My new Leotax K

<p> With its m39 mount, its look, and I would add, its reliability, the Leotax is what we call a Leica copy. Mine is a K, the cheapest one, not cheap though.<br>

When I had to decide for a lens to buy, I looked for the Letana first (only 1000 made for the early models), Nikkor, Canon, Simlar, Hexanon... I wanted a Japanese one, but they're expensive.<br>

And then, you, Photo.net users invited me to look for the Industar 22 or 50 collapsible lenses, which look very cute indeed. Can Russian lenses communicate with my Japanese camera? Well, as long as they can screw, that's all we need, right ? It was a bit hard at the beginning, so I use half a drop of vaseline oil on a cotton pad to lube the lens thread.</p>

<p> So, the camera (Leotax K) is Japanese, the lens (Industar 50) is Russian, the filter (yellow, Leitz) is German, the hood is chinese (I believe it's an original hood for the Shanghai rangefinders, very rare Leica copy), the film (tri-x) is american, the man behind the camera is French (... I know, I know but nobody is perfect right ?), the place is Taiwan, and the scanner is unfortunately a bad one</p><div></div>

<p> Shooting just anything to try the lens and the camera. Satisfying sharpnes and contrast, that Industar came in almost mint condition from Russia.</p><div></div>

<p>Funny effect, that could look nice in a few circumstances.</p><div></div>

<p>At a temple...</p><div></div>

<p>A better photographer was needed for this one... Not much light, still not that bad, but why the hell did I focus on the puddles ?</p><div></div>

<p>Hi Yann -</p>

<p>Nice photos - I especially like "Facing the Sun".</p>

<p>/joel</p>

 

<p> Very old people in Taiwan can stay hours at the same place without going anywhere or talking. My 86 y/o grandma would be considered hyperactive here.</p><div></div>

<p>Last shot: My daughter, half French, half Taiwanese, shot with my half Japanese half Russian camera.</p><div></div>

<p>Those are all very nice, great match!</p>

<p>~Jack</p>

<p>sometimes a mongrul works better than the real thing [LOL] and running for cover:</p>

Very nice pictures from an attractive camera. Thanks, sp.

<p>Very nice pictures from a truly global photographer! It looks as if you scored a very sharp lens. "Facing the Sun" is dramatic, and the half-tones are great in "Nostalgia". More, please.</p>

<p>Great job.<br>

No wonder so many of the Leica copies after WWII are so sought after (well, not the Soviet ones, although those are my personal "Leicas")</p>

<p>Yes, Lauren, but I'm still tempted by a Nikkor LTM 50mm/2...<br>

Rick, I'm sorry but the other shots on this roll aren't that good, some blurry, and i had a little problem in the darkroom with the film that was stuck on the reel, at least six shots are lost.<br>

JDM: I had a zorki once with a fed lens and I was quite disappointed with both of them. I gave it another try with a zorki C and a Jupiter 8 recently, those 2 are really nice.<br>

Joel: Funny, I didn't expect this result, I wanted to know about the flare.<br>

The problem with those rangefinders: - To put the film inside is really a pain sometimes. - The hood on the lens blocks the view from the rangefinder. - You have to take the filter off to change the depth of fied. - You love them so much you are shy to take them out. - Your wife will get jealous when you fondle them.<br>

Thanks for your nice comments everybody, I appreciate</p>

<p>Yann, great shots, looks like the camera is in wonderful condition. I actually like the effect on Facing the Sun. Maybe a tiny crop on the right, but Dragon is wonderful too.</p>

In my high school years in Singapore, I used a Leotax

with Elmar 50/3.5 lens