[Leica] First Camera

[stasys1 at cox.net (Stasys Petravicius)]

Len- great writeup! Stasys
On Jun 2, 2005, at 8:22 AM, Leonard J Kapner wrote:

> My interest in photography started around seven years of age, when film
> became plentiful again and my uncle brought his pre-war Rolleiflex out 
> of
> the cigar cabinet in his living room and satisfied my curiosity by 
> showing
> me how to operate it.
>
> That experience launched a two year pestering campaign that resulted 
> in my
> father giving me an Argus C3 for my ninth birthday, on advice of his 
> good
> friend who was a newspaper staff photographer. Supplied with outdated 
> film
> from the paper, I shot like mad and learned the elements of composition
> through the finder, dimly, by trial and error. Undaunted, I began 
> processing
> my own film in our basement, but without an enlarger, had to settle for
> contacts of 35mm negatives!
>
> On my thirteenth birthday, that same uncle totally surprised me with a
> slightly used Rolleiflex 2.8E, which became my main camera during the 
> high
> school years. I was a subordinate staffer on the school paper, and that
> GREAT instrument allowed many of my photos of campus life to become
> published. Oh, the chief photographer of the paper during my freshman 
> year
> was none other than Speed Graphic-toting Bill Pierce, who went on to 
> become
> a distinguished LIFE staffer and well-known author.
>
> My involvement with Leica happened at high school graduation, when my 
> father
> and uncle collaborated to present me with a new Leica IIIg, 50mm f/2.8 
> Elmar
> combination. It's been all downhill from there!
>
> BTW I still have the C3, Rollei and IIIg in my possession. My three 
> sons
> trained on the Rollei, and now two of them have their own The Rollei 
> and
> IIIg were overhauled within the past year and have re-entered 
> occasional
> service. Working again with these cameras that reflect so many pleasant
> memories of my youth is such a fulfilling, almost mystical ritual.
>
> May God bless the sensitive adults who encouraged us all as children...
>
> Len
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>