Leica M9 Test Portraits

These are the first photos I took with Gary’s M9. My framing is off, as I wasn’t used to the camera. But otherwise I love them.

Leica M9 + Leica Summarit 50mm f2.5

This is what Gary looks like to my eye in real life, and I managed to capture it. There is a glow about him and a twinkle in his eye. I also like it how the forest seems to come alive around him.

The first two photos were taken at f2.5, whereas in this and the next one I had the aperture higher - possibly f4, but maybe even higher.

I do not notice any difference in sharpness. And interestingly the depth of field seems shallow even in the higher aperture photos.

Gary almost always wears hats, and it can be difficult to photograph him without one because his head is so pale. But here you can see the fine detail of his skin and stubble, despite the very high contrast.

The framing seemed to improve the more shots I took, but still something is off - I am pretty sure I did not deliberately frame him in this exact way. I just need more experience with the camera.

More than anything, I like the emotional look of these photos. I’ve been warned that modern Leica lenses can look ‘clinical,’ and that coming from the vintage Zeiss I might be disappointed. These test shots do not look clinical to me.

The Summarit 50mm f2.5 is the lens that came with the M9 body. It is one of the less common Leica lenses and I have not tried others for comparison. But I love the look out of this one so far, and look forward to trying it on my CL body.