the very first thing is a neck strap, and i'm not kidding!. use it every time you pick up your camera. the second is a good, solid tripod. every image you make will be the better for it. if you can afford to, stay away from zoom lenses. buy prime lenses. and i would begin with a 50 or 60 mm lens. you will make 95% of your images with that lens. it's a great teacher. next, a book "The Craft of Photography" by David Vestal. there is no better out there and even though it deals with film, it is sure to make you a better photographer. a haze filter for your lens, either b+w or hoya.
now all these things seem minor, but they are the most important things a beginning photographer can do.

if you can find a volume "The Craft of Photography" by the late great David Vestal - there is no finer or more difficult, but it sure as heck make you a good photographer.

Erica and i used our leitz tiltall tripod for the last 37 years. it was our first tripod, and always remained her favorite. even in the field, she used her medium format and 35mm cameras on it.
i still have it and still use it. great rig.

hi, Danny.
you have a great combination there. the cl uses a "semaphore" arm for metering. they tend to be easily damaged. so, just be aware, so you don't accidently come in contact with it when changing lenses. i know you only have one, right now, but i bet the 90mm is not far behind. with the 40mm summicron, you can use any kind of film you like, but it's a great black and white unit.
i think you are going to have a lot of fun with it. let us know when you get your leica m7!!

i'm a little confused.
when you mention the camera viewing lens are you speaking of the camera's mirror, the pentaprism or the focusing screen?
please let me know, i just may be able to assist you with an fg manual.
cody

hello, well, yes. i use only flim - black and white and transparency materials. have my little darkroom develop my film and print my results. that is all the colour work goes to a lab for printing, as it cannot be duplicated in a home darkroom.
as for scanning, no point to it. digital darkrooms spray the print on the paper, enlarger printing impregnates the sliver halide cristals and give a 3 dimensional quality digital simply cannot achieve. so a digital print appears flat while the film print provides depth.
some paper manufacturers are attempting to replicate this with their paper surfaces, but so far, it's been less than successful.
so, there you go. i use 35mm both rangefinders and slrs, medium format and large format. lots of choices and lots of craft involved. good luck and any questions you may have, i'll be glad to assist.
go for it!!!

it doesn't take much to confuse me, but what is meant by a "slight improvement in sharpness"?

have a great love of my 2 pentaxes - spotmatic and k2dmd

ahhh, but film is archival, digital is not and will never be (a characteristic of both beasts).
and of course the laws of optics are immutable. sooo....that leaves "old" technology.

you know like goodbye cd and hello vinyl?

heh-heh

hmmmm. never had that problem

the very best solution is a blower and lens tissue combination. wipe very slightly in a circular motion. when absolutely necessary use one or two drops of camera lens cleaning solution.
what ever you do, please do not use eyeglass cloths or solution. it's a very different animal.
cleaning marks on the front surface of the lens (the notorious summitar comes to mind) can deal with a few minor scratches, but many small ones will knock down contrast. a deep scratch may cause the lens to flare (in that case, try painting (honest!) the scratch with black paint. it may fill it in and take care of the flare issue. as nothing focuses on the front element of a lens, the above will have no significant effect.
but as the other folks have advised - ixnay on the tee shirt (even though i've done it too!!!!)

what you really need is the Nikon F6!

the tamron macros are lovely lenses. but best used with your camera on a tripod. so vibration issues, in that particular situation, would not be an issue.

all digital image capturing devices are inferior to film cameras, regardless of the brand (hee-hee, i just couldn't resisit!!!)

yup.
if you want emotional content in your photographs, you need to put something of yourself into it. and that means, and here i go again, getting rid of technology which blocks you from learning.

digital image making should be just as difficult as film photography. turn the camera on manual, focus your lens yourself, and don't cheat by going to the computer to try and make something of a lousy image. if it's lousy, try again, and again, and again. purchase a hand held light meter - it's way better than anything in anybody's camera. take 8 hour exposures. one activation, not 20. study your subject - learn light. got to a museum, look at the paintings - they will tell you about subject matter, light and composition.
then go back, and take another image. see if it replicates what your eye sees. see if, as a unmanipulated image, it retains its original credibility. forget the toys, used your eyes and brain. see how few activations you can use, not how many. put some effort into it.
gads, go buy a film camera and see what it's really all about (heh-heh).