So Uma took me on a surprise trip to Bekal recently, and it was a lovely break. We got to stay in an old Nair Tharavadu that has been converted into a homestay, and the food there was just plain amazing.

I took along my Leica, and got some nice photos.

Having used the Leica for a bit more, here’s my observations:

• It’s a 10 year old camera, and that shows. If I had more of a budget, I’d have bought the M9, the M240, or maybe even the M10. But the Leica experience is very immersive for shooting photos. I’m more focused on the scene and the feel of the photo than fiddling around with camera controls.
• I’m not so enamoured with the shoot RAW, use Lightroom RAW conversion, and get a JPG workflow that I’m using now. Even though it provides me a lot more flexibility, I’m more of an in-camera conversion guy. Might be that I’m spoilt by the great Fuji X100S filters.
• There’s no beating the Leica colours, especially the M8 black and white shots. Even the colour shots — the greens have an otherworldly feel.