collapsible elmar and color rendition

[jean3]

..at least combined with a defective shutter! I just found this

picture while browsing my photo cds. It was my first roll in my

first leica - a leica II with collapsible elmar. I paid way to much

for it, (like always on ebay) especially considering the shutter,

but that's another story!

 

I recall some questions what the old leica lenses look like, and if

they're good for color. I never saw a pic proofing anything, so i

thought this one might help a little to give an idea. The lens looks

absolutely fine, no haze, no scratches, and is coated. Yes, the

entire film looks like this. Yes, I have shot a couple of rolls from

the same batch with my slr, and they look absolutely "normal" - so

this look seems specific for my elmar. Given the age of the lens,

though, i would not take any bets that another elmar would produce

the same effect! While details are rendered quite good, there are no

strong contrasts (macrocontrast?) what makes the image look kinda

soft, but very pleasing.

 

BTW - an important lesson i learned: test new equipment first,

before using it for anything important. I've always neglected this

happily, it always worked out, but it seems i ran out of luck in

that department!

 

And just out of curiosity, can anyone determine the shutter defect?

I'll send the camera to solms for a cla some day, but i'm curious..<div></div>

[jerry_lehrer]

Jean

 

Three things; 1-The shutter "bounces" open after the exposure.

 

2-The shutter slit (opening) does not have constant

speed across the frame. It accellerates.

 

3-It appears generally underexposed.

 

I cannot say anything about your lens.

 

Jerry

[jean3]

Gerald,

 

that's right, underexposure of course.. and nothing to do with the lens. That's funny, now you mention it it's pretty obvious to me! Thanks for the information about what's wrong with the shutter, I was really wondering what causes this effect.

 

Jean

[david j.lee]

jean:

1- the shutter bounces,of course. i once had the same problem

with my M3 and steve choi of camera service in los angeles fixed

it in 5 minutes.

2- you do not always pay too much in e-bay. a year ago i bought a

focomat V-35 autofocus enlarger,with lens,variocontrast

module,color module,and carrier for a little over 700.00 dollars.

the carrier alone was sold not long ago for 420.00 on e-bay....!!

3- i have a 9cm collapsible elmar that i love,as long as i do not

shoot into the sun or with something very shiny on the frame.

4- merry christmas...

[robert_byrd1]

I had this same problem with an M3 I bought on e-bay. Sherry of Golden Touch said it was "dry shutter curtains" and fixed it right up at a reasonable price.

[roger c]

Is that slide film? If not, it could be the printing causing the colour cast . It doesn't look very sharp either, but that could be the scan.

[jean3]

Roger,

 

it's neg film scanned on an photo cd. Histogram indicates clearly the underexposure, what explains the funny colors. While the small pic posted here seems quite unsharp, the neg (and the original, quite big photo cd file) shows surprisingly much detail, though soft, with little contrast compared to modern lenses.