A few months ago when I was starting to get into film photography, I called my dad to ask if he still had his old rangefinder camera. I remembered it existed, but nothing else about it. When I asked him what kind it was, I was surprised to find out it was a Leica, specifically an M2, along with four lenses (35, 50, 90, and 135mm). I asked him if I could have it, and he said yes. Last week I made the drive from Portland, Oregon down to Sonoma County, California to pick it up. It is in about as good of condition as I can imagine a camera from 1960 being in.

Everything seems to work great on it. I put film in it and took a few shots. I’ll finish the roll this week and get it developed. I’m pretty excited to see how they turn out.

One thing I can say already is that the act of using this camera is really satisfying. I can tell why street photographers use them in particular. I love how compact it is compared to my Nikon SLR, how easy it is to see the focus range on the lens, how smooth all of the controls are, and how absurdly quiet it is. I’ve become pretty used to the sound of an SLR, and compared to that the little click this camera makes when you depress the shutter button is almost inaudible. It’s even quiet compared to my Trip 35.

More importantly than any of that, it’s so meaningful to me to have something of my dad’s that he’s clearly treasured and had for most of his life. This is something of his which is now mine that will always make me think of him whenever I hold it.