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After building up a solid gear collection...(Leica M & R)

RezaLoghme said:
I have a 2.8/135 for R.

The only "fast" lens would be the Leica SUMMILUX-R 1,4/80mm (11880). We are talking 1400-2000 EUR.
Well, the 2.0/90 Summicron (11219) is also fast(er) than a 2.8 and around 500 EUR.
You think I need another 90mm?
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I was thinking fast, short-er tele for the M. Something like a 75... I forget what all the options are. If you're looking for something for the R, if the 2.0/90 would be reasonable in price, I'd get it and drop the various 90s you have for the M system.
 
RezaLoghme said:
Maybe 35 and 50 are good enough for a RF?
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As mentioned, only you can decide. If not using MF, I reach for the raingefinder.... i have 21,28,35,40,50,90....in the drawer but i very often travel with only 1.

(Tokyo after a ski trip w just the 21)
 
Why not sell them and by a house?
 
GregY said:
As mentioned, only you can decide. If not using MF, I reach for the raingefinder.... i have 21,28,35,40,50,90....in the drawer but i very often travel with only 1.

(Tokyo after a ski trip w just the 21)
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I have all those but the 28mm and 40mm. I cannot convince myself that the 28 is different enough from the 35mm to justify owning one (and having to deal with a finder, since the newest body I have is an M5). Ditto the 40mm vs. a 50mm.

Like you, I have an embarrassment of riches and try to pare down what I carry at any given moment to things I will actually use. My least used lens is a 90mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M but I don't know why that is.

Like you, I love that 21 beyond words.
 
RezaLoghme said:
Maybe 35 and 50 are good enough for a RF?
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You can test this yourself. Shoot a whole week with only the 35. Then repeat with the 50mm. Think about what shots you missed or who have liked to have a different lens for. You may be surprised.

I find that once I am in the rhythm of shooting with a 35mm camera, I tend not to change lenses for the rest of the day, or change very infrequently. Maintaining the rhythm of shooting is more important to me than finding the perfect lens for each shot.
 

CR, the 40 & 90 came along with a CL as a gift. The 28 by happenstance when i needed an LTM lens...tiny & at the time inexpensive. I've come to see that the 28mm is sufficiently different than the 35. The 50 & 90 only get occasional use....
 
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There’s something quietly magical about rangefinder cameras, especially when I think back to the early 1990s. In that era, Leica offered the M6 as a standard, almost humble tool in their lineup, even as the R8 and R9 pushed the boundaries of technical innovation. The M6 felt like a melancholic artefact of the past - simple, deliberate, and utterly present -- reminding the photographer that composition is an act of attention, not of convenience.

This duality....between tradition and innovation....was not unique to cameras. Revox still produced the B77 reel-to-reel tape recorder while embracing the CD player. Jaguar carried on with the Daimler Double Six Series 3, its lineage stretching back to the late 1960s, even as BMW and Mercedes experimented with early navigation systems. Rolex offered the rare 16520 chronograph, a niche masterpiece within a range of modernized watches. Across industries, these objects embodied a balance: honoring the past while tentatively exploring the future.

For me, shooting a rangefinder is a meditation on that balance. There is no autofocus, no digital review, no menu labyrint...only the quiet, precise act of framing and capturing light. Each shot demands patience and presence, and in return, it offers a depth that faster, flashier systems rarely achieve. The rangefinder teaches you to slow down, to notice the interplay of shadow and form, to respect the craft.

Ultimately, the M6 and its peers are more than tools : they are objects that carry memory, craftsmanship, and a subtle defiance of obsolescence. In an age of relentless technological acceleration, they remind us that some things are worth preserving for the clarity, the thought, and the simple pleasure of doing them well.

And the 1990s...what an era!
 
GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) is deceptively easy. Most of the time, acquiring equipment isn’t a question of difficulty; when buying pre-owned, almost anything is within reach, either immediately or after a period of saving. Spending isn’t the real challenge.....saving isn’t either. The real test is restraint.

To deliberately say “no,” to limit yourself to “one camera, one lens,” requires a kind of willpower that money cannot buy. It is a conscious decision to let limitations shape your creativity, to focus not on what you might possess, but on what you can do with what you already have. This discipline is quietly transformative: it forces attention, cultivates patience, and turns the act of photography into something more than accumulation... i t becomes a practice of intention, presence, and refinement.

In a world where acquiring gear is only a matter of time and resources, the hardest shots are often not the ones captured on film, but the ones resisted at the store or in the catalog.

Saying “no” is its own art.

Just say no.
 
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Again, yes again. A late model R4 (with the raised logo red dot) in nice condition, 40+ years old. Super clean focussing screen. Exposure meter works fine, as far as I could test it.
And a 28-70mm "kit lens", "its just a Sigma" etc.
Both for peanuts.
So nice.
 
So I am now planning 2026 purchases:

- Maybe another go at a R3?
- R7 looks tempting
- R8 I know I shouldnt but...
- M4 chrome (rescratch an itch like Lee Perry)

And some Wagyu chopped cheese on my R6.
 
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A crisp, ice-cold morning under pale winter sun. The streets were quiet but not empty — a few scattered people, moving with purpose, unaware of my quiet observation.

I walked with my R4, loaded with Ilford XP2 400, paired with a freshly serviced Summilux-R 50/1.4. The combination forced me to slow down, notice textures, the interplay of shadows, the geometry of façades, the glint of light on metal and stone.

Familiar streets revealed new patterns: reflections, converging lines, pedestrians framed against walls, frozen puddles catching low sunlight in unexpected ways. Every exposure mattered, every step counted — handling film reminded me of the deliberate, physical rhythm of photography.

By the end of the walk, my face flushed from cold, my heart pumping, my mind alert. No spectacle, no heroic composition — just quiet observation, small discoveries, and the rare pleasure of seeing old streets freshly.

 
RezaLoghme said:
So I am now planning 2026 purchases:

- Maybe another go at a R3?
- R7 looks tempting
- R8 I know I shouldnt but...
- M4 chrome (rescratch an itch like Lee Perry)

And some Wagyu chopped cheese on my R6.
Click to expand...

Hell, no.

I have a small collection of super nice cameras and lenses. They will be with me for a long time.
 
RezaLoghme said:
Hell, no.

I have a small collection of super nice cameras and lenses. They will be with me for a long time.
Click to expand...

I am even thinking about divesting some reduntant items, some things which I bought in a rush.

Less is more, but good is always best.
 
Update: Bought and returned a R3. Came from a very reputable seller (where have bought Leica cameras before). R3 looked like new but showed the typical Auto mode exposure times craziness. I decided to be happy with my R4 and R6 for now...

..unless...
 
Leica R8. The Babapapa of Leicas (sorry, M5). Around 500 EUR now, give or take. As 1990s as they come. Not interested in the R9, not interested in the option of using a digital back. Just the brainteaser of "now or never" picking up an R8 for the price of a WLAN-only Ipad.

I have done my homework already. Yes, they cannot be serviced, at least most techies refuse to work on them. It's ok. And yes, the two display versions. I do not own ROM lenses and I have no plans to use a flash. It is just about the form factor.

So, who also owns one and is willing to talk R8 without the usual tech chatter?

P.S.: "Yay" I have my own thread now!
 
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HELL NO!

There is ANOTHER silver Leicaflex SL on offer, on my doorstep, with warranty and whatnot.
 
Hi I bought a M2. great camera! Which is a rangerfinder and hence this post would be better suited in the "Rangefinder" section. Holy cow!

I have been playing with it the whole evening. I personally believe every photographer should have owned a M2 or M3 once on their/them lives. Even black lenses look good on them (not on photos but in real lices).

The shutter release makes that 1960s "snick" sound. The whole camera is just a tactile delight. No, all these Japanese copies are " not the same ". just buy a m2, use it, and sell it if you dont like it. That is so nice about them.

Buy one that has a dent, some scratched. "Wear" it like the Danish guy preaches.
 
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So the frame seletion mechasim is acting up and the seller will take care of it. Already missing it and maybe I should buy a M3 as a bridge camera until the M2 is back??
 
Slumming it! I have bought a Leica V-Lux 4 "bridge camera". What is going on with me???
 
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