[Leica] Re: Leica- collector's or user's camera

["David Kieltyka" <daverk@email.msn.com>]

M.E.Berube <MEB@goodphotos.com> wrote:

> I'm hard pressed to think of a better 35mm camera for a
> student than a Pentax K1000. (or a minolta srT etc...)
> Why outlay a lot of money for equipment before you learn
> if you will stick with it or not? Many students may
> eventually end up not interested in photography after
> all. Even now that they are no longer in production
> K1000s (and srTs) can often be obtained in great
> condition WITH a fast 50 for less than the cost of a
> Leica never ready case alone. These venerable hunks of
> metal are more than suitable to learn the basics of
> light management and composition.
>
> After the passion for photography is established and the
> basics are learned there is plenty of time to work on
> getting coveted quality equipment. (After 20 years, I
> still wouldn't trade my srTs in for anything.) Not
> everyone is lucky enough to have parents who can hand
> down used Leica (on topic) equipment nor wealthy enough
> to be able to even purchase such quality used.

Agreed completely. I'm one of those lucky folks with a hand-me-down Leica M
(bought nearly all my own lenses however), but the camera I learned on–not
counting the Instamatic I abused as a pre-teen–was a K1000. I still have it
and in fact picked up a used KX not long ago so I could do macro photography
with mirror lockup. In November a few years back I spent two weeks with a
friend hiking and taking photos in and around the Grand Canyon. Took along
my M2 (35 & 90 'crons), K1000 (50, 135 & 200 SMCs and 1.4x converter) and
lots of Ilford Delta 100 and XP2. The two systems were perfectly
complementary.

- -Dave-