jhodges

This is pretty cool. Don't know if anyone else has seen this. If

not, here is the address:

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/masters.html

 

Have a great day.

 

John

Rob,

 

Thank you for the pointers. I don't have any kind of editing software. I just saved it as a bitmap to clean it up and saved it back as a jpg. I think one of my friends has PS though. I'll try to give it a shot.

 

John

I have played around with the photo a bit. Cropped it and cleaned it up a bit. At first I liked the rough qualities of the print, but it is highly exagerated by my ancient scanner. So here it is tweeked.

 

John<div></div>

I hope I get more opportunities of this sort. It's not easy getting that close to a complete stranger, so I have only been able to do that with this picture and some family. This one has the best results because the subject is completely isolated. He could be looking at or thinking about anything.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to get/see more opportunities of this sort? I'd like to get better at this. In the past, I never photographed people as the subject. I got a lot of very boring, unemotional photographs that way. Thanks again. Have a wonderful weekend.

 

John

George,

 

This photo was shot in a coffee shop with pretty weak interior light. There was a little light coming in from the store front about 20'-25' behind us. No, I didn't use a reflector or a flash. I actually don't have either. As a matter of fact I used everything I have. :) I was very surprised and happy with the results after coming away from my F3HP. I used my father's old Gossen N100 exposure meter to take incident light readings. I feel more confident with that exposure meter and my M2 about getting good exposures than I ever was with my Nikon. That may sound strange, but I can see all the "correct" stops I can choose from, and then set the camera. I really like the mental freedom that has given me. Well, I hope I didn't ramble too much and answered your question.

 

John

Good grief that's huge. Sorry about that. I'll try to post a smaller one for people with dial-up here. Also, I will obviously burn those two spots from the scrathes.

 

John

This is the seventh photo I took with my new M2. It is of our very

own John Fulton at our first Fort Worth Leica Gathering. I believe

it was shot at f2 and 1/60th. The negative was scratched by the

lab. I look forward to any comments.

 

John

I have a quite a few photos that I have taken that I would like to

turn into a nice screensaver. Does anyone know of any shareware

programs that I could use? Has anyone else here tried this? Thanks

for any help.

 

John

I critique all of my own photographs. I can pick apart most and know what I could have done to make the photograph better. Others I know why the photo just isn't quite there, but I don't know what I could have done differently that wouldn't have changed the character. That's when I ask for a critique. These days I feel like my self-critique process actually begins before I take the picture. I have actually started walking away from shots because they don't interest me after a first glance. That having been said, don't be afraid to ask for someone else's opinion.

 

John

Not sure about all plastic 35mm cameras. I just ordered a Lomo 120S though and it's all plastic.

 

Back to the metal detectors, it does not matter how much metal you have on you or how big it is. It is the density and other unique attributes that is looked at by metal detectors. No two metals have the same properties and these days we can tell if you have quarters and nickels in one pocket and a pocket knife in the other. On some older stand up metal detectors the profile of the object could affect it. Not anymore though. Again it is the type of metal. And brass is typically (not always) filtered out due to the high amounts of brass used in everything else (your zipper, your keys, your keyring, your belt buckle, etc.).

 

As far as I know, all of the older Minox 8x11 cameras were primarily brass. It was far easier for a person to fit (by filing, etc.) brass parts properly than other metals. These days brass is not as economical because they can CNC cut zinc, steel, and other metals much more efficiently.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck, and please let us know how your experiments go.

 

John

The two lug M5 has two strap lugs on one side of the camera so it hangs vertically from your neck. The three lug M5 has the two on the same side, but has an third on the other side, so you can hang it vertically or horizontally.

 

John

Actually, magnets have no effect on metal detectors. People get that confused with the old magnetometers, which have a completely different purpose. Magnometers are not used for security checkpoints. There are sensitivity settings on metal detectors. Most likely our Minox Bs are made primarily of brass like my M2. The ML has more steel and newer materials. Knifes and guns are not made out of brass. With some of the newest metal detectors (stand-up and wands) they can actually filter out specific metals. An EC probably wouldn't make it through either even though the case is plastic. I have also found that X-ray machines should not create any noticible fogging unless you are shooting slides and slow films. Just make sure the roll is finished off so it only goes through once.

Well, I'm 23 and just bought my first Leica recently (an M2). I have had two Nikons (one was stolen). After using my M2 for a month now, I just don't like the feel of my F3HP. I can't ever imagine selling my M2 or putting it on a shelf. I do plan on buying an M6 sometime in the next year. New? I got into Leica to get away from the things that the M7 is about. My F3HP has auto exposure. I don't like it. Never fully trusted it. I have put more than a few rolls through it in the past few weeks. It's a tool. I can good exposures from a pinhole camera, a good exposure meter, and my mechanical wrist watch. Art, and I do think some photography is art, is never precise. If people want to believe that they can take better pictures with 10 different light readings available, built into their plastic box, more power to them. I have enough confidence in myself. So I get a few bad exposures. Next time, hopefully, I won't make the same mistakes.

Hi all. To give a little background first, I started taking photos

several years ago with my father's old Miranda FM and 50mm Soligor.

I bought myself an old Nikon FM, since my father had two Nikormat

FT2s and several lenses. That got stolen a couple of years ago along

with the six Nikkor lenses and all of the accesories I had bought

over a three year period. After my FM was stolen I bought my F3HP.

I have a 50/1.2, 24/2.8, and 85/2 and an SB-16. However I never

really used it much. I've spent several months over on the Leica

forum and have bought an M2 and 50/ 'cron. I really enjoy shooting

B&W, especially with my M2, but I'm getting into slides for the first

time. Shooting 100 ASA slide film in my M2 isn't a lot of fun. I

constantly wish I had 400 ASA B&W in it. So, my F3HP is coming out

of stasis. Now, for my questions. I have never really used a flash

and as everything was bought used, I don't have a single manual for

my Nikon system. Is it a good idea to use the SB-16 shooting slides

outdoors? Indoors? What's a good way for me to determine when I

need it? How do I determine what settings to use, etc.? Thank you

in advance for any help. I know it may seem like a dumb question,

but I've always just shot available light (hence the 50/1.2). Have a

wonderful Thanksgiving.

 

Best,

John

As most people here know, I recently bought an M2. It already had the quick load system installed so no problem there. Everything else is just what I need and no more. I love it. Very simple veiwfinder. It's perfect for me since I only have a 50/2 Summicron. But my plans include a 35 and 90. I played around with the idea with the add on rewind lever, but am perfectly happy with the rewind knob on the M2. Everything has a very solid feel. Go for the M2. Use it for a while. Then determine if you need any accesories to make it better for you.

I see your point about the bike. No, I left the bolt cutters at home. I was trying to go light. :) Should I have changed the angle of the lens (up/down) to put the bike in a different part of the frame or should I have moved over a bit to the right? Not sure how to fix some of these things yet. Thanks for the comments.

 

John

By the way the camera is great Tony. I'm carrying it daily in my Domke F-802 satchel. I haven't removed the lens in a week.

 

John

That is also one of my favorite photos. I felt it showed more character than my other photos. I was able to pick out things I could have done differently in my other photos. However, this one is difficult for me. Is there anything you would have done differently in the composition? DOF?

 

The film I used was Fuji Press 400. I am actually quite happy with the prints. Several of them show what I have heard described as the Leica glow. There is a definite difference from my previous photos with my Nikon. The photo "Stopped" actually shows the Leica glow very well in the print. It really lost the most on the CD. And yes it is the Kodak Photo CD.

 

I can't wait to get my B&W shots back. I will have to scan those myself though.

 

John

By the way, I forgot to mention that these were taken in the Ft. Worth Stock Yards. And I'm disappointed with the quality of the photo CD I got.

 

John

This is the only roll of color film I have taken with my new M2 and

50mm 'cron. Don't have my B&W shots back yet. Any comments would be

appreciated. I know they aren't great, but I'm just making my start

from Nikon SLRs and I'm pretty happy that I at least got the

exposures okay and didn't have the lens cap on. I used a hand held

Gossen N100 incident light meter for my readings. And felt really

comforttable with what I was doing.

 

The folder is here:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=253726<div></div>

Thank you all. I'll be sure to let you know how the hunt goes. Have a wonderful weekend.

 

John

First of all, I have been a Nikon user for several years. Trying

other things out right now though. My father uses two Nikkormat FT2s

and I would like to get him a PC-Nikkor lens for Christmas since he's

an Architect and shoots his own designs. I don't know a lot about

them, but understand it can be had in three focal lengths, 28mm,

35mm, and 85mm. 35mm seems to be the least expensive and there seem

to be more than a couple available used. However, I wonder if the

28mm would be more useful for interiors. My other concern is that

while I have an F3HP and can switch my focusing screens, he can't

switch the screens in his FT2s. Also, are the PC lenses even

compatable with the early non-AI bodies? I'd like to keep this as

simple as possible, so any experiences and advice would be greatly

appreciated.

 

John

X = 1 (M2), Y = 1 (F3HP), Z = 2 (Minox B & Minox 35GT)

 

Also use have my father's Miranda FM.

 

John

Sorry. I meant to include this photo of my light meter. The photo was taken by Tony Kwan before I bought it.

 

John<div></div>

Dan,

 

The MR meter is a Leica product that was made for accessory shoe use with the M3 and M2. It fits so that it turns your shutter speed dial as you line up the f stop to the meters readings. Very simple to use. As I just got mine on Monday, I can't really comment on accuracy, however I plan on buying myself an incident light meter next. I am enjoying the freedom of not having a light meter built into my camera. There were different versions of the Leica M meters as well.

 

John