Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/23
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> Stephen Kobrin wrote: I wonder how many of us
> > use older Leicas with lenses of the same vintage regularly.
I'm into my fourth Leica "system" in as many decades. (It's
probably my last, due to my own age!) I kept the earlier ones, initially as
backups but eventually I admitted to myself I simply couldn't part with them
especially as "progress" diminished the precision and craftsmanship of "new
tech" equipment. Also, back then they weren't being collected like today so
they weren't worth that much in sale or trade and I figured just as well to
keep them. I have had my older bodies overhauled one by one, and use them
regularly to keep them from gumming up (and slowing down). None of my
"kits"are what collectors would call "mint" but they look like it from a foot
away, everything works perfectly and it all gets its turn on my shoulder from
time to time. Most interestingly, I've done tripod-mounted series on Velvia,
with different subjects, comparing lenses of the same focal length from each
age group, including the latest ones of today, and by f/5.6 I've never yet run
across a fellow photographer who can take an 8x APO loupe and correctly match
more than half the slides up correctly with which lens they were shot
with...the same % you'd expect from pure guesswork.
Jay