Fell in love with a Leica today.

[Alowisney]

I was dropping off a roll of color film to be developed at my local camera shop and got to talking with the owner. I just happened to mention that I'd never seen a Leica in anything other than pictures and he told me to hang on just a second. He went into his camera bag and pulled out a Leica III C or F (he wasn't sure and neither was I) with a 50mm Summarit attached.

He let me handle it for a bit and I was smitten. I've never held a camera that felt more right in my hands. I loved the heft of it, the precision feel of the controls, heck, I even loved the split viewfinder/rangefinder. I was so sad to hand it back. He told me that he might have a price for it soon and had just shot a test roll though it over the weekend.

I can't go back. I can't pick up any of my other cameras and get that same feeling. Everything else is just paling in comparison. It's going to be quite some time before I can afford to get a Leica, but that camera stole my heart today.

 

[anjoca76]

Uh oh, you're in trouble. My first Leica was (still is) a iiic. It's a dangerous little seductress. Once you start flirting, it's all over.

I say go for it!!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Doomed. DOOMED!

Cheers,

R.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Welcome to Leica-users Anonymous,

Actually, Go have a look at a Leica III, a IIIa or a post-war IIIc, they are shockingly affordable 😉
Lenses a little less so, but even the common Elmar 50 f/3.5 won't disappoint.

 

[slava]

Just got myself Leica M6 that is my first leica body and it was a BIIIG mistake... now I can't even think about using any other body.......

-Slava

 

[johannielscom]

Very funny comments here, and the bare truth is they won't help you one bit in curing that Leica bug-bite!

But, ask to take it out for a test spin if you consider buying that camera. Most of my friends can appreciate the feel and look of my little Leica's, but not many can handle and use them and remain happy shooting them... i.e. shooting a rangefinder is not for everyone, some people get bl**dy annoyed using one! 😀

Good luck! The best camera is the one you have with you, ready to shoot! No matter what kind of camera it is!

 

[leicapixie]

i admit the smaller Leicas are not for me.
The loading is one, the other i prefer the M viewfinder.
I have shot with those(111 series) and rec'd magic images..

i started with an M3, getting my 1st in 1966.
Nothing feels like a Leica. Nothing shoots like a Leica.
The camera becomes part of one!
If you don't bond, move on..to regret a lost love.
A friend used a Canon 5d EOS system.
I warned him that Leica are jealous of other cameras..
The bag would be cleared of the Canon and lenses..
Indeed that did happen.
You are DOOMED to buy.
Enjoy when you do.

 

[Jerevan]

I'd go with the above advice - get to try one out. It's the small details that make or break it.

 

[ferider]

Be aware that this III[cf] will only be the entry drug .....

Welcome to the club.

 

[pete hogan]

One touch, no fancy marketing required!

 

[swoop]

Leica's are hit and miss. Some people instantly fall for them and others just can't seem to grasp why they exist.

 

[rhl-oregon]

I prescribe a postwar IIIc and a Serenar 50 1.8.

Pay attention to the magic feeling you describe in the OP about having the machine in hand. I submit that this the basis for great photographic art--the connection with the ghost inside the machine.

 

[michaelwj]

Just got myself Leica M6 that is my first leica body and it was a BIIIG mistake... now I can't even think about using any other body.......

-Slava

Sounds like me, All my slr stuff is sold/for sale after gathering dust for months after getting my M6 (first leica) a few months back. I went shooting with a friend the other week, he had his D700 with 24-70. The usual "you spent how much on a film body from 35 years ago" was gone once he shot a frame. He didn't want to give it back.

Leica's are hit and miss. Some people instantly fall for them and others just can't seem to grasp why they exist.

I think the second group read spec sheets and make their mind up before the use one.

It is the first camera that I've used where I don't think about the inadequacies of the equipment, which is rather odd, because there are heaps! Manual focus only, manual exposure only that you can't see the shutter speed or aperture setting in the viewfinder, inaccurate framing, long min focus distance etc...

Welcome to OP to the hard to describe love for a expensive camera that can't do a lot of things a really cheap one can do!

 

[gb hill]

I can feel your pain (or envie) I'm seriously considering selling my Sun record collection to finance a IIIc to house my 50 elmar which sits on my Zorki 2c.

 

[Keith]

They're not hugely expensive either IMO ... my 1933 ll cost me a couple of hundred dollars and another one hundred and twenty for a CLA and new covering courtesy of Youxin Ye.

Even though I barely use it these days I love that little black Leica.

Photography at your fingertips, literally ... because that's the way you use them!

 

[helen.HH]

Do it GB.... A Barnack is mighty Special !!

 

[coelacanth]

I entered the Leica starting with an M6. I then went through M4, M3, M2, CLx3, IIIfx2, II, III, IIIa, MP, M8.2x2, M9-P.

My love and faith are with the IIIf and M2 now.

Be warned! And welcome. 😉



...And be warned!!

 

[roundg]

My main machines are two M5, but I keep a IIIF or IIIG all the time.

 

[rfaspen]

Welcome aboard Alowisney.

It's surprisingly affordable to get "a" Leica. I think my first was a IIIa with an Elmar, and it cost me about $275. I'd love (love) to find a 1933 II black for a couple hundred as Keith did, but those seem to be higher priced these days.

Anyway, get the affordable combo (if not an Elmar, the Canon 50/1.8 suggested above is an *excellent* choice, just not Leica). I have no qualms about putting my FSU lenses on the barnack. Fine results.

Get that camera, then shoot away. Get used to how the camera handles. As mentioned above, its not for everyone. I still use my barnack Leica's because of that special feel you had, but its the M2 and M3 that I can really use. Mostly because of the viewfinder. No, completely because of the viewfinder. I don't mind switching windows on the barnacks, but they're so darn "squinty".

Chances are you'll pick up a IIIa or IIIc/IIIf for an affordable price. Then you'll get another, then you'll need a lens, and another, then you'll be curious about M cameras (which will use your screwmount lenses happily), and before you know it, you'll be surrounded in Leica. The odd thing is; you won't feel quite like you mortgaged the house to get all this stuff. You just fed your addiction slowly, methodically, and dutifully. Any of us can quit at any time. Probably upon my death. Actually, I can say that periods of unemployment will halt the Leica bug's progression. You'll need to budget frugally for film instead.

 

[kbg32]

Uh oh. Better wash yer hands......