Re: [Leica] Re: Re: Leica 1

["A.H.SCHMIDT" <horsts@primus.com.au>]

Mark Rabiner wrote:

> ><Snip>
> > Well, sure Ted, I can see the pro needing more than one M,  but NINE!!!
> > Even you don't need nine when out on assignment, do you (and I'm talking
> > about M rangefinders here; not R and M cameras)?
> >
> > I might wish I had maybe one more M body (although what I really drool over
> > is having more lenses than the one I have), but nine M cameras sounds like
> > gluttony to me, even if you need a spare in case one fails on you.  I think
> > I would be embarrassed to own nine M's -- wouldn't stop thinking about all
> > the poor starving photographers out there who don't even have one!
> >
> > BK
>
> All M6's? I think an assortment of lower numbers perhaps.
> Most of the pros i know have about that many 35mm camera bodys.
> I have two and will problay end up with three or four in the next five or ten years.
> I'm patient! My motto is:
> OUTLAST THEM!
> Mark Rabiner

You don't need to be a pro, to own more than 1 M or for that matter any Leica.
You also don't need to be rich. I'm the living proof of that.
At this moment, I own 5 Ms and on IIIc (nostalgic reasons)  The M's are:
1 M1, 1 M2, 3 M 3s and 1 M4. I had a M6, but sold it again.

Now how did I manage to get them, without being rich?  Over the years, I looked
around shops, trade papers and jumble sales. Every now and then, you strike it lucky and

find something for a reasonable price. I don't mean a complete set for $30. This happens

very rarely. (Only once to me with a Cannon outfit). Sometimes in a shop, you'll find
one which is very reasonably priced, because it is sold as consignment from a shop
customer.
The shop normally makes only 10% or so and the customer wants a quick sale. This all
adds up to a good buy. If you don't have the money at this stage, here in Australia we
have a system called Lay-By. You put a deposit down, and then pay the camera off, in
weekly installments. Once it is paid for, you get it. There are no interest charges.
It is also quite exiting, to move towards the date, when you know it is paid for and
ready to be picked up.

Why do I need, as a non professional, more than 1 camera? Well I don't, the same as I
don't need more than one pair of shoes really or more than 1 hammer in my garage.
I don't need it, but it is fun. When it stops being fun, then I sell them. As I sold My
Screw
Mount collection (about 9 cameras) and SM. accessories. I did not enjoy using them
anymore, soI sold them. The enjoyment however returned, when I found out how much money
I received for them. I had not lost a cent of value. On the contrary, I gained.
This enabled me to buy, beside other things, my dream lens, a Noctilux.

Now what do I do with 5 M's. Quite a lot really. The M1 has the Visoflex attached to it.

all in one Sturdy case with the appropriate lenses and accessories. I use it for all my
close up photography.

One M3 has the Noctilux fixed to it, another has always black and white film in it.

The M4 or M2, I use when I need a 35 mm lens.   The dual stroke M3, I use when I am in a
nostalgic mood. I fit my old lenses (Summar etc.) to it . Great fun, to go out with a
Summar and see what fine pictures it takes (despite all the knockers)

Oh how happy, not to have to do it for a living.

Regards, Horst Schmidt