split_image

<p>Dan and Patrick,<br>

Thanks for your inputs. I now see the problem being the stiff spring rather than the film itself. I should have realized that. To flatten these two blades seem to be a tough job too because of the stiffness but I will give it a try.<br>

I also heard somewhere that usually the first two sheets, in addition to the darkslide, are difficult to pull out but, for the moment, I have inserted a half used Fuji film pack and this is working. So, I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It's great to have my 190 coming back alive!</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

This may have been asked here before but I don't seem to see the subject listed currently and I will place this question:<br>

I've been trying to load Fuji's FP-100C film in my Polaroid 190 but the back door seems to be too tight for the film pack and I just cannot pull the black tab out of the gate to ready the first sheet of the film. I've used Polaroid 690 film without any hassle in the 190 and I'm wondering if Fuji's current film cannot be used on earlier Polaroid 100 models.<br>

If someone could shed some light on this, including a way around, I would be most grateful.<br>

---Hiroshi</p>

I asked the Cosina personel at the camera fair and he said that they had just received the

lenses from CZ in time for the fair and that their engineers hadn't gone over them in

detail. Sounded like that the lenses shown were prototypes, though very impressive ones

indeed. A rumor was that CZ were getting them ready for distribution in 2009 so if that

were correct another year of waiting would suffice but, in my opinion, sometime later this

year would be much more likely. Here is the pic which someone posted (20080224):

http://wag3.exblog.jp/i21/

Today Cosina has officially launched their pages on Zeiss lenses. Sorry, in Japanese only

for now:

http://www.cosina.co.jp/

Some magazines, published in the last few days in Japan, are already carrying photos and

reviews of Bessa R2A/R3A even before official annoucement. From what I can see, its

finder arrangement is similar to R-D1 and not quite like this one. A going theory is that

this Zeiss Ikon was more likely based on Hexar RF for M mount lenses. I believe the finder

has been newly developed to accomodate Zeiss' 1:2 picture size format. My far-fetched

speculation is that KonicaMinolta, having streamlined their film camera production lines in

recent years, asked Cosina to collaborate in the area of manufacturing, all under Carl

Zeiss' direction. The 28mm lens looks more like the Rollei 35RF lenses with M mounts, not

G series lenses, to me. Or, has Cosina solely struck a deal with Carl Zeiss to make Zeiss

Ikon branded cameras from here on? Rumors are abundant in Tokyo as well.

Go to

http://www.zeiss.de/de/photo/home_e.nsf -> photokina 2004 special -> Back with

Passion

You'll see why the 28mm lens.

I'm sure there isn't much info available at this time but this looks like the Contax IV in a

newly proposed 1:2 picture size format. Does anyone know who may have made the

body? Does this mean Zeiss Ikon is back in camera making business, or is it only a

brand and Kyocera is still involved? I have so many questions and I just can't wait until

Sunday to find out...

The Leicavit M will be available in black paint for now but, since

the winder is rumored to go into regular production, we may see them

in other finishes in the future. The price is $1,000. BTW, the round

metal shade you see in in the photos looks like the one we saw

earlier on the 50th anniversary Summicron. All in all very

attractive.

That's right. This model is based on M6, not M6TTL, with the

exception of the TTL meter. The scripts on the top plate you see are

all engraved, not printed. The serial number, as you see, is in the

position where it used to be years ago. I might add also that the

bottom plate is made of brass. That means accoustically we are back

in the 80's, I presume.

The Leicavit M, as they call it, is brand new and is obtainable

separately. But, as I understand it, Leica Portugal is encountering

capacity problem in the paint department and they have quietly

annouced that the component is already delayed until May.

If Leica can deliver this product, don't you think they can also

deliver reproduced M3 like Leica O? I think that will be interesting.

Hi,

I'm a new member here but I thought I could shed some light on your

questions on MP6 so I just joined. By the way, this is a great

community!

All Leica buffs are talking about MP6 now in Tokyo which is going to

be marketed here next week. This is to coincide with the ICS "Used

Camerea Market" which is held right in Ginza annually. According to

the annoucement by Siber Hegner, the Leica importer, only 400 of them

are going to be produced. MP6 is based on M6, features TTL meter and

borrows a lever and dials from M3! The camera has a brass top plate

(lower height), lined with leather that has a rougher texture and is

painted black. Do you see the red Leica dot? No, because the icon was

too conspicuous and has never caught popularity here. Instead, a lot

of engravings on top in a familiar layout. I have a feeling that

Leica people listened to Japanese Leica fans for designing this

"ideal" model but they had to go back their history to come up with

this thing. So this could very well be a special model for this

region only.

You can buy the body only but the combination with the new Leicavit

is awfully tempting. The 50th anniversary Summicron 50/2 also will be

introduced, in chrome only. So if you want to see the details look

here. It's all in Japanese but I think you can pretty much guess

right:

http://www.web.nshkk.co.jp/brands/leica/news/mp6.htm