When you mention Leica, your mind immediately travels to the greats of photography.
We are talking about a brand that has literally made history, with products of the highest quality and created with an attention and precision that is truly difficult to describe.
Cameras are one of those objects that I particularly love, from an aesthetic, functional point of view. They really fascinate me. And for someone who loves to tell stories, like me, Leica is one of those dreams that, at least at the moment, remain in the drawer.
However, thanks to the hospitality of 2 Emme Foto in Padua and the super preparation of Davide, I was able to touch and test the Leica SLs II and the Leica Q2 Monochrome.
What can I say? Holding these cameras in your hands makes you feel their quality right away. It feels like you have a piece of history in your hand. As Irene Cara sang in Flashdance, “What a feeling!”
As a first test, I tried the Leica SLs II, a 24 mp camera, combined first with a 16-35, then with a 50 1.4. I have to say that especially with the latter lens, I had fun, even disturbing the two very kind workers outside the store who lent themselves as models for my experiments.
If I liked the feeling with the SLs, but I wasn’t captivated, the Q2 Monochrome was a different story. It was like love at first sight, picking it up and feeling ready, at home. Maybe because it has a fixed 28? (For those who don’t know, this is my favorite focal length). It fit perfectly in my hand, small, compact, but with a fantastic 47 mp sensor inside.
Of course, I would have liked to try them in the real world, to test the “color” version of the Q2, but just being able to take a few shots on the fly outside the store, gave me a way to understand what these cameras are made of.
It was my first time, my first small step into the world of Leica, but I can say with certainty that something has remained within me and who knows, maybe one day, a little dream in the drawer will become reality.
SLs II + 50 1.4 SLs II + 50 1.4
Q2 Monochrome (Crop)