No wonder Leica has a reputation as a piece of jewelry and honestly, I have never met anyone that was impressed or excited by a camera of any type unless they were a photographer. The general public could give a dam. If it makes you feel better about yourself, then fine. But there are too many much more impressive things in life than a camera. And I shoot Leica. Because I used to feel that they had better lenses. But no one but me ever saw that. No one - ever - in 15 years. They could see the difference in 4 x 5 but even that was rare. But Leica, 35mm - never. You know why? Because all anyone (viewers) ever care about is content. Content is all that matters and all that will ever matter.
I see where you are coming from and I sort of agree with you, but the lenses do matter, and Leica lenses aren't wasted on 35mm film. I like the Zeiss M lenses a bit better. I like the contrast. have you checked out the latest reissue of Frank's "The Americans"? Lenses mattered for those images, I think. The Nikons of the day were, generally, not up to Leica standards. This is 1955, though.
My clients could/can tell the difference in formats, even differences in lenses. An old Dagar 7" on a 4x5, all uncoated, shot wide open at 6.3 looks mighty different than almost anything else. The Leica M lenses on B&W are pretty amazing, so flat yet sharp. My clients comment on an over all vibe of an image, sometimes the vibe is OLD FASHIONED, sometimes its HYPER REAL, sometimes its DREAMY. Each format can help realize the vibe. The Vibe is content.
My experience is that the general public think the Leica M is sexy. Every editorial I've shot with the M8 gets subjects and models interested in the camera. My wife was an MUA and has seen every camera under the sun (OK, not the Hy6 or AFi). The only camera she has ever been interested in is a Leica M. When I shoot street outside of New York, I always get someone asking me about my camera. My M6 is beat, taped up. My M4P is immaculate, and taped up. My M8 is taped, a little beat. People want to know all about them. I had a wino in Boston asking me all about the camera. This guy knew optics, knew camera systems. He was well spoken despite having no front teeth. Now, the S2 is a big, well designed, Teutonic object of desire, with the red dot. This bitch will win bragging rights, its the bigest schlong in the big schlong contest, the longest pisser in the pissing contest.
The only camera I plan on buying, ever again, is an M9, when the price comes down. Maybe Kurland will have a Demo with a warranty for a $2k haircut.
