From time to time someone posts "I want to sell my Canon/Nikon/Minolta SLR system to buy a Leica M camera". The advise usually is a rangefinder is not for everyone and try one first. Which is good advise before taking the plunge. So I thought I would suggest an inexpensive (can always pick one up on ebay for $50 or so) camera,Try a Ricoh 500 with a fixed 45/2.8 lens. They were made in the late 50's as an inexpensive M knockoff. I have one and actually has a pretty good lens. While not a leica it has the look and size of one. This one is identical to the one I have RICOH

-- Gerry Widen (gwiden@alliancepartners.org), August 08, 2001

Answers

A Ricoh 500 was my first real camera back in 1965. I bought one on ebay about 3 months before I bought my Leica M. It was worth the $50. It is a good Leica simulator. Same size, my Leica fits nicely in the Ricoh leather case (although I don't use the case on my Leica), just a bit lighter in weight. The viewfinder and controls are in similar locations and it is capable of taking some fine photographs. It is now mostly a decoration on my bookshelf but occasionally I put a roll of B&W in it and go out without a meter and shoot a roll of film.

-- jeff schraeder (jeff@engineperformance.com), August 08, 2001.

A better approximation to the feel of a Leica would be an Argus C4 or C44.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), August 08, 2001.

One thing that you could do immediately, especially if you are using an auto-focus / auto exposure camera is to turn off all auto functions. Set the exposure manually, focus manually, use a prime lens if you have one. Work for the image and see if you have the temperament and aptitude for that way of working. If you know what f/8.0 is, what those funny little marks on the lens are, and how to eye-ball a composition... then the camera is incidental to the process.

I have always believed that anyone that really knows how to use a 100 Dollar Pentax K-1000 will be operationally more at home with a Leica M than someone that bought a Nikon F-5 or EOS as their first camera, and keeps it locked on "A".

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), August 08, 2001.