Leica M8 and Slovakia

I don’t usually talk about equipment but somehow getting a new Leica camera is an exception.
 
As a long time Leica M6 user I have long wanted to buy a digital Leica.  The M6 was wonderful and I have produced some of my best photos using it.  All the photos from Transylvania were either shot on my M6 or the Hasselblad Xpan.  My move over to digital almost made the M6 redundant, it was only really being used for holiday photos.
 
The M8 however is wonderful and of course  I can use all the M6 lenses on it. Once again I can do photos without having to wave around my very nice but very large Nikon.  Even though people see me using the Leica they don’t react the same as if I was waving a big Nikon at them. 
 
On my recent travels in Slovakia I went to the Besenova Aqua Park with my children. Lots of people were taking photos of their kids.  Not like the UK where you would probably be arrested if you got your camera out in a swimming pool. As well as some nice photos of the children I also took a few around the park.  The photo of the Zorb ( plastic ball for walking on water with) was taken in the Aquapark and I wouldn’t have dared get a big Nikon out and wave it around, but no one cared about the Leica, mainly because lots of other people were taking photos as well.
 
The photo on the previous blog of my daughter taking park in health research at Exeter University was one of the first photos I took on the Leica M8. The shot was not pre arranged and I guess I wouldn’t have bothered taking the Nikon as I had no idea that the day would produce such a good opportunity.
 
So I will continue using the Nikon, of course but the Leica will be carried with me a lot of the time when I wouldn’t bother taking a camera and hopefully will provide me with photos that I wouldn’t have taken, when the opportunity arises.
 
All I need now is to find someone to teach me how to use Capture One 5 software better – anyone reading this know of a good place I can spend a day learning, in the UK of course.
 
August 25th 2010