I do wonder how much of my choices come down to happenstance and susceptibility rather than being rational, logical, deductive reasoning.
I have a particular affinity for my M3 as it was my first Leica - the thrill I got upon acquisition has not diminished - and it came with a 50mm summicron. With than combination I initially produced a lot of terrible photos but there were one or two that stood out and were quite unlike any other photo I'd taken before. I began to realise the potential of the equipment and forums such as this one, and others, encouraged me to explore the world of Leica more. I began to wonder if I had made the wrong choice of initial purchase and then embarked on an aquisitive period when I bought many, many items of Leica and other gear. I've had enormous fun doing this and have taken more and better photographs as a direct result of being interested in the kit and using it in ways and in places I would not have tried taking photographs in before.
Recently, though the extent of the kit began to cause more problems than it answered - deciding what to take on a holiday for example would occupy me for days beforehand. This was not a good sign, so I decided to trim down my collection - which again caused many weeks and months of anguished decision making.
I decided to be brutal though and look through my photos to see which ones I was most satisfied with and would want to continue - to my surprise the M3 + 50mm combination came up again and again. The M2 did not, despite having a similar volume of films through it. Also, the 35mm did not.
When I came upon this realisation, everything fell into place and the weight of all that other kit lifted as quickly as I could package it up and send it off for sale. I've had no regrets so far and am revelling in my new found freedom from gear.
The question I suppose is whether I would have followed this same path had my first Leica been an M2 + 35mm? I'll never know.
Each to his own, absolutely, but I'm relieved that I'm not in such a minority after all.
