The Camera Collector tells the story of a vintage camera collector who fell in love with cameras in the 1960s, against the wishes of his father. After saving all summer for his first Leica, his father was waiting when he returned home. "When he saw it was a camera, he started punching me." Read the rest

Craig Mod reports on six months in the field with the $4,000 Leica Q, a compact, fixed-lens camera for professionals and for amateurs who are very serious indeed. He loves it with an intensity that would seem unreasonable were it not for a) the fact that the photos illustrating his essay are spectacular, and b) he discusses how using it changed his mind on photography basics.

Compare with the just-published review of Sony's latest RX1R-II at DPReview. It's serious competition for the Leica Q in the rarefied market for fixed-lens compacts that cost more than a MacBook Pro. Though it's $700 cheaper, and in many respects technically superior, the design (from UX to battery life) sounds so frustrating and ill-considered that it's hard to imagine preferring it over the Leica if you're spending that much dough on a fixed-lens camera to begin with.

There's a great section in Craig Mod's review to remind you this is all for stills folk: "Video: I think the Leica Q does video."

Leica Q [Amazon.com referral link] Read the rest

Leica's X-U is waterproof to 49 feet, drop-proof, and costs less than $3,000: a relatively cheap entry in the fancy camera-maker's legendary lineup. Sean O'Kane reviews it at The Verge. Read the rest

If you've ever wanted to pay $750 for a stylish Leica version of a $450 Lumix camera, only to pay another $400 to make it resemble a dollar store water pistol, now's your chance! [Colorware via Gadget Lab and Uncrate] Read the rest