Re: Film leader ...

[Brian Reid <reid>]

This whole discussion about film leaders makes me very happy. The
original reason I started the leica-users mailing list 4 years ago
was that I was frustrated by the film-leader problem on my IIIf(st) and
nobody at the local Leica collector's group could help me because they
didn't actually use their IIIf's any more, they just looked at them.

I figured that there must be a community of people out there who had
the same problem. Four years ago this week (April 7, 1992) I launched
the leica-users list. Besides wanting just to gather together the
worldwide community of people who actually use their Leicas, I also
wanted some discussion of the film leader problem. Finally, four years
later, I've got it. Life is good.

But there's also the  "time to upgrade" talk. I have the same model of
Leica that Paul Krzyzanowski does, and I understand his frustrations.
Now I want to upgrade too, and it's almost income tax time and I can't
afford to upgrade. I have such a fine and complete IIIf outfit. I have
4 lenses (35, 50, 90, and 135), 3 viewfinders, 14 Leitz filters that
fit the 50 and the 90. All the lens storage containers. All the cases.
But after reading the various comments I think I've just developed a
need to upgrade to an M6. It has a meter; it's easier to load film, and
it has a decent built-in viewfinder. And a thumb lever and an actual
rewind crank.

I've never contemplated selling or trading my Leica before. It's felt
like selling or trading my children. I've had this camera for 35 years.
How do I determine if this camera that I've put five thousand rolls of
film through is an EX++ or an EX-- or whatever. How do I determine a
fair price? I'm a photographer, not a used-camera trader. How do I
avoid getting cheated?