[Leica] OT--Newbie Want-to-be-owner of Leica

[Tom Bryant <boffin@gis.net>]

> Any suggestions folks have for favourite bodies and lenses are most welcome.
> Other considerations I should take into account are welcome too.

    Some thoughts on breaking in to the Leica M system:

    There are as many opinions as to what is best as there are suscribers
to the LUG.  In the long run, you'll have to find out what works for you.
My favorite body/lens combo is a later model M3 with a 50mm f/1.4 Summilux
on it.

    What Johnny Deadman said about Leica M is true:

> By the way, don't consider acquiring a leica as spending money... you're
> just lending it out to the market until you sell the camera again for the
> same or more than you bought it for... except of course that you'll never
> sell it...

    This makes the savaging your bank account takes every time you acquire new
equipment (it *is* an acquisitive hobby!) much easier to take.

    What you *do* pay for, is service.  All three of my bodies and two of my
lenses have required overhaul.  Often, Leica equipment is sold from
estates, or by people who have taken 20 years or so to realise that they have
finally given up on photography, and the cameras have "dried up".  They need a
CLA badly.  About $200/body, $100/lens.  I personally recommend:

        Sherry Krauter
        Golden Touch Quality Camera Repair
        118 Purgatory Road
        Campbell Hall, New York 10916
        845-496-8834
        krauter@warwick.net

    An overhaul lasts about 10 years, and makes the camera as good as new.

    FWIW, I also eschew the blinking lights of the M6, and rely on a Sekonic
incident meter.  If you're looking for a 35mm f/2 lens, may I recommend the
old Canon screw mount?  They go for about half of what a Summicron goes for,
and are exqusitely sharp.

   Tom