I remember lusting over the M 3 when it was quite new; I was perhaps 14. Stanley Balderson, who ran the camera department at Thalhimer's Department Store in Richmond VA let me (with my Father at my side) handle that lovely camera. Needless to say Mr B earned my loyalty, I bought my first "real" camera from him, a Retina 1 with the uncoated Ektar f3.5. It needed shutter work, Mr B fixed it at no additional cost! A true Gentleman!
While I'd love to have a single stroke M 3 there is no way I can justify even today the cost of a good example, let alone the example listed in the London auction. And $650K for a lens! I collect cameras on a small sense, but I want gear I can use! Who would ever mount that lens on that body? And who would dare to actually load film and shoot pictures in the real world? Are Leica aficionados a special breed untethered from the mundane realities we "little people" struggle with?
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