A few minutes with a Leica CL

With 2 small children, having a couple moments to spare is as rare as mermaids turning up on a Toronto beach, however, a couple weeks ago I actually did.  If you call minding a 10 month old at the same time as spare time.

So I threw an old film (use by date somewhere in the late '90s) in to what ever I could quickly pull out the draw.  I was first planning to use the F100, but discovered corroded batteries, so next in line was the CL, with which I found a 1958 50mm Summarit to go on the front.  This lens isn't very sharp wide open, but I needed a fast lens for shooting indoors with 100 ISO film.

I used up the roll shooting the kids round the house, however when a lens has a 1 metre minimum focus distance, shooting a 10 month old trying to crawl on top of you isn't that useful.

In the end it was all fun, and in due course the film will get processed, and may or may not produce anything at all.  We'll have to see.

Leica CL with Leica 50mm Summarit f1.5 (taken on a Nikon Coolpix A)

Camera Industry Commentary

After more than a decade of growth fuelled by the digital revolution, the camera manufacturers are now in decline.  The market is now saturated, people are only renewing what they have, and manufacturers really haven't offered anything truly innovative to the average consumer.  Sure, some cool stuff, like the A7/A7r, has come out that appeals to enthusiasts, but nothing revolutionary for the 'man on the street'.

Manufacturers also failed to see the smart phone revolution, which has stolen most of the compact camera business, and even now none of the traditional manufacturer offers (with the exception of Sony) offers a phone with a camera in it, or a partnership with a phone manufacturer.

What I am looking for is something to change my photographical life, not just a new lens or body, but something indispensible that doesn't leave my side.  Not sure what that is yet, but I'll know it when I see it, and I doubt it will come from Canon, Nikon or Fuji.