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Be honest: what if....


italy74

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Ok, let's assume you don't have ANY Leica, yet you know it and you know how valuable item is as well. It's more or less the situation of common people toward sports or luxury cars. Everyone would like to have one but none can usually afford them.

 

What if a teenager, son of a friend who has some Nikon gear, would come home and ask you "Daddy can I have a (my own) LEICA?" :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Probably she attended at some kind of photographic course where they taught that most of the valuable pictures taken last century were taken with a Leica... Just guessing.. I smiled of it and wanted to share it; I don't know how this ended... I'll let you know...

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Thats kinda what happen to me and my brother. I asked for it when I was in high school some 40 years ago and been hooked ever since.:D It might be nice for them to get a R system ie R4 and some lenses and let the younger generation appreciate what we learned years earlier.;)

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>> Dino

 

So the LEICA PR-machine is working at last. Good to hear this ...

and thx for sharing.

 

Your friend could perhaps start with a s/h D-Lux 2 or 3 for a try.

The rest of the gear might appear automatically afterwards.

 

 

Best

GEORG

 

__________________

Sorry, this was posted in the FILM-FORUM. So you might as well recommend

a s/h LEICA- M or -R. There are plenty around and they are dirtcheap somehow ...

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A leicaflex SL for $150 to $200 in good user condition and a 50/2 cron (2 or 3cam). A camera that you know is proud of its roots, is a proper Leica (no minolta bits), and will probably outlast the kid (and by the time it needs an overhaul... odds are said kid will grow enough to appreciate its technical complexity). The fact that it's completely manual save for the meter will also allow the kid to learn sunny-16 rule photography, shoot with a dead battery, etc.

 

Jason

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...and what exactly is the problem with the Nikon gear? Is it inadequate or defective?

 

There is nothing wrong with a S2, S3, S4 or SP, the origonal lenses or modern CV are real nice.

 

The mount is slower then a M, and Nikon did not sell as well as Leica or Canon so they are more difficult to get but are about the same price as a M2.

 

I normally use a Canon P they are cheaper then the Nikon kit, faster handling e.g. loading, and just as reliable.

 

Noel

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What if a teenager [...] would come home and ask you, "Daddy can I have a (my own) Leica?" :eek: :eek: :eek:

I'd say, "If you really want one then go find a job, make some money, and buy one."

 

If I see she or he is serious, determined, and successful at earning the money and saving it towards the purchase of a Leica then I'd throw in a couple of hundred bucks ... but wouldn't disclose that intent to her/him beforehand.

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I'd say, "If you really want one then go find a job, make some money, and buy one."

 

If I see she or he is serious, determined, and successful at earning the money and saving it towards the purchase of a Leica then I'd throw in a couple of hundred bucks ... but wouldn't disclose that intent to her/him beforehand.

 

...'Ditto'.... for when mine are old enough for a Leica. :)

 

Steve.

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My son (14) grabbed my M9 at every opportunity when it was new, and took some great photos. His favourite lens is the 35 Cron.

 

He knows it is well out of his price range. If he ever gets a bit more trustworthy, I will lend him my MP from time to time - that's a wee way off ...

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Well, no harm in that, I wanted just to share the embarrassed surprise of the father - I know him but he's on another photo forum to tell the truth - being asked for such a special camera... She needs a manual camera so whatever is fine. On Nikon side, I adviced him - for a special gift - for a FM2/T or a FM3A which are somehow a bit more on the "collector" side than on the "cheap" FM/FE side.

I think more than Leica-PR is some photo-class teacher talking about cameras outlasting decades which were used by famous reporters. Equally, since she asked for a mechanical film camera, I don't think she's thinking of any d-lux... Among Leicas (being a girl) I just told him that where I live even the cheapest (and lightest) M2 / M3 sells for no less than 500 € (but you have to be extremely lucky to find one!), usually from 800 € onwards. Of course, an early R-body would be less expensive.

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Show her some of Mary Ellen Mark's stunning work. Then tell her that much of it was done with Leica ... and Nikon. Extol the virtues of old Nikon film SLR's. Now buy her a FM2 (as used by MEM) and two or three manual focus lenses. :D

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Ok, let's assume you don't have ANY Leica, yet you know it and you know how valuable item is as well. It's more or less the situation of common people toward sports or luxury cars. Everyone would like to have one but none can usually afford them.

 

What if a teenager, son of a friend who has some Nikon gear, would come home and ask you "Daddy can I have a (my own) LEICA?" :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Probably she attended at some kind of photographic course where they taught that most of the valuable pictures taken last century were taken with a Leica... Just guessing.. I smiled of it and wanted to share it; I don't know how this ended... I'll let you know...

 

Hi Dino

 

I can answer a different question, my friend has three M2 and a 18 year old daughter who is art student.

 

She normally uses a D compact. fathers last comment was 'she is now using one of my M2 and she has picked the best one'.

 

All three are (were) collectors..

 

Noel

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I was really luck that my first camera was Petriflex V. The luck was the piece of crap died out within a year. While I saved my allowance to buy another camera, a family friend loaned me a pre-War Dresden Rollei. Back then--early 1970s--used Leicas were pretty reasonable, and the Rollei owner recommended them as a good camera to buy used. The M2 and 50mm Elmar were great to shoot with and I was really taken with the influential work that had been made with Leicas. The heritage is inspirational.

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Probably she attended at some kind of photographic course where they taught that most of the valuable pictures taken last century were taken with a Leica...

 

Most of the valuable courses in photography over the last century would not have taught this.

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Ok, let's assume you don't have ANY Leica, yet you know it and you know how valuable item is as well. It's more or less the situation of common people toward sports or luxury cars. Everyone would like to have one but none can usually afford them.

 

What if a teenager, son of a friend who has some Nikon gear, would come home and ask you "Daddy can I have a (my own) LEICA?" :eek: :eek: :eek:

 

Probably she attended at some kind of photographic course where they taught that most of the valuable pictures taken last century were taken with a Leica... Just guessing.. I smiled of it and wanted to share it; I don't know how this ended... I'll let you know...

 

Well, I'm probably considered 'common' by some and I have a Leica. OK I haven't got a sportscar.....

 

I think your friends son is confusing equipment with talent. Buying a Leica will not instantly make his photos look like they were taken by HCB. Unfortunately lots of people think it will and get very disappointed, and blame the camera, "what's all the hype about, it's rubbish really".

 

Of course many of the famous images he's probably seen were taken with cameras like the llla and a 5cm Elmar - he can pick that combo up in working order for about 200€/£, cheap enough for any students I know, so I'd tell him to go ahead and try it.

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