My mother's cousin gave me a Polaroid Swinger for high school graduation at age 17 - 1967. I really liked it, but soon chafed under its inherent limitations and high cost of film. I commandeered Dad's Retina 1, which he hadn't used in years. My friend Roger taught gave me an old GE light meter, taught me the basics of exposure and also B&W darkroom work, and away I went. I became an avid amatuer at that point.
After a year of using the Retina, I retired it and bought a used Nikon F, Photomic T (I just found the receipt for the long-gone Nikon a few weeks ago).
I liked the Nikon a lot, but in 1973, I got a copy of the recently-revised "Leica Manual" by Morgan (or is it Morgan & Morgan?) That book caused me to be fascinated with Leicas, and by September of '73, I bought a Lecia IIIc and Serenar 50mm lens at Olden Camera in NYC. A year later, I bought a collapsible 50mm Summicron, also at Olden.
Over the next few years, I used the Leica extensively, even as I sold the Leica and bougth some OM-1's, lenses, etc. I eventually bought a DS M-3 and a Minolta CL.
Sadly, I sold all my cameras around 1980-81 - getting married, buying our first house, and raising a family brought other priorities.
Twenty-plus years later, in late 2001, I decided to plunge back into my old hobby. Leicas were much to expensive for me by then, so I started collecting and using Soviet rangefinders. My favorite is now the FED-2 series, especially the next-to-last model, characterized by dual Latin/Cyrillic logo, vulcanite covering, and strap lugs. I also very much enjoy my Kiev 4 and Kiev 4a.
