One day＠Kabukicho #DAY187 - My strange relationship with Leica.

My camera history goes something like this. Back in high school, I think I was using a camera called the Sora, made by Toshiba at the time. In college, it was either an M3 or an M2 (a friend's camera I borrowed). After that came point-and-shoots like the IXY, and eventually I started wanting to take photos with a proper camera, so I bought the mirrorless OLYMPUS PEN E-P1. Then came the compact Leica D-LUX 4.

After that came more mirrorless cameras, the OLYMPUS OM-D E-M5 and OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1 Mark II, and then what you might call high-end compacts, the Leica D-LUX Typ 109, Leica Q, Leica M-P Typ 240, and RX100 III. Looking back chronologically, I guess that's about it.

I only started using an M-type about five years ago, not that long ago (I mean, it's not exactly something you can just casually afford...), but I'd actually been using Panasonic-made Leica cameras since my twenties. The D-LUX Typ 109 in particular was incredibly easy to use.

Skipping the details, I ended up buying the Q. I'm not going to mention which store it was, but at the time they kept recommending the Leica CL to me. Well, the CL wasn't really an option for me back then anyway, and I'm honestly glad I didn't buy it, it kind of faded away halfway through, didn't it?

Come to think of it, I'd been mistaken all this time that I bought the Q on a 48-month payment plan, and apparently the payments were already finished last February. I'd thought it was a 60-month plan all along. I checked, and it turns out the payments for my M-type will be finished this month.

Even when other cameras took the main role, there was always some kind of Leica that somehow stayed with me all along. Now that I'm writing this, I can't help but think it's kind of ridiculously luxurious that even though I own the Q, it's not my main camera. I mean, the Q is great, you know? For someone like me who doesn't go for the latest model, the older versions have finally started to reach a more realistic price range lately.

So far I've been talking about cameras, but from here, let's talk about the photos I took this day. It was raining hard, so I had to keep stopping to take shelter between shots. Given the weather, there wasn't much I could do about it, but shooting like that makes it hard to keep a steady rhythm. Just when I started getting into the groove, the rain would pick up again and I'd have to duck under cover.

I hope it's not raining next time I go to Kabukicho... When I'm carrying a camera in the rain, it always limits what I can do. Well, if it's just a light drizzle, I don't really mind, I don't even bother with an umbrella and just keep shooting, getting a little wet.

Actually, it was my first time in Kabukicho in about a month this day. I'd been pretty busy, and my health hadn't been great. I'd like to go at least two or three times a month, but it's hard to find the time. I just want to take a lot more photos of this city.

See you then.