[Leica] Your First Leica?

[Gerry Walden]

The Royal Photographic Society used to have its headquarters in Bath, and right alongside was a camera shop (Jessops). On a visit to Bath and the RPS with my wife I was window shopping in the store, and they had a M3 DS in the window at a sensible price. This was about 1997. I had been going on about Leica for some time (ever since I was 14 in fact) but never dreamt of owning one, but my wife said “just buy the bloody thing!” so we went in to handle the camera, and a decision was made to buy it. The only thing was it had no lens but luckily the store had a 50mm Summicron f2 in a pretty poor state which the manager let me have for a very reasonable price (below £200!). 

I used that for a couple of years until I sold it on having dropped into seawater on a trip to the US. It was cleaned and found to be OK so I traded it in for a M6.

The rest is history, and many Leicas later I now have 4 and would not want to get rid of any of them.

Gerry

Gerry Walden
www.gwpics.com
+44 (0)23 8046 3076 or
+44 (0)797 287 7932







> On 11 Apr 2020, at 13:22, Peter Dzwig <pdzwig at summaventures.com> wrote:
> 
> Mine was/is a IIIf. Yes it still works, but could probably do with a CLA
> now. It doesn't get used much now because of the difficulties and cost
> of getting film processed. I have half-a-dozen films that need
> developing sitting here but I just am not set up for developing here.
> 
> 
> Will I sell it? No I doubt it. One of the things about it, is that when
> I do get it out it just "feels right". I don't have to describe to you
> Leicaphiles what I mean, do I?
> 
> My M3...well that needs the prism replaced and has been sitting here for
> a while waiting to be done. Again that has that special Leica feeling,
> but very different from the IIIf. It has something to do with the
> knowledge of what it meant to photography, and there is also a feeling
> of "if it was that good why can't I photograph better?" But that is
> motivational. :-)
> 
> Peter
> 
> On 07/04/2020 22:26, Richard Man wrote:
>> Just idle wondering, how many people still have their first Leica? and if
>> you still have it, is it one of those "I will never sell my first love, or
>> any Leica", or "I can let it go, but why?"
>> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Dr. Peter Dzwig
> 
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