you all seem to have much more equip. than you use.

of all the cameras and lenses leica has made what proportion has been destroyed from use/fire, are in collections, are in closets?

i would think 10% destoyed, 10% collection, 15% closet and at any given time 20% changing hands/for sale. that leaves about half in actual use.

-- Allison Reese (a_b_reese3@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002

Answers

Guilty as charged. My 280mm, 400mm and 560mm lenses see the most use, I keep most of the rest of the stuff "just in case I need it someday". I often consider selling off the little-used pieces but then inertia and available closet space take over. I'd say that less than half of my Leica equipment gets regular excersize.

-- Douglas Herr (telyt@earthlink.net), April 05, 2002.

You're right! I doesn't make sense. All this equipment is a lousy investment but I can afford it and like it. I also enjoy associating with like minded folks. My travel photography, which is a lot, appears to have gravitated to a TriElmar and 90mm APO Sommicron M. Sorry, but I intend to continue on my errent ways. Good shooting

-- George L. Doolittle (geodoolitt@aol.com), April 05, 2002.

yeah, it's your fault that i had to reduce my class load and work more to afford my m3 and 50 for my photo class. 8*}

-- Allison Reese (a_b_reese3@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

Careful Allison,

There is a very fine line between an enthusiast and an addict.

By the way, nice choice of equipment.

Happy shooting!

-- Scott (PFD261@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

One can never have enough Leicas--Ancient Chinese Proverb 44 A.D.

I used to have 7 Leicas. I finally downsized to 4 and I find all 4 get used often. The M3 and M6 are the work cameras, while the III and IIf are the weekend fun cameras.

As for lenses, I use a 21,35, and 50mm 90% of the time, while the 90 and 135 get 10%.

-- chris a williams (leicachris@worldnet.att.net), April 05, 2002.

Ha ha! If you would have asked this question a year ago, I would hang my head and agree. But I have cleaned my closet, so to speak. I have an M6, 35/2.0, 50/2.0 and 90/2.8 lenses. I carry all 3 with me all the time (and a Nikon Coolpix 880). They are all used regularly. Breakdown is probably 35mm-45%; 50mm-45%; 90mm-10%. I've never sold a Leica product that I bought (so far).

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), April 05, 2002.

Why do most women buy so many shoes?

Bottom line is that cameras, lenses, etc. aren't just "artistic tools" for me; as an amateur photographer & camera collector, they're also (arguably) grown-up toys, & the more the better. However, I don't have any equipment that I don't use @ least occasionally & I actually own very few Leitz/Leica items, & that's kept me solvent . . . so far.

-- Chris Chen (Wash., DC) (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), April 05, 2002.

Back when my golf game was in pretty good shape (6 handicap) I could take a 5 iron, a wedge and a putter and shoot in the low 80's. When I used the full 14 clubs I was pretty close to par on most occasions. While I have Leica lenses from 15mm (Voitländer)Leitz 21mm to 400mm I use them all but not with the same frequency. Again like the golf clubs, tools for each individual job. Same with my Nikons, Hasselblad and Linhof. When I go play it's with with my M3 and 50 Summicron or my IIIf with 2.8 Elmar. P.S. I'm not a collector as the dings and scratches on my bodies and the worn spots on the lens barrels will testify. Good Luck. F. William Baker

-- F. William Baker (atelfwb@aol.com), April 05, 2002.

I have a IIIg, that with the 35 F2 Asph sees about 300 rolls of film a year. I have a 50mm Summicron that get rarely used. An R3 with 35-70 plus Elpros that get used for copy work (for gallery submissions) and other closeup work. I don't use anything else, so I don't need anything else.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

All I have and use are an M6 TTL, a 35 lux, and a 75 lux. Ahhh simplicity is refreshing. Although I admit a desire for the noctilux.

-- James (snodoggydogg@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

Allison: I seem to use all of my equipment. This includes two R8 bodies as well as a 19mm F2.8, 28mm PC F2.8, 50mm F1.4, 100mm F2.8, 35-70mm F4, 70-180mm F2.8 as well as an APO 2X. Travel photography is my hobby and all of the above come in quite handy!

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), April 05, 2002.

simplicity is refreshing

It is indeed! My first Leica kit was the SL and the 400 f/6.8, nothing else. I used this in the Everglades for one winter and it was probably the most productive 6 months of my life: one camera, one lens, one film.

The trouble began when I started thinking that I'd get more pictures in dim light if I had a 2nd body loaded with fast film - or that some subjects are out of reach without a longer lens - or that with a motorized camera I'd never miss a shot because the camera would always be ready. You can see it's the beginning of an avalanche.

So now I'm nearly ready to pare down the equipment load. I'm glad I bought the stuff in the first place because it helped me find out what kind of photographer I am, and more importantly what kind of photographer I'm not and never will be. I'm a wildlife photographer, and the equipment that isn't useful for my style of wildlife photos can go.

-- Douglas Herr (telyt@earthlink.net), April 05, 2002.

Also guilty!!! Well I agree I am an enthusiast/addict, but once in a while, I turn up a nice shot here and there. Its my only vice and a hobby I have stuck with throughout the years. 1M2, 2M3's, 1M4,1M6classic,MilleniumTTL,M7, a 50sumicronDR, 50coll Elmar, 50cron, 50 black paintLux,35cron, 90 elmar. Stuck in my condo with wife and 2 cats, with no money for a house!

-- John (jamriman@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

M4-P and 35mm Summicron, that is my outfit and it covers 90% of my photography needs.

Less is more - It may be that the amount of gear owned is inversely proportional to the amount of pictures taken.

Ok, ok I also have the 15 and 75 Voigtlanders's but they don't count eh?

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), April 05, 2002.

It's a little like asking why people collect stamps and never use them to send things in the mail. Or why some people have a cellar full of wine that they will never get around to drinking. As an amateur, I don't have to please clients, and I don't have to justify purchases on a bottom line. Playing with gear is half the fun. Looking at the results is the other half. However, I do sometimes look at a piece of gear, count the number of keepers I have taken with it, and figure out the cost per picture. That sometimes makes me shudder.

-- Masatoshi Yamamoto (masa@nifty.co.jp), April 05, 2002.

We're a "two-shooter" family, and my wife is a better photographer than I am.We own a modified M4 and an early M6 classic, with a pre-Asph 35 'chron, 50 'chron and a 90 TE. I just purchased a 35 'chron Asph so both of us can shoot in museums, churches, castles and similar venues, without having to flip to see who gets the 35mm. Useage? 35mm, 50%; 50mm, 15%; 90TE, 35%. My wife seldom uses the 90TE.

-- George C. Berger (gberger@his.com), April 05, 2002.

Funny you should bring this up right now. I just finished packing for tommorrows' candid style B&W wedding assignment. It's a 10 hr. gig that will use every M thingy I own for a specific and different reason. A motorized M6/0.58 with a 28/2 ASPH for the salon interior; M7/0.72 with a 35/1.4 ASPH for the "Getting ready shots" at the Brides' home; A M6/0.85 and 50 Nocti, 90/2AA and 135/2.8 for the ceremony where flash isn't allowed. Everything then used at the reception. All which fits into a 12"X14" x 5" LowePro Omni Traveler. To bad I've got to lug that big assed Hasselblad Kit just to get the few formals I have to take. I've booked about 2 of these a month for the next year. So with this and all my other pursuits, the stuff rarely sees the closet. Ahhh, Leica rebates are here again, and that totally impractical LHSA Black Paint 0.85 beckons me to part with this weddings' profits. Will the obsession ever cease? I hope not!

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), April 05, 2002.

Ok I admit I'm a leica nut. I play with a flex, an SL2, and an m3 plus 3 or 4 screw mounts and assorted lenses. When the ex told me that either the cameras go or I go, the camera gear went along with me. Now I get to do what I want when I want and the new wife enjoys it with me. The flex, SL2 and M3 go with us everywhere " as long as I'm doing the carrying" Working for an airline and traveling like we do, all the lenses get used pretty much equally. Just remember the difference between men and boys :-)

-- Andy Wagner (awagner@midwest-express.com), April 05, 2002.

I am the one, true Leicaddict. I carry a (only body/lens I own) Leitz M6, Elmar-M 50mm 1:2.8, 24/7, and it is shot virually every day. I love using this equipment.

-- Glenn Travis (leicaddict@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

How much are many, usualy you buy your first leica, then a second; for me both of them came by chance, I bougth first one from a teacher´s recomendation of buying a M3 body and 35,50,90 and 135/4.5, for 500 USD, that he had seen in the papers for sale, so I bougth it intead of a manfroto tripode that I was planing to buy, for the same amount in 1986, I took his recomendations, he was rigth, in 1987 I bougth a second M3 that saw in a photoshop in San Diego, at 225 USD I could afford it, I lived with those two bodies until 1999, that was so clear to me that I didn´t want a SLR, and that I should try on some newer wide angle bodies, and lenses too, so came by ebay a M4P with a 35´lux, for 1600 USD, finder was great for 35 lens, and it was a improve on my older 35/2.8, but it sometimes flares more than usual, and I belive it is a problem that can be solve in this lens with a good baffering and painting elements edges. Well the thing is that now I own more that I can carry, use it all regulary, older lenses have a caracter, I wouldn´t give away my 35 summaron for 200 is a wanderful lens, and the 50/ DR no thing need to be say, but at f/2 you need a newer design if you want contrast, but for slides old lenses can add a lot, then it becomes a palete of many colors and matizes, an expensive one for sure, so better sell what you don´t use or want, again how many are too mary?

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), April 05, 2002.

Gee! And I thought Leica photographers were better photographers because they had become intimately familiar with their one camera and one or two lenses... out of necessity... because that's all they could afford.

-- Tod Hart (g_t_hart@lycos.com), April 05, 2002.

Allison,

The bigger issue is why so much accumulated gear and so little accumulated photographic skill.

If you're taking a class, throw yourself into it. Go take a lot of pictures and get some photo books from the library and really study the work of some acknowledged masters.

It requires little more than that to exceed the abilities of most of the duffers and dilletantes on this forum.

-- George T. (davecasman@yahoo.com), April 05, 2002.

I have a ton of cameras because I like them, they are fascinating devices to me. Of my film cameras, the Leica M, the Minox subminis, the Dial 35, the Fuji GA645 and the Canon EOS-IX are getting the most use nowadays.

But I recently bought a digicam and that's getting about 90% of my picture taking use at present.

I do regularly sell off stuff that I am not using, but only if I have the time and only if I think I'm really never going to use it anymore.

Godfrey

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), April 05, 2002.

Yeah, why do I need five different 50mm lenses. And that's just for the M. And why am I lusting after a 28mm for the R4 when I already have one for the M's and one for the Nikons. Plus I want I 28mm PC Nikkor when I alrady have a 35PC. Where will it all end?

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 05, 2002.

There is definately a social element in using a particular type of gear whether it may be motorcycles or camera. And now the internet has added a whole new dimension. You are here aren't you?

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), April 06, 2002.

Many gearheads, especially those into Leica, are amateur photographers who shoot travel snaps, family pix and the like with their cameras--if, indeed, they shoot anything at all. For the caliber of their work, they deserve to own a Vivitar P&S but, because they can afford to do so, they own M7's w/Noctilux lenses, dream Canon/Nikon outfits, Hassys, etc.

Personally, I have a "Six Month Rule": If I don't use a piece of gear in six months, to the trade-in counter it goes. Right now, my 150mm f/2.8 F Sonnar is hanging right on the edge, because I have a strong tendency to shoot headshots with 35mm, not 6x6.

I also keep only one 35mm and one MF system at a time. Currently, after much experimentation and testing, I've settled into EOS and Hassy--which, BTW, I use for both professional and personal work on an almost daily basis.

Peter Hughes Photography

-- Peter Hughes (ravenart@pacbell.net), April 06, 2002.

For someone who is not a bona-fide camera collector I own a frightful amount of gear. Partly this is because I kept my original screwmount set (2 bodies, 5 lenses), my M4 + 5 lenses, a Rolleiflex, a Speed Graphic, and my original Nikon set (3 bodies, 6 lenses)purely for sentimental reasons and I admit they get shot just enough to keep them from gumming up. But even in use-all-the-time gear I have fairly complete systems of Leica M and R, Hasselblad and Canon EOS. For me each of them serves a unique purpose. I don't ever carry more than one brand at a time. Eventually I may gravitate toward only the Hasselblad and Canon as they are currently the only ones which offer a digital option. But for the present, I do shoot all of them on a regular basis. Of course there are some lenses that see less use than others, but I don't own any lenses that I never shoot.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 06, 2002.