Leica M2 a retirement gift to myself

[lxmike]

After 34 years in peri op and critical care, (RVI NHS Newcastle), as an OR scrub practitioner, I retire in two weeks. I thought being at the sharp end of acute care for three decades I had seen most things, this year has proven me wrong. Like for many many people this year has been tough. I have paid into my pension for over thirty years, I planned to retire at the age of 60 but have decided that I should retire now, (at 55), its been a hard decision but I am shattered physically and mentally, so retire I must. My wife said, 'why not treat yourself to a special camera and shoot your first few months of retirement and thus tomorrow a n M2 arrives. It will be strange going from a 60 hour working week to a position of retirement, only time will tell how I will cope, this Christmas will be the first Christmas since 1986 that I have not been at work. A friend said do not feel guilty at retirement at this time, he pointed out that I worked 80 hour weeks during the first Covid wave and through my career I had faced various virus scenarios, Avian flu, swine flu, Sars, HIV etc. To be honest I still feel a bit guilty at going, other have pointed out that I have 'done my bit'. I decided to buy an M2, influenced by this forum, (a source of great support and happiness to me). Over the next few weeks I plan to start a thread documenting how I am getting on with my M2. Anyway, stay safe and happy my friends, one other bonus is that I will have more time to immerse myself within the forum.

 

[Larry H-L]

Thank you for your service to the world's health! Enjoy retirement and your M2.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

An M2 with a Summarit- nice.

You deserve early retirement after what you've been through. Enjoy it.

The Summarit gets a bum rap. It is prone to haze, needs to be cleaned every 10~15 years. It is optimized for F2.8 at closest focus, and F1.5 at infinity. With those two ideas in mind- gives some really good results.

 

[raydm6]

Congratulations! What a treat for yourself. You deserve it.

Tom A. influenced me into purchasing one (a '58 button wind) and I paired it with a the 35 Summaron-M.

Happy shooting with your new camera and hope you can find some well deserved relaxation and pleasure in the near future.

 

[lxmike]

Thank you for your service to the world's health! Enjoy retirement and your M2.

Thank you for your kind words, it has been nothing but an honor to care in the NHS, i was recently awarded the NHS long service award, so retiring will feel strange.

 

[lxmike]

An M2 with a Summarit- nice.

You deserve early retirement after what you've been through. Enjoy it.

The Summarit gets a bum rap. It is prone to haze, needs to be cleaned every 10~15 years. It is optimized for F2.8 at closest focus, and F1.5 at infinity. With those two ideas in mind- gives some really good results.

Thank you, my unit nurse the first two cases of Covid in the Uk and has been a designated, 'hot hospital' ever since, I started the ball rolling on retirement last August not thinking the second wave would hit so hard, even if I had wanted to I could not stop my retirement, my colleagues assert that I should not feel guilty, but I do.

 

[lxmike]

An M2 with a Summarit- nice.

You deserve early retirement after what you've been through. Enjoy it.

The Summarit gets a bum rap. It is prone to haze, needs to be cleaned every 10~15 years. It is optimized for F2.8 at closest focus, and F1.5 at infinity. With those two ideas in mind- gives some really good results.

thank you for the heads up on the optimization, I wll share how I get on, I plan to add a cv 35mm skopar at some point. For me the people who drive our buses, the shop keepers that fill our bellies, the list is endless are real heroes

 

[Timmyjoe]

My wife is an ER doc and I am constantly amazed by how you all do it day after day. Thank you for your service and enjoy your well deserved retirement. And Congrats on the M2. Wonderful camera. Hope you enjoy it to the fullest.

Best,
-Tim

 

[lxmike]

Congratulations! What a treat for yourself. You deserve it.

Tom A. influenced me into purchasing one (a '58 button wind) and I paired it with a the 35 Summaron-M.

Happy shooting with your new camera and hope you can find some well deserved relaxation and pleasure in the near future.

To be honest I am an emotional wreck at the moment, excited about a couple of projects I have planned, renovating my old fishing boat, a trip to Peru, ( to work in a remote out reach hospital), carrying my newly acquired M2 around but sad at leaving the NHS.

 

[lxmike]

My wife is an ER doc and I am constantly amazed by how you all do it day after day. Thank you for your service and enjoy your well deserved retirement. And Congrats on the M2. Wonderful camera. Hope you enjoy it to the fullest.

Best,
-Tim

thank you for your wife's service and your kind words🙂

 

[Beemermark]

You'll never be sorry you retired when you could. I loved my job & my career, figured I'd work until I dropped dead like so many of my peers. Due to a screwed up knee I was on disability for a few months and when I went back to work they laid me off. Being 67 I signed up for social security. Realized I didn't miss my co-workers, my customers, my work or anything for that matter. I think all my career was nothing but an ego trip that I no longer needed. Enjoying photography more than ever. I heard it said that people that retire early die early. So be it, I'll die happy and not stressed out.

 

[lxmike]

You'll never be sorry you retired when you could. I loved my job & my career, figured I'd work until I dropped dead like so many of my peers. Due to a screwed up knee I was on disability for a few months and when I went back to work they laid me off. Being 67 I signed up for social security. Realized I didn't miss my co-workers, my customers, my work or anything for that matter. I think all my career was nothing but an ego trip that I no longer needed. Enjoying photography more than ever. I heard it said that people that retire early die early. So be it, I'll die happy and not stressed out.

Thank you for your shared honesty. Even before Covid my job was and is stressful, I have averaged 60 hour weeks over the last ten years, the operating room/trauma OR is full of Adrenalin but its not something that you should expose yourself to for long. I have been in charge or rather a charge nurse practitioner for longer than some of the nurses I work with have been born, people laugh, they say my blood group is caffeine, it keeps me going, it will feel strange to have a different ace of life, no emergency helicopter drops while having a quick lunch etc. I attach a photo of my usual environment

 

[Bill Blackwell]

Good decision! - We [retired] M2 folk have got to stick together ...

 

[lxmike]

Good decision! - We [retired] M2 folk have got to stick together ...

sticking together is a good plan, how do you find your half case in use

 

[ktmrider]

My favorite M is a 1958 push button M2 with a 35 or 50 depending on the phase of the moon. I am 67 and been retired 13 years after chasing drug smugglers as a pilot for US Customs for 22 years.

And even though I was part of successful seizures of large amounts of cocaine or weed, I probably did not reduce the amount brought into the US or increase the price by 1 cent. Retirement is wonderful.

Congrats!

 

[lxmike]

My favorite M is a 1958 push button M2 with a 35 or 50 depending on the phase of the moon. I am 67 and been retired 13 years after chasing drug smugglers as a pilot for US Customs for 22 years.

And even though I was part of successful seizures of large amounts of cocaine or weed, I probably did not reduce the amount brought into the US or increase the price by 1 cent. Retirement is wonderful.

Congrats!

now thats sounds like a life full of excitement and adventures, thanks fro your kind words

 

[raid]

Thanks for your important service done. Enjoy retirement and the M2&Summarit.

 

[lxmike]

Thanks for your important service done. Enjoy retirement and the M2&Summarit.

Many thanks i will share how I get on with the M2🙂

 

[creenus]

Thanks for your service as well! My wife is a nurse practitioner on the Navajo Reservation, which is the No. 2 COVID hotspot in the USA.

Semi-retired with two M2s, one with an Abrahamsson winder. These are great cameras: quiet, accurate, sturdy and timelessly stylish. I use mine with a 50mm Type III Summicron and a 35mm f2.5 Summarit.

Some prefer the M3, but I am happy as a Pismo clam with my M2s.

Good luck to you!

Steve in New Mexico

 

[lynnb]

Congratulations on your retirement Mike. Enjoy your M2. Wishing you all the best and looking forward to seeing you more here (and of course your pictures taken with your new camera) in the future.