đź”´ Guest Post: Raf Lopes
” How I got involved with Leica and film “
Who is Raf?
I’m Raf, a Brazilian photographer based in NYC who finds inspiration in the energy of everyday surroundings and cherishes the art of street photography on film. Beyond photography, on my website CameraClara.com, you can expect to find my insights on the intersection of analog and digital processes, philosophical debates about editing or not editing film photos, technical explorations of developing, scanning, conversion, film borders, editing, and how photography helps us define our artistic language, along with some nice photo sharing. Whether I’m wandering the streets of New York or documenting family moments, my goal is always the same: tell a story, meet new people, and have fun along the way.
My journey to Leica?
My first Leica was a Leica Q2. I bought it in 2023 on Craigslist during a business trip to Seattle, WA. The moment I got it, I fell in love with the lack of distortion on the lens and the full frame sensor in a compact body. I love symmetry, and I think I have a good eye for it. When I see straight lines with my eyes, I want them to be straight in my photos, especially near the borders.
My passion for rangefinders started with a Fuji X-Pro3, then a Fuji X100V, but the cropped sensors and lenses of the Fuji X series were somewhat disruptive for the quality I was looking for, especially regarding geometry and distortion. I always liked the idea of rangefinders, but the Fuji models have too much technology in the heads-up display, and the focus mechanism is not analog. That makes a huge difference in latency, because I want the whole focusing system to be at lightspeed, not passing through a wire, processed by a CPU, painted by a focus-assist color of choice, and finally viewed on a mini screen.
The Leica way of doing focus and rangefinder is perfect for me to exercise my distance-measuring brain. It keeps me from relaxing when it comes to composition, focus, and light metering. It helps me become a better photographer. The fact that I don’t see through a mirror or a screen while photographing makes me constantly think about how my photo will render.
From there, I fell in love with film at the beginning of 2025. My first film Leica was a Leica M7, then a Leica Minilux (point and shoot), then another M7, a Leica M10-R, and perhaps a Leica M6 in the near future (which I’m already eyeing on eBay).
I like having multiple film cameras to load them with different ISOs. For the convenience of using the M lenses I own, I got an M10-R, even though I think a Fuji GFX 100rf (medium format) or a Hasselblad X2D2 makes more sense for digital, but the Leica digital is so satisfying to use! When I shoot digital, I usually capture in RAW and use software to perform film simulation in batch, without any sort of exposure correction. I believe that photographing with the correct exposure should be the duty of every photographer, and Leica rangefinders help me a lot with that.
Why Leica?
When I bought my first, I completely fell in love with the full frame in a compact body, and with the brand itself. The community is strong, and you can notice that whenever you go to a Leica store: there are artworks on the walls and books on the shelves. Some even have films and chemicals! As a brand, Leica has a strong foundation in culture, without forgetting about their roots because of technological chips and sensors.
Unlike other brands that are high-end computers in a box with a lens attached, Leica cameras have character. They can spark a conversation with someone in a coffee shop on their own. I’ve lost count of how many times my Leica camera started a conversation with a stranger who later became a friend. It’s no coincidence that the emoji image for a camera resembles a Leica so closely (the silver one, of course!). It’s an icon. The brand is strong and recognizable for its quality, mechanical precision, customer support, culture, and community.
My Leica camera allows me to do candid shots without people noticing, and even when they do, they don’t care, and that’s because the camera is discrete, and not like a big camera used by Paparazzis.
What Do You Photograph and Why?
Among many different topics like cityscapes, shows and concerts, and macro, my passion is traveling and doing street photography on film. By the way, this is exactly what I am doing right now as I write this. The place where I live makes street photography easy (NYC). Some people even joke that it’s like having a cheat code, so friendly are the scenes and personas. I think that always bringing a camera with me to capture street photography is my fuel for my daily 10,000 steps.
One of my greatest joys came when I accidentally photograph a scene that echoes a milestone piece of art. On a cold winter night in Hoboken, I walked past a pizzeria glowing against the darkness and captured a lone customer watching basketball through glass windows. Weeks later, a friend saw the image and said: “Nighthawks by Edward Hopper!” I went home and searched for the painting. I was stunned. I had never studied Hopper when I made that photograph. I responded instinctively to the light, the geometry, the solitude. The connection only emerged because someone else recognized it. That taught me something valuable: certain visual truths transcend individual intention. We tap into shared vocabularies without realizing it.
Thoughts
I really like doing comparisons between film and digital film simulations for my readers at cameraclara.com, or any sort of A/B testing. One day, I went out with a dual-camera plate mount with an M10-R and an M10 Monochrom with the same lens (35mm Summicron). Both cameras have the same sensor, with and without the Bayer filter, and I took the same shots side-by-side (paying attention to parallax). Then I created software to distort one image in relation to the other (so the compositions look alike), and another piece of software to slice half of each image, to compare them side-by-side. I wrote a detailed article comparing these cameras with a unique perspective and technical view, available on CameraClara.
I’ve also done other types of comparisons, such as shooting real Portra versus a film simulation.
These benchmarks are something unique that I enjoy doing, and I see a lot of value in them, because comparing multiple pieces of equipment while isolating variables is something challenging that pushes both my photography and software development skills to the limit, for example, a comparison at ISO 12,500 between an M10-R and a M10-Monochrom.
How Do You Know MrLeica?
I met Matt’s work through his YouTube channel, and I really like the assertiveness of his videos. His videos are not the typical YouTube stuff that takes forever to convey a message. Matt goes straight to the point. His introspective style is also something pleasing that, for some reason, calms me down while watching. I like to watch before going to sleep, lol.
Recently, I’ve been following up more closely with Matt because of Substack. I also subscribed to his newsletter and I am interested on doing a workshop with him.
Favorite Leica Camera?
My favorite is the M7 (Silver). I know it’s a film camera with more electronic components than the average film Leica Ms, and for that reason, it’s more at risk of failing on me, but the electronically controlled shutter gives me intermediary shutter speeds that are not on the shutter speed dial, like 1/45 sec (very useful), while still being able to shoot at 1/60 and 1/125 of a second if the battery fails.
Thanks to the precision of this shutter, exposure is usually nailed. The camera also has an on/off button that prevents blank shots from being taken when it’s inside the bag. It has exposure compensation, TTL metering (useful for orange filters and B&W films). The battery also lasts very long, especially with the ability to turn it off, so it doesn’t engage the light meter while in the bag.
Favorite Lens?
Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 v3. I have a black one for my Leica MP and a silver one for my M7. I really enjoy that focal length, and the bokeh on the Summicron is beautiful and creamy. I’m familiar with the focal distance, and it’s perfect for the crowded streets in Manhattan. 28mm is too wide and you might capture too much chaos, 50mm is too close and you may need to get far, resulting on having people in between the camera and the subject. 35mm is the perfect focal distance for photographing what I love.
To me, the Cron hits the perfect balance between excellence and price, it’s not as expensive as the Luxes. With those, I’m afraid to drop on the floor and damage the focus barrel. This is my number one concern when using Leica lenses: the fragile (and consequently precise) inner threads of the focus barrel. I’ve been thinking a lot on the Light Lens Lab too. I also have a Voigtländer Nokton 35mm f/1.5 that is a charm, sometimes I prefer using it because it costs a third of the price of the Summicron, and it’s f/1.5, I like bringing it to places where I could potentially harm my equipment, like protests, bike rides, etc.
Favorite Film?
CineStill 800T no doubts here. I think that if I’m shooting film, I should look for a unique aesthetic that digital struggles to replicate at scale. CineStill does a factory chemical bath on their films that removes the Remjet (or anti-halation) layer, allowing the light to bounce back from the camera back to the emulsion, resulting in red halos around highlights . I’m developing a project collecting photos of the NYC Subway with it.
The name will be “Runner’s Blade – The Way Commuters Cut Through Traffic), and will exhibit subway scenes resembling a post apocalyptic scenario inspired in Blade Runner (film).
Where can you find Raf?
Follow me at:
- Website: https://www.cameraclara.com
- Email: rafael@rafalopes.com.br
In person, you’ll surely find me on the streets of New York, in a nice coffee shop, or organising film photography photowalks around the neighbourhood.
MrLeica comments on this article
Thanks Raf! Raf reached out to me when I first signed up on Substack so I was keen to invite him to share his Leica story. It’s always interesting to read peoples different journeys to Leica and the cameras, lenses and films that stand out to them the most.
I must admit I’ve not shot Cinestill 800T for years but it truly is unmatched for mixed lighting, night photography and that famous halation. I recently treated myself to a roll so I’m excited to feed it to my Leica MP!
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