Leica M11
I bought the Leica M11 purely because of its beautiful classic design. Especially the silver version, it looks timeless to me.
The M11 is a ranger finder camera and you have to manual focus. It’s not an easy to use camera, but the analog control slows you down and makes you practice with it if you want to get a decent shot. I am still practicing with it, as the subject matter I shoot is more of street snaps. It actually requires you to respond to scene or a moment very swiftly. Getting the focus right while moving is very hard unless I use zone focusing. It’s said that it’s way faster than the auto-focus if you master the technique.
The one big drawback of this camera I think is the autowhite balance, which is really not reliable. In some lighting conditions, the images will have a more magenta look, which will need to be corrected in light room. I cannot say all the images straight out of the camera will be useable. Maybe it’s because I haven’t master it yet.
Other than that, the M11 is my go-to camera when I am want to go out alone and shoot. The whole process is both daunting and soothing for me. That makes it one of a kind.
Ricoh GR3X
A love-hate relationship with this camera…
I owned and used the Ricoh GR3x for over a year. I sort of have a love-hate relationship with this camera. I love the color and sharpness of the images it produces. It is also the smallest APSC sensor camera in the world. The compact size makes it an everyday carried for me for a long time.
Until it breaks… Yes. That’s why I love it but also hate it. The first issue I got was the dust on the senor, which should be coming in from the lense which is the loose part on this camera. Then later, the stabilization module in the lense broke, making it shake when I tilted the camera to shoot vertically. I had to spend thousands of RMB to get it fixed. The overall built quality is just not ideal.
Anyway, the image quality is why I still keep it. Hope Ricoh can improve the built quality in its GR4.
