My thoughts on buying and then always eventually selling Leicas.
I honestly was going to link this to the ebay post but I can't even find one to compare it to for pricing.
So I started writing a description in an eBay listing and figured why not write it here.
Leica. The camera I’ve always wanted to love, but never could.
It started back in '98, my first year of photojournalism school. Thought I’d arrived, you know? Got myself an M3, used, of course—because who buys these things new unless they’ve got money to burn? Found it in some dusty camera shop in North Boston. It came with a 35mm lens... or maybe it was a 50mm. I didn’t care. I was young and stupid and chasing after ghosts. Garry Winogrand used a Leica, so I thought I needed one too. He had an M4, but my broke-ass self could only swing the M3. Close enough, right?
Took it on a trip to London and Paris. Cheap hotels, stale bread, cheap wine, and the arrogance of youth. No light meter either—who needs one of those? Thought I’d feel something magical, but I barely remember the photos. Maybe they were shit. Maybe they weren’t. Doesn’t matter; they’re long gone.
Since then, it’s been a love-hate affair. I’ve bought and sold more Leicas than I care to admit. The Q, the Q2—always thinking, “This is the one,” only to find it back on eBay a month later. But the M7? That’s a different story.
I picked up this M7 in 2005, flush with cash from our first big ad job. It came with a 35mm Summicron Aspherical. Never bothered to figure out what “Summicron” meant. Didn’t care. It looked good, felt good, and at the time, I thought I would be the only camera I would ever want to use. I bought a Rolex, an Eames chair, some McIntosh stereo equipment and all kinds of other shit I didn’t need but sure felt like I did. I still have the watches to give to the kids eventually but now I wear a Garmin every day. I realized there is much better sounding audio gear for much cheaper than McIntosh so dumped it all. I actually sold it to an incredible older gentleman from Queens who had been saving up for that amp and pre-amp for 30 years and he still gets in touch telling me how much he loves the stuff. Oh shit, I’m starting to talk myself out of selling the M7 again……
Why? Because it’s beautiful. The kind of beautiful that makes strangers strike up conversations. The kind of beautiful that feels like holding a piece of history. It’s a piece of art, really. But here’s the rub: I don’t enjoy shooting with it. Never have. I like auto-focus. I like digital. There, I said it. A guy who holds a “science of photography” degree where grades were based on the densometer reading of my 4x5 negative’s shadows and highlights and zero to do with the content of the image and I still love shooting digital!
I’m a German with a Leica I don’t shoot. The irony is not lost on me.
So here it is—a Leica M7, in pristine condition, paired with a 35mm f2 Summicron-M Asph. It’s a camera that deserves to be used, not just admired. But as much as I want to love it, it’s not my style. Someone out there will adore it, though. Maybe that’s you.
Or maybe I’ll talk myself out of selling it for the 15th time. Who knows?
