[Leica] Do you remember why you joined the LUG?

[Peter Klein]

I believe I've been here since the year 2000. I'd been shooting with a IIIf, and was hoping to get back into the M system after many years absence. I came for information about what older lenses were still viable. I stayed for the photography and the great group of people I met.

Rangefinder photography is both a way of seeing and a way of being. That way has been tied up with Leica for nearly a century. The lenses are superb, the form factor works beautifully. You know what you've focused on, and you can see what you shot while you shoot it. I really don't care about the bling oriented marketing, and I do wish that the prices hadn't gone stupid bleeping crazy. Fortunately, there is the used market, and keeping the things you buy for a long time.

Like many, I've worked with other cameras as well. Like the famous Kyle Cassidy, I learned digital playing with an early Nikon COOLPIX. In recent years, some shoulder and eye problems made micro 4/3 cameras the line of least resistance. There's nothing to apologize for – they are versatile little beasties, and the lenses, especially the primes, are pretty darn good.

But there's nothing quite like a Leica.  As you can see from my other thread today, I'm coming back to my ancient M8 that the glitterati don't take seriously anymore. And, there's the possibility that I will do something (financially) stupid bleeping crazy in the foreseeable future. After all, an M 240 or a Monochrom is less expensive than a little red sports car. :-) 

--Peter, dictating to my iPad
(If it misconstrues, please excuse)