Blog

My Favorite Leica

Sep 27

I’ve always been fascinated by cameras. And despite my “Leica pedigree” I started out like many do, with the Pentax K1000. It was years before I had saved enough to buy my first Leica.

But which model to get? This quandary was made easier by the strict limitations of my wallet – as a student, I was choosing between the M2, M3 or M4. Even with the family discount, there was no touching the M6 for me! Giddy with excitement and anticipation, I stood for a long, long time in front of the glass case in my father’s showroom. Each of the Leica M models is beautiful in its own way:

The M3 with its large magnification and chunky 50mm frame-line.
The M3 with its large magnification and chunky 50mm frame-line.
The M2 – simple and rugged with airy frame-lines and easy-to-forget external frame counter.
The M2 – simple and rugged with airy frame-lines and easy-to-forget external frame counter.
Or, the M4, with its rapid-load and articulated advance and speedy rewind crank...
Or, the M4, with its rapid-load and articulated advance and speedy rewind crank...

I looked from model to model, examining each and looking through the rangefinder glass, winding and firing them over and over: advance, click, swoon.

At last I picked up a lonely and scarred button-rewind M2 and peered through the viewfinder, my eye darting around in and out of the frame-lines and the focus patch. It seemed the camera had always been at my eye – it seemed natural. I fired the shutter and swooned at the sound of the click. Advance, click, swoon. Advance, click, swoon. This delicious camera had to be mine – flaky leatherette, dings, scratches, bright-marks and all. My father handed me the camera and congratulated me on my first Leica.

It was another year or so before I had saved up enough for a lens. I paid my credit card bill diligently, and saved my pennies for a lens. What did I do during that long year with my “new” M2? Advance, click, swoon. I would spin rolls through without any lens, feeling the mechanics of the camera. Advance, click, swoon.

Eventually, I bought a 50 “Dual-Range” Summicron for my camera and it was a dream come true. Since then I’ve spun countless rolls through this beat-up treasure of mine. As you might imagine, I’ve owned a few Leica cameras over the years. But to this day, my favorite camera to shoot is still my button-rewind M2.

Oh, sure, I’m a sucker for a black paint M2 – perhaps with a well-loved patina, or the fast-loading M2-R, or even other M2 cameras I’ve come across. I love them all.

But more than any other, the M2 is My Leica. It is an extension of my own self and I always return to my battle-scarred M2 button rewind Nr. 930739. Advance, click, swoon.