Well… not Leica in general: this is just about one camera.

We travel to India at least once a year (at least after the events of 2020 and 2021) to visit family and to take a bit of a break from life, and this trip was the perfect opportunity to test my new travel kit.

I bought my first ever Leica camera in 2023, my dream camera! I have been into photography for almost 30 years and I had a treasure trove of accumulated gear: cameras, lenses, accessories… I sold a good 80% of it to fund my new M11 with a 35mm f/2 Summicron.

Initially I wasn’t sure I would get used to the rangefinder system, but within the year I ended up selling more lenses and buying a second camera body which I planned to use for travel: an M10. I also bought a few lenses to use for the same purpose: a Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4, a Zeiss ZM 50mm f/2 Planar, and a Zeiss ZM 28mm f/2.8 Biogon. These made up my general purpose travel kit, which I took to India with me.

I know, I know, I could have picked a better, or more general set of focal lengths, perhaps skipped the 35mm in favour of a 75mm or a 90mm… But these are my most used focal lenghts: I love the look of both the 35mm and 50mm, and I am a sucker for the perspective you get using a 28mm, probably my favourite focal length of all.

I was a bit worried that using a rangefinder camera with no autofocus capabilities would make me miss shots, and it did, but way fewer than I expected. I loved using my M10 throughout the whole trip, be it while exploring the streets in Bengaluru or when celebrating with the family at a wedding in Delhi.

I have used film cameras for many years (still do) and I don’t usually try to shoot wide open at all times, especially in the streets. When I walk around town I usually keep my lenses stopped down at f/5.6 or f/8 (and the Indian weather helped with plenty of natural light), which allows me to zone focus most of the time. I have become quite quick with the rangefinder, but zone focusing is quicker still…

In Bengaluru, my camera captured the essence of everyday life – from street vendors selling colourful flowers to the animated traffic scene for which the city is notorious. Each snapshot revealed a glimpse of India’s rich heritage, modern charm, and delightful quirkiness.

As the title promised, here’s where I need to talk about my farewell to my travel kit… here, at the end of our trip, when I left the whole bag on the plane…

Losing my whole kit was the result of many factors: a sleepless night, an early rise, a very short layover in Dubai, a delayed first flight that made said layover even shorter, having to rush to our gate, our son deciding to not sleep during the flight only to fall asleep right as the plane touched the tarmac… I realised I didn’t have the bag while scanning our stuff at the security checkpoint… if I had noticed a minute earlier I could have still tried to go back…

My two only consolations were that I had already downloaded the photos from the card and that I made sure to have a good camera insurance before leaving…

Will I ever travel again with a Leica M camera? You bet! I have already replaced my travel camera and I can’t wait to capture more unforgettable moments!