If you want a Leica and you have the disposable income required to inhabit Leica town my advice is to get a Leica.

If you want a Leica and have full-blown metered red dot fever, but do not have the disposable income required currently do not buy anything else because you will eventually sell it, potentially at a loss, in order to finance a Leica. If you do not mind the maligned aesthetics of the internally metered M5 that is an option. An older body like an M3 may do the trick for you. Not bad at all with a Leicameter atop. Pricey for the vintage, but waaay less than an M6. And, unlike non-Leicas, it will hold it’s value or even appreciate when you do flip it for an M6 or the like.

There are technically other options also if you wish to consider them. Zeiss, Leitz/Minolta collab, so on and so forth are all fine cameras. But some of those can get pricey quickly as well. They may be right up your alley if you have a bit of a contrarian bent. But if you are determined to get a Leica they may get flipped later as well.

Continue reading “This Old Camera: Voigtlander Bessa R2” →