Images comes from the Greek phrases “picture” (that means gentle) and “graphia” (that means drawing). So “images” equals “gentle drawing.” Hold this in thoughts.
I do know many people have an previous household digicam sitting on a shelf someplace. Personally, I’ve a little bit of a group of previous household cameras and lenses — I’m the resident digicam dump for my household. However for me, one has all the time actually stood out: the Leica V LUX-1. Partly as a result of it’s a Leica, and partly as a result of it’s the final digicam my granddad, Robert Simpich, ever bought for himself, and it’s the first digicam I ever used.
My Granddad’s Leica V LUX-1
The Leica V LUX-1 was launched again in 2006 and is mainly a Panasonic FZ50 with “improved JEPG compression” and a few slower efficiency in some areas. In different phrases, it’s Leica getting cash off Panasonic’s easy-to-mass-produce FZ50 and Panasonic getting cash off Leica’s legendary model. It’s a win-win for everybody — apart from the one that pays a whole bunch further for a beauty improve and the flexibility to flex the signature Leica purple dot.
Nonetheless, for granddad, it was a “Leica” — and one of many least expensive, with a launch worth of $800 ($1,300 in 2022 {dollars}). This was a real steal (nevertheless, who’s stealing from whom is up for debate).
My granddad bought this digicam proper after it got here out for only one objective: to seize photos of the mountains, deserts, clouds, and streams of the American West. He might then challenge these at dwelling as references for his true ardour: portray. He lived to be 94 years previous and for each second he might discover, he was portray.
Earlier in life, he cherished to convey his canvas with him and paint within the mountains, however as he grew older (and his canvases grew larger) he discovered a brand new workflow: take a digicam out on a hike, shoot some photographs of aspen leaves, clouds, a mountain stream, or no matter else caught his eye, and challenge slides (or print photographs) to review the pictures. He’d then try and seize the colours, shapes, and even the refined motion of nature in his work.
In 2008 and 2009, I spent a ton of time up at my grandparents’ cabin within the mountains close to Cripple Creek, Colorado — actually the center of absolute nowhere. Throughout that point, granddad let me use his Leica loads as a result of he had simply acquired a telephone that took photographs and was utterly enamored with it. So his Leica was left mendacity round and he let me use it.
I ran across the forests studying methods to body, however not understanding methods to expose, and never understanding what all of the numbers and symbols meant all around the digicam’s screens and physique. I don’t have any of these photographs (on the time, I didn’t even personal a pc), however it was someplace on the market that I fell in love with cameras, picture creation, and capturing stunning issues as greatest I might. I started to learn the way a digicam may also help you see the world round you higher. It can provide you a motive to concentrate to the smallest leaves and largest vistas.
So after all, I can’t promote this Leica.
How Good — Or Dangerous — is the Leica V LUX-1, Actually?
However a curious query has festered in my thoughts: How good is that this digicam… actually? How would it not stack up in at this time’s world of 8K and 100-megapixel cameras? As an experiment, I took it out into the Backyard of the Gods Park in Colorado Springs to seize some photos and shoot some video. I even bought the Leica into the fingers of knowledgeable panorama photographer, Kemper Simpich, who’s by the way, one in every of Robert’s different grandsons and my brother. I did this all within the identify of stretching this previous digicam to its limits.
What I discovered stunning was the allure of this digicam — the pictures are nice, the colours downright good, and it feels good within the hand (however I’m considerably biased). Whereas it’s held again by a horrible LCD display screen, a nightmare of a viewfinder, unhealthy lens flare and ghosting, terrible video, and gradual, unusual autofocus, the pictures nonetheless communicate for themselves. They aren’t too shabby.
Of specific notice is that this 64MP panorama picture made by my brother. The picture is, objectively, downright stunning.
I feel that at this time lots of people have a tragic perspective on cameras: “They’re too costly, cumbersome, and troublesome to make use of. Why not simply use your telephone?”
I feel that my granddad’s Leica is a superb instance of how cameras—even previous, over-priced, outsized ones, can nonetheless encourage and even create stunning paintings. To me, this Leica is an emblem of how cameras are simply paintbrushes — typically you want the one which’s in your pocket, typically you want the $40,000, 40-pound digicam to shoot a multi-million greenback movie, and typically you want any variety of different cameras that fall in between.
For my granddad, the Leica V LUX-1 was the right device. For many anybody else, it will be the worst digicam they might select, however hee was in a position to make use of it to create priceless paintings. For me, it was step one on my journey to falling in love with images, and, subsequently, videography.
Whether or not it’s enabling creative expression, capturing recollections, documenting discoveries—no matter our motive, as we “paint with gentle,” these instruments can proceed to encourage, educate, amuse and provide an opportunity to see the world somewhat higher.
Concerning the creator: Toby Simpich is a videographer and photographer positioned out of Colorado Springs. He was raised simply exterior of the Backyard of the Gods the place he spent a lot of his time climbing, and taking inspiration from the creative rock formations, resulting in an overarching ardour for the pure world. Toby is enthusiastic about sharing his adventures within the wilderness through his video and picture work. Having been colorblind for a lot of his profession, Toby makes use of this distinctive perspective as a pivoting level for his artistic outlook. Toby operates the outdoors-focused Instagram and YouTube Summit Bid along with his brother Kemper.
