My vanity…

…knows no boundaries.

A short while ago I bought a Fujifilm X100v, I think I got influenced from looking at too many social media channels and people singing it’s praises as if it was the only camera any photographer would ever need.

And whilst I concur with the fact it is a very nice camera I’m not warming to it the way I used to warm to other Fujifilm cameras I’ve owned before.

A little while before that I picked up a Nikon ZFC. Another camera that seduced me with its good looks and the promise of making great photographs.

And indeed it is a very nice camera, I actually like the images it produces more than the Fuji X100v and my personal impression is it’s a better camera than the X100v, controversial I know.

And each time I’ve been seduced by these cameras and I’m out with them, all I think is that I wish I had my Leica M10-P with me. I’ve even revisited places I’ve been with the Nikon and the Fuji to reshoot them with the M10-P.

Now I think I understand the reasons behind why I’ve bought each of these cameras but suffered buyers remorse fairly soon after.

The Leica is a beautiful camera, it’s design is nigh on perfect and it feels like the quality you would expect. But in use it’s strengths are its weaknesses.

As a camera it is however quite rudimentary. The focussing is all manual & offers a challenge one has to overcome and conquer albeit over time it can be mastered.

The metering is archaic in comparison to todays offering in almost all cameras. It’s a pretty loose centre weighted meter which blows highlights super easily.

Trying to shoot long exposures is also a real weakness for an M Leica.

And the feature set of the M makes me need to slow down and consider my process… and at times I don’t want to slow down and consider, I only want to point & shoot. The Fuji & the ZFC are more feature rich, and allow me to point and shoot and maintain a level of quality in the photographs I’m comfortable with.

However, the re-occurring theme whenever I’m pointing and shooting with other cameras is – I wish I had the Leica in my hand.

Conclusion

Well, at the end of the day an itch needs scratching and I’ve scratched both the Fujifilm & Nikon itch, however neither has offered the solution I thought they would.

Maybe it’s time to retire from social media, forums and photo websites.

Maybe I need to be more disciplined in my approach toward camera gear.

Maybe I need to perform root and ranch on all my camera gear and move on everything superfluous to my needs.

Maybe it’s at its most simple the need to concentrate on what I want to do and that’s enjoy the passion of photography for myself with the gear I always seem to come back to and accept the limitations that presents to me.

PS. Anyone want to buy an X100V

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