SimonSawSunlight
Simon Fabel
I am not quite sure if I shared this story on RFF but since I seem to have overlooked a little detail before, I will do it again.
On November 9th of 2016, Tom Abrahamsson sat down with me in his living room in Vancouver and handed me this camera. "I suppose you can have this one." He asked for 500 Canadian Dollars, but I could tell he didn't care about the money either way. I simply had insisted on buying it - or any M2, really. He said that it was rather unusual for him to part with an M2. I told him, we'd make a deal then: "Whenever you happen to need another M2, you can buy this one back for the same price." He just laughed and said: "But that's never going to happen!"
Tom was like a grandfather to me and he believed in me more than I ever did or ever will.
I left for Berlin that same evening. It was the last day we spent together. Tom died almost exactly two months later.
I carry this camera every day, wherever I go, with one to ten spare rolls of film in my pocket.
I wrote this about a year and half ago. Today I casually scrolled through a list of Leica serial numbers and stopped and wondered. I checked and double checked and cross checked with some other lists and databases out there. The camera Tom let me have seems to be from one of two 1965 batches of 100 M2s made in Canada (1132901 - 1133000). I don't know if he knew or did it on purpose, but I wouldn't put it past him.
If these lists are to be trusted, Tom gave me an even bigger piece of himself than I knew, a camera that was a European original turned Canadian, like himself. I like that idea.
PS:
The camera has been serviced by Leica Germany last month for a couple of minor issues. It is working perfectly again and it's still with me all the time. Most of the pictures I post here and on other platforms at the moment were taken with it.
PPS:
I just remembered: After I gave him the money for the camera, he said something along the lines of it coming in handy for the next camera swap meet, then looked at me and the camera and said:
"That's really a nice strap you know."
"I'll pay you for it."
"Oh, no no no... but it is a good strap."
Then he laughed.
On November 9th of 2016, Tom Abrahamsson sat down with me in his living room in Vancouver and handed me this camera. "I suppose you can have this one." He asked for 500 Canadian Dollars, but I could tell he didn't care about the money either way. I simply had insisted on buying it - or any M2, really. He said that it was rather unusual for him to part with an M2. I told him, we'd make a deal then: "Whenever you happen to need another M2, you can buy this one back for the same price." He just laughed and said: "But that's never going to happen!"
Tom was like a grandfather to me and he believed in me more than I ever did or ever will.
I left for Berlin that same evening. It was the last day we spent together. Tom died almost exactly two months later.
I carry this camera every day, wherever I go, with one to ten spare rolls of film in my pocket.
I wrote this about a year and half ago. Today I casually scrolled through a list of Leica serial numbers and stopped and wondered. I checked and double checked and cross checked with some other lists and databases out there. The camera Tom let me have seems to be from one of two 1965 batches of 100 M2s made in Canada (1132901 - 1133000). I don't know if he knew or did it on purpose, but I wouldn't put it past him.
If these lists are to be trusted, Tom gave me an even bigger piece of himself than I knew, a camera that was a European original turned Canadian, like himself. I like that idea.
PS:
The camera has been serviced by Leica Germany last month for a couple of minor issues. It is working perfectly again and it's still with me all the time. Most of the pictures I post here and on other platforms at the moment were taken with it.
PPS:
I just remembered: After I gave him the money for the camera, he said something along the lines of it coming in handy for the next camera swap meet, then looked at me and the camera and said:
"That's really a nice strap you know."
"I'll pay you for it."
"Oh, no no no... but it is a good strap."
Then he laughed.
