. . . yeah, again.
Fortunately this time around I have the benefit of documented accounts of previous justifications—right here on these pages. Lots of accounts.
Seriously, though . . . in retrospect, it’s obvious that the inability to travel for two years had a major impact on my gear choices. And now the ability to travel is about to do the same. It’s not just about weight, but also about what can be fitted into the gear bag I’m carrying, in this day and age most likely to be one that can be used for both transport and shooting.
Much as I love what I get from the Sigma lenses, which are actually a bit lighter than some of their mirrorless competition, the weight and balance are still such that the setup has to be harnessed for comfort and convenience rather than strapped. Even then, several hours of walking around with a Hadley One on one shoulder plus the loaded harness can get a bit tiresome. To get to the point in a less serious manner, my Harry Benz straps need new cameras.
In spite of my disdain for some of Leica’s business practices, recorded at length elsewhere on these pages, a major reason I divested of the brand was because, at the time, it was a huge investment in stuff for which I had little subject matter of interest. Birding was about 90% of what I was doing, so the resources eventually got reallocated (and somewhat squandered) there.
Now, with compactness, comfort, and image quality the main considerations, it looks almost like a foregone conclusion that some form of return to Leica use is inevitable for me, though not necessarily with the lineup I cited yesterday. The 90mm ‘cron would likely be supplanted by a Voigtlander 75mm f/1.5: lighter, faster, and just as good. An M10 would likely be chosen for starters, though the black M11’s weight is enticing.
The good part is that my upcoming schedule will force me into taking some time to think about all this, instead of jumping up to make a major gear dump/gear buy as impulsively as I’ve done at times in the past.
Why the photo below? It’s where Leitz Cafe used to be, now with more customers in one shot than I ever saw collectively in all the times I passed it when it had the Leitz logo. Interestingly, Leica’s former partner in the venture has several successful upscale locations under their own name in the city, including one just down the street from my bolthole.
So . . . lack of brand recognition doomed Leitz Cafe? No, not in this brand-conscious society. Something tells me it was more about too much brand recognition . . .
