If I have to have a Leica M, I'd go for the prestigious Canadian made M4-P or the older German made M5, and they must be chrome (not black). Here's Dave B's Leica M opinion: "I have several M4-P's. Over the years I've also used every other M model except the M5. The M4P is the best non-metered M. I like the 28mm finder, it has steel gears (instead of softer bronze) and you can use the current leica motor or leicavit on it. Plus, being a Canadian, I like stuff built in Midland." Alright! The Leica M5 has a built in light meter while the newer M4-P does not. Leica screw-mount rangefinders would lose their finish prior to the M3, and after too. Yes, just look here to see what happans to the not so tough vulcanite coating. Leica mechanical winders suck. This Canadian guy makes better ones. If you want the best winder, however, buy a Konica Hexar RF or a Zeiss Contax G2. Both have built in motor winders. (I like the G2 more.) Cosina makes a lever-winder for their Voigtlander Bessas, by the way. Take note that I do not own a new Leica MP nor do I want one. It's my money not Leica's. "What does the Leica brand name mean for you? Fusion of myths and realities in an overpriced package," writes the troll, Eric Milner.

The Konica Hexar RF is a great M-mount rangefinder. Like the Zeiss Contax G2, the body is titanium, the shutter is a metal focal plane type boasting a high maximum shutter speed of 1/6000. People who have a business interest in Leicas will tell you the Hexar has some issues. Don't listen to them. They are full of crap and are secretly envious that the Hexar RF is 10X the Leica.

A Leica M body is breakfast for the Zeiss Contax G2. The Contax G2 coupled with the Zeiss 45mm F2 and titanium hood is a fantastic rangefinder. The 90mm lens has trouble auto focussing, I find. "My friend has a Leica M6 and I have a CONTAX G2. How can I prove to him my G2 is better? The best way is simply to put your G2 in your friend's hands. Let him operate the AF system and feel the speed of focus. Let him feel the precision and quiet smoothness of the CONTAX G2 in all of its operations. Then let him shoot a roll of color slides with both cameras and simply compare the results." ---Contax USA. I agree 100%. The Zeiss Contax G2 is the best rangefinder ever made. However, if you're a cheap guy like me you can't go wrong with a Yashica Electro 35 GSN. Although I love my Voigtlander Vitomatic 11b, it is not reliable...just like Leicas---and I do love my Nikon FM2T titanium mirror slapping device but the lenses are crappy compared with some of the Cosina/Zeiss stuff. That's why I'd rather have a Pentax Spotmatic 11a for mirror slapping and save my money. The Pentax screw-mount lenses are Leica sharp.

My pristine ex-Leica CL is a piece of crap. The shutter curtains are impossible to have adjusted correctly for all shutter speeds and its brand new light meter is flaky. It's been "fixed" 5 times by 2 Leica technicians and each time it was made worse (except for the last time). It's 40mm and 90mm lenses are great which just needed a better M-mount body like the Japanese Bessa R3A. I bet that Minolta made less crappy CLs when they stamped them with Minolta instead of Leica. Did Leica get sucked in with that deal or what? Funny that Cosina/Voigtlander Bessa R2A & R3A are great rangefinders. The new R2M and R3M are even better (I am told).

World-wide, there are only a handful of decent Leica technicians left, though there are plenty of factory trained Yashica technicians to service your Electro. If you do need your Leica rangefinder serviced and you live in the US or Canada, here are some technicians: Jerry Smith of Kindermann Markham, Canada - Horst Wenzel, Vancouver, Canada (604) 263-5820 - Sherry Krauter of Golden Touch NYC, USA and DAG Camera Repair Oregon WI, USA. (Yashica) Kyocera owns the Contax line and has dropped its production all together. Yup. Stock has pretty much run out. Oh, well. There's always a Bessa from Camera Quest for your nice Zeiss Ikon lenses. Leica is dying, Contax and Kyocera are dead; but Cosina and Zeiss are not. On another note, there is no Canadian distributer for Leica. Canadian dealers bring them in from the USA, Japan or China. There is a Canadian distributer for the Cosina/Voigtlander products, but they charge too much.

The Leica Summicron-c 40mm F2 and the Elmar-c 90mm F4 use the Series 5.5 (40.5mm) drop-in filters which need the screw-in hood to keep the filters in place. Nuts. The Minolta Rokkors use the Japanese JIS standard thread (40.5) so the filters screw in and a hood screws onto the filter. Both filter types are difficult to find, however and usually require a special order from B+W. Personally I prefer the 40mm and 90mm Rokkors because of this and the quality's the same if not better than the Leica counterparts. The Minolta hoods are also thicker and better made, I find, than the Leica crap. In the used market today, these 40mm and 90mm lenses are great value. If you want to buy new, however, Zeiss M is the way to go. Be careful! Sherry told me the Cosina/Voigtlander hoods pushed as alternatives for the Leica Summicron-c 40mm F2 and the Elmar-c 90mm F4 do not screw in properly and can damage the lenses. (I don't know for sure if this information is correct.) Here's one solution though I do suggest using the original Leica rubber. Damn! I'm still looking forward to seeing the new Zeiss/Cosina Ikon M rangefinder. It is the last nail in Leica coffin. Don't know about the upcoming Leica digital M, though. A cropped 8 mega-pixel CCD does sound rather crappy for today. I hear the Cosina/Epson RD1 is a nice digital M rangefinder but it is not a hot seller.

Erwin Puts' Leica site was going Kaputt, or so he had posted. Then it went back up a week later because it was missed by Leica. Please, Dass ich nicht lache because I already am. Okay, here we go. I believe a black professional camera is the same as its non-black professional counterpart except that it has more plastic but inside should be the same. Black scratches easier and shows the dust better though I do prefer black tripods, camera bags and black and white film, however. More on black from the Yashica Guy. "I prefer the black finish for situations where you want to be as unobtrusive as possible. There is no doubt this helps but would add that a black camera can get awfully hot under the sun and fry the film which can contribute to poor results. We always put a white canvas 'hat' on the black film magazines when I was shooting exteriors." Yup. I prefer silver cameras.

My Olympus 35RC is a mighty fine rangefinder. When the shutter speed needs to be changed while in auto-aperture, the trigger button locks as a safeguard. Of course it also has a manual option for the purists. It's quite the beefy little camera. The Yashica Electro GSN has a handy battery check button; and like the 35RC, a timer! Geez, my pristine Japanese made German Leica CL doesn't have a timer. What gives? Leica and Zeiss lenses are the best overall but there have been good lenses made by other companies. You just have to research to find out which ones. However, I'm not sure about the ones found on Panasonic and Sony miniDV cameras. Some are not what one would expect from the Leica and Zeiss stamp. Though excellent, Leica M lenses are way overpriced; and the dealers, fondlers, crusty collectors and trade 'em up'ers keep prices high in the used market. The same holds true with Leica M bodies. The used stuff you can easily find is the garbage nobody wants. Watch out!

Protect your lovely lens with a filter and a stiff rubber hood. Indoors, it doesn't matter unless you're at a wild bash. A rubber hood is always useful for guarding against unwanted light and bumps. For shooting color on sunny days use a polarizer for your SLR. It's a bummer trying to use a polarizer on a rangefinger. For sunny day B&W shooting, always use at least a 2X yellow filter; you will lose one stop. This doesn't matter so much when the UV index is low (or indoors especially with using a flash---I didn't mean in a studio setting). A good camera does not make a good photographer, but it certainly helps! If you can't afford a new camera, or don't want to spend lots of money, buy a used one. Many of the old models were better than today's over-priced crap. If you can't afford a decent used camera, go collect bottles for a day and buy yourself an ELECTROfying Yashica GSN. Then you'll be all set for Leica-like photography. You don't need to spend a lot for a good camera. If you can't afford a decent used camera and don't want a rangefinder, go collect bottles for 3 days and buy yourself a Pentax Spotmatic 11a along with a super sharp Pentax screw-on lens---2 or 3 is even better. Then you'll be all set for Leica-like photography, and you'll be able to use a polarizing filter. Regarding bottle collecting, Pokey can show you the ropes. When you want to buy a camera other than a point and shoot, you will be getting into a camera system. So consider carefully what lenses you'll need; and do your research to see if these lenses are good and keep in mind that some of the old screw-on Pentax lenses were superb. 2 Zeiss/Leica-sharp (screw-on) lenses for the Pentax Spotmatic 11a are the SMC 50mm F/1.4 and the 135mm f/3.5 Super-Multi-Coated Takumar. Nikkors are shameful in comparison.

Some say the Olympus OM line are just like Leica rangefinders because of their Leica-like cloth shutter. Yes, OMs have cloth shutters but also unwanted mirror slap. I'd go for a Pentax Spotmatic 11a instead. Rangefinders are better suited for wide-angles whereas SLRs are better suited for tele-lenses. A 90mm or a 100mm would be my limit on a rangefinder. A good solid SLR is better suited for guerilla shooting. However, I would say the Contax G2 would also be good. Did you know that the paparazzi profession is an excellent career choice for the espiring photographer? Did you know that Gum-shoes shoot both video and stills? Yes, and "run 'n gun" is fun.

My favorite tele size for street shooting is 135mm. However, the one for my Nikon isn't as sharp as I would like it to be. I would have to compromise with a 105 or a 180mm, but I'm not going to spend that kind of money for my titanium mirror slapping device, thank you. A 180 or 200mm is perfect for "hand-held" people shooting at the beach! Use a shutter speed at least 1/500. Auto makes for faster shooting and less screw-ups except with flash photography in low light. The sensors require light to function. SLRs have accurate viewfinders while rangefinders generally do not. "Comparing SLRs with rangefinders is like comparing apples with oranges." Really? I would say like onions and garlic. Both are biting but the latter is lasting. Troll your way to success! (Whatever rocks your boat.) Buy a Leica or a Nikon and PRESTO! You are a professional. Ask any Leica or Nikon owner. One Leica stiff-neck from Canada keeps writing, "When I was shooting for a newspaper in the 60's...." Well, we are now in the 21st Century, boob, and a lot has changed. Today, press photographers and photo journalists use digital. The digital Canon 5D has a full size sensor with 12.8 megapixels, and it's consumer priced for rich consumers. Ahhh, it'll go down in price.

Many professional photographers who charge the big bucks for weddings are only professional with charging the big bucks. Be careful. My wife's cousin is the best professional wedding photographer I know; and his prices are reasonable. I wish Star Hunter and LEXX would come back, as well as Babylon 5. My Voigtlander Vitomatic 11b, Zeiss Contax G2 and Nikon FM2T are the quickest to use (focus, exposure), with the G2 being the easiest, of course. It's auto everything.

All this gear talk is getting to you? You just need what you need unless you suffer from gadgetitus. "Gadgetitis is a psychological condition induced be the desire to compensate for an inferiority feeling. I believe that photographers should pay far more attention to studying photographs than apparatus." ---Eric de Mare's "Photography."

Generally, the quality loss is slight with going from 100 to 200 ASA color negs (prints). The quality loss is much higher going from 200 ASA to 400 ASA, though still acceptable. This is why I'd rather gain 1 stop by going with a 200 ASA color film and sometimes 2 stops by going with a 400 ASA---. For my 35mm B&W film needs I absolutely love Ilford's HP5+ (400 ASA). For my color print needs, I like Fuji Reala 100 and Superia 400. This 400 film gives that extra high speed with beautiful saturated colours, indoor and out, and wide exposure latitude." Kodak's Gold line is fine too for good color and I hear that Kodak's Ultra Color 400 is amazing. For color slides it was Kodak's Kodachrome. I find Fuji films heavy on the greens, though Ken claims Fuji Velvia 50 and 100slide film sure make some amazing pictures! (DON'T BUY THE VELVIA 100F version.) Check out his site. Ilford's HP5+ pushed one stop yields better results than Ilford Delta 3200 shot at 1600 but developed for 3200. Kodak's Tri-X, a B&W 400 ASA film, has a cult following. I am not a member of this cult. The Tri-X cult use Diafine or DK-50 for bathroom developing.

If you want to look like a dork, wear a camera vest and make sure your camera strap has LEICA or NIKON printed on it. A hat with a brand name is even better because people will stare at your face. However, I would wear a Yashica ELECTRO strap with pride, and I do. A camera is a tool and not a magical device. It is up to the shooter to make it work right. My Yashica Electro GSN is a magical device. So is my wife's Zeiss Contax G2. The Pentax LX was Pentax's best SLR ever---better than even the Nikon F3. Photography is fun, especially when there's something interesting to shoot. Making the effort makes all the difference. I need 2 cups of coffee before I can make the effort. Be critical. I use a simple rating system to help improve my photography: (1) bad (2) good (3) exceptional. I am my harshest critic, unless my wife sees my photos first. I store my best photos in albums so that I can bore the wife's friends. Oh, and now I'm wondering whether my Leica CL also has a light leak. Bummer. I should have kept the GSN faith instead of backsliding. Live and learn, eh? "Wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual." If I were to buy a camera today, that is if I owned zip, I'd probably go for a Pentax Spotmatic 11a with a 50 and 135mm lens. If I wanted to spend more money, I'd go the rangefinder route: either a Contax G2, a Bessa R3A or the Zeiss Ikon. The G2 is a dead system because it's discontinued but the Bessa and Ikon are M mounts, so there are numerous M lenses on the market to choose from. The Hexar RF would be okay too but it has a noisy rewind motor. Note: I'd never buy a Leica because they are a way, way over-priced. The MP should be selling for under $1000 US for what it is and nothing more. It's crazy $4000+US price tag is simply nuts. Really. It's just not worth it. If I only had $10 to spend on a camera, I'd get an Electro GSN---the poor man's Leica---plus $12 for the battery adaptor, $10 for a filter and $15 for a rubber hood. For digital it would be the Canon EOS 5D most likely, or whatever. Digital is crap, 'er, I mean a trap. There's always something better around the corner--no different from TVs and VCRs---it's all consumer electronics crap. Yes, video cameras included. If you need a flash for your old camera, consider the Vivitar 285HV, or it's smaller version (for smaller cameras). Okay, so you bought yourself the Contax G2. Then get the Contax TLA360. That's the one to drool over, especially if you want to do wedding gigs. If you can't find a TLA360, go for a Metz. Damn! Nikon is down to making 2 film cameras: the F6 and the Cosina made for Nikon FM10. Get your FM3A quick! (The chrome one.) The Zeiss Ikon is now available though it is only a glorified Bessa R2A from the same factory (and Zeiss stamped ).

In conclusion, let there be light---no light, no sight. Simple lighting is best. Keep the background simple. Keep it simple. Stay relaxed and be casual. Shoot casual. A picture should say something---hopefully a story. Don't know where or what to shoot? Well, shoot all your friends for starters. Then there's the zoo, a farm and the street. Females with children or dogs are good subject matter. (Beach babes require gorilla tactics or stunning charm.) Develop your "eye," experiment with angles, use your imagination be creative; and most of all, enjoy it. Still confused? I told you not to read what camera should I buy? by Bobo the clown! You should've read Ken instead. God bless and keep your stick on the ice.