[summicron1]

I have a psychological problem with these really pristine cameras...I love them, but I can't bring myself to load them with film and go out on a shooting spree. I'm afraid to damage or mark them in any way. So they sit on a shelf. On the other hand, if I get a "user's" camera complete with battle scars, I fear no further evil can come.

Does this make any sense to anybody?
I think it goes back to my early childhood, having had poor toilet training.

I had this exact problem -- bought a mint IIIf RD, ST, and spent money to have it serviced, but never used it because it was, well, mint. After sitting for a long time it didn't work again, and then the service didn't quite do things right and so I let it sit and ended up having it serviced AGAIN, and realized that, well, shucks, I've spent as much as I could ever hope to get out of it on having it serviced and all it is is a paper weight.

So I slapped a lens and Abrahams rapidwinder on it and it's earning its keep. Great camera.

So, you have a tool, if you keep it mint, whatever you sell it for -- maybe $700? -- will be dwarfed by the joy you will get out of using it, and if you die without having used it then some relative you hate will get the money, or the camera, or some idiot at a yard sale will pay $10 for it.

So put film in it and use it as God and Oscar Barnack intended. One great shot of your children will pay for it in spades, and a brand new Leica, serviced and working as new, is a real joy to use.