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Peter McKinnon put a video up the other week with the title Photography is Dead. Aside from it being a bit baity, the video did hit on something poetic.
I’ve been investing a lot of time in my documentary photography website recently, which means using my camera with a very considered approach. If you watch this amazing video of Josef Koudelka, you can see how carefully he composes every single image.
That’s great, and his photographs are really, truly artistic. However, I had forgotten how creating photographs is supposed to also be emotional, and fun.
To save my workhorse cameras from unnecessary wear, I bought an old beaten-up Leica D-Lux 6 as a daily, throw-in-my-bag camera and it has been a liberating experience. Click here to skip the mush and read my thoughts about it.
Mobile devices now have 50mp sensors in, which is madness. We’re filling up our storage with images 4x larger than desktop monitors. Every megabyte of data storage generates 20g of carbon dioxide – that means every image from my Leica Q2 has potentially over a kilogram of CO2 associated to it.
Quite a scary thought.
The RAW files from a 10mp Leica D-Lux 6 (which is a rebadged Panasonic LXsomething) are 85% smaller yet still produce 12 inch prints!
There is obviously a massive difference in image quality but we have to remember that it wasn’t that long ago that the flagship Nikon DSLRs were 12mp, and that was considered ground-breaking.
We get so hooked on megapixels, but good photographs should not be governed by equipment.
Pick something up, any old camera, go outside and just create. Stop trying to make something, instead, let it happen organically, unrestricted by technology. This is where the magic starts to happen.
By being more relaxed, the images I then create with my Q2 take on a refreshed and looser look that have much more narrative.
Why would I review such an old camera? It’s pretty uninspiring technically. The lens is good, but not that good, the sensor is tiny, and the whole camera feels remarkably slow (compared to modern standards).
Yet, I really like the images it creates, especially the black and whites.
It’s relatively cheap, tiny, lightweight and delivers photos that remind me more of film than the Fuji X100V I had.
There wasn’t much in the way of reviews when I bought it, bar a handful of people commenting on the lack of modern day standards (see above). But it was a real bargain because it had been well used so I went with it.
Ignore all of the specs, if you want a camera that delivers a bit of characterful soul, this is a great option.
If you’re going to put 99% of photos online, then ask yourself, do you really need 50mp? If the question is yes, just use a smartphone. If you want something that you can always have on you that has a bit of magic, buy a cheap Leica.
