[Leica] New Leica User

[philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent)]

Looking forward to your photographs, Charlie. I hope you're as gifted  
a photographer as a writer.
Philippe


Op 6-jan-07, om 19:34 heeft Charlie Meyer het volgende geschreven:

> OK, thirty years ago in college, I had a battered Nikon F, and then  
> only lusted after a Leica (due to some of Annie's Rolling Stone  
> work then with a M4), but the thought passed as I considered the  
> price of entry and that pesky habit of eating on a regular basis.
>
> Fast forward to the present.  A few weeks ago, whilst rummaging  
> through my local Goodwill, I came upon a small pile of 35mm  
> cameras...including a 778XXX DS M3 with a 5.0cm f2 collapsible  
> chrome Summicron, chrome MR, and a f2 3.5cm chrome Summicron w/  
> black goggles...in Wetzlar leather cases.  I will admit that the  
> initial thought was selling the lot for a fast buck and buying  
> whatever Steve Jobs announces at MacWorld on Tuesday, but after a  
> couple of rolls, I just can't part with the M3.  Even had to rewind  
> the old VHS tape of the original Star Wars where Sir Alec as Obi  
> Wan shows Luke Skywalker a Jedi Light Saber 'Not as random as a  
> blaster....a weapon for a more civilized age'.  This is as close to  
> winning the lottery as I can recall.
>
> As the token guy on the board of a regional Basset Hound Rescue,  
> the gals have always been nagging for photos, rightly so as these  
> waddling second-hand houndies don't find homes on their own.  I  
> might as well do things differently, as I always have, so I ran the  
> rolls through MalMart direct to CD and am frankly hooked, going  
> back to film in this digital era. (I know, don't send any film of  
> anything one truly values to MalMart....but my days of threading  
> Tri-X on a developing tank reel are in the distant past, and the  
> darkroom stuff has to be reacquired.) I toyed with some digitals,  
> but they all seem flimsy and plastic.
>
> The original black wax 'gothic L' indicates that a CLA is in order  
> (also, the slow speeds are off on the slow side, but a few rolls  
> made the smooth smoother).  Everything else is smooth and the  
> camera is in good looking shape (a few light bright marks from the  
> MR/a bit of lost black paint inside the bottom cover/no vulcanite  
> loss), and one slight scratch on the barrel of the 3.5cm  
> Summicron.  The camera ready case shows some wear, but the 3.5cm  
> Summicron leather case looks really nice.  That Summicron still has  
> a slight, non-hardened bead of lubricant on the body end.
>
> I am thinking of parting with the wide lens/goggles and maybe the  
> RM (and sending the Canon A1, Oly XA2, and Oly 35RL to KEH) to  
> finance some of Sherry Krauter's handiwork on the M3, and finding a  
> 90mm as well.  Are there any suggestions on selling this stuff and  
> doing what is best for the M3/50mm?  Appalachia isn't exactly the  
> best market, I assume.  I'm not adverse to driving to DC/Balmer,  
> etc to do an in person sale.
>
> TIA,
>
> Charlie
>
> 'Guess I am a pirate, two hundred years too late. Cannons don't  
> thunder, there's nothing to plunder, I'm an over 40 victim of fate.'
>   -Jimmy Buffett
>
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