I used my old Leica M9 a little bit - yesterday morning, when the sun suddenly came out, and everything just looked so lovely, bright and colorful. Sal and I went to the local café here in Rågsved - enjoyed a "bakelse" (cake), together with pressed apple juice - which by the way altogether was unusual affordable, something like 50% lower than in the city. It is a very simple café, but joyful to have one in our community in the outskirts of Stockholm.

Anyway - i noticed that when using the rangefinder experience in the Leica M9 I must have forgotten that yes, it is relatively easy to miss the focus ever so slightly. I tend to set the sharpness involuntarily on the eye that is a notch further back. Especially with bright lenses which exhibit a very shallow depth of sharpness, it is relatively easy to miss the exact focus !

I must have forgotten *grin*

Why didn't I use it more often ?

I haven't used the Leica M9 much for a long time... In the past 6-7 years not very much. (Before more often) Albeit i did use the analogue Leica M6 a lot during the Sicilian lockdown back in March/April 2020, when i got involuntarily stuck there for 4.5 weeks.

One of the reasons, I think, why I didn't use the Leica M9 as often was, that after i jumped onto the sensor corrosion replacement for free (in the very, very end of that period it was offered) as it later would would cost 1000+ € to get it fixed.

Afterwards, I got way more careful with using the camera, knowing that if anything happens after that - it would cost me a lot to get it fixed ! If I ever bump the Leica M9 anew (which often makes the rangefinder go out of alignment), it would become a very costly repair (plus the several months until you get your camera back). Leica repairs are... let's face it - always a costly affair.

So, I got very careful - or better said - far too careful to even use the camera *LOL* It then was out of sight, and out of mind. Just sitting in the closet.

Which of course, is stupid.

Nevertheless - I am starting to use it again. Just for the fun of it.

I am not taking it with me to work (subway)

Albeit I never take it with me to work. The environment as a subway driver, is far too... well, it is far too easy to bump the camera against something, and the rangefinder would go out of alignment. Which i simply don't like to happen. There are studier cameras to take with me to work.

Well, any other camera is better than a Leica M with me at work. Unless I put it into a well padded backpack or so. At the same time, a Leica M9 at work during winter, isn't exactly a good tool most of the time. The limited high ISO is one reason. The few worthy motives another. I mean, i am constantly moving around, both out in trains, and later in the depot. It's just too easy to dumb it hard against something while walking / going in and out of train driver cabin doors, when checking my trains.

Rangefinder is still a special experience
(love or hate it)

And yet, or nevertheless - it is still a special kind of experience to work with a range finder. The problem with getting things in exact focus is, that when a person moves, it is easy to miss the focus. I am sure it must be frustrating for some... I remember, in the very beginning, that it sometimes was annoying. I had to get used to work with a rangefinder back in 1989 when i bought my Leica M6.

Also happens with mirrorless (rangefinder-less cameras)

But, you can miss the exact focus even with let's say a Sony A7s together with a Leica M lens which you focus manually via the viewfinder: as soon a person moves you can miss the exact focus. It often takes me one or two clicks on a button in order to enlarge the point i wish to set sharp... but when somebody moves, well... the focus can easily get misplaces. So, I would assume that the latest Leica M EV1, without rangefinder, also faces the same challenges.

The only difference is, that the viewfinder in the M EV1 model is of high resolution compared to my Sony A7s, and that the back of the LCD screen is of higher quality compared to the very simple LCD in my Leica M9 (which does not have live view at all - so you are truly dependent on an exact aligned rangefinder in order for the camera to work properly) Once out of alignment... and you are out of luck taking images.

Newer Leica M cameras have live view, due to that they then started using CMOS image sensors instead of CCD (the latter are present the M8, M8.2 and M9 cameras).