tom5

"For cheap, easy accomodation I really like the Toyoko Inn chain. They have a bunch of

business hotels all over Japan. They are usually located an easy walk from the train station,

they are cheap, clean and have things that travelers like -- coin op laundry machines, free

internet, free (basic) breakfast of onigiri and tea. See their website here: http:// www.toyoko-

inn.com/eng/"

I agree absolutely! I just returned from a trip to Japan, during which I stayed at the Toyoko

Inn in Tokushima, Shikoku. The clean room, free Japanese breakfast, and coin laundry were

much appreciated. The people were really nice, too!

My 4 year old grandson asked to see the picture on the back of my M6. He was perplexed

when he couldn't find a picture.

A colleague just gave me an article from Forbes magazine, April 17, 2006, pp 60-64, that

shows Leica M cameras being assembled and checked. It is interesting but has some

errors such as identifying an MP as an M7 and saying that the M7 price includes only a

basic lens.

A couple of years ago, the black bumper dot on the rear door of my M6TTL fell off. I

contacted Dave Elwell at Leica NJ and he sent me a new dot. One of my lenses recently

lost its red dot and again Dave Elwell sent one of those - fast, polite, and free.

I suggest sending the camera to John Maddox or Don Goldberg, if you are in the US. You

can find their addresses and phone numbers by searching on the web. Both do an

excellent job on screw mount Leicas and are polite and efficient.

I had a similar problem with a If. I sent the camera to John Maddox, who said that the

weave of the fabric on the edge of one of the shutter curtains was causing the problem.

As I remember, he replaced one of the curtains, that was worn badly in any case and

adjusted the shutter, with complete success. Camera works perfectly now.

My wife and I were in Mdina during the New Year's holidays. I brought my M6 and only the

28mm Summicron and an Olympus Stylus Epic. The combo worked great.<div></div>

The Leica screwmount repairman, John Maddox, told me that he prefers to keep Barnack

Leicas stored with the shutter tensioned. The reason isn't that the springs are under more

or less tension but that the curtains are wound around a larger spool in the cocked state

than in the uncocked state and thus the curtains aren't bent to such a small radius of

curvature and thus the stress on the curtains is less.

This is a common fault as the result of old lubricant. If it is just the slow speeds that are

at fault, my understanding is that that mechanism can be serviced from the bottom,

without even taking the top plate off. In the US, John Maddox is one specialist who has

quite reasonable prices - He serviced a Japanese Nicca clone of a Leica for sluggish slow

speeds at a very, very reasonable price. (He also serviced several LTM Leicas for me,

always with great work at very fair prices.)

I have two. One has been carried over much of the world, both work fine after a hundred

or so rolls. I've had fair and honest dealings with Stephen - never a problem. I'll bet

he will treat you fairly.

I recently sent a Nikkor 5cm. f/1.4 to John Van Stelten for a CLA (coatings are perfect). I'm

not due to receive the lens back until next week but I can say that communications with

Mr. Van Stelten (via email) were quick and easy. Van Stelten joins a really elite group that

I've had interactions with or work done by them - Don Goldberg, John Maddox, and Sherry

Krauter (only talked with her).

John - note my post above - One can get Scala processed by "dr5" in the US. And, they are

accepting Scala mailers for 50% off their normal charges, though they get no

reimbursement from Agfa, ColorReflections, or others. I suggest that those in the US, and

even abroad, contact dr5 and help support a unique chemistry that they have developed -

good people and good results, at least from my limited use of them so far.

I don't wish any mailers but let me tell you what I know about Scala processing. We have

one of the few Scala processors in Miami. I sent a roll to them in their mailer, about 6 mo.

ago. Everything went fine but I don't know how long they are going to process Scala, as it

is or is soon to be discontinued.

But, dr5, now in Colorado, processes Scala and many other films as positives. And, I just

saw that dr5 is offering their processing at 50% off for people (I guess "stuck") with Scala

mailers.

Perhaps you know all this and even more. I suppose that if Scala is still being processed

by authorized Agfa labs and the mailers are a good price, that might be the way to go.

However, dr5 does an excellent professional job, at least this was the case with my first

roll sent to them.

I use a B+W rubber shade without a filter. The Leica 39mm cap fits nicely on the collapsed

shade. Taking the cap off and popping the shade open gives better shading and less

effort than playing with the built-in shade.

I wonder if anyone has heard of a future 50mm f/1.4 Zeiss M mount lens? Such a lens might

be worth waiting for and have a high quality/price ratio.

I've had great results and some not-so-great results with different labs. I used to take

Kodak T400CN to a drugstore. The folks there were very careful and their processing and

scans gave a fantastic tonal range. The drugstore changed hands and they began ruining

negatives so I switched to a pro photo store. Now, I don't find the same tonal range but

T400CN has been replaced by BW400CN so I think there is some combination of two

effects now.

I recently tried TMax100 developed into a B+W transparency by dr5 in Colorado. The

slides are just a little flat and they have more grain than chromogenic films, but I see a

tremendous tonal range and slides that result scan better on my Minola 5400 than

ANY positive or negative film I've ever used .. pop the slide in the scanner and almost

every scan is usable with little or no manipulation.

Fine in S. Miami - DSL and phone are ok, generator is ok, Florida Power and Light is not

providing power or light. It's not their fault, they have a couple of million people to help.

You didn't say if you have been using this camera without difficulty or not. If you just

obtained the camera, perhaps it has the wrong takeup spool. I believe that g cameras require

the same spool as the M3, not the spool used in the previous cameras, like IIIf.

I have a Ig and IIIf and the spools don't seem to be completely interchangable.

I'm not much a of a jazz expert .. in fact no expert at all. But, I have a question - Is Steve

Miller the son of Glen Miller?

I would suggest buying the camera with a 35mm Summicron. For me, the 35mm sees the

most use for travel.