tony_rocha

I recently purchase a Leica CL on ebay. Everything seems to work

well, but I was surprised by the loud 'clunk' sound of the shutter,

more akin to an SLR than a Leica M. It is certainly much louder than

any of the other Leica M cameras. Is this normal for CL cameras or

does it indicate time for CLA?

Ladislav, what can I say. Every time I visit your website it is awe inspiring. I really love the way you see things and capture the spirit. By the way your photo of the monks is hanging in my office and is a daily inspiration for me. Thank you for sharing.

Sorry, the link should be http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2947710644&category=30099 .

Came across this interesting auction for a Contax IIA. Sorry its not

Leica, but I only hang out at the Leica Forum. It is interesting

because of the warm personal story with pictures which accompanies

the auction.

http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/category30098/index.html?

from=R4 .

 

By the way I don't know Marv.

Bruno,

I purchased a Leica IIIG about a year ago through ebay, which was described as mint, like new, working perfectly etc. It turned out to have scratches, marks, mutilated internal part, damaged vulcanite, erratic shutter. Tried to deal with the seller in a reasonable way but to no avail. I also found the ebay complaints system complicated and user unfriendly so I eventually gave up pursuing that avenue. I then did some research and found the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (https://www.ifccfbi.gov/) which is an agency set up by the FBI. I filed a complaint, and they did do some follow up and eventually refered my case to the US postal service who recently contacted me is now dealing it as a case of using the postal service for committing fraud, or some similar classification. I don't have the correspondence with me at this moment. The case is still in the works and at least I feel my grievance is being noted by the relevant government agency. By the way I live in Hong Kong, and the seller comes from the US. You can also try to contact the National Fraud Information Center which accepts reports about attempts to defraud consumers on the telephone or the internet (http://www.fraud.org/). I believe this is run by the National Consumers League. I am now very wary when I buy through ebay, and look very carefully at the seller's feedbacks. Hope my experience could be helpful to others.

Would appreciate information on this Leica M compatible lens from

users. How does it perform, and when mounted on the M6, does it

bring up the 28mm frame lines. Thanks in advance.

Kristian,

These are great shots. Was it at F1 and did you have to use ND filter, and if so what type/make. I guess the Noct will be high up on my list of must haves.

I came across this interesting story while researching on the Kuhn

Flexameter, and thought to share it with you:

http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/arts/oct02/86006.asp.

It may be general knowledge in the Leica community, but it is new for

me.

I guess you are looking for Ladislav Drezdowicz. His website is www.drezdowicz.ch

Jordan, one beautiful camera, green with black. By the way what is the description name of the leather used by Cameraleather?

He's still there. Just got an email from Don yesterday. Your experience is most unusual for Don as I've always found him to be most helpful and quick to responding to all my enquiries.

I have now tried the old round metal hood (12585) from the 60s, and the similar design plastic one (12538) from the 80's, as well as the rectangular hood for the 35mm non-black paint lens. All of them fit well on my black paint lens and do not fall off even when I strike the top of the shade with considerable force. It seems that the only shade that does not work is the dedicated black paint one. I guess my black paint shade must be one of those extremely rare leica items which are totally useless for the task it was designed for. Does this rarity qualify for a sharp rise in its value?

Ron, the design of the lens hood is different from that of the older type, and there is no ring which divides the inside of the hood into two equal parts. The old hood has eight retractable teeth but the new type only has four, and does not permit it to be installed in the reversed position.

Harvey, the spring tension is much the same as the older type 12585 round metal hood for the 60s style 50/35 crons. I have not tried using the 12585 hood with my lens, and will try this tomorrow to test whether I have the same problem. I suspect the problem is that with the black paint over the metal of the lens, there is just a smoother surface for the clamping teeth to slide off easily. However this is just my theory. I will definitely try the lens with both the rectangular hood and with the older type round metal hood. Both these extend further forward from the front of the lens as compared with the dedicated black paint hood, hence my concern about vignetting.

There is no alignment for the orientation of the black paint hood and it is freely rotatable. The rectangular hood fits well and its position is also fixed when mounted on the lens. I have never had any problem with lens hoods coming off in the many years of Leica usage until now.

I recently purchased the Leica 35mm ASPH black paint summicron which

comes with its dedicated black paint lens shade of the round type

with cut outs for the viewfinder. It is clipped on with four

retractable teeth. Unfortunately it keeps falling off the lens and I

find it is due to the rather slack tension of the retactable teeth.

My forearm bumping against the top of the shade is sufficient to

detach it from the lens. Apart from the fact that it now has several

dings in the paint work with the metal showing through, it is a real

nuisance, as on one occasion I wasn't even aware it had fallen off.

Does anyone know whether it is possible to increase the tension

spring? Additionally, I am contemplating using the small rectangular

shade for the pre-ASPH 35mm cron instead. Is this likely to be a

problem with the different optical design of the two lenses, any

likelihood of vignetting? Would appreciate any practical advice.

Yes I agree. I think he shoots exclusively with the 35mm lux.

David, if I had to start all over again, and was only allowed to own one standard production Leica camera, my choice would be the M4. Made from top quality materials (brass), assembled by skilled craftsmen, perfect framelines (35+135/50/90), self timer, non battery dependent, proven durability, non-flare rangefinder, great looks (classic script on the top), automatic reset film counter, rapid rewind crank, modern type flash socket, quick film loading mechanism, and reasonable price on the used market. M4 undoubtedly.

A few months ago Ladislav Drezdowicz posted some pictures from Tibet

here. He has just informed me of his new website at

www.drezdowicz.ch. The results of his recent project on Cape Verde

are beautiful. Great photography. Check it out.

Nobu,

I just checked my Contax IIA and find the design totally different to the M4's. The vinyl ring I mentioned above cannot be used. Hope you find a good solution.

Nobu, I had the same problem with my M4's and had it fixed by sticking on a vinyl ring which I bought from Stephen Gandy at $10 for 2. I haven't my Contaxes with me at the moment, so cannot say whether they are of the same size as my M4. You can have a look in Stephen's website at www.cameraquest.com. Look up the section on Accessories.

I guess many of us are still pining for the MP, although the MP6 with

the leicavit is the one that we really want. But in another few

months we will be into 2004, which as you know is the 50th

Anniversay of the M3! How would you like Leica to celebrate this

important landmark in their history? My own wish is that they

produce a back to basics totally manual rangefinder camera like the

M2R, with uncluttered frame lines, but without compromising quality.

Hopefully, this will be priced at a level which would welcome the

budding young photographer into the Leica fold. I think there isn't

enough young blood among the lot of us and it is always encouraging

to see young people like Daniel (who recently purchased his dream M6)

bit by the Leica bug. If Leica is to survive in the long run, they

need to capture a wider and younger market. Would you like to share

your thoughts?

1) B&W

2) Photo of Phan Thi Kim Phuc in Vietnam 1972 by Nick Ut (picture of the naked crying 9 year old girl burnt by napalm).

Travis, although you said no wars here, this is the picture that has made the greatest impact on me.

Eliot,

Acknowledge my mistake, see my previous posting. Much regret for making such a goof which is purely unintentional. Mia culpa!!

Tony,

I made a big mistake in the information above. In enquiring in the Leica website, the serial number quoted is in fact an M4 schwarz, which translates to M4 black chrome, and not black paint which will be schwar1.

Also Stephen Gandy's list for black M4 produced in Canada does not state it is black paint or black chrome, but elsewhere in his site, he mentioned that M4 were produced in black paint up to the time of M5 production. I believe this was around 1974.

My apologies for giving the wrong information, due to my misinterpretation of schwarz.