[Leica] May I dare a Leica (LTM) question ?

[Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com>]

It seems that most of us, at one stage or another, decide to indulge in 
purchasing a LTM model even though they are happily equipped with a M line 
up. I fell for a IIIc + Summitar last friday. And, of course, proceeded in 
using it. In the view of the very large percentage of failed pictures 
(mainly focus failures and parallax management problems) during this retro 
weekend, I have of course a few basic questions:

1) Is there a trick to load this thing reliably ?
2) Is the rangefinder precise enough for 50mm f2 shooting ?
3) Is it normal that the rangefinder is so dark and very hard to use (ghost 
image barely visible)
4) Is it normal that the aperture ring of the Summitar is very hard to turn 
?

This IIIC is very nice looking and very decorative. It was also the first 
time that I've been approached on the street by someone saying: "wow, is 
that a Leica ? " . Never did anyone react that way for my black taped black 
M6  ;-)

But I really wonder if it makes any sense trying to use that object..... Do 
the LUG LTMers have special caveats and advices to give to turn this setup 
into something really efficient ?

Thanks beforehand,

Alan