My camera collection: The Jewel

The jewel of my collection and without a doubt my favorite camera is my Leica M7 rangefinder with the 35mm f1.4 ASPH Summilux lens. If I had to get rid of all my cameras and could keep only one, this is the one.

I found this camera used (barely) in late December 2005 at Southeastern Camera. I was shopping for something else entirely, but I came across this chrome M7 body for a really great price. I told them I'd buy it if they had a 35mm f1.4, and it turned out they had one at their Carrboro location. It was a lot of money, but I snagged it and drove quickly over to Carrboro to get the lens. I didn't know that I'd get the aspherical version- a really great deal for the price!

I've shot some gorgeous images with this little camera. It's the perfect tool for travel and street photography, and at f1.4 the lens has a beautiful signature look that cannot be replicated by anything else. My finest wedding work was shot with this camera, until I had to stop shooting film because clients wanted more instant results. Perhaps one day I will be able to replace the body with an M9 digital, but until then I plan to continue to shoot 35mm film for my own personal use. I love my Leica!