A little over a year ago was the first time I ever put my hands on a Leica range finder camera. It was an M3 in damn near cosmetic mint condition with only the natural wear of a camera that hasn't been used much. The range finder was a bit dull, and some of the shutter speeds were off. But to make the point clear, Lets just say that when the owner sent it to Leica repair man Youxin Ye to get cleaned and adjusted, he immediately offered to buy it on the spot because it was one of the most pristine M3s he'd had come to him.
As soon as the owner realized the fine condition of this camera, and found one of those mythical beings called Leica Collectors, it immediately jumped out of my price range. However, it was too late. I'd drawn a taste of the Leica blood from using this camera, and wanted more. I quickly ended up purchasing a beat up M3 with sad orphaned puppy eyes for under $400, and the pristine M3 that I had originally taken a taste of has since vanished into a glass case, or a sealed bank box never to bee seen again for something along the lines of $1200 or so.
Since my beater M3 has been in my hands, it has chewed through about 4,300 exposures. During the same period of time, the collector's new object of fondling probably has been dry fired three or four times before being hermetically sealed and put away for good. But what I'm still hung up on from this incident is what the Collector supposedly said. I don't have the exact quote, but I can paraphrase it down to “Its worth $800 more for this mint condition body because you just can't beat that magic of a perfect Leica.”
In the words of my generation... WTF?
It is garbage like that that keeps the prices jacked up on these incredibly fine tools, and keeps them out of the hands of young photographers who can really do some damage with them. So just to make Leica collectors squirm a little, here is my story.
Everyday before heading out to walk to work, the last thing I do in preparation is sling my Leica over my left shoulder and across my body. (using one of Gordy's awesomely rugged straps of course) If it is 120°F out, it is there sweating with me. If it is -40°F out like it was earlier this week, it is there with me freezing to the point it is hard to focus. I've happily taken it out in the rain where it has gotten wet, and I've taken it out during blizzards where its been so full of pounding snow that I couldn't read the f-stops. In essence, I believe my camera is happy to still be being used for its intended purpose, and to have not fallen into the hands of a collector. And what have I lost by not shelling out the additional $800 for it to be in mint condition you say? Best I can come up with is not having the sentimental memories of every nick & scratch on the body as I pound off that first $800 in cosmetic damage to the camera as I use it was designed to be used.
That being said, I really kind of want to buy an M6 these days. Besides being more tailored for the type of photography I like to do, and being in the top five of the most expensive purchases I've made ever, I also kind of see it as sort of a strange reverse mid-life crisis. One where I acknowledge I'm no longer a child by finally buying myself a tool that is the highest craftsmanship for my one hobby that I feel I excel at. And to further bite my thumb at the collectors, it better look as war torn as my M3 when I hand it down or have it resold at my estate sale. No mercy.
Two Special Edition Leica M6s You May Have Missed
Using Side Mount Range Finders on Press Cameras
Leica M3
