Some people

[dodger]

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I had a fascinating talk this afternoon with an old chap who lives not too far from me in Carlisle...we talked about (and recorded for a BBC broadcast and web page) his life in Nuremburg before the Second World War, his arrest and imprisonment for brawling with members of the Hitler Youth, his subsequent pressing into the Brown Shirts and ultimate volunteering for service with the Fallschirmjager - the elite Luftwaffe paratroop arm as a 17-year-old in 1943.

After serving in Russia in winter 1943 Fred (Fritz) was ultimately captured in the Falaise Pocket in Normandy, in August '44 and ended up here in Cumbria as a prisoner. To cut a long story short, he stayed here after the war, became an engineer in one of the big cotton mills.

I took several pictures of him for the web page, and he was clearly interested in the (flippin' excellent) office Canon SX110 and also my OM2 that I shot a couple of film pics of him on.*

"I had a Leica," he says. Can't say I was surprised. He wasn't specific about what model, bought in the 50s. "Wonderful camera. I gave it to my son-in-law."

And then the killer blow: "He didn't keep it. He said it was too complicated".

 

SIGH.

 

 

*Yeah, sorry folks - been off the Leicas for a bit. Worked my way through a number of digital SLRs, none of which I really liked, and have gone back to the Oly OMs for a spell. Had a Leica C-Lux 2 for a while recently, but it was - strangely - nowhere near as good a camera as its cousin the Panaleica FX-7 which my eldest daughter persuaded away from me dammit. There will come a time when I realise the error of my ways and get yet another M2 or 4.It's inevitable. But until then..........

[aesop]

 

There will come a time when I realise the error of my ways and get yet another M2 or 4.It's inevitable. But until then..........

 

 

...great story, dodger - there's no accounting for in-laws, is there? And there is certainly no need to apologise for exercising your right to purchase. Speaking of which, have you finally decided on an M9 or X1, rather than another M2 or 4?

[dodger]

I probably would never buy a digital M. I struggle with digital cameras full stop - even the excellent Canon I refer to above (I did persuade my partner to buy one of those on the strength of my experience at work with them though). The speed of getting the pictures out is great, but in all the ones I've had I've just had this deep seated sense of dissatisfaction. So I'm back in the world of selective scanning again.