The Leica 50 mm Summicron-M lens and the Leica M9 camera are a wonderful combination. A pleasing characteristic of Leica lenses is the Bokeh, which is a pleasing out of focus background obtained when shooting with the lens wide open. This shot was taken at the Ontario Art Gallery, and the subject is my wife. One of my favourite photographers is Thorsten Overgaard, and he uses Leica cameras for most of his professional work, and usually with the M9. He always shoots with the aperture wide open. Leica lenses are designed to be used this way. I love this camera and have almost totally replaced my Nikon D700 with this camera. The M9 is light, it feels very comfortable in my hands, and is not overly obvious to unsuspecting subjects. My Nikon is quite a bit heavier than my Leica, and would be very obvious when shooting people in public places. I can take my Leica with me everywhere, without it becoming a burden. I have also started using it for my landscape work. Of course one drawback of the Leica cameras and lenses is affordability, since they are quite expensive. But once you own one, and get used to using it, you never want to go back.
