of their kind.
At the lower finish, they outset with the Leica TL2 ($2,595 / £1,720 / AU$ii,900), but quickly motility through the savings-shredding gears with the total-frame, stock-still lens Leica Q2 compact ($5,700 / £4,500 /AU$8,500). Then there's the Leica SL2, which is more similar a standard full-frame mirrorless camera, but still costs $seven,000 / £five,500 / AU$10,300.
Perhaps a more revealing comparing, though, is betwixt the Leica M11 ($8,995 / £vii,500 / AU$thirteen,500) and Sony A7R IV ($iii,500 / £iii,200 / AU$4,670), two cameras which quite perchance use the same 61MP sensor. They're very different prospects in other ways, but the scale of the toll difference shows the impact of that famous red dot. Even the Sony A1, which on paper blows the M11 out of the water, is cheaper than Leica's new camera at $six,500 / £half-dozen,500 / AU$9,000.
With special-edition M-series cameras frequently pushing into five-figure territory, it's clear there's still very much a Leica premium. Simply can information technology be justified? That depends on a few different factors, starting with design and build quality.
Less is more
Leica cameras are handmade in Federal republic of germany with elevation plates that are often made from a single piece of machined aluminum or contumely, with a brass baseplate. The adroitness and attention to particular are still 2d-to-none, and they're quite simply built similar tanks.
M-series cameras are also so small, serenity and unobtrusive that they've become a business firm favorite of professional street, reportage, fashion and portrait photographers for more than lxx years. This is a group for whom cost isn't a deciding factor, but the shooting manner and epitome quality on offer are yet of the utmost importance.
The signature shooting feel of most Leica cameras focuses on the fundamentals of exposure – ISO, aperture and shutter speed. These are the three about important controls on every camera, and with Leica 1000 models you have direct admission to these, with other settings neatly subconscious away in a brilliantly-designed camera menu. This means there are but a few buttons on the back of the camera alongside a D-pad.
Non just does this design simplicity look amazing, it also allows photographers to focus purely on the settings that thing with cipher else getting in the way. This overturns conventional photographic camera wisdom, which usually states that the more circuitous the camera is, the college its price tag. Merely minimalism like this requires the clever design of both the camera and user interface. And like Bang & Olufsen'due south speakers, this simplicity is something that many are willing to pay for – peculiarly when their camera pays their bills.
Do Leicas take meliorate photos?
Very few, if whatever, professional cameras these days are objectively 'ameliorate' at taking photos than their rivals. Typically, professionals buy a camera for its features, size, weight, control layout and, to some degree, sensor size and resolution – all with the intention that the camera fits their way of photography and way of shooting.
Cameras like the Leica M11 offer a unique hands-on experience and discreet shooting in a minor and lightweight package. Full-frame mirrorless cameras tin be extremely modest, and Leica has capitalized on this by maintaining its traditional Leica 1000 pattern aesthetic, aslope tiny manual focus lenses that offer first-class prototype quality.
Autofocus is amazing these days, thank you to incredible speed and features such every bit Eye AF, but if Leica M series cameras offered autofocus and features like image stabilization, the size and weight of M bodies and lenses would need to drastically increase. Non only would this completely detract from what Leica Yard series cameras are all nigh, but it would also inevitably drive the cost even college.
The refined shooting experience offered past Leica Yard cameras is almost as close to traditional film shooting as you tin can become with a digital camera. Just rather than being a pace backwards, it's more almost maintaining a shooting style as much loved as it is unique. And although at that place'southward no video shooting available with the M11, it's all about the 'pure' photographic experience – a true photographers' camera.
Appreciation society
Another cistron in the 'value' fence what happens to a camera's price after you've bought it. In that location aren't many cameras fabricated these days that can become more than valuable over time. Similar fine wines, Leica cameras aren't manufactured in huge numbers like Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus or Sony models, so at that place's an inherent scarcity and exclusivity in each model.
Then at that place are the express edition models that are non merely collectable, only tin increase in value, making them equally much an investment as a great photographic tool. The limited-edition Leica M10-P Edition 'Safari' photographic camera, for case, was released in 2015 and limited to merely 1,500 units.
Yous can buy used versions of this seven-year-old camera on eBay today for fractionally more than the original price, which equates to a 'free' camera if you purchased at launch and sold it today in practiced condition. Information technology'll likely be a similar story with this year'south Leica Q2 '007 edition'. By contrast, it'due south prophylactic to say that your average camera would be worth around a 3rd of its launch cost afterwards just three to v years.
Merely let's also try putting cost into perspective for 'standard' Leica M models, as well. How oftentimes practice yous upgrade your camera? Every two-4 years, or in some cases sooner? If you're spending a few thousand dollars or pounds every time yous upgrade, it only takes a couple of upgrades before you've exceeded the cost of a Leica M.
Leica fans are known to hang onto their cameras for much longer, sometimes a lifetime, rather than slavishly following the upgrade cycle and buying every new model as they're launched. So, when you divide the initial price over a longer menses of years, the cost effectively comes down and can ultimately be lower than the more mainstream brands – it'southward certainly nutrient for thought.
Price of admission
From my point of view, Leica cameras such equally the M11 and their lenses are far likewise expensive. Just this is far from a simple conclusion and leaves me with a degree of inner turmoil, because I also appreciate why they're expensive – and that'south a dichotomy we all take to come to terms with.
On the one paw, Leicas are overpriced for the tech they offer. But on the other, it's a luxury camera brand where cameras are mitt-congenital in Germany using high-quality materials. If Leica was to mass-produce cameras similar the M11 to reduce cost, the quality of the materials would also demand to exist reduced and the design would inevitably take a hitting, too. So would Leica then lose much of what makes its cameras then unique and special?
Leica cameras provide a unique gear up of characteristics that appeal directly to the needs of a niche set of working professionals, as well as lucky amateurs who can afford them and are used to paying for premium brands. Merely there'south however more to consider; Leicas hold their value much better than other cameras, and in some cases, they can increase in value because of their scarcity and limited edition, so tin even be seen as an investment.
The express-edition 'Drifter' M Monochrom with a snakeskin finish, produced with the musician Lenny Kravitz, is one such example. And in this situation of scarcity and collectability, a Leica camera essentially pays for itself. So, if you can stomach the initial cost and you demand the shooting style afforded past them, Leica cameras tin can exist a fantastic option, for some. For the rest of us, we may just have to go on on dreaming.
- The Leica M11 is a glorious relic in an age of camera phone convenience
James Abbott is a professional portrait and landscape photographer, and a freelance photography journalist producing words and pictures for the all-time photography magazines in the UK. James is also a qualified college lecturer and has taught photography and Photoshop to a broad range of age groups and situations including one-to-i, group and distance learning.
Source: https://www.techradar.com/news/are-leica-cameras-worth-their-price-tags#:~:text=Leica%20cameras%20are%20expensive%20by,have%20thoroughly%20enjoyed%20using%20them.
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