[Leica] Re: Why Leica?

[Alexey Merz <alexey@webcom.com>]

1. History (my history): my pa had an M3 & lenses all through my
childhood and sometimes let me use it. Almost all of the best photos
of me and my parents were taken with that camera, usu. with the rigid
Summicron. I was going to inherit that M3 but our house was
burglarized during my second year of high school and the Leica was not
replaced. As I became more and more engrossed in photography I used
cameras with Pentax K and Nikon SLR mounts, and assorted bodies... and
lusted after a Leica all the while.

2. Simplicity: Recently "upgraded" from FM/FE Nikons to an FA. Hated
it. Realized that the fewer controls, the more Ilike the camera. Was
taking more photos of people and becoming increasingly irritated by
Nikon shutter noise. 

3. Lenses: didn't become convinced by this until I had shot many rolls
of Kodachrome with the 35/1.4 ASPH and 50/2 Summicron-M. At east under
some conditions the Leica lenses produce better images than the Nikons
did. 

4. RF: works better than SLR for me.

5. Feel: I love the way my Leica handles. I particularly like the feel
of th focusing helicals and aperture stops.

6. History (of photography): too many of my photographic heros and
heroines to mention turn out to have been Leica users. I've come to
think that there's an "RF way" of seeing, and that I empathize with
photos taken in that way. 

That's more than enough.