There's a story old New Yorkers tell about the time in the 70s when the first two letters of the Essex House sign burnt out.

[PenPusher]

The more I look at this shot the more I like it, the trees in their winter clothing give a very nice filter effect to the buildings, after 50+ years in architecture/construction I have to admit that I prefer the older buildings to acres of mostly glass cladding.

Don't tell anyone but I'm after investing in a Leica IIc (converted to IIIc) with a Russian Jupiter 8 lens, I have not been able to try it out yet as I did a job on my foot a couple of months back so haven't been able to get around as much as I would like and the weather has been bad as well. I always wanted a Leica and had a great fancy for an M2/3 but I was very disappointed when I got an M3 on loan from a relative, it just felt very awkward and bulky, the old screw models felt so much better in the hand and it was easy to see why they were more popular than the Contax which, on paper, was a better camera.

[oculus]

I prefer the older buildings to acres of mostly glass cladding

I agree entirely. The glass can have a beautiful reflecting effect during golden hours; but the mid-century Essex House is much easier on my eye than the monstrosity looming behind it.

Don't tell anyone but I'm after investing in a Leica IIc (converted to IIIc) with a Russian Jupiter 8 lens

Congrats! I have never tried a I, II, or III. The collapsible 50 3.5 would be a classic choice, I should think. My film Leica is an M4, to which I usually attach a 50 Summicron "Rigid". I prefer it to the M3 because the M4 has an easier loading and film rewind mechanism yet is still entirely mechanical. I saw an elderly fellow donning a III on Sunday in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square, casually strolling with with his wife.

[PenPusher]

I fell in love with the M2 after reading Theo Scheerer's The Leica and The Leica System in the early 1960's but I knew that a SLR would work better for me, when the M4 came out I thought it was the Bee's Knees but from memory it was £157 body only and I was earning around £15 a week and a Yashica SLR with 50mm F2 was about £75 so that was that.