[Leica] New RF Buyer...

[John Straus <Mail@SlideOne.com>]

Although I've posted a few times to the list here's my first intro post. Hi
:) I'm currently a Contax SLR user and see a few names here I recognize off
that list, glad to see it.

The Background:
I have gone from BIG Nikon, to BIG Canon, to less big Contax and am pretty
happy with it at this point. Although I have run into almost the same delema
of getting the faster lenses which are obviously bigger than the nice 2.8
counterparts. I have a body with a built in winder which is quiet for what
it is, but it's still a camera that sounds like a "modern" camera. The older
bodies w/o the drives are somewhat quieter but still seem to make a lot of
noise and people in a room with you know your taking photos. So for the many
reasons that are shared among the Leica RF users I have started to look into
this area. I have a Mamiya 7 and love to hate that body & slow lens. For
outdoor it's great but not a good all around camera for me. I will be
selling this to get into a 35mm RF. A few years ago I used a friends M6 to
shoot a roll of film and got pretty good results (focus & exposuere wise)
with some 800 speed print film. I know poor test medium BUT it told me some
things about the camera which was the important part to me. I will admit
that even though I say I want the M6 for how quiet it is and people will
notice me less I think it will make ME feel better about not being so
noticeable. The self concious issue comes upon me many times when shooting
people in less public places and even in more public places. Something that
will also need to be overcome.

Currently:
After looking over information from the list and other online sources I've
come to a few decisions and have a few more questions. I will start off with
an M6 .58 TTL body. Why, as this is my first RF to use? A few reasons: 1) I
mostly use 28mm to 50mm on my SLR, 2) I wear glasses, 3) TTL flash, I almost
never use flash but when I do it's always fill flash, 4) I want a body that
will be current in layout with what may come out later (as in the shutter
speed dial that old user say turns the wrong way).

Lenses:
Ahh, the most confusing part for the beginner. Now I have read the other
posts about "First lens" and it helped me out a lot. Although I would like
all fast lenses for this system my wallet says otherwise so I'll be looking
at good glass for a midlevel price. Basically I have a list of lenses Leica
and Voigtlander that will work with the system I'm building. It really is
all a matter of personal preference on how I want to start off the system
and how much I want to spend. So I have no "What lens should I get"
questions for you. 

What I do want to know is why are the serial #'s so important on the lenses?
Let me state this now; I'M NOT A COLLECTOR!!! I do NOT want to pay extra for
anything but shooting value. Meaning I'm willing to consider spending more
only if I'll see pretty obvious results on an 8x10 - 11x14. These are my
normal enlargement sizes for a good shot. So back to the serial #...what
gives? It seems the later the # the more it costs, I think. Is there any
shooting value in a lower vs higher serial #? This is my big question for
now before I start to look for a lens to buy this weekend.

Thanks for any info!
- -- 
John 
Chicago, IL 
http://SlideOne.com
==================== 

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html