"something troglodytic, shall we say?"

the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde

By 默默富酷

November 4^th, 2018

the leica m10-d

i first wrote about the baffling and mysterious naming system the leica engineers/nameologists have over their m cameras when i did the m10 review some time back. the recently released leica m10-d had the abbreviation "d" behind.

the tagline for this camera screams "digital body. analogue soul." what? who came up with that? tin man from wizard of oz?

what does the "d" stand for? digital? ain't all the m10s digital? so what could "d" mean? i am not sure, maybe the "d" meant damn-we-didn't-plan-for-this-camera.

then i realized what "d" stood for - it is dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde. it is the world's first bipolar & dual personality camera. makes sense, the price of this baby is crazy to start with.

this camera kinda suit me, we are speaking to myself while writing this.

the quick lowdown

leica marina bay store graciously allowed me do a quick spin on this new schizophrenic machine. i limited myself to 90 minutes of usage because any longer, i might be consumed with inconsolable waves of regret why i did not buy this camera.

this camera is almost identical to its predecessor - the leica m10-p (p stands for professional, but it meant pricey for me). some key differences between the cousins:

there is no lcd screen on the m10-d (ah, maybe "d" stands for dont-have)
no buttons on the m10-d
there is a faux film winder that works like a thumb rest on the m10-d

otherwise, these two cousins look similar - like laurence fishburne and samuel l jackson.

so here is the lowdown: it is like mock meat - the meatless burger, the vegetarian stalls we have in singapore that sells charsiew made from flour.

i have never seen it go the other way. i want my beef steak shaped like a carrot.

yet. this camera make sense. i like it. a lot. here's why:

i don't use the lcd much and i worry about cracking it most of the time
this camera gives me the excuse not to show anyone the photos i have taken
resting my fat palm on the leather feels comfortable and luxurious (the m10-p had buttons)
the faux lever is gimmicky yet usable (it did get uncomfortable after 30 minutes of use)

there is one pet peeve i have about this camera - the fotos app takes forever to connect to the m10-d. by the time it connected via wifi and downloading the dng files, leica would have released another limited edition camera for the fanboys.

i would not buy the leica m10-d though. one digital m suffice. i rather have another contax t-3.

the first image i made with the camera was this man - mr. yam ah mee. i chanced upon him at the entrance of the moscow circus. mr. yam was the OG man as the returning officer for the singapore general elections.

this guy was so popular that fans made a trance track.

image set I

it was monsoon season so i headed over to little thailand - i needed a location where i can test the quiet shutter of the camera.

oh yes, for you instagram hipster hommies, you can even do meal overlay photos with this camera. rejoice, all you influencers.

while snacking on my sai-kok (thai fermented sausage), i taught this guy range finder photography. in return, he taught me thai swear words. good deal, if you ask me.

image set II

i am sure the m10-d shutter was louder than the m10-p. i shot an image with the m10-p, followed by m10-d. the cat woke up at the latter shutter firing off. i believe both cameras use the same silent shutter. perhaps the hollow construct of the m10-d is a tad louder?

i posted a photo of my m10-p with a photo of the m10-d dial showing on its lcd screen on my instagram/facebook with the following:

presenting the leica m10-t. the digital leica m with interchangeable rear display. now one can pretend to be a film shooter without having the resolve of actually learning to use one.