Your first Leica? Tell your story...

[dkCambridgeshire]

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My first Leica purchased in 1988 was a s/h 100mm f4 Macro Elmar bellows lens ... listed by Ffordes Photographic when they were based in Southend on Sea. I was so impressed by the lens design (especially the light baffling) and build quality that the following week I bought the s/h matching Bellows R. SRB in Luton made me a Leica R to Canon FD adapter (infinity focus was not required) and for several years the combination was used for macro imaging 'in the field' with my Canon T90. I still have the lens and bellows;  the lens is one the most under-rated Leica R optics and nowadays dealers struggle to sell s/h examples. James Lager used the lens to photograph most of the many hundreds of illustrations for his 3 volume "An Illustrated history …" In 1989 a s/h Leicaflex SL with 50/2 Summicron R was purchased from Jessops as an ex-show demo outfit. The 50/2 Summicron was converted to triple cam by Leica Milton Keynes (at a cost of £100) and I then bought a s/h Leica R4S Mod 2 which I still have … but I do not regard it as a 'proper Leica' and prefer the SL. 

 

dunk 

[Steve Caddy]

A couple of friends of mine with professional backgrounds had built up the Leica legend in my mind while I was working as a designer and book layer-outerer at Lonely Planet. As my interest in photography grew and I became more acquainted with the masters of humanitarian documentary, the name came up again and again, which compounded the mystique. When I finally started thinking seriously about replacing my aging crop-frame Canon 350D, in 2009 there was a screaming hype online about the idea of a full frame digital Leica.

 

I didn't want to go back to shooting film and didn't want to buy a crop frame camera, but there seemed to be a debate raging about whether a full frame M was even physically possible (this was before the advent of micro-lenses). When the M9 was released was star-struck and determined to get one, but it was way out of reach, financially.

 

Months later, I became friends with a new guy at work who seemed to share every interest of mine, including photography. When the conversation finally came around to Leica and I talked about how I was desperate to try one he said, "Oh, I have an M6. I'll lend it to you for a few months." Three months with the M6TTL and 50 Lux sealed the love affair, although with inconsistent results. I talked about it constantly at home, to my wife's chagrin —

 

"We can't afford a camera that costs thousands of dollars!"

"I don't need to afford it!" I said, "I just need to find a way of getting one!"

 

I'd managed to barter my way into a custom bicycle in the past by exchanging design work for labor and figured there must be a similar avenue with the Leica. The guy at work had put down a deposit on an M9 and told me that he would be willing to sell me the M6 cheaply on condition that I lend it back to him if he missed shooting film.

 

One day while chewing the ear off another friend about Leica, he told me he thought the brand had become pretentious — "It's just a very simple camera with luxury marketing. And the simpler it gets the more pretentious the claims are. They should make a pinhole camera, charge a fortune and market it as the most essential camera there is."

 

That's it!

 

I designed a little cardboard pinhole camera with a rectangular enclosure, and stole product photography from Leica's own website to map onto the box. With a small amount of money borrowed from a friend, I funded a print run of Leica-look-alke pinhole templates on heavy cardboard, scored along the fold lines, with instructions and a Sunny 16 exposure guide included. I designed and built a small website in the style of the leica-camera.com of the day, with a satirical "Like-a" red dot logo, and the most pretentious product copy I could come up with, connected to an ecommerce order form. At $20 each for a sheet of cardboard they were hand-crafted and approaching Veblen margins.

 

With some creative Tweeting and some help from a few friends I managed to get picked up by the WIRED blog and a few others, and the orders started coming in. Much like the real Leica, some hated the idea of paying so much for so little, but many loved the idea and bought two or three for old friends who were Leicaphiles, or to add to a collection of other Leica paraphernalia.

 

Eventually, I received a stern letter from Leica AG, scalding me for appropriating their logo and ordering a cease and desist. I complied of course, and told their Legal department that it was only a desire to buy one of their products that lead to all this. I tallied up the takings and was close enough to make an offer on the M6 and 35 Cron.

 

I shot that camera and lens at the exclusion of all else for two or three years and found it punishing. The first three months produced the worst pictures I've ever taken. Out of focus, under exposed, just generally crap. But as each month went by I learned the camera intuitively and the pictures got better.

 

When the Typ 240 was released, the same friend upgraded again, and I traded him back the M6 and some cash in exchange for the M9. I loved the M9, but it eventually succumbed to the sensor corrosion issue and when Leica offered an M or M-P upgrade I jumped to the M-P. The M10 is tempting, but I'll hold off for at least another generation (unless maybe there's an M10-P or Safari that's just too good to pass up).

 

Here's one of the very first pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecaddy/4998550764/in/album-72157624849932129/lightbox/

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[Jeffry Abt]

Steve,

Thank you for sharing your story.

[Ozytripper]

I was at University when I saw some photos taken with a Leica and could not sleep after that. Best photos I have ever seem

Worked all Summer to save money for tuition fees (self funding student) then walked past a Camera Shop which had a Leica R3mot package (camera motor drive and 50mm F2 lens) on special 

The price? All the money I had saved in my Summer job to last me the whole year in living and tuition expenses

On impulse I withdrew my money from the bank and bought the R3Mot package. It was 1978 if i'd remember correctly

Had to get contract photography job through out the year to survive. But it was worth it.

Kept that camera package for 20 years (i did buy other Leica models after I started working) but that first Leica was my most precious Leica.   

[M10Alpine]

I bought my Leica IIIg, fitted with a collapsible 5cm Summicron, in Aden from the Miramar Bazaar Camera shop in Steamer Point Aden, on 17th October 1959, my way to an Army posting in Oman. I still have and use the camera and just recently had it serviced by Leica in Germany. The original receipt, for 960 East African Shillings, lies before me as I write.

 

Some of the pictures I took in Aden are at: oman Photo Gallery by Henry Rogers at pbase.com

 

Not so long ago I put together a couple of short videos about a mapping project in Borneo during 1964/65 mostly using stills from the same camera. They are at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjYLS2PJwY4zLFxMOhqMqiQ

 

Here are pictures from Oman and Borneo and a couple from the Alps of around that time:

 

Very romantic and beautiful story, thanks for sharing. I visited Aden and Sana for the first time in 2012 and fell in love with Yemen. 

 

I was in Yemen in 2017 with my M10

[M10Alpine]

I'm a devote hobbyist, I started with a Konica when I was a kid in the 80th. I shoot in Pakistan 1989 with a Minolta film camera, I then did no real photography when digital came around. I bought a Sony RX1 and loved it. 

 

Mt love affair with Leica started with the Leica Q - obviously designed as Leicas "Heroine trick" camera. It was only 6 months until I bought a M 246, my first M Leica. I later sold the 246 bought a M 10 and recently bought a M Monochromes so now the circle is almost completed. I guess the missing pice is a M7 my next Lica will surely be a film Leica.

 

David 

[plaidshirts]

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My first Leica came to me when my interest in film photography was at its peak 2 years ago.

I started trying different film cameras that I had heard about growing up (Nikon F2, Olympus OM1, Canon F1, Spotmatic, etc) when I saw on eBay an M3 with a rigid Summicron 50mm for $1200.

The M3 was in pristine condition with a +1.1mil serial number. It came with an MR meter as well.

After some communication with the seller to make sure this wasn't a scam, we agreed on a price and a deal was made.  The seller even threw in a few filters too.

 

And the floodgates opened.

 

An M6 soon followed. Then an M4, M5, M4-P, and finally an M2 button rewind. 

Too many cameras obviously, since I had 6 other film cameras.

I sold off M4 through M6 and bought my first digital Leica (which I told myself I'd never do), an M-D 262.

 

I'm still trying to get used to RF focusing, but glad I drank the kool aid.

[Jerry Attrik]

It seems that I am a 'run-of-the-mill' Leica-man.

It all started with a 127 box Brownie, then a 'Ful View' (pretend TLR)

Next a Zeiss double extension 21/2 x 31/2 plate camera with a 120 back.

Then big league and Argus 'brick'. (and it was).

All the while my father talked about a Leica which had been on display on

a maroon covered stand in a commercial photographers studio in Halifax.

Then we saw one in  a shop in Huddersfield a couple of weeks later we went

to Huddersfield and father bought it, on 24th. June 1960, a 3f bd. and I still have it  

but not the f1:3.5/50mm which came with it. IN 1963 I bought a f1:1.8/50mm Cannon lens

(still have that). Later I bought a Miranda F and my wife used my Leica. In January 1977 I

bought a Leica 3f rd. with a Summarit. Swapped the Summarit for Summicron, which I still use.

I was taking personal shots of a nephew's wedding and noticed that the frame counter indicated 48

and realised something was wrong. Film leader had slipped out of the take-up spool. Damn!!! An outdoor

jacket and a bed-cover make for a good dark bag. BUT a chap with te latest digital passed prints

around at the supper------envy.  I bought  a Digilux 1 just as they were going out of fashion - wish I hadn't.

But bought my wife a Minilux Zoom. -----click - click- click - click. (lots of brownie points there).

I retired 22 years ago with a project in mind with my last long service award was a Yashica 124G. Then

the Will you?, Can you? Have you? brigade scuppered that. 3f with mono (Delta 400) in now 'in vogue'.

A 'War-and-Peace' saga with my Leicas buried in it. - one day.............(I will learn how to post images)

D.Lox

 

[jsteele3200]

Bought a Dlux-5 a few years back - loved it - had a little software fault recently and after sending to Leica they said they couldn't repair it as they no longer make that model - they did offer me a $800 upgrade to a new camera and told me that my Dlux-5 was now a paperweight - so my first Leica? - great - my first experience with Leica the company? - complete disappointment......

[dkCambridgeshire]

Bought a Dlux-5 a few years back - loved it - had a little software fault recently and after sending to Leica they said they couldn't repair it as they no longer make that model - they did offer me a $800 upgrade to a new camera and told me that my Dlux-5 was now a paperweight - so my first Leica? - great - my first experience with Leica the company? - complete disappointment......

 

 

In the UK, Leica Mayfair can sometimes repair older Leica digital compacts - subject to parts availability. A friend's c.2011 Leica V-Lux 30 was successfully given a new lease of life last year following a Leica Mayfair repair using recycled parts from one of Mayfair's donor cameras. You do not mention exactly what is wrong with your D-Lux 5 but in the UK it might be repairable - especially as it's based on a Panasonic LX-5 - for which some repairers, including Leica Mayfair, might have parts. Find a Panasonic repairer in the USA and you might find one prepared to look at your D-Lux 5. 

 

dunk 

[plaidshirts]

A couple of friends of mine with professional backgrounds had built up the Leica legend in my mind while I was working as a designer and book layer-outerer at Lonely Planet. As my interest in photography grew and I became more acquainted with the masters of humanitarian documentary, the name came up again and again, which compounded the mystique. When I finally started thinking seriously about replacing my aging crop-frame Canon 350D, in 2009 there was a screaming hype online about the idea of a full frame digital Leica.

 

I didn't want to go back to shooting film and didn't want to buy a crop frame camera, but there seemed to be a debate raging about whether a full frame M was even physically possible (this was before the advent of micro-lenses). When the M9 was released was star-struck and determined to get one, but it was way out of reach, financially.

 

Months later, I became friends with a new guy at work who seemed to share every interest of mine, including photography. When the conversation finally came around to Leica and I talked about how I was desperate to try one he said, "Oh, I have an M6. I'll lend it to you for a few months." Three months with the M6TTL and 50 Lux sealed the love affair, although with inconsistent results. I talked about it constantly at home, to my wife's chagrin —

 

"We can't afford a camera that costs thousands of dollars!"

"I don't need to afford it!" I said, "I just need to find a way of getting one!"

 

I'd managed to barter my way into a custom bicycle in the past by exchanging design work for labor and figured there must be a similar avenue with the Leica. The guy at work had put down a deposit on an M9 and told me that he would be willing to sell me the M6 cheaply on condition that I lend it back to him if he missed shooting film.

 

One day while chewing the ear off another friend about Leica, he told me he thought the brand had become pretentious — "It's just a very simple camera with luxury marketing. And the simpler it gets the more pretentious the claims are. They should make a pinhole camera, charge a fortune and market it as the most essential camera there is."

 

That's it!

 

I designed a little cardboard pinhole camera with a rectangular enclosure, and stole product photography from Leica's own website to map onto the box. With a small amount of money borrowed from a friend, I funded a print run of Leica-look-alke pinhole templates on heavy cardboard, scored along the fold lines, with instructions and a Sunny 16 exposure guide included. I designed and built a small website in the style of the leica-camera.com of the day, with a satirical "Like-a" red dot logo, and the most pretentious product copy I could come up with, connected to an ecommerce order form. At $20 each for a sheet of cardboard they were hand-crafted and approaching Veblen margins.

 

With some creative Tweeting and some help from a few friends I managed to get picked up by the WIRED blog and a few others, and the orders started coming in. Much like the real Leica, some hated the idea of paying so much for so little, but many loved the idea and bought two or three for old friends who were Leicaphiles, or to add to a collection of other Leica paraphernalia.

 

Eventually, I received a stern letter from Leica AG, scalding me for appropriating their logo and ordering a cease and desist. I complied of course, and told their Legal department that it was only a desire to buy one of their products that lead to all this. I tallied up the takings and was close enough to make an offer on the M6 and 35 Cron.

 

I shot that camera and lens at the exclusion of all else for two or three years and found it punishing. The first three months produced the worst pictures I've ever taken. Out of focus, under exposed, just generally crap. But as each month went by I learned the camera intuitively and the pictures got better.

 

When the Typ 240 was released, the same friend upgraded again, and I traded him back the M6 and some cash in exchange for the M9. I loved the M9, but it eventually succumbed to the sensor corrosion issue and when Leica offered an M or M-P upgrade I jumped to the M-P. The M10 is tempting, but I'll hold off for at least another generation (unless maybe there's an M10-P or Safari that's just too good to pass up).

 

Here's one of the very first pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecaddy/4998550764/in/album-72157624849932129/lightbox/

What a great story! That's real love and dedication right there.

[ehecatl]

My first Leica? In the Spring 2003 semester, I signed on to direct a semester long study abroad program in Salamanca, Spain. Having used a variety of cameras since I was a kid —from Kodak Instamatic 110s to various Polaroid cameras to a plastic toy camera that I painted and carried off with me when I moved to Mexico City for a year in 1988, to my first "real" camera, a Canon EOS 650 that I bought upon returning from Mexico City— I was interested in buying a new camera for my trip. I had a film SLR, but I wanted something lighter and digital. I had a Canon PowerShot, but I was never pleased with the images. In my search, I came upon the Leica Digilux 1. I knew the brand, of course, as I always had at the back of my mind a dream of having an M. But I couldn't afford an M. I was, however, able to find a Digilux 1 at a good price. 

And so, in December, 2002,  I made the leap.

The first pics from that camera? I was terribly disappointed. I almost left it behind and was resigned to taking the PowerShot. But I didn't. And when I got to Spain, the more I used the Digilux 1, the more I liked it. I liked the boxy design, no, I love it. it was different, and somehow retro, I thought it was great. Sure, the resolution wasn't much, and sometimes the low light pics were noisy, but I grew to love it for its quirks. 

But I still had the dream of a film Leica. 

A few months into my life in Salamanca, I had to travel to London for a quick trip. While walking around, taking pics with my Digilux 1, I passed a camera shop that carried Leica products. I popped in to see what Used offerings were on hand, and while I really wanted a used M6 I looked at, I couldn't afford it. Instead, I got a Leica CL, with a 40mm lens. It was my first rangefinder and I was taken. It was a perfect size, pocketable and light. My first pics were not good, I had to figure out how to use a manual camera again, after more than a decade of auto-everything. But I got the hang of it. Sort of. I think I would have gotten better with it had I not been perusing another camera shop in Barcelona a few months later. 

It was an M6 that got me.

It was in bad shape, clearly used a lot, but it worked. I traded in my CL for the M6 and went to town. 

In November, 2003, about four months after having the M6, I purchased in NYC my first new Leica, an M7. I tried to trade in my M6, but B&H wouldn't take it because of the shape it was in. It didn't matter, I was later able to trade it in towards an Epson R-D1 (my first digital rangefinder) in Barcelona in 2005.

The M7 was the last film Leica I bought, from then I went through a variety of digital Leicas culminating with the two that I have now, an M9 (bought in 2014) and a digital CL that I purchased a month ago, just before leaving for South America.  

[Joris818]

I bought my very first Leica just 3 weeks ago.

I'm a "professional" photographer, doing mainly weddings and corporate shootings.

I do my pro work with a set of 5D bodies with some very heavy glass. Needles to say I don't enjoy carrying the gear with my on family holidays.

I had a Fuji xt10 with 35 1.4 that I really loved shooting, after a while though I found the AF to be sub par. I sold the xt10 and bought a super compact Sony rx100 mkV. The quality of the Sony was pretty good but there was to much depth of field, and I didn't enjoy the interaction with the camera.

 

I had an uncle who owned an M9, he agreed to lend it to me for a week (that was somewhere last year). I loved the feel of the camera but I wasn't getting the results I liked.

 

A couple weeks ago, my uncle called me to say the Leica owner was considering selling his M9. I told him I'd like to make and offer, but I couldn't give him what the camera was actually worth because I had to many other expenses.

He said : go ahead and make an offer, you never know.

 

So I did, and we came to a very nice deal. The owner liked to idea of me using the Leica a lot (as opposed to him, the body only had 1120 clicks!).

 

So I'm now the very happy owner of a Leica M9 with 50mm f2.

I also received a flash and Leica 36mm viewfinder (which I think is actually for the X1, not to be used on an M9).

I'm going to sell the viewfinder and flash to recover some cash, perhaps get a nice 28 of 35mm lens to complete the set!

 

My photos are getting much better every week, I'm so in love with the camera!!!

[35mmview]

Bought my first Leica approx 2 month ago followed by a 35 Summicron.

Thus far i'm still over the proverbial moon.

 

The only slight niggle is the inter model sniping that seems to go on. I bought a used M-P type 240 because it was the best digital leica I could afford at the time.

Now all I read that it's possibly the worst one and that the M9/M10's are sooooo much better!

 

Luckily I can rise above such frivolities, and besides deepdown everyone knows that the M240 is the best due to the superior colours on the CMOS sensor. Right?

Edited July 10, 2018 by 35mmview

[jkcampbell2]

True story, back when I was in college in the 70s we had a guest photographer one night and of course at some point in the class someone asked what camera he used for his photographs. “It’s a Leica M3” and he promptly pulled it out of his bag and handed it to someone at the front of the class. “Here, pass it around” he said. I had never seen a Leica in my life. At that time all I ever wanted was a Nikon F with a motor drive like the pros use and pretty much figured I would never, ever be able to afford one.

 

But I digress, as the camera moved it’s way to thru the group I could see it was completely covered with wood grain vinyl contact paper. Before it even got to me someone shot their hand up and asked why he had made his nice camera look like crap! The artist just looked at the student and said “would you steal that camera?” Big laughs and the discussion moved on. Shortly the camera came my way and as it was placed in my hands I was surprised how heavy and solid it felt. A quick look through the viewfinder and I was hooked. Love at first sight. No internet in those days so it took a fair bit of work for me to catch up on the whole Leica history. After college I went on to a tech school to get my degree in commercial photography and a few years beyond that before I could actually scrape up the cash to buy my first Leica. An M3 with the 50mm dual range Summicron. 

 

Well I did eventually buy a Nikon F with a motor drive and more than a few Ms have passed through my hands since then but I still have that old M3. If anyone in 1974 would have told me that some day I’d pay 6 grand for a digital Leica I’d tell them they were as crazy as contact paper (then I’d ask what “digital” meant). Still in love with photography and still using a Leica. jc

 

[PFM]

I got my first Leica because I passed on a Hasselblad 503CW outfit (with four lenses, three finders, three backs, a dual flash bracket with the requisite Metz units, and some other goodies).  Instead I purchased a Leica R3 with the Elmarit-R 2.8/28.  They were both on consignment, and came from the same seller, but I figured if there were going to be a lot of problems, it would be in the Hassy outfit.  And with that many pieces, it could run into a lot of money getting things fixed or replaced.

 

As it turned out, the R3 meter system only works properly in one setting, but since I didn't keep a good track of all the parameters while shooting the first roll, I couldn't be sure which part of the system was not functioning correctly.  After doing some research on problems with the R3, I decided it was not worth repairing, but since still partially functioning it could be used as a second body.  After more research, I replaced it with an R7.  Now that's a camera I really like.  Kitted it out properly, but it hasn't seen enough use as I've also decided to get into the rangefinder side of the brand after spending so much time with off brand knock-off versions, and Soviet copies.  It took me a long time to get past the elitist label of the M system, and just look at it as a well built camera with great lenses.  What finally pushed me was the desire to have a mount that made it quicker to change lenses, and the viewer frame lines.

 

PF

[Snap Happy]

I purchased my first Leica in 1977 - a used CL. This proved a gateway and a couple of months later I upgraded to (also used) M3 set with a Summicron 50mm attached. My next lens was a Summaron 35mm with goggles. The photo from this period are all tack sharp and tonally rich. I've loved Leica ever since.

[Exodies]

My first Leica was an X1. I couldn’t get on with the auto focus - that’s not what I was looking at - and the manual focus was difficult to use and the lcd was washed out in bright sun but the pictures were fantastic, especially the oily surfaces of Manchester’s canals. My second Leica, M typ 240 has fixed all these problems.

[rediscover]

My first wannabe Leica

My first camera was an Olympus 35 RC. As a student at the beginning of the 70ies I squeezed my nose flat on two store windows. The first one was a photo store the second a hi-fi shop. As you can imagine my desires at this point of time were unsatisfiable. But I resolved if ever I would earn enough money a Leica M and a Quad stereo system would be mine.

Inside my financial range however was the said Olympus 35 RC, a tiny remarkable wannabe Leica with split-image rangefinder and a decent 42mm/2.8 E-Zuiko fixed lens. That was my equipment for many years.

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The desire for a Leica M came true about ten years later, it was a M4-P. Mrs. rediscover added the 35 Lux as Christmas gift. The completion of the second wish took even more years’ time, but that’s a different story.

All three items, Olympus, Leica, and Quad have a timeless classical design, ready for lifelong use. I still cherish them to date. I was always mirrorless.

rdc

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[carbon_dragon]

My first "non-instamatic" serious camera was given to me by my Dad about 1972. It was a Konica I that he bought after WWII. Essentially it was a sort of fixed lens copy of the Leica rangefinders with a 50mm lens. I used it for yearbook photography for 3 years and got hooked on rangefinder photography. Unfortunately, Leicas were way out of my price range so I used a variety of Minolta cameras, switching to electronic Minolta cameras culminating with the very nice 600si's. 

In 1998, I found a very nice little camera shop in eastern Atlanta, Ga (gone now) where the owner had all kinds of obscure cameras of bygone eras. I used to go there and look around and sometimes buy things. He said he had had a camera come in -- it was a Leica M2, button rewind with a 50mm DR Summicron. It was horribly expensive (for me) at about $1500 for the set. I bit the bullet and bought it. I slowly started to use it more and more at the expense of my higher tech 35mm cameras and bought an old 35/2 Summicron and a 90/4 Elmar. I used that for years and when the digital transition happened, much as I wanted to buy an M8, it was just too expensive.

I bought cheaper digitals while still shooting the M2 and eventually was able to buy a more modern 50/2 Summicron  and a 35/2 ASPH Summicron. After buying and using a Canon 5D for a while I actually got the chance to buy a used M8 at a pretty good price from Tamarkin Camera. I used it more and more and lusted after the M9 but couldn't afford it. I bought a Sony Nex-7 and used my Leica lenses on it for a while and was able to buy a used M9 eventually. That I used for many years as virtually my only camera till I retired about 3 years ago. I have recently bought a used M10 from Tamarkin again and am very happy with it.

Here is the M2 but with a modern lens and a MC meter (which I hardly ever use ... I tend to use the Voigtlander clip on meter). Note that it was taken with the camera I bought at roughly the same time, a Contax RTS III.

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