richard_zevnik

Misinformation. The Nokton is a LTM rangefinder coupled lens.

It will focuss on a IIIf. What I don't know is whether the lens hood

of the Nokton does or does not protrude into the field of view of

the separate viewfinder of a IIIf. (Recall: IIIf has separate

windows for the rangefinder and the viewfinder.) The Nokton is a

fairly large lens compared with the original Leitz lenses

designed to be used with the LTM cameras.

Heather: when you return to New Orleans, skip the fried chicken.

What you want, in no particular order, is: (1) a fried oyster po'boy,

dressed, at Acme Oyster House; (2) a dozen oysters on the half

shell at the same establishment; (3) a couple cold Dixie Beers

to wash same down; (4) beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du

Monde; (5) a mufaletta from Central Grocery; (6) several

Sazerac cocktails at the Olde Absinthe Bar; (7) just about

anything on the menu at dinner at Galatoire's; (8) just about

anything on the menu at K Paul's (get reservations for the

upstairs dining room -- don't wait in line for downstairs; (9) just

about anything on the menu at the Bon Ton Cafe; (10) another

fried oyster po'boy at Acme, again, dressed; (11) more Dixies;.

 

What not to do: (1) patronize any eating establishment owned by

Emeril LaGasse -- waste of money and bad food; (2) go to New

Orleans during Mardi Gras -- April and May are OK, especially if

you hit Jazz Fest; (3) drink a Hurricane -- too sweet, no subtlety;

(4) forget your camera; (5) order "jambalaya" "gumbo" or "etouffe"

(unless you're at K Paul's -- this is Cajun food and they mostly

don't do it right in New Orleans) See below.

 

What else you should do: (1) rent a car and drive southwest to

Cajun country with your camera and a healthy appetite; (2) if it's

the right tiime of year (Spring) go to the Breaux Bridge crawfish

festival and eat, eat eat; (3) get some boudin (available all over

-- Bayou Boudin and Cracklin in Breaux Bridge is good); (4) ask

around for a good place for fried crawfish, boiled crawfish,

crawfish etouffe, gumbo, red snapper cooked just about any way;

(5) ask around for a good place for Cajun baked duck and duck

rice; (6) visit Abbeville, Lafayette, Avery Island.

 

Follow this advice and you'll barely notice the heat and humidity.

Ditto Harry's comment. The camera and lens are mine and for

my use. Don't care about anyone else's opinion. I have only one

chrome lens -- a late version 4 35mm pre-ASPH Summicron --

have it because I wanted a version 4 and at the time that was all I

could find. Gandy's website says its a collector's item, and it

was more than the couple of black ones I missed out on.

Doesn't matter to me -- all my cameras and lenses are users.

Before I got the Summicron, I had a VC 35mm Classic in chrome

-- it looked fine on a black M6ttl

I have the Hexanon 28mm f2.8 and use it without problems on

my M6ttl. Excellent build quality and results. I'd like a Leica

28mm f2.0, but not at the price. Got my Hexanon used with caps,

case and hood for about $550.00. It's a good alternative if you

can live with f2.8 maximum aperture. Its speed was good

enough for me for interiors with ASA 400 color print film, and

isn't a problem for B&W since its easily pushed.

Thanks all. Actual user experience is far more valuable than

technical data such as available on the mir.com site. And for

those who asked, analog watch (mechanical movement);

fountain pen user; violin and viola player; manual transmission.

I am building a small Nikon manual focus SLR kit. I presently

have an FM2n, but am interested in adding a metered F2. From

what I have been able to learn, I am leaning toward either an F2A

or F2AS. I would be interested in hearing actual users'

preferences between the two. One thing I read was that the

F2AS' low light metering sensitivity is better. True or false, or

inconsequential?

Re: which 50mm lens. A clean Summitar and LTM-M adaptor.

Image quality wise the CV is an excellent lens. I sold my CV

classic and got a 4th generation Summicron only because I

needed the f2.0 max aperture. Given the potential uncertainties

of this deal, I'd hang fire and see if someone here has one for

sale.

What the hell. Why don't you really kick over the traces and get a

Leica M6 or M6ttl. Pain in the ass for anything longer than 90, but

loads of fun for anything shorter, and if you stick with Leitz glass,

you will see a difference in the outcome. Be prepared to suffer

financially however. LOL

My experience is limited to the last pre-asph Summicron, and the

VC 35mm f2.5 Classic. The focal length is my favorite for

rangefinder work. The results of these two lenses are very

close, so if you don't need the extra 2/3d stop, the VC can be a

money saver (you will need a LTM to M mount adaptor). The

original VC "pancake" 35 and the Classic shared the same

optical formula -- I'm not certain if the new VC "pancake" version

in M mount is the same optical formula. Comment above about

the wonderful rendition of out of focus elements of pix is my

experience.

Yes, but most people don't, and that applies equally to

participation in choral music, or playing an instrument ( or maybe

several), or writing, of so many other things. My impression is

that, at least in the US, we largely have become a society of

passive consumers, and have forgotten, if ever we learned,

what's it's like to be passionately involved in such activities. How

many people will be planted on their rear ends watching the

World Series (if it lasts that long) or the NFL this coming Sunday

afternoon? Three weeks ago, there were a couple hundred

empty seats for the performance by a community chorale I sing

in of Rutter's Requiem and Dvorak's Mass in D. Last December,

about 50 people attended my church choir's Advent performance

of JS Bach's Cantata 141, leaving some 175 seats empty.

And those in attendance were mostly those who have only

learned the joy of listening without learning the joy of singing.

Don't be discouraged. With time, we have a way of finding

kindred souls, and with luck, can show the way to someone else

who might not have had the inclination to take up photography, or

music, or [fill in the blank] .

I had the original screw mount VC 35mm f 2.5 Classic. I found

the build quality good, and it was very compact and fast

focussing. But, as stated by another above, I did, and do a lot of

low light photography, and I needed the extra two-thirds stop of a

Summicron. I sold the VC and got a last pre-asph generation

Summicron. The results of the two lenses at equivalent

apertures are virtually indistinguishable, so, if you can live with f

2.5 as a maximum aperture, youll not likely be disappointed in

the VC.

Try the Cameraquest website. When I had an R2, and a Leica

M6ttl simultaneously, I did not notice any difference in metering

between the two. From that I inferred that the R2 was a similar

center weighted pattern.

I had the VC 35mm classic, and sold it to get a used fourth gen

35mm Summicron. I did so because I needed the extra

two-thirds stop. Other than that, I was very happy with the VC, and

got excellent results with it. The primary difference between the

results obtained with the two is better contrast with the

Summicron at wider than f 5.6.

I'd see if I could find a new old stock M6ttl, a new old stock or

mint 35mm Summicron pre-ASPH, and a mint used 50mm

Summilux. I have a Summitar with adaptor, a '69-'79 generation

50mm Summicron, and a 50mm Summilux. I like the footprint of

all at various times. The color rendition with the Summitar is

really, really nice, even if it's not as sharp as the others. I love the

"pop" of the Summilux wide open with the wonderful out of focus

areas in front of and behind the point of focus.

Nikon Kit; FM2a, 28mm 2.0 Ai; 50mm 1.4 Ais; 105mm 2.5 Ai.

 

Canon Kit: F-1n second style; 24mm 2.0; 50mm 1.8; 85mm 1.8;

135mm 2.0

 

Leica Kit: M6ttl chrome .72 VF; M6ttl black .72 VF; Hexanon

28mm 2.8; 35mm, 50mm and 90mm Summicrons; 50mm

Summilux

 

Film; batteries, l

If you choose an FM2n, there was a switch from the titanium

shutter to the aluminum shutter at about serial number

75XXXXXX. The titanium shutter had a "honeycomb" appearance

to the shutter blades. The aluminum shutter blades are smooth

in appearance. Since the FM2n was made for a long time, you

might as well get one manufactured more recently than an older

one, all other things being equal.

Another factor to consider is time of year. A lot of used camera

gear, particularly 35mm manual focus gear, is bought by

highschool and junior college students who have enrolled in a

photography class. Thus, there is greater demand at the start of

an academic semester when such classes begin, and lesser

demand at the end of semesters. Further, prices for manual

focus film camera equipment seems a little soft now -- rush to

digital?

The screw-in hood available at Cameraquest is well made steel,

and you can get a Voightlander metal lens cap that fits in

perfectly, making leaving the hood on all the time possible. One

stays on my 35mm 'Cron all the time.

What they said. In my youth, during high school, I photographed

for the yearbook. I covered all aspects of life at a New England

boarding school. I carried my camera everywhere and routinely

shot 6-10 rolls of film a week. My best from that period remain

my best by far -- a single camera - match needle metered

manual, a single prime lens - manual focus 85mm, Tri X at

normal and pushed. Some of the sports shots I got covering

hockey games and indoor track meets still amaze me.

 

A manual camera even without motor drive allows you to follow

and capture images easily -- you just need to know how to

anticipate and prepare. A maunal camera allows you to choose

your point of focus, and what aperture to use to create the depth

of field that make the shot. A manual camera allows you to

compensate for and expose for what YOU want, not what some

inanimate circuit has been progammed for.

 

I just donated my two Canon A-1s to a local junior college.

What's in my kit? Two Leica M6TTLs, a Canon F-1n, a Nikon

FM2n.

 

I also: (1) use fountain pens exclusively; (2) use a 32-year old

Sabatier chef's knife I was given when I was 19; (3) ride two

Italian road bikes with downtube, nonindexed shifters (no carbon

fiber components, just Campagnolo); (4) play the viola; and (5)

sing tenor in a church choir. Manual photography is part of life.

 

I'll avoid stating the next thought, because the foregoing is

probably enough to start a prairie fire . . .

On a trip to Quebec City, New Hampshire, and Boston and north shore, I used 28mm 70%; 50mm 25%; and 90mm 5%. By the way, the 24mm f2.0 is a killer lens, if a bit pricey.

Admittedly, the last time I was there was before 9/11, but to see the Capitol including inside, the Supreme Court building, and the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials really made an impression. Take at least a 28mm on the wide side. The place was really a lot nicer than it was on my previous visit, in May 1970, right after Nixon invaded Cambodia and the Kent State shootings.

If you look closely, there's a small red mark on most LTM-M adaptors.

I really wonder. I see high condition rated used M6TTLs at KEH listed for as much as $1500. I only paid a net of $1575 new at Tamarkin's Leica Day, with Passport and then existing $200 rebate program in late 2002. If anything, it would appear to me that the interest generated in Leicas by the introduction of the MP is driving up used prices of more recent used models once interested persons learn how much an MP is going to set them back, and they decide to settle for a used camera.

I really don't notice any qualitative differences in use regardless of whether I'm using my chrome 35 summicron, or aluminum 50 summicron or 28 Hexanon. The only one that's different in handling is the 90mm summicron -- don't think I'd want a chrome version of that lens - that would be heavy.