Matthew Finn, a blog reader, and photographer sent this review this morning from a website called reviewed.com. It so captured my feelings about my Leica camera that I wanted to share it. It was written by independent reviewer Seanus Bellamy:

“The Leica Q2 Monochrome is a fixed lens camera that shoots exclusively in black and white. Its thoughtfully ergonomic manual controls, capable automatic functionality, durable build quality, and incredible image fidelity were a pleasure to test. So much so,  I can say without hesitation, that it is the first piece of hardware that I’ve tested in my 15 years of service journalism that I can say has brought me joy.

It’s an expensive moonshot of a device for photographers to long for, fret over buying, and in the end, use and cherish for decades.”

Bellamy’s review captured my feelings about this camera perfectly.

Buying it was an enormous gamble for me, and a frightening one. The camera cost about $7,000 and I didn’t have nearly enough money to buy it.

I decided to take a risk – absolutely terrifying to me at the time – to send my Canon cameras and lenses, the only cameras and lenses I have ever used, and all of them – in two big boxes to B&H photo in New York City with a long item list.

I have a long-term relationship with B&H, I trust them and buy all of my equipment there.

I sweated it out for days because the only camera I had left was an Iphone 12. I didn’t know which to be more afraid of – buying the camera, or not getting it.

I’ve heard about Leicas for years and everyone says the same thing Bellamy said – this is a camera that is transformative and can change everything about my photography, which has become so precious and important to me.

The irony is that $7,000 is not a lot of money for a top-line camera, even though it was huge to me. The mainstream Leicas can go a lot higher than that. But I love black and white photography and I knew this was the camera for me.

B&H never did call me, but they did send me an e-mail saying they would give me a little more than $6,000 for my cameras and lenses, which I had been purchasing and using for a decade. I told them to keep that money and bill me for the rest, which they did, and I paid over the next two months.

The Leica was everything I hope it would be and more. At first, it sent me into a panic. I kept stumbling and flailing, it was not like any camera I ever used. After some panic attacks, I found the Boston Leica store, they took my calls, set up lessons, and are available to me any day of the week.

Through this, I met two wonderful teachers, Sawyer Flint and Donald Pepple, they held my hand and walked me through this new experience (and still are) with patience and great skill. We talk virtually two or three times a month.

I realized right away what an explosive creative tool this could be for me, and I determined to learn everything I could about the settings and workings of the camera. I couldn’t afford to fail and couldn’t stand the idea. This was the next step forward I wanted so badly to take.

Some partners and spouses would argue against spending so much money on a camera, Maria supported the idea from the beginning. I owe her a lot.

So I plowed into it.

I not only signed up for regular (and expensive) lessons at the Leika Akademie in Boston, I also started taking classes in Lightroom photo editing from Andrew at MacNurse in  Vermont, so I could make the best out of the photographs I was taking.

I’m learning AI masking and basic photo editing skills. I use some almost every day. I was paralyzed by Lightroom and moved through it easily a dozen times a day.

These two classes – both are continuing, at least for one more month – have changed almost everything I knew and thought about photography. They have raised my pride and excitement about my work. They’ve given me the confidence and skills to learn and experiment. They never once made me feel stupid or too old or incompetent.

I thank them for that.

The two have helped me to begin to unleash this expensive “moonshot” and I am beginning to see some of the first positive results in my photos, as many of you have suggested kindly. In one way, it does feel like a trip to the moon.

Some of you might recall the jeering and snide jabs at me for taking this on and for the obvious struggles in my early photos ( and still, I am sure.) I’m not done learning, in two weeks I’m going to Boston to meet my teachers face-to-face and take some photos with them.

I learned early in life that there are always people eager to put you down, you must listen to the ones who wish to lift you up. I thank the many of you who did that for me after I climbed out on my Leica limb.

I remember my editor calling me up when I first started taking pictures and wondering why me, a writer, would bother to take what he called “poor Hallmark photographs.”

But I can also say, without hesitation, that this is the first piece of hardware I’ve ever owned in my life (including my first Apple computer) that brought me so much joy.

I longed for the Leica for years (as I long to one day own the Q2 color version, which also costs $7,000. ) But that will take a  miracle and a long while if I live that long.) In the meantime, I could not be happier. Or more engaged.

Not only did I long for this camera, but I also fretted for months about buying it, and in the end, I cherish and will use it until my brains shut down.

Thanks, Matthew, for thinking of me, and choosing to be positive. It is much easier to tear people down than build them up. Good for you.

Thank you, Seamus Bellamy, for speaking my heart. Joy is the right word, it is a great gift at any point in life.