Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Roger, I am a member of the LHSA, and I live in Belgium, so I cannot avail myself of some of the benefits, such as the annual meeting. I still find it very worthwhile; in my view, the subscription to the "Viewfinder" magazine that comes with the membership is already worth the annual fee (which for a U.S.-based member is lower than for me). You also get a quarterly Leica Catalogue, which has very nice FS listings; I have bought several items from this source, including my M3. My understanding is that the LHSA used to be purely collector-oriented, but by the time I joined last year, the balance had shifted, so that in recent issues of "Viewfinder" there are many user-oriented articles. The editor Roy Moss is doing an excellent job of keeping both constituencies more or less happy. Among the highlights in recent issues has been a series of articles by Erwin Puts. I have only attended one LHSA event, the Solms Photo Shoot in Wetzlar this spring. I must say that most of the attendees were quite a bit older than me (I'm 38) and more interested in drooling over the rare collectibles in Lars Netopiel's shop in Wetzlar than in actually using the Leicas they were wearing around their necks. But that is not surprising; younger people have jobs and less money and cannot as easily justify a trans-Atlantic trip to attend a 4-day event. If I were you I would definitely join and go to the convention. I bet that you will encounter a more varied set of people there. Kind regards, Nathan "Roger L. Bunting" wrote: > I'm not a member of LHSA but a reborn Leica user. I live in the Chicago > area and I'm debating attending the meeting. I've seen the agenda and > some of the meeting topics "speak to me", but does anyone care to offer > a sales pitch on the practical benefits that would help to push me in > the Schaumberg direction... > > Regards, > > Roger - -- Nathan Wajsman Overijse, Belgium General photo site: http://belgiangator.tripod.com/ Belgium photo site: http://members.xoom.com/wajsman/ Motorcycle site: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/1704/