Oh, stop it with the curmudgeonly bit. Admit it: if only ONE of us does this over the next year, it was all worth it. ;-) Seriously, thank you for spelling out the details. What you're suggesting is a big commitment (as you emphasized) and as much as we all love you, "because I said so" wasn't really enough for us.* It's not you, it's us wanting to find an easier route. Oh, and some of us just MIGHT be middle-aged parents who want to do something to radically improve our photography, too, but who have a little less flexibility than a swinging single and are used to looking for ways to simplify our lives. Just sayin' This is a great pair of posts. I'll start saving and check back with ebay in the fall! ~~Charles

This is a very tempting challenge. I have two questions: (1) I assume making contact sheets means you expect the photographer to have a home-darkroom too, right? How involved is that? (2) Could you elaborate on why a *Leica* in particular? I understand why film, and why a single lens, but why not a fixed-lens compact rangefinder (like a Canonet or similar) or even a manual-focus film SLR like the venerable K1000? Is frustrating film-loading an essential character-building part of the exercise? ;-) Thanks for the challenge and all the thought-provoking words you put up on TOP. I'm sure you already realize you have the best photography blog on all the Internets! ~~Charles

Thanks for the warning! I just ordered mine and plan to wear it when I GM for my kids' first RPG. Your blog posts and podcasts with PvP/PA inspired me to start a game for them and my kids are very psyched for it. Thank you for the inspiration!