Leica T with Vario-Elmar T 18-56mm @ 23mm. 1/400th f/8 @ ISO 400. Main Street, Chinatown, Vancouver.
Is it wrong to care about how a camera looks? If that’s all you care about, then yes. But we are creatures of aesthetics and symmetry. That’s why we are attracted to beautiful things in both nature and things made by hands. How a camera looks and feels can affect how we feel, which in turn affects how we shoot. Shooting with a rangefinder feels very different to me versus shooting with an SLR. Shooting film or instant really feels different versus shooting digital. My mood affects my shooting pattern.
Leica successfully plays on this concept of beauty and style (along with function) with the new Leica T. They spent a lot of time and energy marketing this camera as such, including a 45 minute video of an employee hand polishing a T body. It’s Audi design. Does all this effort in making this camera sexy successful? Yes it is. Wherever I walk around with this camera, people want to look at it, touch it, play with it. Even at Eric Kim’s recent street-photo workshop in Vancouver, everyone wanted to hold and play with the T over any of my other review cameras. Moreover, if you want attention, buy the Leica T, it’s worth every penny. However, do you also want to take great pictures?
Leica T with Vario-Elmar T 18-56mm @ 56mm. 1/500th sec f/8.9 @ ISO 800. Chinatown, Vancouver
The Leica T has the same sensor as the Leica X-Vario (and I assume the same processor), and you all know how much I love that camera (I spent almost 2 months with it in Tokyo with my Tokyo-X-Vario project). Both cameras are very capable image making machines, although they both have their quirks. The Leica T is a huge improvement over the X-Vario in terms of technology, innovation and extra functionality; but some things still need a bit of tweaking. For me, I don’t mind the quirks, and I’m comfortable shooting with this camera.
A full review is on its way, as well as a YouTube video. Notice I didn’t post any pics of the T this time? It’s not necessary. We all know it’s uber sexy. We get it…
My Preview of the Leica T posted HERE
My Short YouTube Video Review of the Leica T posted HERE
Thanks for viewing and happy shooting!
Munetake
BHT
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