Leica news, before it happens

Today’s guest post is by J Shin:

This is the morning of Christmas, 2012, and I am facing a moral crisis.

For years, I have not made a major photo equipment purchase. My partner and I have a deal where my income needs to meet a certain benchmark before I can purchase another one. I have been able to make “minor” purchases under $200, and have been playing with an Olympus E-PM1, bought refurbished at $170, and a $20 Photodiox adapter for my Leica R lenses. I just got a used Panasonic 14/2.5, for $160, with which I have been very happy. So happy, in fact, that, now that I did meet my benchmark (yes!), and am free to buy any one major equipment I want, I am contemplating getting the well-reviewed Olympus 75/1.8 lens, to fill a gap in my Leica lens line up, and to take advantage of this new-fangled thing they call “autofocus”, which I am just beginning to appreciate, thanks to my failing eye sight. It was either that or the NEX-VG900, a $3,300 full-frame madness.

Then, at 6 am Christmas morning, I wake up from a groggy dream, and innocently reach for my laptop to check the e-mails. There, like a misguided Christmas present from hell, is a notification from eBay.

A Summilux-R 1.4/35. For $2,600.

This is a lens I have coveted even before I bought my very first Leica, the R3MOT, with a Summicron-R 2/50. It is the very object I was preparing to buy when my partner put a clamp on my procurement process 4 years ago. It was going for about $1,200 then.

Now you are lucky to see it at $3,000. A “bargain” condition piece is occasionally available for about $2,500, with questionable optical flaws.

Here is a very MINT piece for $2,600.

I can afford it.

And then the soul-searching begins. This isn’t just about the one piece of equipment I am allowed to buy, but a question of what, exactly, I would rather spend my money on from here on, the entire future of my camera-buying career. Do I stay with the long-defunct, hyperinflated R system, or do I jump ship for a new system? Say, Micro Four Thirds?

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