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Leica Ia and NPZ800 professional film.


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I know the Leica Ia is old hat - but I think it is worth posting this image;

if only to show how well the camera compares - in these conditions - with

modern technology, and copes with modern fast film.

 

Taken with my 1929 camera, lens wide open, 1/30th second, lens hood and UV

filter, using Fujifilm NPZ800 professional.

 

Subject: The bastion steps and the entrance to the Sally Port of the old city

of Senglea, Grand Harbour, Malta. I have an exhibition here - opening

September - with all images taken with the 1929 Leica Ia.

 

Rob<div>00HSkB-31441984.jpg.50cf9fcc27f9febf3583c25c84d10ea9.jpg</div>

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Thanks guys - the camera worked well here - but not so happy with very bright light off the sea and cliffs at f18 and 1/500. As expected, it over-exposes at least one stop with the 800 ASA film. Not the film to use in those conditions anyway.

 

But glad you like the image - I love the old Ia

 

Rob

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Anastigmat, Elmax or Elmar? I have the dates mixed up. Your over-exposure problem in bright surroundings could be related to flare, by the way, despite your use of a hood. Do you get decent contrast (don't compare with later lenses) in those situations?
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Mukul - it's just an Elmar, and you're right - it doesn't have the contrast of later coated lenses; but this film's speed is too fast for this combo in bright light conditions.

 

I've been very pleased with the results from Jessops' 200 and 400 ASA films in night and daylight situations, but thought I'd just give this 800ASA film a whirl in dark and artificial night light situations. I'm very pleased with the results in those situations: with the contrast, saturation, and tonal quality. I am at fault using this camera and film in very bright daylight.

 

Adrian - thanks for the tip about neutral density filters.

 

Shooting anywhere towards the sun I also shade the lens with a hat.

 

Rob

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I started my serious photography binge with a Foth Derby back in '40. It didn't have a range finder (damn few camers did back then) and I learned to estimate range and zone focus long before I was able to afford a Leica, and was fortunate to find a III. However, to this day I use the RF only to verify the range I have already estimated. Rarely has it failed me, and along with the Sunny 16 I've satisfied my own photographic demands all these years. If I ever get exposed to a good deal on a I it will be ample motivation to grab it and run!
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Dan - I've never regretted buying my Ia - and I take it pretty well everywhere. It was a mess when I bought it: curtains full of holes, rust in the works - and I wondered if I'd made a mistake; but I won't forget the thrill of getting it back from a complete workover and putting the first film through it.

 

Sunny 16 usually does it for me - even though the calibration on the lens doesn't coincide exactly for that. But it's easy to adjust - and, anyway, there's a lot of guesswork for my night work.

 

Rob

 

Rob

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After all you don't have to line up the exact marks, there is plenty of toleracne when you estimate the values in between! With all the sophistications we have become accustomed to in the past 60 odd years it is easy to get all wrapped up in imagined precision. The Leica started as a bare-boned ergonomic tool and for many years stayed simple, howerver if you dig beneath the veneer those ergonomic tools are still there under the bells and whistles!
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Rob, there's no such thing as a film "too fast" if there's room enough to give it a shorter exposure through a smaller aperture. Seems to me that we're speaking here of a sensitivity curve different from those of the other films you've used. The answer remains what I'd suggested: close down by up to one stop in bright light. The aperture setting on those Elmars can be fiddly, at least for fellows like me whose fingers are like dried cucumbers, but translating the Continental scale into the now universal one is a simple arithmetical business.
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Rob, if your fastest shutter speed is 1/500 sec. and your smallest aperture is f/18, you'll be over-exposed by something more than a half stop. One answer is a neutral density filter. Another is to use ISO 800 film only in lower light. Arguably the best solution is to not take the Ia along when you go to a Mediterranean beach at noon in summer. Find a friendly crab to play with.
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Hi John - I enjoy using the old camera, and posted this image to show how wonderfully it handled the artificial night light with a modern 800ASA film. With this camera, that film is too fast to use in bright summer light of the Med: - you might remember I used Jessops 200ASA film in those conditions, and I was very happy with the results.

 

Glad you like this image

 

Rob

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Hi Mukul - yes - that was what I was trying to say: that the 800ASA film is too fast to use with this camera in very bright light, but that is fine for work at night. Am off to the beach to look for that friendly crab.

 

It was good to meet you - and thanks for you input

 

Rob

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I'd forgotten what was the smallest aperture of those Elmars. Then again, I cannot understand why anyone should want to use film of that speed except in low light. Must confess to a bias, of course. The film which was considered the best when I got into photography was Adox KB14, which, if I remember base 10 logs, was the equivalent of ASA/BS 20 arith. The arrival of Agfa Isopan ISS (ASA/BS 100) was something like a nuclear explosion, and people worried if they could handle the speed. In later years, while I tried Tri-X and HP4, I settled on FP4 and Plus-X. For slides, nothing faster than 100. Now I use Fujicolor 100 for everything, hand-held indoor work included. Limitations, yes, but also a certain sense of security: and a bit of a challenge too.

 

You have equipment there which can do some things better than any other can. The trick is to learn its strengths and then exploit them.

 

Crabs. Mind the joker who grabbed my toe in 1975, or maybe it was 1976. Definitely not friendly.

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