6 month Leica honeymoon

[anhtu]

Hi all,

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As some of you here would know, I'm a recent convert to the red dot

camera. It was been an interesting time. I got myself an M6TTL and

within a blink got myself a 50Lux, 35Cron ASPH, 90Cron, 90Elmarit,

50Summitar and a 15CV. And now I'm hunting around for a second M body!

Like some kind of festering organism that I have to feed.

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Anyway, a fortnight ago I had my first chance to really stress test

the system out on a short trip to Vietnam. To cut a long story short,

I lost my battery cover after the first week (why is it so easy to

loosen itself?), camera got knocked out of my hand by a passing

motorcyle (those damn crazy drivers!!). I looked on in horror as the

camera went rolling clunk clunk down road ahead of me. As a result of

the knock the rangefinder in the camera well AWOL. My Nikon-FM2 got

worse harassment whilst in India and it still came up firing. Hhmm...

 

Amazingly the M6 was still usable! but I had to focus using the scale

on the lens and a guess of the light and bracket like hell. Never did

feel the need to use my backup Contax G. Mad? maybe. :-)

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Anyway ... unbelievably, I'm still fond of the damn thing !! Just want

to thank everyone here for helping me with some of those stupid

questions about Leica gear and introducing me to some of the finer

points about the camera. This forum is great!

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I'm now the proud owner of an ordinary user M6 :-) She's in the shops

for repairs at the moment.

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<a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=551297">Here's

some pics from the trip.</a>

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Would love to hear your comments and thoughts.

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[james_elwing]

You appear to be accident prone. If you are thinking of skydiving, I suggest the CV15 and a parachute. What have you done with the damaged TTL?

[steve_ries]

Thanks for sharing your pictures, I really like the first one the best.

 

Yes, I think you should skip sky diving for now.

 

Regards,

Steve

[michael_cockerham]

You had all these disasters and STILL came home with so many beautiful images?! Well done, I like your style: you have a keen eye for colour and shape. I hope you're pleased with this collection.

[robert x]

Beautiful colours - may I ask what kind of film you used for your colour photos ?

[robert_m3]

Your shots are well worth a broken camera or two! Great work.

[working camera]

Firstly, thank you for returning to share your results and experiences. A lot who post up "newbee" questions, we never here back from.

 

And that's an impressive set of images you've produced! I'm taken by the general way you have engaged your subjects.

 

C.

[kevin_oconnor1]

Sorry to hear about the mishaps w/your M6. After repair it will function good as new.

 

Beautiful photos! I love the colors and would also like to know they type of color film used.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[skinny_mcgee]

WOW!!!!

[glenn_owens1]

Great compostion-very impressive photos, you already know how to use the M6 very well.

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

Anhtu: you did yourself proud. I began writing down titles of pictures that I loved, but the list got too long.

 

The b&w of the woman making snake soup, and the fisherman casting into the still lake are classics."Standoff between 3 girls" made me laugh out loud! (It ain't that easy to be a kid), although your guess-focus may have failed you a bit there.As with the boy in the red shirt walking by the bay-the only picture I would have left out; although it's debatable whether I'd have gotten as many beauties as you did-with any equipment, in any condition.

 

I would also like to know the film used as well as the lenses.

[arthuryeo]

A fine slice of the life in Vietnam. Thanks for sharing.

[mattalofs]

Good colors and contrast. Strong compositions. And the shots work well as a group.

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

I just noticed that by clicking on Details I can see which lens you used. Wonderful that you were so successful guess-focussing with the 90, as with the snake-soup girl.

[paul_chan4]

Anhtu, with pixs like these, you do not really need a second M. I shudder what you can be more capable of if you do!

[milbrua]

Anhtu,

 

That's a lovely gallery. Thanks for posting.

 

-Bruce

[michael s.]

Anhtu - You did an excellent job.

 

The photos and small captions are immensely helpful to people like me, who have never been there and know so little of the customs, conditions, and daily routines.

 

And some of your photos are just beautiful.

 

Thank you -

[SCL]

Anhtu - a beautiful compelling collection. I love your juxtaposition of color and black & white, and your subject matter just draws me in deeper and deeper as I move from photo to photo. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[ronald_wills]

Beautiful and interesting photographs. Thanks for the story telling captions. Anhtu, you're

an excellent photographer, and you do Leica, and this forum proud.

[shambrick007]

Awsome work! I love the moody colors and tones. Vietnam is a photo paradise. I hope to get back <a href = "http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=525200">there</a> soon.

[tom_bryant]

Gorgeous photos, Anhtu.

 

Your work again proves the old saying that it's the nut behind the viewfinder that is the most important part of the photographic system.

[anhtu]

Hi All. Thanks for all your encouraging comments. I am very grateful.

As for some questions about film used:

Mainly Provia 100F and 400F, and Velvia 100F for colour.

Black and White was Ilford Delta 100 and FP4 120.

It was overcast/polluted most of the time - Sunny f11 is more accurate than Sunny f16.

A few of the black and whites were from desaturated colour photos.

Again thanks for your comments.

cheers

anhtu

[julian_koplen]

Anhtu,

 

Looking at your beautiful pictures brought me many minutes of pleasure. You have a wonderful talent.

 

One question, maybe two. A lot of your pictures have a colorful and bright subject with dramatically dark surroundings. Is there a special technique to achieve that, such as fill flash?

 

Also, many looked difficult to meter, especially for slide film. Did you use the Leica's built in meter, or use something else, such as an incident meter?

 

Again, my compliments.

 

Julian

[anhtu]

Hi Julian, yes they were slide film for the colour ones (Velvia + Provia) and Delta and FP4 for black and whites. Velvia I noticed has a very high contrast. I deliberately kept an eye out for people standing in front of large darkened areas and slightly underexposed my subject. After the meter broke on the M6TTL, I bracket a lot of my shots. Film is cheap. :-)

[robert goldstein]

Anhtu,

 

I am very impressed by your folder and also by the quality of the scans. I believe that you

have mastered the technique.

 

Rob