Whats your biggest rangefinder related regret

[TenEleven]

I started as a medium format only shooter and wanted something quicker so that I could credibly get people snaps. At the time I was eyeing a cheaper-than-Leica Nikon SP complete with the 50/1.4, before friends swayed me to Leica instead.

So, I started my 35mm rangefinder journey with a Leica M3 which I later traded it for a button-rewind M2 so that I could have 35mm framelines. Only to slowly learn that despite everybody telling me 35mm is the best for snapshots, I was more of a 50ies person.

Ultimately it took many lens/body purchases and trade-ins to realize I loved how the Sonnar & Biogon (LTM Jupiter-12) drew - especially for color. Both of these are of course native to the Contax system.

Now as a Contax shooter (Nikon on the side) I think if I had followed my gut feelings I would have gotten into the fold sooner, sparing me a lot of dithering which ate my time and funds which I ought to have spent shooting. Oh well, I got there in the end...

Tl;dr
Friends advice is good and invaluable, but in the end you have to make the choice that feels right to you -- you are the one who has to live with it in the end.

 

[Mute-on]

Selling off my LHSA MP Hammertone set and my silver chrome LHSA 50mm Asph Summilux. It was the 2nd stupidest thing I've ever done. View attachment 4873492

My biggest regret was NOT buying a Hammertone MP full set with 35 Summicron and Leicavit when I had the opportunity. You can’t get a new MP now for what they were asking for the kit then … ugh.

I must ask, @Bill Blackwell , what was the stupidest thing?

 

[ellisson]

Selling the excellent M2 camera that I bought from an RFF member about 15 years ago.

 

[Ted Town]

A few years ago I sold a Minolta CLE that came with a 35mm f2 Summicron. Used it for a good 20 years until the camera electonics died and the lens focusing seemed to be seizing up. Should I have just gotten rid of the body and paid to have that jewel of a lens overhauled? Then I'd be all set to spend way too much on an M-series Leica.

 

[deadrangefinder76]

If I will start again I will just settle for one lens and one camera(28mm and any rangefinder film camera), but throught curiosity I did unnecessary owning bought old caneras, What a bummer.

 

[Beemermark]

Sold my black M4

 

[mtnbkr]

Not as much a rangefinder-specific regret but getting out of film in 2010 and not returning until 2019 meant I missed out on the film market bottoming out price-wise and being able to get film rangefinders and other cameras for giveaway prices.

I also gently kick myself for not buying a VT Bessa L when they were being closed out NIB for $70 in the early-mid 2000s. I didn't want one because it didn't have a rangefinder, but years later I owned a VT 15mm/4.5 and it occurred to me that lens on a Bessa L body would have been a great ultrawide combo. <sigh>

Then there was the time in early 2022 I found a Leica CL with 3 lenses (all Leica), Leica case, and some other accessories on eBay for $800. Even better, the seller was in my town. I was a bit too risk averse to snatch it up. It didn't last more than a few hours after I discovered it.

I've owned a couple Canon LTM rangefinders and briefly owned a Leica M5. I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy the novelty of a rangefinder and like smaller ones like my current Canon VL2 as "walking around" cameras, but I'm still more of an SLR shooter. I prefer the WYSIWYG nature of an SLR for anything "critical".

Chris

 

[Ko.Fe.]

None. To be honest.
Rangefinder photography is how I got into photography.
Good times.

 

[Out to Lunch]

That the sensor on my Leica M-E corroded. I liked the output.

 

[Harry the K]

Buying a Leica M9.
Slow processor, ugly little display, far too many software shutdowns, terrible shutter sound, expensive service actions necessary, the prospect of a corroding sensor....
I was happy after selling it, losing a few thousand Euros in two years. For me, no more digital Leica M.

 

[wrs1145]

Not getting into photrapy 20-30 years ago.

 

[Archiver]

Vague regret: not buying a mint secondhand black paint MP some years ago. Funnily, I handled a silver chrome MP that year and passed on it, as I wasn't shooting much film and couldn't justify putting so much money into a camera I would barely use. But that black paint MP was gorgeous. Back then, a mint MP was about AUD $3300 secondhand, now they are $6-7000+.

Nor did I buy the anthracite MP I saw in Japan in 2010. Could I have afforded it? Maybe. Did I really want it? Not really at the time, because I had recently purchased my M9 and was happy as a clam.

But shortly after Japan, I bought a secondhand silver chrome M7. After using the M9 for several months, the M7 felt so right in my hands. I justified it because... well, I just wanted it, and I had some grand romantic dream of the M7 being my forever camera. Mind you, the MP, M6 or M-A are better candidates for a forever camera due to the lack of necessary electronics, resulting in hopefully much longer term repairs. I ended up selling the M7 last year for an emergency expense, which I also regret.