Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/11/02

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Subject: Roll Call
From: Stephen Kobrin <kobrins@wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 1997 11:58:43 -0500

Steve Kobrin

58 years old, teach international business and international politics at
the University of Pennsylvania.  Married with three children by previous
marriage; 33 (lawyer in North Carolina), 31 (park ranger in Boulder) and 18
(Smith College undergraduate).  

Began with an Argus C-3 when I was 12 or 13; my first Leica was a IIIC
which I bought in 1967 and was stolen in 1971 in Venezuela.  I replaced it
with an M3 in '73 which came to an unfortunate end when a canoe swamped --
sounds stupid, but it was a very slow moving stream with an unexpected log
dam.  Moved on to various Nikons, but I was never really satisfied and
picked up an M3 three years ago and, in good part due to the LUG, have been
hooked since.  I  have a collapsible 50mm Summicron, 2.8f Summaron 35 and
Elmar 90 for the M3 and a IIIf with a nice Summitar and a 3.5 Summaron with
various meters, viewfinders, shades, etc. I shoot both B&W (mostly TCN400
at this point) and chromes about equally, although I find I tend use one or
the other for a while.  In addition I have a Rollei TLR MX-EVS which has
been modified with a modern screen and a Rollei 35S which I always take on
non-recreational travels.

At the end of the day, I find that I really enjoy using older rangefinder
Leicas to take photographs and I have stopped worrying about whether my
lenses are the sharpest or have the best contrast, etc.  I have not done my
own darkroom work since the 70s and am debating whether to set up a
chemical darkroom or go digital via scanning and printing.  

Steve