Fuji vs Leica My Thoughts

You be the judge

[stephengreico]

Art doesn't care about how much you spend on your gear

[Narsuitus]

Thanks for sharing your Fuji and Leica thoughts with us.

My first Leica was an M1 that I used on a microscope while I was in college. I was very impressed with the reputation and the quality of the M1 body. I also used adapters to mount my Nikon 20mm wide-angle lens to the M1 body.

Before I could afford to buy a Leica M6 rangefinder, I used the following rangefinder bodies:
Argus C3 35mm rangefinder
Canon Canonet QL17 GIII 35mm rangefinder (fixed 40mm lens)
Contax G1 35mm rangefinder
Fuji GW670 medium format rangefinder (fixed 90mm lens)
Fuji GSW690 medium format rangefinder (fixed 65mm lens)
Minolta Hi-Matic 9 35mm rangefinder (fixed 45mm lens)

When I bought my Leica M6 35mm rangefinder, I shot it with the following lenses:
90mm f/2 Leitz
35mm f/1/4 Zeiss Distagon
21mm f/1.4 Leitz
14mm f/2.8 Nikkor with Nikon F to Leica M adapter

When the digital revolution occurred, I patiently waited for Leica to produce a full-frame digital rangefinder that accepted my M-mount lenses.

In 2015, I bought a Fuji X-Pro 1 with 23mm f/1.4, 56mm f/1.2, and 16mm f/1.4 Fujinon lenses as a temporary solution while I waited for Leica to produce what I really wanted.

In 2017, I purchased a black Leica M10 digital rangefinder. However, the M10 was so defective that Leica gave me a full refund. I later purchased a chrome M10 but it too was defective.

I upgraded my Fuji X-Pro1 to a graphite X-Pro 2 and have been so happy with its image quality and its reliability that I have abandoned my quest for a digital Leica rangefinder.

[TedVieira]

Good discussion here, Amar. Yeah man, for film (and what I'm preferring to shoot these days for my personal work) man, I do love shooting with the M6. For commercial work I gotta stay with Fuji on that for now. I'm still working on my 'film' chops, so digital is still easier for me to get the client exactly what they want - and I love the X-Pro 2 for that. But if someone wanted to buy me the M (Type 246) Monochrome.... that would be the one I would want. I've heard a lot of great stuff about that body's high ISO performance, and I almost always shoot in b&w anyway. I believe that's the one you mentioned you shot with in Vegas?

[paullanoue]

Had an M3 for forty years. It worked as well the day I sold it as the day I bought it. After four decades with the M3 I have nothing negative to say about it. It simply worked flawlessly.

[MostlyClaudi]

I agree with some of your statements but keep in mind that FUJI also builds lenses for Hasselblad. FUJI is not just a consumer manufacturer, they build lenses (TV cameras) that are way more expensive than the most expensive leica lens.

[lrb]

I am about to buy my first Leica Q2 next month, I been a happy Fuji shooter for years and my progress has gained me a level of success that I can now afford a gear like Leica Q2

[richardhaw]

i am liking you channel, i'm subscribing.

i am not hating on Leica, but I really think that it is mostly overpriced (at least the new ones). You can get the same experience with a cheaper Leica clone or a Zeiss. cant really compare Fuji and Leica, they are very different paradigms. Leica to me is closer to the real thing (digital). nothing beats shooting with a roll of film on an old camera. the discipline required will hone your skills like no other. just my thoughts.

by the way, are you Sikh? my uncle is as well but he's not indian. Sikhism should get more press but thats going out of topic.

[mikerichardson]

I know plenty of Leica shooters who'll admit in all honesty that Fujifilm builds a better digital camera. It's not even close. Money not even factored into the equation the Fujifilm bodies are nicer and perform better. If you'd like to shoot Leica glass (btw many Fujifilm lenses are every bit as nice as anything from Leica) then buy the M mount to Fuji X adapter and have at it. Leicas colours pale next to anything from Fujifilm and don't get me started on the amount of post required to make a Leica DNG come close to a Fuji JPEG.

[Imhotep]

I shot with an M9 my cousin owns for a short period of time. If I had the money, I might go Leica too but maybe not...being able to adapt virtually any lens to any mirrorless body is a powerful aphrodisiac.

Even though I know technically Leica is behind the crowd with their digital development because they just have never been a tech company I have a hard time believing you'll get the same quality out of a Leica lens on a non-Leica body as what you'll get on a Leica, but I haven't tested that particular set of combos...yet

I can admit it could all be psychological because when you get hands on with these historically significant much vaunted brands you can easily be seduced because the fit and finish will almost always be so rare, weighty and "perfect" you can begin to forget to be thorough in your full eval of everything involved.

[vignesk]

the perception that Mercedes is safer might be right decades ago but today, the safety standards is much better than before and cars built to this standards are much more safer than those expensive cars built years ago. i leave in Australia and here the ANCAP test shows this. A Corolla can score higher than a BMW 3 etc. so brands this days are just for status but to claim it means its safer... it's not entirely true. e.g. chances of surviving a severe crash in a current Subaru Outback is much higher than a 10 years Mercedes.

[anthrax]

Do you thing i should buy the fuji xe2 or xt1...?

[DaveBowman]

I've owned three Leica digital M's, all of which have had quality issues (shutter sticking, randomly hanging until the battery was removed, peeling leatherette after just a couple of weeks, etc.) I've owned several analogue M's. IMO there is a World of difference in the quality between the two. Leica digitals feel as though a stiff breeze will stop them functioning. Film M's feel solid and well built. The lenses have always been excellent, but I will never buy another digital M.

[TerryPhoon]

Totally agree ! I own a couple of Fuji camera + lenses and Nikon + a few lenses, played with my Manager's Leica 2 years back with the 0.95 noctilux( gosh the feeling is awesome ). Leica and Hassie is in a totaly different league. 10 out of 10 times I would pick the leica ( I love my Fujis ) even if I am not allow to sell or trade the leica forever.
just my opinion - sometimes it's just when people bought into a system, their cognitive bias towards that system brand grows and will defend it at all cost ( it feels good when you know you got the good/right stuff ).
some will go the distance by humiliating/shaming other brands, cause it makes them feel good and just.

btw, do you have a FB page and website ?, would like to follow your work, I'm just a normal dude that is into photography/ videography.
and Thanks for the Video

[boarini]

I sold my Xpro2 and got an M262. No live view, no unnecessary buttons/menus/options. Just what I need, nothing more. All I think about with the Leica is where I stand and when to press the shutter. I loved the Fuji but it didn't offer the simplicity, attention to detail and GODLY build quality that the Leica did. Also there is such a joy in manual rangefinder focusing. For those interested the 262 is available as a bundle for 6k, including the 50mm Summarit f2.4 lens.

[larrymccormick]

Exactly, use what you love, what inspires you and what improves your photography ! Haters be damned ! A great photographer can make any camera work for him ! LarryMac

[franciscocribari]

How would you compare the Fuji X-Pro2 to the Leica TL2?

[DarrylBarnes]

I've owned a M9 and an M6 and a a few High end canon Dslrs that I hated carrying around because of the weight. Now I'm exclusively Fuji and to be honest I love the way the film looks coming off of my old Olympus OM1 in comparison to my M6. Also acros is a film and Fuji is not trying to mimic what lieca is doing with acros they're mimicking what Fuji used to do with acros lol. In regards to IQ sure you could say it's apples and oranges, it's a full frame sensor so your depth of field is gonna be different shot wide open which brings me to my next point for 7k I'd rather buy a gfx50. Done and done for me shooting Fuji is a joy, shooting lieca digital is not, especially with the M9 which was expensive warm garbage. The lenses in lieca lineup are obviously fantastic as they've been doing things the same way for over 60years but man Fujifilm has some impressve lenses and cameras that make you want to shoot and not just because your lens and body set you back 10k.

[Daniel-Duarte]

Nice to see this kind of video. A lot of people out there have opinions on Leica / Hasselblad and yet they've never handled one, never mind shoot one. Good stuff. I have an M6 TTL and an M9 but its the glass that counts, 50 LUX ASPH and a 28 Cron ASPH.

[BloathingInVegas]

Amar, what did Ted Veira say about the Leica? Can you post the link? Thanks!

[jimmathin]

love them both. Leica is very different from new lines of camera. It's for people who appreciate photography in it's classic days. In days like these, I can say that Leica teaches the photographer to photograph but then The photographer needs to adapt to the system of fujifilm to photograph. The sense of freedom of which you are unshackled from autofocus is what people may think a bad thing but in a long run it's a huge investment for your skills.