How did you get into Leicas?

It was 1969 in Viet-Nam and I could not focus a slr in low light, so I picked up a Canon 7Sz in Tokyo and a used Canon P. For lenses I got a 19mm, 35mm, 50mm 1.4 and a 100mm f3.5 and never looked back. In 73 I went to M cameras, today I use a Sony RX-1 and a Ricoh GXR-M module I still use some of my first M lenses and am quite happy.

wbill
 
Well, I paid my way through college shooting with a Nikon F. It was (is) a great SLR but always wanted a Leica (the SL was the ultimate SLR). So I got my first rangefinder in 1975 (Leica CL) but felt it was not quite up to par. I think I picked up an M3 about 1977 but really it is one of the the few M's I have never bonded with. Since then, I have carried various M bodies all over the world (I am a professional pilot).

Presently I have an M9 and M2 and am looking for another film M. I may sell the M9 but it is so nice for travel. At this point in my life, I admit the M is something of a fetish. I can't decide if the M4 or M2 is the ultimate and since I have never owned an M5, it may be my next body.
 
My first real camera was the minolta 7000. Loved the little red dot on the lenses. Always had a great appreciation for the lenses. Later, I learned of minolta's association with
Leica. It turns out that the minolta founders were big fans of leica. So, I looked into Leica to find out why. I do not have any leica glass, I can't afford it. But I love the cameras. My rokkor M lenses feel right at home on my M2. Must be the red dot on them.��
 
As a graphic designer I wanted to make my own photographic artwork instead of buying stock photography. A friend introduced me to Olympus OM, got my first OM1n and a 50/1.4 back in 2006. But I was very particular with the "look" I wanted from experience in graphic design. I bought my first M3 by saving $2 a day for a whole year - and a bit more every now and then. Now I have an M2, M3, 50 DR Cron, 90 Cron, 35/2 Cron... Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, Leica R5... I've gone mad! ;)
 
I found my way into Leica purely as a tactile thing-- I started shooting with a Canon A1, only because my father used an FTb. I pretty quickly moved up to an EOS 1nRS, partly because I was shooting sports, partly because I enjoyed the feel of the solidity of the high end bodies.

In 1997 I switched to a Nikon F5, again partly for tactile reasons-- I'm not sure how I ended up with a Leica M4-P as another body ( and a Canon 7s), but I was taken with the simplicity and elegance.

From there it was up to a pair of M6TTL's until I went digital with Nikon.

Back again after a short run with and M8 and M9, neither of which I was happy with-- now I'm using an M240, and toying. A bit with film again, with the ugliest a la carte MP ever made, an M4, and a Rolleiflex 2.8F.

Also looking for a high serial number chrome M5 if you've got one!
 
Roger Hicks said:
Assuming of course that you ever did. Here's my story: In 1969 my girlfriend wanted a reliable, compact, good quality, not-too-expensive camera. For £20 she bought a Leica II, complete with 50mm f/3.5 Elmar. After a few weeks she kept asking for it back so I had to buy my own Leica, a IIIa, with the same sort of lens. That was £30. (from http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/leicaphilia.html -- there are even pictures of both the Leica and the girl!)

So what's your story?

Cheers,

R.
Click to expand...

I saw one, an M4P with a 35mm lens in the used bin of a camera store. I thought about it for a couple days, asked some friends on the internet, then went back and bought it. I used it extensively for five years (extensively = ~450 rolls) and then it was stolen in a burglary, and I have not yet replaced it with another Leica. I use a variety of non-Leica cameras now, but I miss the M4P, that's for sure.
 
Still shooting film since Truman. My roommate in '67 had his father's Barnack, and the view never faded. For many of us the Barnack is destiny.

A friend in Chicago encouraged FSU, so I enjoy using a Zorki 1c too.

Digital facilities by Apple.
 
Enjoyed everyone's stories concerning their love of photography and cameras especially Leica's. My story starts with my experience with an Argus C3 and a Practicaflex FX I used in high school. I didn't really care for the Argus but the pictures were astonishing! I then used a Kodak 2a which I enjoyed tremendously and I didn't need to switch eyes! The S-K Xenon opened my eyes to great color and contrast.

I then went to several non-interchangeable 35's notably my Canon QL 17 GIII. I then decided I was ready for the big-time and went with the Exakta VXIIa in 1956 which I kept and used exclusively until 1979 when I bought my Leica M2 which I still have and had Youxin CLA for me a couple years ago. I purchased from the Head Bartender here a Bessa R2A when I sent the M2 for CLA. So basically that's it for the last 60 years or so Exakta, Leica M2 and the Nikon DSLR D70 and D700 which should tide me over for the next several years.
 
late to the show

late to the show

I came to this forum looking for info on Canon rangefinders.My father had gifted me with his Canon L1, 28/2.8 and 50/1.2 after I had given my mother a Canon T50 she could use with out to much trouble.
I had started with Nikon Fs in the late sixties, stolen in the late eighties .Switched to Canon AE1 program kit at a good price.The list goes on in fd and Eos bodies all the way up to the 1Ds.
So my first M contact was with an RFF outing with the Bay area and Sacramento group in Davis Ca. That led to an M6/40mm sc 1.4 Voightlander and 90 mm Rokor plus m adaptors for my Canon ltm lenses .Added a Epson RD-1 to the mix later.All of my rf kit was bought here on RFF.Canon P, 7, 7s ,Contax G1 kit, M6 ,Epson RD-1 and a variety of Canon ltm lenses.Still no Leica lenses

Enjoyed all the stories so far.
 
I kinda went backwards. Looking for full frame digital goodness I went from Pentax to Canon.
But Pentax is about small, handy cameras, Canon is not.
So I found a lightly used M9. Loved it and the Canon went away.
Since I enjoy film I decided to try an M6 after reading "Leica as Teacher."
Then came a Leica IIIc and a Leica II. Loved them even more.
Ended up with a reproduction Leica Null which has almost consistently stayed with me over the last year.
Finally I have a brand new M-A arriving in my hands on Tuesday.
My M9, with all its CCD full frame goodness, satisfies my occasional digital urges.
My Zeiss Ikon, with its divine viewfinder, is my sports camera.
My M-A, with my old reliable Weston meter, is for those times when I am off the grid and do not want batteries.
The Leica Null, with its astounding Anistigmat 50, is my pocket camera ready to capture the action at anytime with hyper focal clarity.
 
I wanted a CV 40mm f1.4.
To that point I was happy with an old Contax ilia with sonnar 50mm f1.5 and sonnar 85mm f2.
I was mostly a Contax Yashica SLR /Pentax 6x7 and Yashicamat/Rolleiflex TLR user.
I also had a Yashica Electro and GX.

The 40mm f1.4 for me was the perfect combination of FL and speed.
I got one and a CL. The lens was sweet and got me interested in the Nokton 50mm f1.5.
I bought one and found it not too much for the CL so bought an M6 and later an M5.
The M5 was the best Rangefinder I had used to that point (I've owned 3 till now).
It's still my favorite M mount although presently I [only] have a Bessa R3a with a 40mm Rokkor and 50mm Color Skopar. :D

So in the end it was CV that got me into Leica! How about that!
 
While I has a film camera growing up, I only really got into photography when I got a Nikon D60. I used it with a 35 f/1.8 and a 12-24 f/4 until the thing started to fall apart. I loved the images I was getting, but grew tired of looking down the viewfinder tunnel. I though I go for a full frame Nikon digital (D800 had just been released) to get a bigger viewfinder, but when I looked through it, it wasn't much better, and had so much information in it - too much for my enjoyment, it really got in the way.

About the same time, I looked at the photos on my wall that I'd printed and realized that I wasn't a very good landscape photographer but instead took nice environmental portraits and more documentary style landscapes.

I'd heard a lot about Leicas, especially the viewfinder, but never seen one in the flesh. They'd always been too expensive (digital ones still are), but I started looking around. I thought I'd see it I could pick up an affordable film set up (user M6 with a CV 2.5/35) and if I liked it then I'd save up for a digital M. I used the $ I was going to spend upgrading my DSLR and got a Leica kit.

Long story short, I sold my remaining DSLR kit 6 months later, and like the M6 so much that I'm no longer coveting a digital M. Funny how life works sometimes, but two years later and I'm happier photographically than I've ever been before. Fully immersed in rolling, shooting, developing, and scanning my own film (unfortunately, no room or time to darkroom print - maybe when I retire I'll print 40 years of photos!)

Cheers,
Michael
 
Hi,

I had a bit of back pay and so wandered around TCRd in London looking for a CL as they had stopped making them but there were one of two still in the camera shops. I looked at three new ones and a second-hand one, which I still have plus both lenses and both cases. Getting the big case took as long as getting the camera but Hove Cameras had one left.

I went after the CL because of the reviews and because once I'd got two lenses I figured that would be the end of matters. Did I get that wrong...

Regards, David
 
My Leica's, a IIIa and M3, were/are hand me downs from my Grandparents.

After reading all the stories here about how others lusted after Leica's or came upon them by accident, I almost feel guilty saying that. But there's nothing wrong with it, so I don't.
 
In the early 70s I was using Nikon Fs but saw a barely-used black M4 in Mike Kem's and Shad Williames' suburban Portland camera store. I immediately knew it was there so I'd take it home. Over the years 11 other Leicas came and went, including a mint black M3, but I kept that first one.

And now, my confession: Just this summer, not having used it for years, I traded it in – for multiples of what I paid for it – on an MM.

Kirk
 
Graduated college in 1965 and bought a Pentax Spotmatic and 6 or 8 lenses all at once. I was frustrated by the Waltz Envoy with Nikor lens.

At that time all the photo stores had sample books of the black and white papers. All beautiful images.

The Pentax could not match no matter how I tried for years, films developer, times , nothing worked.

A neighbor loaned me his M3 and 50 summicron. Bingo. First try and I had it nailed.

Sold off Pentax and bought Leica never to return.
 
At 12 I bought a Lubitel camera at a local store and at that time -the early seventies, film was very affordable. I then lost interest until I bought a Fuji SLR when I took my first job abroad. This camera ended up on the bottom of the Street of Malacca. The next SLR, a Canon was stolen from a hotel room in Amsterdam. The next five years I worked in a region of Africa where it was better not to be found with a camera around ones neck and when I returned to Europe I bought my first digital Sony. I then stumbled upon this site and slowly developed an interest in 35mm rangefinders. I first got a Zeiss Ikon, then a Voigtlander. When the first digital Leica came to the market I found it too expensive and, instead bought the poor-mans Leica, the Epson R-D1 and became enamored with this camera, especially when used with Voigtlander lenses. In the meantime I bought a Leica M7 but never really bonded with it. Then a Leica M6 TTL, which is my favorite 35mm camera and in a GAS attack I bought a new Millennium M6 which remains mothballed for the time being. I also had a 35mm Nikon period and bought a FM3a with a 1.2/50 lens and use it as often as I can. As for digital cameras I'm happy with the Fuji X line-up and not convinced that the digital Leicas will make me happier. As for full frame digital cameras, I've been looking at the newly released Sony A7II. My present country of work does not encourage the use of film...it is very expensive and almost impossible to develop. Hopefully my next post will bring me to a country with a friendlier 35mm environment.
 
By accident.

A long time ago when I decided to get 'serious' about photography I went to the local camera shop to get 'real' camera. This seemed to mean something like an F90, UV filter, zoom, tripod, bag etc. But the afternoon didn't turn out as planned and was disrupted by a mysterious photojournalist by the name of 'Chris' and an odd looking small German camera with a dent in the baseplate that emptied my bank account.

I still have that M6ttl nearly 20 years later and she's still going strong.
 
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