An Honest Look at the Leica M: Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace

After owning a Leica M (240) for a year Mark Wallace gives his honest feedback on the M system. Mark talks about what he loves and what could be better.

This video is in response to the original Leica video Mark posted almost a year ago:

Related Products at Adorama:

Voigtlander 21mm and 25mm Metal Viewfinder

Leica M Digital Rangefinder Camera Body, Type 240

Leica 21mm f/3.4 Super Elamr-M ASPH

Leica 35mm f/2 SUMMICRON-M Aspherical

Leica 50mm f/1.4 SUMMILUX-M Aspherical -Black

Leica 135mm f3.4 APO-TELYT-M

Leica Multi-functional Handgrip M

Leica SF 26 Compact Shoe Mount Flash

Photos by Mark Wallace

Like, share, and comment on the video below...let's get the conversation started!

[xyzcbafyp]

Great video as always!

Fun Fact: Behind Mark takes place the worst date ever lol

[rubelukeable]

You’re such a good ambassador for Leica and photography in general. You’ve really helped me with choosing the right M lenses for my style. Your content is clear, focused and easy to follow. Thank you!!

[letrudo]

Welcome to Portugal Mark! Great to know your visiting us. Love your videos and thank you for sharing so much. If you need anything while you're here in Lisbon just let me know. Cheers!

[bwworld]

Hey Mark, welcome back! Guess what I bought recently? A Leica M 240! Great camera, and they've resolved the slowness that IMHO plagued the earlier versions. BTW regarding flash, I simply use my Canon Speedlite 580 II in manual and go old-school. And yes, it works (in manual) with the remote transmitter.

[mokhtarchahine]

Great video Mark, Thank you for your time & honesty.

[janusxx]

Great video Mark. You make it all so clear and simple.

[jabba]

So many people have opinions on cameras they haven't used and never will! It is a refreshing change to see a video that puts that nonsense to bed and talks about the camera being a tool for the job, which it is. Well done Mark

[chrishuang]

Great and honest talk about the Leica M. Buy and use it if it suits you. Its not for everybody but its good, just like gourmet food. He is absolutely right. If you want flash photography, use a DSLR or a medium format camera.

[YouDontTalkAboutFightClub]

Great continuity with the second camera! Spot on! All in one take as well! Very nice!

[dajssimonelli]

Mark: i really don´t care the brand you use. i listen to you because you really know what you are talking about, no matter which camera you use. Thanks for all the things i have learned from you.

[goncalomarrafa]

Great video, as always, Mark.

Hope you're enjoying your stay in Portugal. Lovely places to photograph here. If you have the time you should go to Sintra. Very near Lisbon and incredibly beautiful.

I would also suggest a visit to Évora, my hometown. It's a small city about 1.5hr drive away from Lisbon, Unesco World Heritage and full of culture and history. Awesome place to shoot.

Keep up the great work!

[jimslater]

Using a Leica M camera slows you down so you can think about the image before you shoot. I have used SLR and DSLR cameras and Leica rangefinder cameras. My best work was with the Leica M cameras. Guys with DSLR cameras seem to just bang away and get as many images of the same scene as they can put on a card and then spend a lot of time going through the images trying to decide which ones are savers. Leica shooters take the time to get the composition, focus, DOF, and exposure correct the first time. Remember, no camera system is perfect. Choose a system that works for you for your type of photography.

[bleuswiffer]

Thanks for the honest and open explanation Mark!

[mitchjohnson]

Thank you for this video. I just got a M 240 and picked up a couple voightlander lenses. I love the camera and the shooting experience, so far! I am early days amateur and look forward to expanding my interest in photography with Leica. I also have a TL2 and the design and build and UI is amazing! And it can make very nice pictures too, and in a different way than the M. Love my Leicas!

[AgnostosGnostos]

Leica M series rangefinders cameras have manual focusing. Manual focusing isn't so difficult or slow for everyone. After a short time of practice it becomes very easy and fast. Manual focusing until mid 80's was the standard way of shooting photos. Afterwards first with the Minolta and a little later with the Canon and Nikon autofocus became a standard.
During the 90's we had the autofocus war. An important aspect of a camera and lens was its fast autofocus. Nowadays that isn't so important with dSLR camera but it is still an issue with mirrorless cameras which don't have the benefit of optical phase detection.
To truth is that in Sport photography, wild nature photography and journalism everything changes fast and there isn't time for manual focusing. For these situations fast autofocus is essential.
Most photographers are satisfied with zoom autofocus lens. A huge percentage of a lens cost is dedicated to zoom and autofocus capability. This cost with a prime manual focus lens is spent in better optical quality and sometimes in smaller size and weight.
That's why manual focus, prime lenses are nearly always superior optically than the autofocus zoom lenses of the some price and focal length.

[bowlnoodles]

Many different cameras for different photographic needs. I'm glad the choice is there. I love my Leica's. It's not my only camera but when I travel and am not on a shoot, my Leica is my daily carry.

[TheDx]

What's funny is that the beard and the tone of the video make it feel like he's talking about spirituality and not camera systems.
Great video guys. Keep it up!

[tombu]

From what I read that for 135 tele occasionally focusing with the rangefinder will drift, which can be resolved by sending both the camera and lens for CLA.

Mark is always honest! You don´t need to write it

[JohannKwan]

Good vid. Something to add from my experience shooting in Canada. You probably don't absolutely need an extra battery, but it *is* nice. Cold weather does make it drain somewhat faster.