Shutter Style

Here at the Gentleman’s Guide to Style we like our photography. So what camera is a man to carry when he wants to shoot in style?

Stylish cameras are generally hard to come by. The film market has always had some great examples, but the digital market is saturated with plastic-bodied contraptions with as much style as a 1980’s cellphone. Recently, however, there have been some examples which caught our eye.

The Olympus EP-1 is an attempt to recreate the style of the Olypus “Pen” film camera. And it partially does. It supports the micro four thirds system, which means it has a sensor which gives much better pictures than your point-and-shoot. And it allows interchangeable lenses too. And the view from the front is quite compelling. But it is as if the designers forgot their brief when it came to the back of the camera, which looks like it has been taken directly from a modern point-and-shoot.

The Panasonic GF1 is another stylish micro four thirds camera, and competes directly with the Olympus. We prefer the styling of the GF1, with it’s more minimalist, less-kitschy appearance, and Panasonic is renowned for producing great, vibrant images.

But the clear winner here, both in terms of style and capability is the Leica M9 (pictured above). Leica has always produced beautiful cameras, and with the M9 you can literally see the pedigree stretching all the way back to the M3 of 1954. It is an 18 megapixel full frame Rangefinder camera, and camera and 50mm lens weigh less than many digital SLR bodies without lenses. The portability and style make it the ultimate travel camera, and the fact that Cartier Bresson used to shoot with a Leica makes it even more compelling.