The problem for me with small cameras is just that. They are often too small. Holding and operating them can be difficult and uncomfortable over a period of time. My Panasonic Lumix GX9 is on the edge of that, but is fixable. I originally got a 3D printed grip from ebay which worked and allowed access to the card and battery slot (unlike the Panasonic GX9 grip which doesn't) but it never felt quite right.
I got in touch with Smallrig, who make excellent accessories for hybrid cameras to ask if they were going to make a video cage for the GX9. I already use one for my G9 and it seriously improves the grip as far as I'm concerned. I got a non-commital answer from the company, but lo and behold a few weeks ago a GX9 video cage appeared on their website and I ordered one.
The cage / grip is beautifully engineered and looks great on the camera as well as making it feel much more solid and comfortable to use. Plus the metal construction now makes my GX9 feel even more Leica like. As you can see above access to everything is possible, so the grip can in fact be left on the camera at all times, which is what I want. With the Panasonic grip you have to remove it to get the card out and change the battery, which is inconvenient. Similarly, as those of you who have handled a Leica M series camera will know, you have to remove the bottom plate to get at the card and battery. A Leica design constant, which while maintaining the design ethic of M cameras is again inconvenient and as far as I'm concerned a design flaw, even though it's 'traditional'.
So what about this notion of 'Leicaesque'? Does it actually mean anything in 2019? Well, Leicas were originally introduced as a smaller lighter alternative to what existed at the time. 35mm rangefinder cameras revolutionised photography. And in the early days of m4/3 and mirrorless photography companies like Panasonic, Olympus and particularly Fuji took their inspiration, in design terms, from those cameras. And yes those companies have moved to an SLR styling for many of their cameras, but still produce cameras based on the Leica / Zeiss/ Contax etc. designs from the last century. And for a lot of us that is what makes them attractive. They were a very welcome alternative to those horrible compact camera boxes that were as aesthetically unappealing as they were limiting.
Along came m4/3 and mirrorless. Small, light yet genuinely high quality cameras that embodied 'retro chic' and produced results that were the equal of (and often better than) lower end DSLR's. And that is almost a parallel with what happened when Leicas first appeared. Now mirrorless cameras don't have to be small and light. My Olympus E-M1X, while actually lighter than it's DSLR equivalents, is hardly an inconspicuous camera. And that's exactly the reason I like and use small cameras. While never intruding where I shouldn't and certainly not doing anything illegal, it is often to my advantage to not be noticed, or in effect not acknowledged as a serious photographer. Plus there are times when I don't want to carry around a heavy outfit.
My current favourite lenses for the GX9 are two Sigmas, the 16mm and 56mm f/1.4 lenses and the extraordinary Laowa 7.5mm f/2 lens. This gives me a versatile light and fast selection of high quality prime lenses, which will handle everything I need. And yes, I like that for me, it is an aesthetically pleasing outfit as well. As photographers we surely deserve to use gear that for us looks good and fits in with how we want to present ourselves. For instance I make no apology for using a Leica M10 because I love how it looks and what it represents. My line is, if I like using cameras and lenses and appreciate how they look then I'm likely to create more interesting images. This is the main reason I don't use Sony cameras. While impressed by the results they offer I hate their plastic feel and 'boring' look. For me they have always looked and felt like they were designed by robots rather than human beings.
So, 'pimping up' my GX9 may seem like an indulgence, an affectation or an irrelevance to creating photographic images. But as ever it's my money and my career and I'll basically do what I want to make that as enjoyable as possible. And in an age of more uniformity and the dominance of the rectangular smartphone, for me that's a goal for my photographic gear that seems wholly appropriate.
