[Leica] Your First Leica?

[Peter Cheyne]

Mine was a black M6 TTL—what a treasure! Smooth, ergonomic handling, a real
pleasure to use! Eventually sold to fund an M8.

My second was an M3, which I still have. I took it on a family trip to a
seaside mountain cabin a couple of weekends back.

I also had an M7 and an M8, sold to fund the M9 and a Summicron 35 to join
the Summicron 50, Summicron 90, and Tele-Elmarit-M 90.

For that ergonomic feel and hand-to-eye delight, I rate the M3 and M6 about
equally. Nothing beats the ‘making a photograph’ feel of the M3 brightlines
and its large viewfinder, but the M6 feels equally compact in the hand (the
M7 and M9 feel a bit less solid  in comparison) and the built-in meter
makes it a bit more compact compared to the M3 the old Leica Meter
(Metrawatt) attached.

While most of my photos are taken with the M9, I use the M3 and a couple of
film rolls once or twice a year. Think me a fool, but I still hope that one
day some company will produce a sensor for use in film cameras like the M3.

Peter