wise humor, it seems to me.
nothing like hunger to improve the appreciation of a meal ... maybe the absence of any M will sharpen your taste.
i did something like that over the last couple years, selling an M4, M6, M7, and some high-end lenses i really had no business keeping. am now down to an M2 and a few too many lenses, and find myself more comfortable with my kit.
That's an interesting point, Mike. And, I've had to think about that of late.
The Hexars have good company...
Over the last few weeks, I've had something of a long "be careful what you wish for" moment. Much as I've been using and loving my Hexars (a whole lot) these last 6-7 years, I've wanted a slightly more quiet option; not that the Hexen have muffed any major photo-ops with their motorized winding/rewinding (if anything, they've helped clinch far more images
for me, thus featured), but, even though it's not terribly often, there
is a place and time for near-absolute quiet where a camera is involved.
The last camera I had that actually surpassed that qualification was a Hexar autofocus. It was ostensibly replaced by a Ricoh GR-1, which was smaller and handier, but a good deal noisier...moreso in fact, than my Hexar RFs. And then it broke, leaving me without a good and truly compact option, never mind the noise it made.
Now, in just a few weeks, everything (okay, not
everything) changed: first, I got hold of a Contax Tvs for what to me was an incredibly good price, and have been on something of a photographic tear with it since, taking it with me virtually every day, rain or shine. The camera delivers the goods, too. But the big surprise was how damn quiet the thing is: not Hexar AF-quiet, but more than close enough, and way the hell more quiet than anything else this size and motorized that I've tried. It passes the audition.
Then, just days ago, came the M2. I't not my M2 (not yet, anyway), but on long-term loan to me. This will be about as much up-close-and-personal time I've had with a real Leica, well, ever. (My near 2-year ownership of a "50 Jahre" Leica CL years ago doesn't exactly count to me.) Now that the sticking-shutter problem has been solved (still worried about that trailing-curtain warp...I'll know what's up when the film is developed and scanned), I've been taking that camera out with me, along with the Contax, the latter making a somewhat handy light meter as well as second camera. And, yeah, I get the pre-M6
thang better now: butter-smooth winding, smooth and whispering shutter (and release), crispy VF/RF (just a tad snappier than the Hex, which isn't bad at all). Being among the first 200 M2s produced, it lacks a self-timer (works for me...a less-encumbered grip, IMO), it has that weird rewind button (not too crazy about that one, but I can deal), and the film loading...let's just say that if, and when, I end up buying the thing, I might be going for the M4-style rapid-load system mod. And, as mentioned elsewhere, I've grown accustomed to the manual-reset frame counter. Puts more hair on my chest.
😉
So...I say the M2's the thing, because that's what i've got, and probably as close to any Leica M as I'll get. Which is to say: if you have
any Leica M in your possession, consider yourself fortunate.
- Barrett
