Why I shot digital in Paris.

Because I can, motherfucker. This could already be the end of this blog because since when do we have to justify ourselves for the weapon of choice?

But let me explain. I took the Leica M9 with me. This camera literally never fails to disappoint me from the moment that I got it. It is well known for it’s colour science because Kodak built the sensor or was part of the development team or maybe somebody who built the sensor 12 years ago had one of these inflatable yellow kodak beach balls, what the fuck do I know.

At the time of the purchase money wasn’t a thing because I just sold my kidney successfully, so I also bought me a Summicron 35mm. I would have sold another kidney for the Summilux version but apparently you need at least one kidney and you only have two in total. A friend of mine told me.

So here I am holding a beautiful and well built camera importing the first images on my hard drives and they look absolutely not how I expected. They have this Leica look that I just don’t like. Not on a Q, Q2 or M10. Never. It’s personal and nothing against Leica and I should have known better from my previous experience with digital Leicas. 

After using it very little for three weeks (mainly for taking pictures OF the camera with an IPhone and posting them on Instagram to show off), I asked the seller - a widely known professional Leica retailer in Germany, if he would take it back. He offered me a price about one third below the original price (now that’s what I call a margin) and I thankfully said no. Or maybe I didn`t reply at all. 

I then found a Doctor Matthias something on eBay and yet alone that he used to sign every communication with “Dr. Matthias something” should have rang my alarm but anyway he bought the camera and I shipped it. Within two days he texted me that he is going to send the camera back to me because the bottom plate makes metal noise when you open it and the ISO button feels soft. I replied that his wife makes metal noises too when you touch her bottom plate and that she also feels a bit too soft in my opinion, so as a result, Doctor Matthias sent the camera back to me and I - honest as I am - gave back the money.

I decided to keep it for a while. As a warning to myself. You don`t buy a camera for 2.5k just because some twenty year old on YouTube said, “the colours come pretty close to Kodachrome”. If you want Kodachrome look go buy a photo book from the early days or just use a fucking preset.

That’s why I took the camera with me to Paris. I punished myself for being a dumb ass. Since then it sits on a shelf and looks good. A very expensive looking good type of look…