Fishing, Photography, and the Leica Q

I became interested in photography at the same time I became interested in fly fishing. Fly fishing and photography are perfect companions, for many reasons. First, when you’re fly fishing you are in some of the more scenic nature spots in the world, and photographer is therefore a natural companion.

Second, fly fishing is a gear and technique-intensive sport, and little tweaks to your flies, your equipment, your casting, your presentation of the fly, your knowledge of basic entomology and meteorology and hydrology, knot-tying competence, physical fitness including endurance, strength, and balance, your patience and concentration, or just your general fishing karma or what some (including me) like to refer to as “being fishy” or “fishiness,” can make a big difference.

Fly fishermen fiddle with their equipment and technique constantly but never master the sport. Same with photography. No serious photographer ever owns just one camera. Serious photographers have to know things from many fields and cultivate an aesthetic sensibility. To be good or even great they have to have that karmic touch.

Years ago, I spent a considerable amount of money on a Canon 7D, followed shortly thereafter with an even larger amount of money on lenses. Standard lenses, 50mm fixed lenses, telephoto lenses, fisheye lenses. Photography became something of a fixation and learning how to shoot in pure manual mode on a high-quality DSLR like the 7D forced me to learn why some photos are great and some photos aren’t.

Framing, composition, lighting, time of day. Taking photographs on pure manual mode teaches you how to operate the controls of a complicated piece of technology but more important, it teaches you how to take better photographs without using technology as a crutch. It teaches you the purely human touch that turns a bland photograph of your daughter graduating from high school looking wooden and posed to the spontaneous photo of your beautiful daughter joyful and real and as you think of her all the time. As you remember her.

Then the iPhone 6 came long, then the iPhone 7+, and I put my 7D with all the lenses away for a while……For the vast majority of daily photography needs, the iPhone 7+ was more than sufficient for my needs. And for everyone else too I think.

Enter the Leica Q

The Leica Q is the best travel camera ever made. It’s perfect for fly fishing.

I’d always entertained thoughts of eventually owning a Leica. But I couldn’t justify the price. So I waited a decade. And when I purchased and started using the iPhone 7+ with dual lenses and the depth-of-field effect, I had basically written off the need to own a DSLR camera at all. Including a Leica.

Until, that is, I read Craig Mod ‘s spectacular review of the Leica Q. The review itself is a piece of art, a beautifully written and rendered tribute to a beautiful product deserving of such a review. One of the best commentaries on a consumer product ever.

So I took the plunge.

The Leica Q has turned into my go-to camera of choice. The camera itself is a piece of industrial art. It’s small, portable, and heavy in the hand. A joy to hold.

To my mind, the Leica Q blends the best qualities of digital photography with the best qualities in material craftsmanship. You can set it on all-auto and capture wonderful images, but you can also manual focus and the focusing mechanism is perfect. The depth of field on manual settings is top of class. The colors in low light burst with that signature Leica orange and yellow deep shadow effect, you get the kinds of images where you know there’s a Leica behind it. It is a signature and unique effect. No smartphone can do that. Yet.

Maybe my favorite part of the Leica Q is that it disappears in your hands. You don’t pay attention to the camera or the controls hardly at all. You don’t fiddle with buttons and settings. Instead, you experience the world and focus your attention on composing your images, on the subject of your shot. On the light. The Leica Q gets out of your way.

The images are all uncropped and untouched.