My Leicaflex has arrived (lots of photos)

[marc_rochkind]

<p>

Last week I wrote an article about How to Buy a Camera on eBay:

<p>

http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00VQxC

<p>

Well, the Leicaflex I wrote about bidding on has arrived:

<p><a href='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/big/Leicaflex-1.jpg'><img

src='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/medium/Leicaflex-1.jpg' class='image' /></a>

<p>

(More shots of the Leicaflex, including some extreme closeups, here: http://basepath.com/Photography/Leicaflex.php)

<p>

Today I loaded it up and went out on an unseasonably warm day to

try it out.

Leicas are for street photography, right?

<p>

Meter, shutter, lens, and everything else seems to be in perfect order,

after 43 years.

(Not sure if it has ever been CLA'd.)

The quality of the Summicron lens is sensational.

(Click on any of the shots to see them larger.

They were processed and scanned by a local lab for $7—the cheapest scans—and then processed a bit in Lightroom.)

<p>

I shot the first photo from the hip,

without aiming through the viewfinder.

It's shown here full-frame, with no cropping.

Lucky!

 

<p><a href='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/big/LeicaflexShots-4.jpg'><img

src='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/medium/LeicaflexShots-4.jpg' class='image' /></a>

<p><a href='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/big/LeicaflexShots-2.jpg'><img

src='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/medium/LeicaflexShots-2.jpg' class='image' /></a>

<p><a href='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/big/LeicaflexShots-3.jpg'><img

src='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/medium/LeicaflexShots-3.jpg' class='image' /></a>

<p><a href='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/big/LeicaflexShots-5.jpg'><img

src='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/medium/LeicaflexShots-5.jpg' class='image' /></a>

<p><a href='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/big/LeicaflexShots-1.jpg'><img

src='http://basepath.com/images/PhotoArticles/medium/LeicaflexShots-1.jpg' class='image' /></a>

<p>

--Marc

[john_wiegerink1]

<p>Marc,<br>

Another one of those "Sherman tank" type cameras. Only this one is styled more like the German Tiger Tank. I have the next model up, the SL, and just can't seem to part with it even if I don't use it hardly at all any more. It's one of those cameras you just like to take out and play with and feel every now and then. I think Leica went down hill a little after the SL2. I have owned the Standard like yours, the SL, SL2 for about a week, R3, R4. The R4 was nice to use, the R3(at least mine) was trouble, the SL2 was worth to much for me to use so I sold it for a nice profit. The leaves the SL and Standard and between the two I always liked the Standard. Maybe it's because I had to replace one on the metering cells in the SL and the Standard was like a Timex watch. Takes a licking, keeps on ticking! Just a really great camera, but wouldn't anything without good glass and it certainly has that. Have fun with it. JohnW</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Yeah, those are sharp photographs...great colour rendition, too. What film, <strong>Marc</strong> ? As well as the superb Summicron definition, the acutance is wonderful. It's certainly a beautifully designed and finished camera, and it looks to be in wonderful order, a worthy bearer of the Leica name. I can feel a slight fit of envy coming on...thanks for sharing.</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>That's a pretty one, Marc, looks brand new! Outstanding 'Cron image quality and color rendition. Grrreat score!</p>

[User_1172872]

<p>Not only a great camera, but fascinating history as well. I remember seeing the body in a New York discount shop at a closeout price of about US $ 225 in 1969. That's about US $ 900 today after adjusting for inflation. Two years later, Richard Nixon scuttled the Bretton Woods agreement, took the dollar off gold, and the value of the DM skyrocketed. It was all over for the West German camera manufacturers. Carl Zeiss (the parent company) knew it and pulled the plug on Zeiss Ikon. Leica survived, in part due to a joint venture with Minolta.</p>

[Gus Lazzari]

<p>Great Marc, you just reminded me that I don't have one of these.</p>

<p>Now I want one to...</p><div></div>

[marc_rochkind]

Rick--

 

Regarding the "acutance": Once the film left the chemicals, the lab ran it through their scanner, and from that point on everything was digital. In Lightroom, I made my usual adjustments (e.g., as when I process an image from my Nikon D700), including a bit of saturation and what Lightroom calls "clarity", which is a local, image-sensitive contrast enhancement. That's I'm sure what you're seeing.

 

Alas, on the web, there's no way for me to post the negatives themselves.

 

Having said that, I still think that I'm seeing superior Leitz optics, as I've scanned lots of negatives from other cameras, too. But they don't look nearly as good as this.

 

(It was ISO 400 Fujicolor... don't remember which kind. Wish I knew more about film!)

 

--Marc

[sg_adams]

<p>Yes, very cool. I am trying to place these photos, the town. At first I thought Davis CA. And then the alley looks like some stuff I shot in flagstaff. <br>

Do tell...</p>

[robert_landis]

<p> ? Boulder</p>

[marc_rochkind]

Boulder (Colorado, USA) it is... forgot to mention that. The downtown (Pearl Street) mall.

 

--Marc

[JDMvW]

<p>Very nice, both cameras and pictures.</p>

<p>Another great "first" for your collection. Congratulations.</p>

<p>Thank goodness I've managed to dodge the Leica collecting urge, though. ;)</p>

[john_wiegerink1]

<p>Gus,<br>

Your SL looks in better shape than mine, but mine is still a darn nice camera. The one problem I have with mine is that the leatherette above the letters SL keeps peeling up. It peels up, I push it down. It's like the camera is playing a game. The other thing that puzzles me about the SL series is why Leica never had a mirror lock-up on the camera. That one I could never under stand, but I do know that they had one of the best mirror dampening systems in a camera at that time and maybe they figure they didn't need it. JohnW</p>

[marc_rochkind]

Gus--

 

The original Leicaflex ("Standard") did have MLU, but I don't know if there were any lenses that protruded far back enough to need it.

 

--Marc

[Robin Smith]

<p>Yes, the 21mm Super-Angulon f3,4. A good lens and reputed to be better than the later retrofocus f4 Super-Angulon</p>