Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well it certainly was not what I expected and I had a very good time. I am afraid that deep down I thought the Leica rep from Germany would be dressed in liederhosen and all the store staff would be wandering around muttering, "and just don't mention the war". Surprisingly, restraint was show by both sides. Once the rabbit was let loose it was very thick at the front with the local Germans but they quickly tired of trying different lenses on the M cameras and peering intently through the finder. Something we all do at first I guess. I only intended to stay a short while and once things settled down I had a nice conversation about the Canadian distributor's repair department with Keith Matson. He is the Leica chap at Lisle-Kelco. As Emanuel Lowi had warned me in advance, he was a wonderful person; very knowledgeable and thankfully frank and honest about Leica in Canada. As I gathered together all the broken cameras and lenses my four year old had tested, in preparation for hasty departure, a voice behind me asked if I was John Collier. I then turned and met our own Victor Wek. Too many nice people in one day can be wonderful and so it was. We had the usual conversation about this and that Leica gossip, politely not mentioning Ted's underwear, and he even disarmingly asked me to show him how to load a M camera. I did but I am sure I saw a trace of an impish smile behind those glasses. I imagine he had a hidden camera recording the whole thing to play for his friends later. You know the whole trying to put tab A into slot B when you can only find slot c sort of thing that always charms us on those Funniest Home Videos shows that America seems to make so many of. As once again I was preparing to leave, he mentioned his disappointment at Leica not having brought a 35/1.4 Asph to demo. I cheerfully lent him mine and busied myself with knocking various Leica bits and pieces onto the floor while he ran a roll through a M7. One of the staffers surprised me by showing up with a IIIg on which were mounted a 35/2 Asph and its finder. I took one look through the rangefinder and remember why I thought LTM cameras are nasty little creatures only loved by those who actually do wear liederhosen and collect garden gnomes. I then took one look through the 35mm finder and fell madly, deeply in love. The finder was bright, clear, with good eye relief and lots of room around the brightlines. A bit of a cloud fell over the proceedings in my eyes I as I cursed aloud at its unattainablilty. Keith then surprised me by saying he still had two in stock. I swiftly reduced his unallocated stock by one and the roses quickly opened their pedals again to the now bright and shining sun. As Victor shot his last few frames I had a quick peek in a R8 viewfinder. Holy doodle! That is a bright clear finder. Everything glowing that has been said about the R8 finder is one hundred percent true. I also fiddled with a Motor-M and am afraid my dislike of grips soured me on it. Well the strain was beginning to be more than visible on the staff as my son had just finished disemboweling the filter drawers and once again I made prepartions, this time successful, to leave. John Collier PS: If you want a modern Leica 35mm finder, there is one left in Canada. Contact your nearest Canadian Leica retailer. - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html