President of Russia Talks about photography and his M9

21 Comments

1. It aint matter what camera you have. Use one you can have on you most of the time like a gun and reach for it like for a gun. Then you can shoot when you need and want. And you know your camera. What this or that president is talking is not very interesting, I think.

2. A wonderful article !

3. Further confirmation that the target market for the M9 is overprivileged dilettantes (not to say that serious photographers don’t use it, just that they’re not the core constituency.)

4. @cidereye
   Love the fact that people can choose for themselves, instead of others making decsissons for them.

5. I know what you are saying Eric, so true.

   I once wagered to somebody that of all DSLR users that I bet 95% keep their cameras in either Program or Auto mode almost 100% of the time and basically use their hi-tech cameras as a P&S and that most people who are sold DSLR’s at camera stores probably never needed one to begin with and *most* of the average use easily covered by a compact.

6. Lest we forget the scores of freelance Russian photojournalists and journalists who have gone missing in the esteemed Presidents country hmmmmm.

7. Looks and sounds like one long commercial for Leica.

8. The m9 is quite complicated compared to an slr for a lot of people. Srl you turn it on, turn the dial to auto or program, use autofocus and snap away. Only the pros get into it further then that or atleast serious hobbyists. If you took a d90 and a m9 to a soccer mom and told her to try to figure them out im betting she would figure out the auto mode on the d90 long before she got a single image in focus with a m9 😛

9. ALL presidents are puppets. Every last one of them. On a lighter note…

   I like this video because it shows a side we don’t often see in a public official. A president who talks about art and capturing life’s rare moments with a camera is a rare thing indeed!

10. Aye, the M9 a complicated camera to use ….oh the irony of that! 😀

11. beware for the Russians 😉 Some of them have too much money and not such a good taste. For me, this video is fully fabricated and not genuine. Sorry…

12. I chuckled when he (in translation, at least) referred to the m9 as quite “complicated” to use. It is because (in my opinion) it is less complicated that attracts me to it!

    • Yeah I found the ‘complicated’ statement a little odd. Maybe he is just a poser ;o)

13. I’ll counter the first comment by Eric and say, I never like the puppet president – and despite his conversation about photography, that hasn’t changed. just my $,02

14. He talks about his passion for photography over 30 years, actually 35 years ago, when he was 10 years old, the first camera he owned was a USSR made & completely manual focus it did not have even viewfinder. When he was over 30 ys old he had continuing to take photo until now, a few years ago his primary system was Canon DSLR & Nikon. Almost photos he takes is landscape & architeture because of his position very strange to take camera to shoot streetphoto & people because anyone easily recognize who he is. He takes photos every freetime…
    Now he use Leica M9 because of its retro design & its “feeling”, recently, Leica gave him a camera he does not call exaclty but as he explains I guess it is Leica S2, he told in the interview that the camera from Leica has the same funtions as Canon DSLR he used to.. & it has many many Megapixels… Sorry for my poor English. Pavel

15. He’s a hottie. Love the accent.

16. Russians like to show off their assets, this is why he took the Noctilux and not a Summarit:-)

    But seriously, I liked the interview. It was open and honest (I liked the part where he explained, why people photography does not really work for him) and showed that he knows what he is talking about.

    Cheers, Michael

17. I don’t think he’s holding it that wrong, It may just be his style. He’s obviously not needing to focus on the 1D and with those telephoto lenses you often get into funny positions from lugging the beast around. I used to rest mine on the shoulder of the passenger in front on safari’s.

    I love that they probably asked him to say a few words and 7mins later he’s still talking, he knows his stuff.

18. Very cool!

19. He is not holding his camera correctly – look at his left hand, he is holding the lens from above rather than below…

20. I always like Medvedev, and now I like him a whole lot more.

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