Buying one's first Leica Camera

[MikeMyers]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I was just reading this wonderful story, that all of you might enjoy:

Leica Journey: Unexpected and Educational    and here from this forum:

Leica Journey: Unexpected and Educational

Quoting from this article:

"Leica was this mythical and mysterious thing, far out of reach, and of no concern for a newbie hobbyist like me. It was a bit like what a Ferrari is to a Honda owner, something interesting, intriguing, but so extravagant, that it really serves no purpose besides fantasy."

 

Things weren't always this way.  I've had a very, very different experience, and I suspect many people here have as well.  My first camera was a 1936 Zeiss Ikon Contax II that I "borrowed" from my dad.  That led to a slightly newer Contax IIa, and then to a Nikon SP rangefinder camera.  By then I had a summer job at Olden Camera in New York, and I spent most of my summer earnings on their Leica M2 with 50mm Summicron - my brother got my SP.

At the time, the Leica was just another camera.  I thought I liked it more than the SP, but the prices were closer to the same - it was "affordable" money, something even a kid (me!) could buy, not something made out of unobtanium and ultra-extravagant.  

In short, the M2 was just another camera, and I preferred the viewfinder more than the SP.  Gee, I still have my original SP, and also a replacement M2.  I even used the SP to photograph football games in college - growing up I was always using whatever cameras I had.

It was a different world back then.  The Leica M2 was "just another camera on the shelf" at Olden Camera.  I gradually added on several used lenses, for very affordable prices.  

I imagine there are a lot of people in this forum who bought their Leica film cameras in the 1960's and 1970's.   Sure is different today - average people are going to find lots of camera choices for several hundred dollars, but if they want to start with Leica, that's many thousand's of dollars.

 

I'm posting this here, because once again I'm feeling "tempted" to buy a new Leica.  I could easily afford the M2.  I saved up enough to buy the M8.2, but I didn't have what it took to get an M9.  Years after it was introduced I got my M10.  It keeps getting harder to upgrade, especially when I want to keep my old cameras.

 

 

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Jeff S]

Jeff

[MikeMyers]

Thank you - I was unaware of that discussion.  Will check it out today.