1964 Leitz Summicron 50mm f2: Why a Leica?

Some people were wondering why I saved up and bought a fully manual Leica , instead of grabbing a new Pentax/Nikon or Canon product?  The main reason was, I wanted to SLOW down my photo taking so I could actually think about it more and take some care creating images like this one of my daughter. her jacket and clothing were really that purple, and the restaurant has weird lighting ( neon, tungsten and fluoro)

ISO 640 F2.8 1/30th of a second

  Of course, it was helped by the stellar Leica glass, but this lens is 47 years old! Imagine what a newer lens would look like? its a similar optical formula, but it has the benefit of being 6 bit coded to correct for any vignetting and/or aberration plus it has the most modern multi - coating to stop glare.

 Saying all that, picking up the M8 and adjusting the lens while looking through the crystal clear and large viewfinder is magical, it sounds hokey, but the feel of the camera and the art of photography just feels right.
 Sort of like an older 60s sports car   , you have to put up with shortcomings and play to its strengths, but once you realise what teh strengths are and could be, its a sublime experience. Like certain things in life, the end product is greater than the sum of its parts , especially when you look at the tech specs and compare to even my pentax KX.

Then again, a leica isnt the perfect camera, for my macro stuff I will continue to use my Pentax KX, and also for rapid auto-focus at kids parties etc , but saying everyone wants me to calm down and be more *ZEN*  I think we can call this mission accomplished!

full size here