Re: [Leica] Leica bug [long post]

[Paul Chefurka <pchefurk@Newbridge.COM>]

Alastair Firkin wrote:
> 
> Lets hear about you and how photography entered your
> life, and how the LUG has emptied your bank account ;-)

First camera - a little no-name 127 box my parents bought
me when I was about 5 or 6.  I was terribly disappointed
in the pictures that came out of that thing.  Kind of
like Mozart's reaction to the toy violin his parents
bought him.

First serious photography - slides shot during the
Paris student riots of '68 with my parents' Canonet
(I was a rangefinder guy even then!).  Just had those
slides printed recently - still can't believe I did
that at age 17!

First serious camera - an Asahi Pentax SV, bought
when I was volunteering as a photographer for the
McGill Daily (daily student newspaper at McGill
in Montreal).  This was the start of a long
commitment to Pentax, and the end of my early
academic career.

First Big Decision - Michelangelo Antonioni's
movie "Blowup" convinced me that this might be
a cool profession.  Cringe.

First Leica - midway through my 10-year
stint as a professional, I had an opportunity
to buy an M4 with a 50 Summilux for an excellent
price.  A month later it was joined by 35
and 90 'crons.  Used it for a year, then
decided Pentax MX's would be more useful.
So I traded it in.  Cringe redux.

First Nikon - acquired about the same time
as the Leica - an SP, with 50/1.4, 35/1.8
and 85/2.0 lenses.  Loved that camera.  Gave
it to my ex-wife as part of the separation
agreement.  She left it on the floor one
day and a boyfriend stepped on it.  Arggh!

Much later, getting back into photography
after a long burnout, I built up a very nice
N system based around an F3 and an FE2.  Then
one day I was in the local camera store, and
I asked to handle an M6.  The salesman then
showed me a mint M3 with a DR.  For 2 weeks
I tried to talk myself out of that camera,
but it kept waking me up in the middle of the
night, pleading for me to buy it.  Out of
compassion I succumbed, and gave it a new
home.  Along with a 90 Tele-Elmarit.  And
a new GR1 to handle the wide-angle stuff.

This time I've learned my lesson, though.
No trade-aways, no magnanimous gifts,
no accidental destruction.  This one's
a keeper.

Paul Chefurka