My journey with photography and towards the world of Leica started when my elder sister came with me to a local Chemist to buy my first camera — a Kodak Box Brownie 127. Jump forward to my first SLR, a Praktica Nova, which was followed by Canon A1s. I loved the A1 cameras, one body with B&W film and one with transparency film.
A late digital arrival
I was fairly late to move to digital cameras, as I was lucky enough to have a permanent darkroom at home. When I eventually did, it was to a Canon D1 with autofocus lenses. As you know, these are big cameras with correspondingly big lenses, and the size became an issue for me on a trip to India. I took only a fraction of the ‘people’ pictures I was hoping for, as I was so self-conscious about pointing it at the local population.
My eureka “World of Leica” moment
This experience was a major factor in my move to the Leica World. I had always had an awareness and admiration of the cameras, and by good fortune, Leica had just launched the full frame M9.
At the time, we still had a local dealer who had an unopened camera in stock, and that was it! I was in!
The success of the M9 meant lenses were in short supply, but I soon had the classic set of 35, 50 and 90mm (two Summiluxes and a Summicron).
If anyone had told me how much buying a specific camera could motivate and enthuse one’s photography, I would not have believed them, but this is what I experience with the M9. I had taken 000’s of images with the Canon A1’s so was comfortable with manual focusing using a split image focusing screen.
How membership led to friendship and knowledge
Although I had dropped out of camera clubs many years ago, one of my better decisions was to join three Leica organisations and become part of the world of Leica: The Leica Society and The Leica Fellowship in the UK, and the Leica Historical Society of America, now Leica Society International.
All these organisations have provided genuine friends and many affable acquaintances. All have regular meetings, but the LSI Wetzlar meetings are, for me, the pinnacle, attracting the support and involvement of top-of-house Leica Camera AG people as they do.
A bonus lies with UK-based TLS (The Leica Society) are their ‘Print Circles’. They have provided the motivation to improve digital printing skills to produce monthly A3 prints for circulation and comment. The Leica User Forum has been a great source of knowledge about all things Leica. Through that organization I have met some great people at informal get-togethers.
A curiosity about old and new models
Of course, you don’t buy one Leica. I have worked through every series of digital Leicas up to the current M11-P. I still have the original M9 (thankfully with second generation replacement sensor) and the M10.
You then start wondering what it would have been like using a film Leica back in the day. That meant I had to try that as well. Then you wonder about the early cameras, so become a small-time collector with some ‘Barnacks’ tracing their development.
For me, then, the cameras are great and the people even greater. The world of Leica is a wonderful thing to be involved with. I appreciate it and I’m thankful for the privilege. It has enhanced and expanded my photographic journey immeasurably.
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