I´ve always been a fan of Leica cameras. My first M-model was a M2 with Summicron 35 and 90 lenses. My first SLR was a SL Mot with 180 mm, 400 mm and 560 mm. I´ve used the Leicas parallell with other systems like Nikon, Pentax, Hasselblad. I´m doing a lot of news photography, nature, documentary, street and commercial mostly motoring from bikemagacines to Formula 1.
Many Leica cameras has passed but there was a time when I just gave up hope for Leica. Then came the M8 and M9. I liked the sharpness and contrast produced by the M9 but I soon gave it up for the M240 and then the M10.
I use, and have always used, the Leicas for available light photography and it means Summilux lenses for the M-cameras and Summicron and Tele for the R-cameras.
The Summiluxes has always been, and still is, my favourites but I´ve always had a problem finding the right focus with my 75 mm fully open at 1,4 as well as the Noctlix lenses 50 mm. My camera bag for news and street is normally 21, 35 and 75 Summilux and M10 but recently I added the new M EV1. Honestly I never really liked the electronic Visoflexes, so I was a bit sceptic but I decided to go for a Leica only when I covered this concert with Lennart, Dr Blues, Olofsson, member of the Hall of Fame of Blues performing with the author Tina K Persson who took part of the concert and also was reading poetry for an audience in a little club outside Swedens eastcoast, Öland.
It was crowded and about 1,4 1/30 on the scene at 800 ISO and 1,4 1/4 at 5000 ISO outdoors. I used the M240 for 21 mm and the E MV1 for a Zeiss Hologon 16 mm, a Summilux AA 35 mm and a Apo-Telyt 180 mm 2,8 with the new M EV1. It´s a set up I’m going to use more often after this. The M EV1 was a perfect match to the classic rangefinder M240. I wouldn´t use it with the 21 Summilux and I prefer to use the M240 or the M10 with the legendary AA 35 mm. All the pictures here are made with 1,4 on the summiluxes, 2,8 on the Apo-Telyt and f8 on the Hologon.
The M EV1 is far better for focusing the Summilux 75 and of course for the 180 but it also gives better low light performance and better dynamic in the pictures. I’m impressed by the focusing accuracy with the electronic viewfinder when it comes to longer focallengths but not with the wideanglelenses. There’s the rangefinder still the best choise of fulla aperture photography.
