[Leica] Interesting story

[Jim Brick <jim_brick@agilent.com>]

I swim around 3000 yards/meters a day as part of an organized masters
workout. Since I go early, there are only a few of us at the pool so we
divide ourselves up in the lanes. I became friends with a young girl who
swims at about the same pace that I do so we do the workout together. We
have become friends both at and outside the pool.

She is 29 and has a masters in Journalism and is currently taking classes
at local state colleges (more than one) in photography. She also teaches
journalism and photography at the East Palo Alto High School. She is a
"street" photographer. Her hero is Eggleston. Very ironic! You should hear
our conversations... :-) We really do get along great. I'm introducing her
to Ernst Haas next monday as I have all of his books. After using a Nikon
F-something for a long while, she bought a new Pentax 6x7 and has never
looked back.

To make a long story short, on Wednesday, while in the pool, she said to me
"my girlfriend called me and said that she had this camera that her
ex-boyfriend had abandoned when he moved out, and wondered if I wanted it."
I said "sure." "So I picked it up and it is a Leica something, sort of big
and rounded. Not like I remember your Leicas." I said "is it an R8?" And
she said "yeah, that's it."

I stopped by her house and picked up the R8 to check it out for her. I is
completely naked. Just the body. No strap, literature, box, nothing. So I
ordered an R8 manual from Leica for her and I'll get a strap from KSP.

Anyway, the R8 is pristine. As far as I can tell, it has never had film in
it. And it is less than a year old.

I'm going to use it over the weekend to see that it works OK then return it
to her on monday. I'm loaning her a 35mm Summicron and a 90 Elmarit so she
can go out and get Leica-ized.

Some people have all of the luck!

Jim