Let's have some fun shall we. Why did you first choose Leica.? What first hooked you? I'll start. My first serious camera was a Canon F1. At first, I paid a UofM student to develop my B&W negs and make 5X7 prints. As a natural part of getting into photography, I started to collect books on the subject. Monographs by famous photographers. Aperture magazine, etc.. It was then that I noticed a thread that linked many of works that appealed to me. They were shot with a Leica camera, which I had never heard of, let alone ever seen. Eventually the evidence became overwhelming. I decided to seek one out. The price horrified me. Not until later could I afford one, even a used one. In time I decided to bite the bullet, and I purchased a M4. New! I vividly recall taking that camera out of the box. A flood of history came out with it. All those wonderful images I had admired. I remember saying to myself "no more excuses". Now it was all up to me. A challenging sense of creative responsibility was heaped directly on my shoulders that day. No more excuses. Sincerely, --Marc Williams

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), March 28, 2002

Answers

Many years ago my father owned a business called Fizroy Photography.He used to do most of the Giant Enlargements for West-End Cinamas in London.Many hand- coloured.He was one of the many people who first got involved in colour photoghaphy.De vere and others often gave him free equipment.Among those was Nikon who gave him a Nikon Photomic.He had little regard for those who were unable to work out their own appts.spd and passed those cameras to me,to play with.I used to wander around with these first auto cameras being a 13 year old pest.My first photograph experience was taking a photo of Vera Lynn(THERE BE BLUEBIRDS OVER THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER)opening her brothers new shop in Blackfen,Sidcup,Kent.A group of pro photographers stepping back while a 13 year old marched forward with the most advanced camera of the age.Which was not avialable in the UK OR ANYWHERE.Vera looked in disbelieve and i took her photo.I am not that old,buy the way, late mistake.

As time passed on i got interested in actually taking the photos myself instead of the camera,hence Leicas.

-- Allen Herbert (allen1@btinternet.com), March 28, 2002.

I started with a Praktika MTL5, which after many faithful years failed. That made me look for another camera, and I bought two (used): A Contax RTS and a Canonet 17 QL III. The first showed me how important good lenses (Zeiss) are and latter made me go deeper into rangefinders. So I took the plunge after I got a real nice offer for an M2 and a Summaron 35/2.8.

-- Kai Blanke (kai.blanke@iname.com), March 28, 2002.

Allen, What an excellent story. A 13 year old with a big honking new Nikon. Man, what a cool Dad. Was he a good photographer? Sounds like he was a purest. Sincerely, --Marc

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), March 28, 2002.

As a newer Leica user(I'm 29, using Leica for about 10 years), my first Leica was a 1934 Leica model III w/50 f2 Summar lens.That was it--I got hooked. A IIIf, IIIc, M1, M3 and a M6TTL soon joined the III. Even though the Summar was a bit soft, the glass was mint,coated, and no fogging, I was stupid to trade it for a not so mint Summitar. Live and learn.

-- chris a williams (LeicaChris@worldnet.att.net), March 28, 2002.

I still wonder about my first Leica. In 1974 I bought a IIIc w/50 Elmar at a local camera shop for about $100.00 - pretty big money at the time. I had just started my first job in photography (shooting for AV training films) using an Nikon F2 kit. Bought the IIIc as a 'personal camera'. A few months after I had it our receptionist, who was going on vacation for a month to India asked if she could borrow a camera. Couldn't let her have the work cameras, but gave her the Leica as we'd known each other long enough to trust her. She never came back. We didn't know how to contact her family, but since she left over $1500.00 in vacation pay and commissions, we've always wondered if she came to no good or just dropped out of life. To this day I wonder if she's okay or ended up in some back alley in god knows where.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), March 28, 2002.

Last September. A year before I was swearing I could not see the point of such a basic camera. By then, my outfit was: EOS 3, ESO 50, EOS 650, EF 28-70/2.8L, EF 100/2, Sigma 17-35EX, EF 70-200/4.

And that day, I saw it. Like new. It actually was looking at me from its display in the window. It was built in 1997 and the Summicron 50 as well. I went into the shop, asked to have a look at it. The price was right, steep, but as much as I expected. I had the money there in the bank. I left the shop, went for a walk in the nearby, called a few friends just to hear that I was crasy to think about it, I only got encouragements to buy it now, went back to the shop and that was it. I was in awe, start the same evening with street photography.

Decembr 31st, I traded all my Canon gear for an Elamrit 90 and a Elamrit 21 asph. In the mean time I had bought a Summicron 28.

Since, then, hapiness, better photography, more fun, no more questionning.

-- Stephane Bosman (stephane.bosman@2ci.net), March 28, 2002.

When I was about 13, an elderly friend of my father's with no family of his own, left me his Leicas: IIIa, IIIfBD, 35/3.5 Summaron, 50/3.5 Elmar (late coated), 50/2 Collapsible Summicron, 90/4 Elmar (late) and 135/4.5 Hektor(late). I still have them, they were CLA'd about 4 years ago.

-- Jay (infinityft@aol.com), March 28, 2002.

More or less the same story as Stephane above. Had a full kit of EOS cameras and primes/zooms. Tried a friend's Leica back in August 2001 and really liked it. Easy to handle/ carry/ etc. However it took me until end of October before I found a nice 2nd hand model. Bought it the same day with a 50 mm. One month later I sold the complete EOS kit and got myself a 35 mm & 90 mm. Also got a small bag et voilà!

No regrets, only pleasure eventhough it's just a camera in the end.

-- William Westergren (westergren@skynet.be), March 28, 2002.

When I was 13 I borrowed my parents Kodak Duaflex and with some help from my uncle, started shooting and developing. Got hooked and at 15 had saved enough to buy a Minolta A2 (second hand) from the shop of B. Hoferichter (Lakeshore, Toronto). When it finally broke the next year, I purchased my first "new" camera a Zorki 4. Within the next year, I had actually managed to sell some photos, and purchased an enlarger timer and my first Leica, a used M3 for $265 (also from Mr. Hoferichter's shop). It had a dual range Summicron complete with the "eyes" and was my constant companion until the year I turned 26 and purchased a brand new M4-P.The year was 1982 and is memorable for me as it was the year I got married. To my great joy, both my marriage and the camera have stood well the test of time.

-- Peter J. Hanlon (eter.hanlon@3web.net), March 28, 2002.

A $50 summitar that I used on a Canon 7. The Canon 7 with 35/1.5 was my first RF (still have and use both, and the summitar). My first Leica camera was a IIIf - Nikkor 28/3.5 - Leitz 28 BL finder, purchased from Mr. Chris Williams, of this forum.

-- John (johnfleetwood@hotmail.com), March 28, 2002.

I became interested in photography about 30+ years ago when I took my hard-earned cash, about $25.00, and purchased my first camera; a brand new Minolta rangefinder. That camera served me well for over 10 years until getting into SLRs and buying a Fuji 35 mm. It was not until the late 80’s that I gave up the Fuji and devoted my interests to the Nikon line with a FE2, great camera. Since that time, I have gone the way of MF with Hasselblad, Noblex, then again to 35 mm with the heavy F5 and all the AF-S lenses. About 3 years ago, I opted for the Leica M system and have never regretted my decision. The optics are superb and the kit is quite light in comparison to the MF/F5 systems which served me well for many years. I never really became comfortable with the F5 and all it’s automation.

I, for one, will most likely embrace the digital revolution but only when I can continue to use my Leica lenses.

-- Don Maldon (Maldos@cox.net), March 28, 2002.

My father had a Leica, my grandfather had a Leica. In 1969 I bought two (a IIf and a IIc, with lenses) because they were cheap ($100 for both), old, beat up and cheap; I wanted another camera to use besides my Nikon F. And because my father and grandfather had one. That's about it really. I have one now because I like it and it takes good pictures.

Godfrey

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), March 28, 2002.

BTW, in 1969 I was 15. I'd had my Nikon for about a year at that point. I paid for all my cameras myself although my uncle helped out by getting me a good price for the Nikon.

Godfrey

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), March 28, 2002.

Once upon a time, long, long ago I had a praktica so that was my first camera. Then I moved to Minolta X700 with 35-70 and 80-200 and I loved it. It has been from -27C to +35C, from sea level to 6960mtr and dropped from 2mtrs high on concrete and always worked. I even recently added a 50m/1.4 to it. Just after that I could get my hands on an R4s with 50/2 for a very pleasant price. I loved the pictures from it at first sight. I shot a role with the Leica (50 at f2 and f8) and the minolta (also 50 at f2 and f8) of the same subjects and settings and there was a realy clear difference in contrast, sharpness and distortion of the pictures. So I added an elmarit 35 and 135 and telyt 250 to it and it is now my primairy set. I still use the Minolta with the 50/1.4 for very low light conditions (street fotography at night).

Reinier

-- ReinierV (rvlaam@xs4all.nl), March 28, 2002.

Allen,

You've only been a pest since 13? Sorry, couldn't resist 8^). I've always been a pest, but not until you dis' me first.

I won't go into my history w/cameras since 10 years old (mainly Nikon), but with my photography, which I'm still learning with some of your help.

My uncle used/uses(?) Leicas among Canon and Hassy. He did weddings among other events on the side - main line was cancer research. He and his family traveled all over the world and USA and sometimes I went along. Travel photography for him is to document the family (poses). It's completely different from my style of photography when I travel.

Anyway, I got my First Leica (M3 + 50 'lux) shortly after I got a real engineering job that paid real money. I didn't really start to improve my results and good/bad ratio until a few years later (M learning curve).

BTW, following a past thread: I keep ALL of my pic's; even the bad ones. Even the tossed accidents (darn, hit the button) have a blank spot telling me one is missing in the file. Talk about anal.

So, here I stand M in hand...happily addicted.

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), March 28, 2002.

Forgive my warped sense of humour Chris,yes i have always been a pest.

-- Allen Herbert (allen1@btinternet.com), March 28, 2002.

I borrowed my first Leica in 1981 - before subsequently buying it. My first film was a disaster - I didn't know I had to pull out the Summar lens !

-- tony Brookes (gdz00@lineone.net), March 28, 2002.

Marc,

I went to a U of M too. What was yours? Mine was Michigan. Go Blue!

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), March 28, 2002.

Well as long as you're still willing to admit being a Wolverine after last season...I bought my M4 second-hand from Quarry Photo on State St. next door to Follett's, across from the LSA building, back in '74 when I was a sophomore. Don't think either store is there anymore, but some say I am still just as sophomoric:>)

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), March 28, 2002.

Nope, those stores were gone when I was in grad school there in the early- and mid-90s. There was a decent pro shop further down State a few blocks past Stadium (I lived on White St. at Stadium--we paid for our parties by selling parking in the yard for home games).

I prefer not to think about the bowl game again UT-Knoxville . . .

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 29, 2002.

My first leica was a Leicaflex :) Mark 2 Alfie

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

Jeeze....before allthese Ann Arbor guys break into a chorus of Hail to the Victor Valiant: I bought my first Leica when I was a very junior english instructor at Northwestern, the league doormat, in 1968. That was a bad year to try to teach college kids; but there were interesting things to photograph on the streets of Chicago. I quickly discovered that the Nikon F I had purchased after seeing the film "Blow up" was too slow to focus. You could easily lose the shot, or a Chicago cop could wail on you with his nightstick (they were testy that year). I went to one of the big camera stores in the Loop, Helix or Central (my memories of 1968 have big gaps) and paid $275 for a double stroke glass pressure plate M3 with collapsible Summicron. The problem with speed went away, though my lack of visual talent remained. Then I married a beautiful art historian. I stupidly sold the M3 at a loss to get a 300 for the Nikon so she could document the sculptural programs of various cathedrals. Of course there were always better slides than we could make, taken by local photographers usinmg scaffolding, for sale at the cathedral

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), March 30, 2002.

My first Leica was a IIIc that I obtained in Germany in 1945. That lasted until we were able to buy a used M4 in 1973. My wife is just as much into Leica photography as I am. We added a 35 chron and a 90TE, then we bought an early M6. We have an M7 on order from Rich Pinto - - - that means I will no longer have to beg my wife for permission to use the M6 < grin > - - - or, maybe she will take possession of the M7 and leave me with the M6.

-- George C. Berger (gberger@his.com), March 30, 2002.

Mike,

Did you shoot any of the pretty ladies at UM?

For the rest of you, it's a trick question...there aren't any...they all go to MSU...just kidding 8^)=

The parties are better at state too.

Kinda like A&M vs. Texas (accepted to these, but $$$ for out of state).

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), March 30, 2002.

The first time i ever heard of a Leica was through a magazine ad. I ordered a cataloge and read it's fascinating history, and found out its price (good lord, my thoughts were i could never own a camera like this!) After boot camp in the Navy, they sent me to my school to train on maintence on aircrafts, and had the chance to get my first pro camera with the bonus that they offered me in the contract. The first camera i had my eyes on was a Canon eos 1vn, i had the money but it was the only one they had and was behind the display glass for months! So i decide to go with Leica.

Today at the age of 20, in the U.S. Navy, i own a Leica R8 with a 35mm to a 70mm zoom lens and im planning to buy a 70-200mm lens to practice portraits. Its a sweet heart.

-- Carlos A. Carpio Jr. (carpio72@hotmai.com), March 30, 2002.

Did you shoot any of the pretty ladies at UM?

Just a few whom I lived with. I was busy being a hard-ass research guy in those days.

For the rest of you, it's a trick question...there aren't any...they all go to MSU...just kidding 8^)=

You definately are kidding. I did some work up at MSU--the Michigan girls are much better . . .

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), March 30, 2002.

So many Ann Arbor connections on this world wide site! For 7 years I worked in Ann Arbor after attending the Center for Creative Studies. But sent a boat load of money to MSU when my son attended later on. The mention of Quarry Photo reminded me that that was where I first handled a Leica SLR. The Leica pushers that worked there could teach a drug lord a thing or two. It was a SL II and now, 25 years later, I finally picked up a mint one with a German 35-70/3.5. I think those pushers are still around up at Huron Camera in Dexter MI.. As far as college women, neither Ann Arbor campus held a candle to CCS. My first day in life drawing class, a BEAUTIFUL blond sets up her easel next to mine, smiles at me and... drops her robe to the floor. In those days students could help defray the cost of tuition by modeling...nude. And that was just the first day.

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), March 30, 2002.

There seems to be a lot of dumping of expensive equipment here to buy a Leica so I don't feel like a loner. When stationed in Athens, Greece back in 1971 I got "hooked" on photography. I bought the newly introduced Canon F-1 with a 24, 50 100, 200, 2x, a Mamiya 330 and 220 and about three lenses, as I remember, and a big honking Mecablitz flash. I was shooting everything and even bought a darkroom. Well, low and behold, after getting stationed in San Antonio, Texas, in 1973 my desire to take pictures started to wane, not because of San Antonio, but because it was such a pain in the butt with all the equipment I had purchased. I went to a local camera store to try to sell some of it and I walked out of there with a mint M-3, a 35 and a Canon 85, and a new Weston 5 lightmeter and none of my former gear. I really started to love photography again and have taken some of my most memoriable photos with that Leica M-3 double-stroke. When transfered to Germany after a tour in beautiful Adana, Turkey, I traded in the 35 and 85 for a new 50/2.

Unfortunately the story gets sad. I later cross-trained into the Air Force's public affairs field where I really needed a camera that captured action and used no-brainer flash. I then made the mistake of selling the Leica and lens to buy a long lens -- regret, regret. HOWEVER, just a couple of months ago a dear fellow photojournalist friend of mine decided to sell his nearly new (10 rolls) M-6 ttl, 50/2, and Voigt 28/1.9 because of nerve damage to his neck that made holding the small Leica nearly impossible. I now use every excuse to use the Leica on assignments (I've since retired from the Air Force and work for a small daily newspaper in northwest Georgia) although it can be a pain lugging extra equ

-- Dayton P. Strickland (daytonst@bellsouth.net), March 30, 2002.

Marc,

I've been to Huron Camera in Dexter on a recent visit to A2. I brought in my OM-1 to be serviced for a dead meter (don't laugh, bought a set of four mint lenses and the camera for $125 at a moving sale). I left the lens (28, 1:2.8) on it so dust won't get into the camera from sitting in the shop. Well, the scuffed the front element; it even had a cap on it.

Well, you know how I am from previous posts; it was MINT. The manager said: "Well, it IS scuffed, musta come in that way; we would never do that. It won't affect the pictures." What to do?

I replied: "Which one is your car outside? If I scratch the paint it won't affect how it drives will it." Point made, I paid the bill and walked out. They did fix it, though.

Don't go there.

-- chris chen (chrischen@msn.com), March 30, 2002.

in spring '78 I had just got my first real job and it was time for a new 'quality' camera. Nikon FM? Olympus OM-1? I went into a local camera store, and in the used showcase there was a mint M3 w/50 f/2DR lens. wow. sold! 24 years later (!) it's still the one. Many cameras have followed it since, but the M3 is still the favorite. I thought of trading it in once, and Jim Lager (at Ken Hansen then) told me "Use it till it dies or you do."

-- Mark Sampson (MSampson45@aol.com), March 30, 2002.

Hello All: As I remember, my Dad always had a Leica. In the late '80s I bought a M6 and a 50mm Summicron, emulating Dad. I added other M lenses later. For reflex, I used a Canon T90 - in many ways the best camera (not lenses) that I have ever used. But I missed the FTb that I drenched in the Gulf of Mexico. The T90 was my "go to" camera. In about '91, I tried to buy a 300mm lens for the Canon. There were none, Canon was dumping the F system in favor of the EOS system. So I put all of my Canon stuff on the counter of a camera store on consignment and bought a R6. With a R6, R7 and M6, I have never looked back. My Dad gave me his double stroke M3 a short while ago. I just got the M3 and the Rigid Summicron 50 back from Sherry Krauter - WOW - that old 50 makes poppers after the CLA. I will use the Leicas until they peel one from my cold dead hands - or no longer make decent film.

-- Doug Landrum (dflandrum@earthlink.net), March 31, 2002.

I'm primarily trained in Fine Arts, I bought my first Camera in 1985 a Nikon F3. I remember the year not because of the Nikon but because I had one daughter and because a couple of months later I saw a Time and Life book - the Library of Photography and was amazed by the work of Larry Burrows, Alfred Eisenstaedt and HCB, I went looking for this so called Leica, I saw it, held it in my hands and for the next 12 years thought of it every time I took a shot with the F3. 15 Years have passed, I now have three children, I still love the Burrows, Eisenstaedt and HCB's work and I no longer have the F3. But last March 26th I walked into my dealer and bought my first Leica, an M7. It's been a long time coming, but now it is here. John

-- John Ramos (tepito@pacbell.net), April 01, 2002.