Get married, divorce Leica?

[Dante_Stella]

I'm getting married in August, and I can't decide whether I am in shock about the cost or whether I am coming out of shock. Paris vaut bien une messe, but I think I have found the one thing that might make a Rolex or a Mark Levinson stereo look inexpensive.

Even though Leica M equipment is the one extravagance I have allowed myself (and this is spread over 10 years), I am beginning to question things. On one hand. I am aware that I shoot 80% of my pictures with an M8 and a 21-35mm Hexanon, I am a little bit conflicted about whether it is time to let go of a lot of the other stuff. On the other hand, I am worried that with the pace of Leica-flation, I would never be able to afford to replace any of it in the future. To complicate matters further, two of the five lenses I was thinking of eliminating have only in the past couple of weeks come out of multimonth Leica coding and calibration sagas (both shooting and looking like a million bucks).

One solution that naturally comes to mind is to put it to the Leica M forum...

 

[xayraa33]

Things will workout more than fine for you Dante.

 

[FrankS]

I feel your pain.

I think that it all depends on just how much Leica stuff you've got. If you have shelves and shelves, it would do you good to divest regardless of your situation. If you've got just a few choice bodies and lenses that are a result of a winnowing/refining process over the years and represent your ideal gear, I'd hang on to them. Be careful of setting a precedence at the outset of this new partnership. Is she selling her fur coat, jewelry, or some of her designer shoes?

 

[gb hill]

Keep the Leica stuff for future generations. The way prices are rising on lenses & gear by the time any future kids go off to college this should pay for ones tuition.😉Congrats on getting married.

 

[shimokita]

I would say, stop worrying. Once paid for the cost is "out of sight, out of mind". Once you marry the guy, you certainly will not think back to what it "cost" you in relation to what is in the market. Or maybe you still want the latest and greatest new version.

Keep the camera gear and the guy… I hope that they both last a long time.

 

[maddoc]

Get married, keep Leica !

Get married, keep Leica !

I got married just in February and my wife knew that is she is going to get married to a Leica-nuts (gear-head, otaku) .. 😉 Because for me it is only hobby, my decision was to keep the things (lenses) I wouldn't be able to afford easy again but I bought my Noctilux (with her agreement) just before we got married.... 🙂

Since then, I think twice before buying anything branded "Leica"...

Cheers,

maddoc

PS: Congrats to your upcoming marriage !

 

[monochromejrnl]

i got married in Sept 07 and my wife has happily encouraged me to indulge in my camera/photography hobby... however, i've decided to displace some of the less used gear whenever I've brought something new into the fold and this has allowed me to maintain the zero sum status of my hobby...

hopefully your fiance/new wife will encourage you to do similarly... having said that, along with a wife and the responsibilities comes new perspectives and priorities and so if gear is sitting around and ownership is merely for the sake of it, ask yourself if that money might not be better used...

if married life doesn't immediate cause the need to re-prioritize, then news of a child will almost certainly do the job...

we're expecting in late July and i couldn't be happier to let go of some gear that i no longer use and put the money towards baby related necessities..

congrats! and all the best to you and your wife to be in married life...

 

[NickTrop]

Sell all your Leica gear, use it to finance your wedding and honeymoon. Set aside $100-200 for any of the following: Konica Auto S3, Hexar AF (that might be a little more), or Yashica Electro CC. These three choices are since you like to shoot wide-ish.

 

[craygc]

Once over the honeymoon part and married life settles down you'll still need your time out to do your thing. Consistent and passionate hobbies make invaluable distractions from life's ups and downs ...keep both 😀

 

[BillBingham2]

Congrats on the wonderful news. I have to say the zero sum approach is not a bad move at all. Sell the old to fund the new, easy to explain to the new Mrs.

If you do want to establish an offshore bag perhaps I can recommend the approach the Bush folks did with some nasty people. Move them from country to country till they get lost. You can loan the lenses and bodies out to folks for say three months on a rotating pattern and then have them come back say three years later. I would be happy to give a good home to for a bit to what ever, promise to never water board or expose them to anything life threatening.

Again congrats! Years of happiness, health and fun!

B2 (;->

 

[hugivza]

Keep the Leica, the last thing you want to do is start a marriage with regrets!

 

[kuzano]

Congratulations....REminds me of a card...

Congratulations....REminds me of a card...

On the front>>>

Congratulations on your engagement

Inside

Life as you knew it has ceased to exist!

The companion card... birth announcement

On the front>>>

Congratulations on the new addition to your family

Inside

Life as you knew it has ceased to exist!

15% discount when purchased as a pair.

You will be allowed to keep a camera. It's been informative reading your site. Hope you continue to update it regularly.

 

[Bingley]

Stop worrying and take more pictures

Stop worrying and take more pictures

Congratulations! I take it that the beautiful lady in your post is your fiancee. Do I recognize her from some of the beautiful pictures on your website, illustrating the admirable qualities of Canon and Leica lenses? I think this lady is your muse, and you should follow your muse. She has inspired you to take exquisite portraits.

So, I say: Keep the gear. Stop worrying. Take more pictures. You have a subject more than worthy of your talents as a photographer, and the instruments at hand to give voice to those talents (sorry for the mixed metaphor). Your fiancee and your Leica gear were made for each other, with you as the nexus.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

You keep Leica. Keep fiancee. Marry fiancee. Leica won't be jealous.

Sell plasma.

But if it really comes down to choosing, choose your fiancee. If she's perfect, she'll enable your Leica vice, and everybody will live happily ever after.

🙂

 

[bob338]

"however, i've decided to displace some of the less used gear whenever I've brought something new into the fold and this has allowed me to maintain the zero sum status of my hobby..."


this zero sum game has kept me out of hot water a few times now...my wife doesn't get upset if i spend money on a camera, but replacing the money in our checking account wards off the 'you spent how much on a what?' questions.

 

[aizan]

just one word: elope.

 

[Listak]

Are You F-ing Crazy?

Are You F-ing Crazy?

Marriages come and go but your camera is always with you. As a divorcee I gave up my passions only to regain them them I got divorced. Dont give them up. If your spouse doesn't understand it, dump him/her. You only live once and film is forever.

 

[Roger Hicks]

If, after you're married, you find you're using some of the Leica gear less (or not at all), get rid of it. Not before.

Then again, my wife took up photography on self defence because she got bored with waiting for me to take pictures. Within a year of her getting married, her first picture was published: the cover of a book called Motorcycle Touring in Europe. Her next published picture was a cover too, on 35mm Panorama. She's currently shooting quite a lot with a Zeiss Ikon SW and 18/4 Distagon...

I hope you'll be as happy as we have been: 26 years next month.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[thomasw_]

Hi there,

If you do have an excessive amount of a material thing, then de facto you have too much; it can happen that it begins to own a bit of you. For me, this is the danger. Of course this reasoning assumes you have more Leicas than you use or find useful, that is, they are just "there". It is up to you to determine whether this is healthy or not for your psyche.

I wish you many years, good health and the light of joy in your marriage!

Sincerely, Thomas

 

[Hacker]

Congrats! Leicas can come and go if you ask me.