Cameras you have owned, on the way to an M

[Ruhayat]

So. How about another rainy day thread, eh? I guess for a lot of people the Leica M represents the pinnacle of 35mm photography (I did say "A LOT", and not "ALL", right). So what cameras did you go through before you ended up with an M?

I'll go first. My list is rather short as I only started getting into photography somewhat seriously about 5 years ago. These are the cameras I have owned over the years, in chronological order:

DIGITAL
1. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LC40 - my first "Summicron"! Still usable, but lens is stuck at longest end. The photos it made were distinctive enough that even non-photographer friends saw a difference. It got me started on the Leica path.
2. Ricoh GRD - died in the rain.
3. Leica Digilux 2 - my second "Summicron"! To this day, still the best digital compact ever! Still usable, but skin peeling off.
4. Nikon D70 - never liked the white balance or VF. Sold after 2 months.
5. Olympus E-1 - it was my pseudo Leica DMR (Kodak sensor + Leica R lenses). Died of sensor failure.
6. Leica D-Lux 3 - bought on a whim. Never liked the plastic looking images it made. And zooming with a joystick sucked - I much prefer rings around the lens. Sold.
7. Canon 5D - superb detail, sparse buttons but big and heavy. Sold.
8. Olympus EP-1 - love the dynamic B&W mode with the 17mm lens. Sold.
9. Panasonic G1 - I thought I needed an m4/3 with VF since I use mainly manual lenses. But the video-like VF of the G1 made me dizzy. Sold.
10. Canon 30D - sparse layout like the 5D, nicer than the later models. Didn't need a digital anymore at the time so I sold it.
11. Panasonic GF1 - nice, but no VF makes shooting in bright light a pain. Great for food photos, though.
12. Nikon D90 - nice, but I just don't like Nikons although I love the image colours. Sold.
13. Pentax K-5 - best DSLR to me. For now, at least. Heh.
14. Well, no digital M yet, but I am trying to swap my M6TTL for an M8 with someone!


FILM
1. Yashica Electro 35GSN - sharp lens, 45mm focal length a bit boring, and it's too big for a "compact" rangefinder. Sold.
2. Olympus 35RC - contrasty, too small and focusing is too fiddly cos the ring is so close to the body. Sold.
3. Leica M6TTL - the chrome version, which I found brand new quite by chance. Selling off.
4. Olympus Trip 35 - bought as companion to the M6, but I never got the zone focusing right. Gave away to ex-GF.
5. Pentax MX - nice and compact, but too small for the Jupiter 9 I wanted to use it with. Sold.
6. Contax 139Q - so good, I bought 2 of them. And then sold both of them off. Because I'm just fickle like that.
7. Leica M7 - black version. My favourite M because of the AE and excellent meter.
8. Leica M4-P - black chrome version. The prefect size and weight for an M (you can feel the difference). Fell in love with it the first time I held one a year ago.

[KoNickon]

I am pretty sure I can't give the "apostolic succession" in any detail. But I got a Hexar RF new before I got an M3, my first M. I was mainly an SLR user before rangefinders; still use them a lot.

[Ruhayat]

You also probably don't suffer from mild OCD as I do. Haha.

[Chyn]

That's a lot of equipment

I started shooting as an amateur seven years ago, and here's the progression which took me to my current primary camera, an M8:

1. Olympus Mju-II: my first 35mm film camera that I still use as my p&s backup and travel camera today.
2. Canon Powershot G2: first digital camera which encouraged me to more up the chain.
3. Pentax *istDS: first DSLR which I learned most of my photographic techniques on, still in use today.
4. Rolleiflex Automat: first foray into medium format film, which led to:
5. Hasselblad 500cm: somewhat under-utilized camera compared to the Rollei
6. Leica M8: where I am today.

Last week my M8's shutter failed catastrophically, and is about to be shipped off to Solms, the M2 and the Automat are getting a lot of use in the past week. I certainly do miss having the immediacy of digital at times.

[Robert Lai]

I've been a 35mm SLR user for most of my life. When the rangefinder bug first started, I bought a FED I. That had a non-standard lens register, so I bought a FED-2. That was nice, but the shutter kept tapering. By the time I had the shutter repaired, I was too frustrated with Russian equipment, and gave up.

Then came the Leica IIF, followed by a IIIG.
I still have those. That was followed by a Canon 7s, which has a nice meter, and viewfinder/RF combined. I still have all of these LTM cameras.

Finally, I jumped into an M7.

All may have been bliss, except that I discovered Rolleiflexes. They blow all 35mm images out of the water.

[angeloks]

Hum... interesting !

Film :
Minolta STsi
Nikon F4s
Minolta X700
Canon EOS-1v
Nikon FM3a
Leica IIf
Nikon F100
Leica M6
Leica M4-2
Leica IIIg (that's the one I kept)

Digital :
Olympus E-420
Olympus EP-1
Sony NEX-5
Nikon D3100
Fuji X100
Epson R-D1s
Leica M8 (current)

[ruby.monkey]

Nikon FM3a; Voigtlander R3A; Leica M3. Seems I have a thing for threes?

[gilpen123]

Nikon SLRs and DSLRs, VC R3a, Canon P, CLE, then M2s, M3, M6s

[Vics]

Kodak Brownie Flash
Argus A4
Voigtlander Vitessa
Yashica 12
Canon VT w/3 lenses
Pentas Spotmatic F w/5 lenses
Pentax K1000 w/5 lenses
Minolta Maxxum 5000AF w/4 lenses
Nikon F w/9 lenses, etc.
Rolleiflex MX, etc
Rolleiflex, etc
Contax IIIa w/3 lenses, etc
Leica M3 w/2 lenses.

Never had a digital camera.

[migtex]

No M's or leica stuff ever!
they focus the wrong way!

[maddoc]

Praktika, Rolleiflex SL35E, Rollei 35LED, Nikon FM, Nikon F3HP, D70, D1x, R-D1s. Took me about 30 years

[kshapero]

Wow true confessions!!
Staring in 2006 I got back into rangefinders with the:
1. CV R3A
2. ZI
3. M7
4. M6
5. M3

As I told my wife , all the ladies I dated before meeting her were fine and wonderful ladies but just not for me. Same goes for my RF's.

[burancap]

Interestingly... I peaked and have now headed back down the mountain.

The last camera I bought cost less than $10...

[Livesteamer]

In the late 1960's I was using slr's and about 1972 I bought a used Nikon S with 50mm f2.0 and four nikon cassettes for $100 from the local camera store. Not sure why but it was a neat little camera. I kept using slr's until 1990 when I remembered how well the Nikon S could focus and as I was having trouble focusing slr's in low light, I bought an M3 and 35 Summilux. I've been using rangefinders ever since. M film cameras for important stuff and a pair of IIIc's for fun. Joe

[raid]

This is maybe a shortcut version of what I have used until I used an M:
Agfa Rapid
Zeiss Contina
Canon AE1
Canon A1
Canon F1N
Canon F1n
Pentax Spotmatic F
Koni-Omega
Graphflex
Nikon F
Nikon F2
Nikon FE
Nikon FM
Nikon FE2
Rollei SL35
Olympus Pen F
Rolleiflex TLR
Minox GT
Leica M3.

The rest is history, so to speak. RF photography caused a serious hole in my wallet since the M3. May God forgive Leica for what is has done to me!

[sepiareverb]

Kodak Brownie Flash in 1969
Kodak Pony II in 1973
Pentax K1000 in 1979
Pentax LX in 1982 (two of 'em)
Hasselblad 500 CM(?) 1985
Pentax 67 1990
Nikon F4S 1996 (three of 'em)
Nikon F100 1998
Contax G1 1999
Contax G2 2000 (two of 'em)
Hasselblad XPAN2 2003
Leica M7 2005

I also shot a Wisner 810 and a hybrid Kodak 2D 11x14 body along the way- I've still got the 11x14 and use a Canham 8x10 now.

[Phil_F_NM]

I have an excell spreadsheet that lists all the gear I've owned over the years. Too much to count but most of the cameras were second hand store or flea market finds for just a few dollars.
From the beginning:
Pentax Spotmatic (borrowed from Mom)
Kodak 110 Instamatic
Pentax ME Super
Pentax ZX-5n
Contax RX
Contax AX (only lasted 29 days till it died)
Multiple Nikon F3s
Nikon F4
Bronica S2
Konica Hexar AF

Leica M2

Then:
Leica M4
Nikon D100
Bronica ECTL
Canon EOD 10D
Canon EOS 1nRS
Fuji G690BL
Speed Graphic
Several homemade cameras
Epson RD1 x2
Leica M8
Leica M9

Just upgraded the M9 to a Nikon SP and 2 nights ago somehow fell into owning a Nikon S2.

I don't own all these right now. I usually use something, get used to it and if it falls into disuse, I sell it. All I have now are the Leica M4, Nikon SP and S2 as well as a Speed Graphic 4x5.

As all can see, Leica isn't the end-all, beat-all system for me so it's not a pinnacle so much as the crest of a small hill.

Phil Forrest

[paulfish4570]

zenit slr to konica c35 to m3 with elmar 50/2.8 ...

[Rotarysmp]

Starting in about 1984:

Pentax S1A
Canon T50
Canon T90
Rolleiflex T *
Canon F-1n
Canon EOS 50
Home made 4x5 veiw camera *
Leica M2 *
Canon A70
Horizont *
Canon 30D *
Olympus mu tough *
Leica M8 *

* the ones I still have

[lam]

Between cameras i've used, and just sold off..

Actually used:
Film:
Pentax K1000
Pentax ME Super x2
Nikon FE
Nikon EM
Nikon FM2
Nikon F
Olympus OM-1n
Olympus OM-2n
Canon AE-1 Program
Ricoh R1
Ricoh GR21
Hasselblad 500CM
Hasselblad X-Pan (current only 35mm camera)
Mamiya 645 Pro
Voigtlander Vitessa T
Voigtlander Bessa R3a
Voigtlander Bessa R2
Konica Hexar RF x2
Konica S3
Konica C35
Fujifilm GA645
Leica CL x2 (have one still)
Leica M2 x2 (both gone now)
Leica M6 (kind of want another one)
Olympus MJU-II x4? (I always sell but find more! Good to run rolls through them though.)

Digital:
Leica M8
Epson RD-1
Sony NEX-7
Fuji X-Pro1
Canon 5D Classic
Nikon D5100
Canon T3i
Nikon D300
Sony NEX-3

My current rangefinder isn't an M, an X-pan, but have this desire to own an M for some time, although the CL is plenty camera.

[dogberryjr]

I'll limit it to rangefinders:
Yashica GT and GS
Canonet QL17 GIII
Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII
M7

[Ruhayat]

Wow. Such eclectic lists!

[Paul Luscher]

Well, I should mention I owned (and still do own) a number of cameras AFTER getting an M: Olympus OM-2n, Olympus E-3, and Olympus EM-5 (do I sense a trend here?)

[t.s.k.]

Pre Leica M:
Kodak Instamatic
Polaroid SX70
Voigtlander Prominent
Canon F-1
Canon F-1N
Canon AE-1
Canon Elan II (EOS 50)
Sony DSC-F717
Hasselblad 500CM
M3

Post Leica M:
Oly OM-1
Mamiya 6
M2
Rollei TLR
Fuji RF
M6
assorted digital P&S

I'm ashamed to say I still have almost all of them.

[J-P]

I still haven't managed to be able to afford anything near a Leica yet...

I've owned and used:

1. Fed 4 + Jupiter 3&8
2. Canon AE-1
3. Nikkormat FTn (loved it with the old 50mm 1.4 nikkor-s) - now lost
4. Minolta Dynax 7000i
5. Minox 35GL
6. Yashica Electro 35 GTN
7. Olympus XA
8. Konica Auto S2/S3 (bought both together)
9. Bessa-L (+15mm SWH / 35mm skopar)
10. Yashica Electro 35 CCN

One day I might buy a Leica... but I don't think it'll happen any time soon. I'm still using the Olympus XA, Electro CCN and Bessa-L

For digital I use an Olympus Pen EP1 + CV lenses and a Sigma DP2x.