SHOOTING WEDDINGS WITH THE LEICA M10
“All roads lead to Rome!”
To paraphrase the famous quote, we can all use different tools to achieve a similar purpose, right?
My belief is that a professional photographer should be able to achieve great results, no matter what camera or gear he is using. It's about light, composition, moments and vision, because all these factors (the ingredients of a great photo) are exactly the same if I shoot with a DSLR, a mirrorless, a point & shoot or a rangefinder. These are just tools to achieve good results. I have always used Nikon DSLR cameras to shoot weddings, and I really think it is the best fit for my way of working and perfectly provides what I require from a camera. But, if I believe that, I should also be able to shoot weddings using other kinds of cameras such as mirrorless or rangefinder...
Well, speaking of rangefinders: for this wedding I gave the one and only Leica M a chance.
As a gift for my 40th birthday, I gave myself an expensive (but well-deserved) gift, a Leica M10. This little gem is now my daily camera and I always carry it with me to shoot street photography, lifestyle, and travel. It is very light and compact, besides being aesthetically beautiful.
I think every photographer who owns more than one camera or lens, at the moment of traveling is always asking himself the same question: “Which gear do I bring with me?” It’s always such a commitment, right? If I bring only one lens, a wide angle for example, I can take landscapes, panoramas and give more context to the story, right? But what if I need/want to shoot a portrait? Having all my gear with me, I would probably choose a 58mm or 85mm. Should I bring a flash? A tripod? How many cards? And so on… The photographer’s endless dilemma.
When I chose the Leica M10 as my daily and travel camera, I was conscious about all of this. But without agonizing over it too much, I decided to buy the M10 with a single prime lens: the legend- ary Leica Elmarit-M 28mm f/2.8 Asph.
Why this lens? Because it’s the most compact lens of the entire portfolio of Leica M lenses; the 28mm is an excellent focal length to shoot different kinds of subjects; it was not as expensive as other 28mm lenses (such as the Summicron-M 28mm f/2 asph or the Summilux-M 28mm f/1,4); and also for my way of shooting with the Leica, I didn’t need a fast lens. The f/2.8 maximum aperture was more than enough.
A few months ago I had the great opportunity to shoot a wedding with an amazing and very talented couple of photographers: Todd and Danette of Laffler Photography. The destination wedding was held in the beautiful luxury ocean front Villa Bellissima in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Aside from thanking Todd and Danette for the invitation, I would love to thank Riley and Tommy for let tingme be part of their special day. I really appreciate it!
Now let’s start being a little more technical and detailed about how it feels shooting a wedding with a Leica M10.
First of all, let me say that for me this wedding was not easy at all. Why? Since I was not the primary shooter, I had to make sure I was not in the other photographer’s frames, which is fundamental when you are a second shooter. And having a 28mm, with its wide 75° angle of view, it was much more complicated. But in the end, I’m happy with what I got.
Things I really love about shooting a wedding with the Leica M10:
I just love how simple and minimal the camera is. Leica calls this “das wesentliche” (the essentials). There are only three big buttons on the back of the camera (Menu, Play and Live View). No top LCD screen to see settings; three buttons and that’s it. But I don’t need more. Once all the camera settings are set, I don’t press either Menu or Live View while shooting... And this is one of the best things about this camera: straight to the point! I can just focus on shooting and make art, instead of continuously changing settings or pressing buttons. Leica users know that this is the philosophy of the brand (at least for the M series): to forget about menus, buttons and settings and focus on your vision!
To shoot at f/8 and f/16 is amazing... Embrace it! These lenses are so sharp and with deep details, and if you like how the depth of field works, you know what I'm talking about it. Shooting as my Magnum photo idols did: shooting with a Leica rangefinder chasing the perfect moment, showing us a lot of context... And shooting at smaller apertures. In many photographic styles, people are used to using prime lenses shooting wide open, to get that bokeh that "really" makes the difference. Me, I prefer context, information, allowing one to better appreciate the story. Sometimes when I want just a little depth of field but still wanting to understand the scene, I usually shoot at f/4, but most of the time, it's f/8 or f/16.
I really love that with a rangefinder, I’m always able to observe the entire scene through the viewfinder without any blackout. Yes, in a DSLR when you click the shutter there is blackout, because the mirror is covering your vision. It’s a fraction of second, but if you shoot often having always the complete vision and understanding of what is happening in the full scene, it really makes a difference.
This is weird when coming from a DSLR camera, but when you embrace it you’re gonna love it. There are frames lines appearing in the viewfinder, according to the lens you’re using. The rangefinder has a fixed field of view that doesn’t change depending upon which lens you have mounted. The frame lines give you an idea of what the picture will look like (or almost) but it’s really about visualization to achieve your final composition. This is great because it doesn’t leave anything to chance. You have to know how composition works with a rangefinder, in order to get the same photo you’re thinking of in your mind. The point here is that you shoot more instinctively: if you feel that it could be a good picture and you press the shutter button, that’s it. It could be complicated at the beginning, because you’re seeing differently in your viewfinder. 100% challenging, love it!
There are no video features, HDMI, USB or other "useless" connections. There is no built-in GPS, no tilting screen, no in-camera stabilization. The battery and the SD card are covered by a metal plate, and they're not readily accessible...which is great. The camera is better sealed and with not so many buttons, grooves or slots, I can concentrate better and focus on my photography. Yes, because I can change aperture, ISO and shutter speed using the old school dials...straight to the point! I repeat, once you know your camera and settings very well, you only need to change these three settings and nothing else. The pure essence of photography. Back to the basics, but with style!
Image quality?... Oh yeah! Some people may think that when you buy a Leica, you pay more for the brand than the camera/lens features... It’s a bit true, everything with Leica is more expensive than the regular photography market. But the quality of the lenses, for example, are some of the best in the world, objectively. My 28mm is so sharp, with almost no vignetting or chromatic aberration. You can easily have an amazing sharp photo without post processing the photo itself. Really! The sensor has an amazing dynamic range and the details are maximized because of the lack of an anti-aliasing filter. Wow, everything together gives us supreme image quality.
The camera is so fast! Why? Many reasons... The Leica M system doesn’t have autofocus (AF), everything is manual focus. The focusing is very easy with the Leica, and if you’re familiar with “zone focusing”, depth of field and hyper focal distance, you will be fast as Superman. Because once you master the rangefinder manual focusing system, you can be faster than a super accurate AF. Also because there is no mirror, there is not shutter lag, meaning there is no delay between you clicking the shutter and the image registered on the sensor.
At weddings, guests expect to see a photographer with huge cameras and lenses. But shooting with a Leica M10 and a prime lens such as the 28mm, you really will be unnoticed, much more discrete. The camera is very silent compared with a DSLR. It is smaller and lighter than many cameras out there and I’m sure that your back and shoulders will appreciate it too!
Conclusion
The Leica M10 is an amazing camera. I really love it, and I will keep shooting weddings with this little gem. At the moment, I can’t use it as primary camera. Why? I only have one lens! I would need for sure a 50mm, for a full day coverage: a 28mm + 50mm is an amazing combo for weddings. The features of this camera are very, very simple and the options are minimal, which is awesome. I repeat, once the camera is set all you need is to shoot.
Think for a second about the mirrorless camera of the moment: the Sony A7III. There are so many buttons, features and menu options that I feel like the Leica M10 and the Sony A7III are at two opposite poles: the newest technology versus pure minimalism. I really think that the technology can help, but also interfere. A camera with five options and a camera with twenty five: they can give you similar results but with a very different approach.
In a saturated world as ours, we have too many options to choose, and there is the paradox of choices. Having only very few options can boost your photography skills and let you concentrate only in what we want: shooting a great photo. And I’m not talking about showing off your Leica camera here. The Leica M line has a legendary status among photographers, yes, but your wedding clients really don’t care about which brand you are using or how cool your camera is. They want facts: amazing photos.
Definitely, it’s not a camera for everyone. For some, it could be more complicated to shoot with a Leica rather than a Fuji or Sony mirror lessor a Nikon or Canon DSLR. You need to master the rangefinder system and how to focus in order to guarantee results. It takes a lot of practice to be sure you can manually focus in any situation. If I were a sport photographer I wouldn’t chose a Leica M camera of course, because I would need super fast AF that is mandatory for sport photography. But for a general purpose, travel, street photography and why not, weddings, it can be an amazing camera. What are your goals when shooting a wedding? What do you really need and what is unnecessary? Think about that, maybe you can give Leica a chance.