The Annual Dilemma

The measure of where I stand camera wise is the annual family holiday every year. I have to travel light, so which cameras I bring is always a big deal to me.

This year I have an Xpan which has reserved itself a slot (one of three). I will definitely be bringing one of my Leica Rangefinders with me (M8 and MP). I am pretty sure it will be the MP, along with black and white film.

The MP has an unfair advantage as its the new kid on the block. It's a camera I never intended buying (yeah I know, my previous post! Stay with me, this one is different!). I had a Leica M6 I was perfectly happy with, my ideal camera. However it had a shutter problem which was steadily getting worse and seemingly randomly ruining pictures. I sent it to Leica Germany for repair. The upshot was that I had a choice of a very expensive repair which wasn't guaranteed (or even expected) to be a complete success or a generous discount on a new MP. The third option of course was to have the M6 shipped back without repairing it.

Last year I have solved the dilemma by bringing both the M6 and the M8. The Xpan has put pay to that  (unless I bring all 3 cameras, each with one lens attached). If I still had the M6, the M8 might have had a chance, as the M6 had been my yearly travel companion, so I might have shaked things up a little.
Alas a pretty face wins every time - the MP has reserved the second slot.

I think the third slot will go for extra lenses. The Xpan will have its 45mm attached, and the MP its 50mm. 30mm Xpan lens and 35mm and 90mm M mount lenses will fit in the last slot. Wildcard option would be M8 and 28mm.