richard_williams3
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Posts posted by richard_williams3
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'Methyl hydrate' is a non-standard name for methanol (= 'methyl
alcohol'). If you want to try this, buy reagent grade and be careful -
it's pretty toxic. According to a recent thread on the Contax SLR
list, Zeiss suggests a mixture of 80% petroleum ether (chemically,
that's a mixture of pentane, hexane and their isomers - also nasty)
and 20% isopropanol (propan-2-ol), which sounds like quite a scary
cocktail for this purpose. I've read, but can't confirm, that the
commercial Zeiss cleaning fluid is isopropanol + water + detergent.
I've also heard of Opticlean (a polymer solution that is poured on to
the lens, allowed to cure, and peeled off) being used professionally -
supposedly it can even be used on SLR mirrors (don't think I'll try
that at home in a hurry!).
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I've had no trouble with loading a IIIc using standard (pre-loaded)
modern cassettes. I've been trimming the leader according to the
instructions in the manual (in my case a Hove reprint bought for about
£5 from one of the classic camera shops in Pied Bull Yard near the
British Museum in London - see
http://www.hovebooks.com/Instruction_Books.htm). I use a small pair of
straight scissors that happen to be on a pocket multi-tool
(http://www.leatherman.com/products/tools/micra/default.asp - the
essential accessory for all LTM users!). Take care not to damage any
of the sprocket holes - i.e., make the cut cleanly between two of the
perforations. You want to end up with about 23 unpaired perforations
and two further pairs of perforations protruding from the cassette.
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Bob, I should also have mentioned that I'd like the 'M8' to be priced
so that it's easy to pick one up secondhand for, say, half the price
of an M3. Unfortunately I suspect this would exclude all
except 'Canadian University Surplus' M8s. :-)
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I like Charles and Mike's suggestions, but I think a more radical re-
design is in order:
<p>
- The whole body needs to be significantly smaller, so that (e.g.)
the camera plus collapsed 50mm Elmar will fit easily in a jacket
pocket, and be more easily concealed for candid work.
<p>
- Built-in diopter adjustment for the rangefinder would be a welcome
addition.
<p>
- The distracting focusing patch should be removed and replaced by a
separate higher magnification rangefinder, preferably adjacent to the
main viewfinder.
<p>
- The current film advance lever is difficult for left-eyed
photographers to use. Replacing it with a simple wind-on knob would
rectify this problem.
<p>
- The structual integrity of the body could be improved by devising a
film loading system that only requires the bottom plate to be
removed. The back of the camera could then be fixed solidly in
position.
<p>
- The little-used slow shutter speeds could be removed from the main
dial, and perhaps transferred to a separate secondary dial.
<p>
- Engraved brass top and bottom plates would be a very nice touch.
<p>
- The current Voigtlander lenses provide an excellent, economical
alternative to Leica glass, but currently can only be attached to M
Leicas by fiddly adaptors. Changing the body to a lens mount that
allows these lenses to be attached directly would be a significant
step forward.
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According to the serial number list at www.cameraquest.com this is a
Leica IIIf from 1952-3. Check out a few completed auctions at ebay.com
for a rough guide to the current price these go for.
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They went bankrupt without ever releasing a product (which would only
have been 1.3MP in any case):
<p>
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0008BW
<p>
The website is still up:
<p>
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I've bought user grade screwmount stuff from both The Classic Camera
and Jessops Classics at reasonable prices, and with helpful and
friendly service (The Classic Camera threw in a free half case with a
IIIc body, and Jessops Classics were happy to honour their initial
quote on an Elmar that had been priced too low by mistake). I've
looked around the Richard Caplan shop, and they were happy to show me
items from the window and talk about the equipment. Aperture were also
friendly, but had a more limited range of (really good condition) s/h
Leica stuff (they are Nikon specialists). If you want to try
Fieldgrass & Gale, you'll need to make an appointment before calling.
Portobello Road might be worth a try - I've seen a few Leicas there,
but they weren't spectacularly cheap. You may also find modern Leica
stuff at the main Jessops branch in New Oxford St., and at Jacobs
across the road. I've had decent service from London Camera Exchange
in The Strand, but don't recall if they had any Leica stuff. There's
at least one other non-specialist s/h camera shop in Bloomsbury
(across the street from Pied Bull Yard), and another about half way up
Tottenham Court Road - can't remember the names.
<p>
http://www.theclassiccamera.com/
<p>
http://www.fieldgrassandgale.com/
<p>
http://www.aperturephotographic.com/
<p>
http://www.jessops.co.uk/classic/
<p>
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I guess this means that the Nikon FM3a is the only quality mechanical
35mm SLR from a major manufacturer still in production - earlier
Nikons, the Pentax K-1000, Yashica FX-3, Contax S2, and Olympus OM-3Ti
are all discontinued as far as I'm aware. That must just leave a few
budget bodies from China, etc. (& former USSR?), plus any models based
on the Cosina chassis that are still being made (is the Nikon FM10
current?). I suppose this just reflects demand, but there are still
some professional applications where a mechanical SLR might be
preferable, including e.g. astrophotography (where the shutter needs
to be held open for a long time without draining batteries) and use in
extreme conditions. In the article on Max Milligan I posted about
below, he mentions that he prefers the R6 for use in the Andes, where
film becomes brittle and easily torn by a motor winder, and where
batteries may not work well.
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Nice feature on Max Milligan's 'Realm of the Incas' in this week's 'Amateur Photographer' - apparently he did most of this work with an R6. No online version except a title page, unfortunately, but the photographer has his own website:
<p>
http://www.amateurphotographer.com/
<p>
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I have a standard size Zing cover (the 'Action' version with
detachable waste strap - a useful extra, but note that the plastic
connectors for the strap are permanently sewn on). It's a nicely
padded case with quite an ingenious design, but a little slow to use
(and needs to be fully removed to get at the camera - I haven't tried
the eveready version). It fits a Contax 167MT (medium-sized for a
manual-focus SLR) and smaller Yashica bodies very well (the Neoprene
is pretty elastic). I don't have a Leica SLR, but if the R6.2 is no
larger than the previous R models, I suspect you'll be fine -
preferably buy from a dealer with a good returns policy in case you
need the next size up. Incidentally, the medium Zing belt pouch and
also the 'Multi-Strap camera/Accessory Bag' are good fits for a Leica
III-size body and collapsed Elmar.
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John,
<p>
Arabidopsis? - Isn't that the funny little plant thing? :-)
<p>
I guess these are the Yale guys you mentioned:
<p>
http://info.med.yale.edu/wmkeck/dna_arrays.htm
<p>
9.2k sounds very good for an Arabidopsis array if it's properly
diverse - UniGene only lists something like 11k clusters for this
organism. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone at the Yale centre, and
our collaborators work with human arrays. It's a pity the Ontario
microarray centre doesn't supply Arabidopsis chips - their prices for
other organisms are pretty reasonable.
<p>
In a vain attempt to say something on-topic, do you have any nice
images of Arabidopsis taken with Leica equipment? Otherwise, maybe I
should post some immunoflourescence captures from a Leica confocal
microscope!
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Hmm, microarrays, PCR - are there any other closet molecular
biologists on this forum?!
<p>
This site has some interesting ideas about technique and equipment
(including Leica) for street photography:
<p>
<p>
OT: What microarray resources are you after? Useful websites/companies
that do custom arrays/ready-made arrays/arraying equipment/tools
for analysis..?
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Oops, let's try the URLs again (I won't even attempt to make them
clickable!):
<p>
http://www.heliopan.com/helio1.htm
<p>
http://www.thkphoto.com/catalog/hoya.html
http://www.schneideroptics.com/filters/filters_for_still_photography/t
he_b%2Bw_difference/
<p>
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Interesting discussion. I've dug out a few links that give the various
manufacturers' claims about their filter coatings, etc:
<p>
http://www.heliopan.com/helio1.htm
(looks like an unofficial site)
http://www.thkphoto.com/catalog/hoya.html
http://www.schneideroptics.com/filters/filters_for_still_photography/t
he_b%2Bw_difference/
http://www.2filter.com/faq/facts.html
(table with comparisons)
<p>
It seems that standard Heliopan filters have a single coating on each
surface (with multicoating as a special order option). B+W and Hoya
make both single-coated and multi-coated filters. The top of the range
Hoya SHMC and B+W MRC have an extra layer that is supposed to make
them easier to clean. Having just bought a Hoya SHMC UV, I can confirm
that it's impressively transparent; when clean the glass is really
quite hard to see at certain angles!
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Hmm, looks like I should have inserted some blank lines between the
URLs...
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If you can make it down to London (there's a fast train), there are a
couple of shops that specialise in Leica:
<p>
http://www.theclassiccamera.com/
http://www.gkz56.dial.pipex.com/
<p>
and several others that carry some s/h Leica stuff, including:
<p>
http://www.jessops.co.uk/classic/
http://www.aperturephotographic.com/
<p>
A slight correction to Xavier's post - the name of the magazine is
'Amateur Photographer':
<p>
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As mentioned above, Kubrick's work is a good example of how
photographic expertise can influence cinematography (and perhaps vice
versa). There's an interesting article here:
<p>
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/sk/ac/len/page1.htm
<p>
about how he had a Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 (!) still camera lens (originally
designed for NASA) adapted to shoot by candlelight in 'Barry Lyndon'.
The combination of light source, push-processing, and virtually
non-existent depth of field produce a really striking effect.
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I don't believe a simple adaptor is possible - the lens would be too
far from the film plane to focus correctly. Leica did, however,
release a limited run of some current lenses with screwmounts quite
recently (but they aren't cheap).
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Thanks for the replies - sounds like it's not a general problem with
this forum. Of course any time an email address is displayed on a
public webpage it's potentially visible to worms like Nimda (which
search the web caches of infected systems for email addresses). So you
can even be targeted if someone using an infected system happens to
run a Google search for a Leica topic that returns a LUSENET thread
containing your email address - in this situation it doesn't matter if
the user of the compromised system actually posts here, or whether the
targeted poster has elected to receive followups by email (the worm
sends out infected emails by itself without the knowledge of the
user). For some worms in combination with certain Windows email
software and web browsers, it isn't even necessary to open an
attachment manually to be infected - see for example:
<p>
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Is it just me/coincidental, or does anyone else regularly receive a bunch of infected or junk emails (often without valid return addresses) after posting here..? I assume these are coming from the annoying type of worm/virus that harvests email addresses when the forum is read on a web browser. If anyone is reading this on a Windows system of some description, and hasn't updated their antivirus software in a while, now may be a good time to do so!
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An interesting link that briefly discusses the legendary 'Leica Glow'
of the earlier lenses has been posted here before:
<p>
http://members.aol.com/abreull/htm/08.htm
<p>
As well as the lens design, I suppose the increased flare and lower
contrast from uncoated pre-war lenses might be exploited artistically.
<p>
Some street photographers reportedly use screwmount Leicas because of
the smaller, less obtrusive bodies (or even the psychlogical effect of
using an 'antique' that is less likely to be taken seriously). And the
LTMs are much more pocketable than the M series (a III-IIIf body is
longer than, say, a Yashica T4, but about the same height and width).
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I'm also a fan of the Gossen meter. It's cheaper in Europe, too - I
picked one up in the UK for the equivalent of about $180 USD. It's
badged as the 'Sixtomat digital flash' here, and there's also a
non-flash 'Sixtomat Digital' for 100 GBP ($144 USD).
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You can see the serial number on the front of a collapsed Elmar here:
<p>
http://www.mawddwy.freeserve.co.uk/leicad2.htm
<p>
The numbering is certainly much clearer here than on mine - I have
trouble reading the serial # even under a magnifier, and it also took
me a while to find it!
What do they use to clean the lens?
in Leica and Rangefinders
Posted
Olivier, I think it's rather unwise to use methanol for general camera
cleaning. It does react with some plastics, rubber (which may well
include vulcanite), and metals such as Zinc and Aluminium:
<p>
http://msds.pdc.cornell.edu/msds/siri/msds/h/q298/q369.html