[Leica] buying and selling cameras

[Brian Reid <reid@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>]

When I created the Leica Users mailing list 7 years ago, I carefully
put the word "users" in its name, because I wanted a list that was
centered around people who actually make photographs with Leica
cameras, rather than around people who collect them and put them on
shelves. While I have no animosity towards camera collectors, I do feel
that, through the years, the primary value of the Leica-Users list has
been that it is a forum for discussion among photographers and not
just camera collectors.

The current rule about limiting commercial messages to Fridays is not a
rule that I made. There were a few years when I found it difficult to
read the list every day, so I just sort of skimmed it and let anarchy
rule. I don't know who proposed or announced that rule, but I like it.
The reason that I like it is that it keeps the flavor of the list one
of photography and not camera collecting.

There is no sharp boundary between photography and camera collecting.
You can't be a photographer without a camera, and once you hold a Leica
you don't really want to let go of it; you have a one-camera
collection. But my preference would be to continue the tradition of
having one day a week for commercial messages. I don't think anybody
will be booted off the list if they post such messages on other days,
and in a global world it's never clear just what day it is anyhow (as I
type this message it is still Friday where I live, but in most of the
world it is Saturday).

Brian Reid