What purchase changed your life?

A 1996 Honda RS125RR GP race bike that I raced for two years (a lifelong dream) and was able to sell to finance my girlfriend's engagement ring, who upon marrying me bought me a Leica M6TTL w/50 Lux which we brought to Paris on our honeymoon, which changed my perception of photography.

Best,
-Tim
 
What really changed my life, was a plane ticket Warsaw-Milan in 1978, but this is another story.
Photographically speaking, it has been a journey full of small incremental steps, although my first serious camera (Rolleiflex) and my first serious rangefinder (Zeiss Ikon) remain notable milestones. lately, I got a lot of pleasure from an acquisition that looked quite unassuming at first: the Elmar M 50/2.8 v2. Probably the best lens for 80% of my rangefinder B&W photography in an extremely lightweight and compact package.
 
Photographically, a Nikon D70s. It was the camera that got me back in to photography after a decade out of it. I been shooting film the last few years but the important part was getting back to taking pictures in the first place.

Another that had a big impact on me was the book 'The Photographers Eye'. While I was familiar with many of the concepts, taking it all in together helped me think about images in different ways.look at photos in a different way.
 
mfogiel said:
What really changed my life, was a plane ticket Warsaw-Milan in 1978, but this is another story.
Photographically speaking, it has been a journey full of small incremental steps, although my first serious camera (Rolleiflex) and my first serious rangefinder (Zeiss Ikon) remain notable milestones. lately, I got a lot of pleasure from an acquisition that looked quite unassuming at first: the Elmar M 50/2.8 v2. Probably the best lens for 80% of my rangefinder B&W photography in an extremely lightweight and compact package.
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This strikes me as the important bit. As we get older, we grow more like ourselves. We choose what is important. Often, it's a slow progress that we wish we'd seen quicker.

Cheers,

R.
 
Photographically, buying my first medium-format camera back in the '80's.

Life-wise, losing my only brother at an all too early age.

Jim B.
 
Photographically, I guess my first M2. It's not something unique to the M2 that had the effect, it could have been any meterless camera. But it forced me to slow down and think a lot more (big cliche, I know). In turn, when I returned to other cameras I had owned throughout my life, I found I took much better photographs with them. Once I realised how absurd it seemed to have learned such a simple lesson only after needlessly spending a relatively large amount of money, my photographic life was transformed again. This realisation that the main limit on my photography is not my equipment but myself ironically came indirectly from getting that first M2. It has enabled me to generally keep things relatively simple equipment-wise and not get carried away in the quest for the sharpest lens etc. Just give me a clean 50mm lens on a light-tight body and I'm happy.
 
Buying Involver CD back in 2001 or 2000.. Showed progressive didn't have to be cheesy..


grew my electronic side of music
 
siracusa said:
Photographically, I guess my first M2. It's not something unique to the M2 that had the effect, it could have been any meterless camera. But it forced me to slow down and think a lot more (big cliche, I know). In turn, when I returned to other cameras I had owned throughout my life, I found I took much better photographs with them. Once I realised how absurd it seemed to have learned such a simple lesson only after needlessly spending a relatively large amount of money, my photographic life was transformed again. This realisation that the main limit on my photography is not my equipment but myself ironically came indirectly from getting that first M2. It has enabled me to generally keep things relatively simple equipment-wise and not get carried away in the quest for the sharpest lens etc. Just give me a clean 50mm lens on a light-tight body and I'm happy.
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m2 price is an absurd price of money for over a grand for a 35mm film camera.. Decent build voigtlander german made cameras at most cost 300 now from the same time period..
how is the m2 body light
 
M2 body isn't light Dennis, but it is light-tight, as are my Zenit, OM10, Canon T70, old Petriflex, Fed, and even my Lubitel...none of which cost anything approaching the cost of any of my Leicas, or even the cost of my Bessa R2...and I'm as happy with all of them as I am with a Leica.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Fortunate be damned. In 1992 I bought a solid Victorian house I could afford and treated it as a place to live, not an investment. Unless you HAVE to sell for some reason, the long-term trend of price rises will always cancel out the collapse of a bubble. I've only ever owned three houses. The first (Victorian again, 1974-1987) tripled in value in 13 years; the second doubled (or tripled, depending on how you calculate it) in 10 years; and I'd guess that my present house (2002-present) has gone up 100% in a decade.

Remember, you are not talking about depreciation. You are talking about fluctuations in selling price.

Cheers,

R.
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Congratulations on your good fortune. But the collapse of a bubble is much more than just a fluctuation in selling price. It's a real loss of wealth for many people. Just look at real estate markets in the attached chart. You can't just ride out a 50% collapse in prices if you bought near the top. Particularly if you've just been laid off due to a deteriorating economy.
 

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siracusa said:
M2 body isn't light Dennis, but it is light-tight, as are my Zenit, OM10, Canon T70, old Petriflex, Fed, and even my Lubitel...none of which cost anything approaching the cost of any of my Leicas, or even the cost of my Bessa R2...and I'm as happy with all of them as I am with a Leica.
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actually i had a friend who had a light leak on his m..
 
My expensively learned point exactly: it isn't the cost of the equipment that matters...just so long as it works and is light-tight...
 
siracusa said:
My expensively learned point exactly: it isn't the cost of the equipment that matters...just so long as it works and is light-tight...
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the only way an M saves money or makes anyone spend less money on gears is if you have a single M and you keep it for a lifetime.. Now that's what I call a personal investment.. :)
 
Well, stories... The way I got started as a photographer: My father was a good amateur photographer. he had contaflex 35mm, a rollei 6x6, a leica IIIc. I could borrow the contaflex. After a while i started to do photos for others, dreaming about being a professional. My father said: With that lousy techique of yours, at least TRY TO LOOK lika a professional. He bought me a leica M2 and summicron 35mm later i bought a Nikon F with 105mm 2,5 the nikon I have still. The M2 became MP ( the original) and that ( after selling for a incredible amount of money) became M4-P that I still have , plus M3 and M8. Still I like sex better than photography, and racing a fast car on a motor track on "Track days" for that lazy sex of a 60+ years guy...
I prefer the adrenaline rush in my brain rather some other rush activated by those little blue pills...
 
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