Curious, when did you see/use your first leica?

[DDudenbostel]

I saw my first Leica in the mid 50's. My dad was into photography and used to take me to the camera shops with him when I was a kid. I always thought the looked very cool. When I got to college I was deep into photography and during my sophomore year in 1968 the chief photographer of the university paper was goi g to Alaska for a newspaper job and hired me as his replacement. Henry was a hardcore Leica user and had 2 M2's and a new M4 plus a great selection of glass from 21 to 200mm. Another friend who shot for a nearby news paper used Nikon SP's. Both friends let me shoot their cameras and both had their good and bad points. The M's just seemed right for me so I purchased a used but like new M2 and 50 summicron in 1968. I soon added two more bodies an lenses from 21-200mm. I wound up with 2-2's and a 3. Eventually I traded most of the gear in the mid 70's for a Linhof Technika and three lenses. It wasn't long till I had a couple of new M bodies and lenses. Since then there has been only a shirt period when I didn't have M's. One period in the 70's was in a moment of insanity when I bought 2 SL bodies and an SL MOT. Unfortunately they were a disaster.

Still using M's 45 years later. I still have one of my early M2's an ALaCarte MP and M9.

 

[Double Negative]

DN, that is a beautiful camera.

I first saw an M6 in my college roommate's hands almost 15 years ago. A few years after and a year before he died, my late father bought me an M6TTL that I still use.

Thank you!

I have a similar story with my camera; especially after my dad passed I couldn't possibly part with it. Unfortunately, the silvering in the VF is failing and the meter is dead - or I'd still use it. The lens is very good - much like the 50mm f/2.5 LTM Color Skopar I use on the M today.

 

[Robert Campbell]

Late 1970s, an R3; then an M3 (s/h, one titled owner); then R4 and M4.

 

[StephenPatterson]

First Leica was a IIIC around 1979. I really wanted an M, any M, but it was way beyond my financial ability. Regardless I loved that IIIC (and still do) and developed a life long relationship with Leica.

 

[wentbackward]

First M mount body I bought was a Voigtlander RM3 + 50 Heliar kit and the 15mm lens, in 2007, mainly because I saw some images made with a the Voigtlander 15/4.5 which blew me away. I got an M6 some time after that and eventually everything went to Leica, the voigtlander eventually sold, but I still use the 15/4.5.

 

[Paratom]

I had my first (used) Leica (M6) over 20 years ago.
My uncle had been a long time Leica user and he borrowed me his M6 which I later bought used from him. I paid over 2 years until I had paid it off.
Used an older used 35 Summicron and an old 90/2.8 Tele-Elmarit with it for many years. It was my main camera for many years. I still have that M6 and will never sell it (if I am not forced to financially).

 

[Hosermage]

Got into photography kinda late, 2 years ago in my mid 30's with the Sony NEX5. I didn't like the lenses Sony had to offer, so looked into manual focus lenses and bought a 50'Cron DR. I loved it so much that I wanted more Leica, and finally bought a used M9 off Ashwin 10 months ago. Now, I think I'll be using rangefinders for life.

A bit conflicted at the moment... when the new M comes out, I would love to get it for all of its advantages, but to afford it, I would probably have to let the M9 go, which I'm quite sentimentally attached with it being my first M and all. Perhaps I should just buy another lens to quell my GAS (for a little while).

 

[Sharokin]

My first Leica was an M6 Titanium with a 35 1.4 Asph. purchased from Jim Khuel back in 1996. I unpacked the camera, loaded a roll of Fuji Sensia and shot my first assignment of the day (picture below)

 

[jaknight]

I had seen Leica equipment occasionally in shops and magazines as i grew up and hunted for Pentax and then Nikon equipment, but Leicas were way more expensive than i could afford. They were ignored. In my mid 20's i had a job that required contact with the media. One day i was being interviewed for a magazine and a lady photographer was sent along to take the supporting images. She was using a Leica R and took 4 or 5 shots before leaving. I was surprised: in my experience photographers would fire off at least a roll or two of film at such a shoot, and it made an impression. When the article came out 2 or 3 of her images were published, and each a great shot. I was impressed and determined to try one when i could. In the mid 1990's i was able to get My First Leica, a M6 together with 35 1.4 Asph. This i later 'upgraded' to a M6TTL once it was released (though some might not regard this as an upgrade) and i continue to hold onto it today. Both were fabulous cameras. I then brought into the M8 and M9 as they became available, and am now looking forward to the Type 240 which i have on order. I guess I have enough Leica bodies to pass on to each of my children, but not for a while yet .

Unfortunately, I cannot recall the lady's name otherwise i would thank her.

 

[algrove]

Saw my first one in 1966 on my first trip to Europe. Could not afford one for a long time. Then when I could afford one I got a Hasselblad. Once I decided to leap into digital my M9 was my first Leica in Dec. 2010. So it took me like 44 years between the two events the OP asked about.

 

[docmoore]

My first Leica was an M6 Titanium with a 35 1.4 Asph. purchased from Jim Khuel back in 1996.

Struck a chord with me....relied upon the judgement and advice of Don Chatterton and Jim Khuel from 1984 till they both retired...now Sean Cranor at Camera West.


Regards,

Bob

 

[ark8012]

My first Leica was a M2. It was delivered on my hand on Oct. 14, 2011.

 

[oc garza]

When I moved to Austin from Corpus Christi, Texas to get a degree in Photojournalism many of my classmates -incuding Mike Murphy, Larry C Price (2-time Pulitzer Prize winner) had Leicas as well as Nikons. This was 1973 and I had a Nikon kit but the first time I took Garry Winogrand's class at the UT School of Art, I knew I needed some RF gear. It wasn't a question of not having a Nikon kit too - because the Leica was too limited on sports and other types of photography that I did - but being able to affort Leica equipment. I took four semesters of Winogrand's class and by the last semester had an M3 (with a 50 cron, a 28 'rit) and a CL with the 40mm.The first time Winogrand saw my CL he asked to examine it and after a long time squinting at it, he handed it back and said "Leica must be trying to go out of business."
Anyway, working as I had to during my college years, I raised the funds to also buy some Hasselblad equipment, which I later sold for more Leica stuff. When digital came along I sold all my film camera equipment and got some Canon gear and when Leica got in the digital game, I sold all my Canon gear and now only own Leica digital gear.

 

[sjg284]

My first Leica.. 2004, a IIIc.
A friend in college introduced me to the world of rangefinders with some cheapy Russian copies in the fall of 2003.

This quickly lead me into the purchase of a IIIc, and within a year.. an M2.

Graduation and a job meant I could pick up an M6.

As my time became more expensive, and prices fell.. I swapped the M6 for an RD1.

Used that for a couple years, took a break.. and ended up coming back to Leica with an M8 in 2010.

Now I've added a IIIf, so I can shoot both film & digital..

 

[4season]

I can't tell you when I saw my first Leica, but I was already sufficiently intrigued to have picked up a brochure for the R4S, probably from Francis Camera in Honolulu, circa 1984.

But my first Leica was an all-Canadian combo of M4-2 + 50mm Summicron acquired in the early 1990s. It was inadvertently also an exploration into minimalism: In order to afford it, I had to sell off my Nikon F3, MD4 motor drive, Speedlight, and a number of Nikkor lenses. I wasn't keen on the M4-2's lack of a built-in light meter and wasn't totally sold on the RF experience, but I sure liked the size and weight of the outfit.

This enforced minimalism brought a certain clarity to my shooting: What lens should I take? Why the 50/2 of course! Amazing what you can do with just a 50mm when that's all you've got.

 

[Hosermage]

Just last night after dinner, I handed my camera to a friend to give him a taste of shooting with a rangefinder for the first time. Not sure he appreciated the speed of manual operation, but he was able to focus quite well after 10-15 seconds. We might have another convert, yet

 

[NB23]

Leicaflex SL, 20 years ago. I was 17. I was spoiled ever since. And never stopped the intense darkroom ever since, except for a hiatus of about 3 years around 2005-ish.

 

[doug]

First I saw was my roommate's Leicaflex, freshman year in college in 1970. The following year the night security guard at the tech building loaned me his IIIG. Hooked is an understatement. My first one purchased was a Leicaflex SL in 1979.

 

[scott kirkpatrick]

I was combining a postdoc in physics with a pretty serious interest in semi-pro photography in Chicago in 1969. Leicas were lying around the camera stores used and relatively cheap, as everyone rushed to get Nikon gear. I picked up an M2, collapsible Summicron 50, collapsible Elmar 90 (now lost to fungus), pretty nice Canon 35/2.0 and a scary Canon 19/3.5 for the money I could make then selling what we would call stock photos (for textbooks) and some portfolios. It all fit into a surplus gas mask bag with 10 cans of hand-wound bulk Tri-X, ready for street demonstrations.

Ultimately, the day job won, but the M2 and three of the lenses are still in use. The M2 had a Sherry Krauter refurb in 2007. The gas mask bag did finally die a few years ago.

scott

 

[Duane Pandorf]

My initial experience with the Leica brand began a year a go. I had heard the name but really knew nothing about the company. Tried using my father's Exacta in high school but it had issues. Early in the Marine Corps shot with a compact Rollei 35mm. In the 90s a Canon A1 and later a Minolta SLR. The 2001 the Nikon D100, then D200.

A year ago this month I bought the Ricoh M mount module and a Leica 40mm Summicron. I then began to learn about the Leica magic.

I bought my first Leica body the M-E 12/29/2012.