A while ago, when surfing the internet, I stumbled upon a small ad which told me “for sale: Leica camera” A small, unclear picture was added…  nothing more nothing less.

The picture told me that it had to be a Leica M2 or M3 with light meter on it…  So, the add caught my attention and I sent  a mail to the seller.  Some time later I received a mail telling me that the seller would like to have +/- 150 euro for it…  “huh???” A Leica M2 or M3 for 150 euro???  Strange…  so I wrote a new mail to the seller with the question if the camera was still working…  never know!

Yes, everything was ok…  it was the camera of the seller’s dad and he had been there for +/- 20 years without moving…  Might be interesting, and as it was only a 20 minute drive… no problem on an Easter-monday!

So when I came there, a very kind man explained me he was loving photography very much and had gone through the complete process… from the Leica to a Pentax SLR to a Nikkormat… and now he was into digital.  So, finally he decided to let go of his dad’s old Leica…  and yes…  it was a real bargain!  The camera looked as new!  Only a few marks on top of the body showed that the camera had a history… A quick search learned that the camera was born on 24 august 1959.

To make the story complete, the small beauty came with a nice series of extra’s…  a genuine leather Leica case, an external light meter (Leica Meter MC) and even an original UV-filter to protect the lovely Elmar 5cm 2.8 lens!

After testing the shutter, having a close look at the lens, holding the beauty…  my decision was made!  I had never dared to dream that I was able to be the owner of a Leica…  these things tend to cost a bit more than this one…  so yes, it was like a small dream came true!

I will have to get the sunny 16 back into my head, because of the lack of an internal light meter.  The pop-on light meter is still working, but why not do it all the way manual?

I think… quite sure…. that I will be spending some time (if the weather allows me to!) in my darkroom this summer…  And the film in my fridge WILL be finally used

I hope to be able to share some results of it pretty soon!

Thank you Ernst!