hemant_gurung

I have the 90's elmar without the focusing tab and don't have any

problem focusing or using it.

One reson why I bought the lens is for it's size when stored. Just

fits in any of my usual pockets. I just can't get used to the idea of

having a camera bag or having the camera around my neck.

The lens almost the same size as the summicron in user mode

but can be pretty compact when "closed". And for what I do, I

have all the time needed to get the front part out, rotate, lock in

place etc...

Voila

Thank you all for the suggestions. The summicron seems the

big winner here. I did own the new summicron before selling all

my leica gear for a change to linhof technikas. Now I am back to

35mm and regret my leicas. Learnt my lesson here : never sell

Leica M ;)

Merci beaucoup encore.

I am on the market for a 50 mm and am looking for opinions to

help me decide on my purchase. The whole thing is that I am bit

short on money :(

Here's the deal :

Elmar or Summicron. I know the summicron's "better" but it's

almost 1200 dollars here in France. The elmar is around 720. Is

the summicron worth the extra 500 dollars. I have a canadian

Leica R 50mm and am highly satisfied with the lens. Does the

elmar deliver something close.

Then you have the older lenses. The collapsible summicron

here sells for around 500 and the elmar for 350.

What about the quality between the older vs new. Is the new

elmar worth the extra 370 in terms of optical quality ? And the

collapsible summicron ?

Thank you all.

Dear Nemeth,

Can't thank you enough for your epoxy resin, carbon pellets tip.

Worked wonders on my M3 which had pieces of vulcanite fall off.

Have been following your indications since and used some

sewing machine oil to keep the vulacanite in shape. Thank you

again.

For those interested, the channel has a 1h10 mins documentary

on Henri Cartier-Bresson tomorrow, friday the 18th. The film was

made this year and seems rather interesting.

Recently there was a programme dedicated to Leica in the arte

channel (a joint venture between the french and the germans). A

great channel highly dedicated to learning and art. Enjoys a huge

esteem here in France.

It's a programme on the best designed objects of the past

century. Leica camera, Vespa scooters etc. The one on leica

was around 45 mins. It had some leica history, philosophy and

you could see a leica techician open a camera, repair and test

the rangefinder etc. You can check their website www.arte-tv.com

They often sell casettes of their progammes. Hope it's the one

you're talking about.

I would also highly recommend the Contacts series sold by

them. It comes as a two set dvds. Is based on an idea by William

Klien where you have famous photographers like HCB,

Koudelka, Klien and others show, talk and comment their

contact sheets. Often in french but it doesn't really matter. You

can learn a lot just looking at the sheets.

Hope this helps. Salut.

Since some people here seem to know almost everything on Leica, I'll give this a try.

A friend of mine's into photography for some years now and recently he's been having this idea

of becoming a Leica repair person. He has started collecting some informations since though

Leica France has been of very little help, and would like to have some further opinions from the

specialists present here.

First, what are the qualifications required ? Is there an academic way of becoming a Leica repair

person ? How do you get factory trained ? Do many people learn the trade ? How do you get

started and much more..... Informations and advices will be highly appreciated and thank you all.

Thank you all for your opinions and advices. I sent the camera back for repair using the

guarantee. The shop's an official leica dealer and this assures me a bit. I am not too keen on

getting my money back coz the camera's just too beautiful, a mint M3 with no scratches or marks

of any kind, something rather rare here in France. But I'll not hesitate if something goes wrong

again. Will do some intensive shooting to check the work done.

Merci beaucoup.

My M3 and it's shutter release are giving me some sleepless nights. I bought this CLA'd,

beautiful DS M3 just some weeks back along with a 6 months warranty. Everything was perfect

until recently when the shutter release just got erratic. It stays blocked most of the time. The only

way to get it reworking is using the self-timer or leaving the camera alone for some hours. Works

for 5 or 6 frames before getting jammed again.

Has anyone encountered this thing before ? Is this a repair needing a highly qualified technician ?

The Leica service here in France though worth is just too expensive for me right now. Any

advice or informations will be highly appreciated.

One more thing the framelines and the rectangle in the viewfinder shows some dust. Can this

be cleaned ? Thank you all.

Well the book's very rare and that may be the reason for it not being mentioned. Few have

actually seen it. I got a glimpse of the book during the HCB exhibition at the Maison Européene

de la Photographie in Paris. The book has a beautiful cover designed by Matisse and that alone

makes it a collector's item.

My personal favourites are HCB : Photographer followed by HCB : the Early Work by Peter

Galassi and HCB and the Artless Art by J.P Montier.

The first two books ontains much of his early photographs and I tend to agree with those who

thinks that his best pictures were those made during the thirties.

Yes there's this tape by Sarah Moon where you see HCB making some photogaphs, not

much though. Another good buy would be the film "Contacts " by Raymond Depardon after a

William Klein idea where you see famous photographers comment their contact sheets. It

comes as a dvd here in France with the first volume dedicated to William Klein - Henri Cartier

Bresson - Raymond Depardon - Joseph Koudelka - Robert Doisneau - Edouard Boubat -

Elliot Erwitt - Marc Riboud - Helmut Newton - Don McCullin and Léonard Freed. I don't know if

the dvd has english subtitles but then you could learn a lot just looking at them. You can have

those dvd through amazon.fr

Hope this helps...