andrew_cranmer

My M6 was a recent replacement to long-standing Pentax gear which was stolen - ME

Super, K1000 plus lenses, etc.

Obviously there's a big price difference but if you're thinking of it this probably isn't

an issue.

Otherwise, I can't ever see me going back to a 35mm SLR if that's any

recommendation.

Any other camera I get would be to satisfy my long-term ambition to try large format.

Marc - Perhaps we both misinterpreted the other. Apologies.

BTW, I did try to see that in your first shot, but somehow it didn't come through,

although I can see that for others it would.

Cheers

Andy

Marc - Not quite sure I understand your point, but it seems to be some kind of put-

down. I thought the above were stunningly good portraits of a mother and her

daughter and, with some considerable trepidation, I ventured a first

picture here, albeit one taken with an extremely second-hand, dodgy Nikon FG-20

which tided me over between my previous gear getting stolen and buying a new

camera a week or so back. Evidently a mistake.

FWIW, which I doubt is of any consequence, I thought Paul's were excellent, although

very clean and formal compared to the normal business of bringing up small children

- in the second the bond between the two shines through and it is almost begging to

get rid of the somewhat formal clothes and the pearls (remnants of the age pre-

baby?) and return to day-to-day messy reality. Didier's is also excellent - the slightly

stiff head of the daughter and the folded arms of the mother show the, perhaps

inevitable, detachment that comes with time, a longing to be closer than can be

admitted by either. Yours are of a technical standard that I can only aspire to. The

lack of warmth, as opposed to posed affection, is palpable in the first one - baby as

ornament. Day-to-day messy reality as taken care of by the au pair?

Wentong's is simply wonderful.

Anyway, I gave it a try. I think I'll stick to life without internet forums (or should that

be fora) after all.

Very nice portraits.

Seems a bit cheeky given the above, more like Mother and Son, with a cheapo before I

got the Leica and I still haven't mastered this scanning business:

http://homepage.mac.com/andrew.cranmer/PhotoAlbum3.html

In order:

1) Help my almost (1 Jan) 4 year old to read in English and to start speaking German

as his third language, and his 18 month old brother to start speaking English and

Polish

2) Finish the year without adding another lens to my new M6TTL w/50mm/f2

3) End each month with one shot I'm really, really happy with

4) Find somewhere in Warsaw to start printing my own stuff again

5) Pluck up the courage to post a few snaps here

Andy

I've only just got my Leica, but based on lugging a Pentax ME Super round Europe a

fair deal, my very personal choice of lenses would be first 50mm, second 90/135mm

and third 35mm. I would find it very hard not to take the first two but less difficult to

leave out the 35. With only one lens it would absolutely have to be a 50mm.

For film, I would take a mix of FP4 and HP5, more of the latter at this time of year,

but, again a very personal choice.

Andy

Andreas

Nice camera. I recently bought an M6TTL with the same lens. I suspect similar

motivation to yourself.

I must admit the resale value was not something I thought about, not least since I

don't have any intention of reselling it. Besides, it is intended as a working camera to

be with me most of the time and, in spite of being careful, will inevitably get bashed,

chipped, worn, etc. As it should be.

Happy shooting.

Andy

Many thanks for the welcoming words. Maybe I'll yet pluck up the courage to post

some piccies.

A bit of a lurker here up to now, and thanks to all those who have posted some very

helpful stuff.

I took the plunge last week and got a Leica M6TTL with a 50mm/f2. So far I've shot

off a couple of rolls although I haven't yet seen the results. I probably should have

waited until then before I posted, although I doubt I'll ever pluck up the courage to

post any pictures here anyway.

I haven't owned many cameras and would not describe myself as in any way an

expert. I started off when I was about 14 with a zillion-hand Box Brownie and spent a

great part of my paper-round money on film and processing. Still have many of those

photos. Then at the start of the 1980s I got a new K1000, followed by an ME Super

(great camera), together with a 35mm, 50mm and 85mm (superb lens). Plus an 80-

200 zoom I added later for a safari trip (good for that purpose, gathered dust

afterwards). That kit lasted me for about 20 years until, as with so many camera

outfits, it went off, much loved and battered, without my permission, to be sold on

some street bazaar.

After much thought and many voices trying to persuade me to go digital, or at a

mimimum AF, I went for the M6. If I was a pro with a deadline or absolutely having to

get wedding shots and process them back that day, I'd no doubt go digital. But I'm

not and I don't.

Yes, I know, Leicas are expensive relative to other cameras. But people spend more

on a TV nowadays. And this is almost certainly the last camera I will buy and I hope to

be taking pictures for another 25 years at least.

I'm certainly no luddite and do a lot of stuff on my Macs, but for me photography is a

pleasurable pastime, not a way to make money. I love the tactile interaction of a

manual camera and, for what I do, I can't see any advantage in AF. Not to criticise

those who think otherwise.

Regarding digital, I don't need images back fast but, far more importantly, for me

taking a picture is just half the process. The other half is the processing. I'll never tire

of the magic of producing a print.

In the short term, unfortunately that second part of the experience is out due to 2

small kids and only one bathroom, but only on a temporary basis.

I don't aspire to having a style, but most of my pictures are people (many of my kids),

street scenes, Polish rural life (horses are still more common than tractors in many

parts of the country - very photogenic), broken-down ex-Communist factories, etc.

The places I go. I very rarely have a special trip to take photos but almost always have

my camera with me. I suppose on average I shoot 2-3 rolls a week, in the vain hope

that once or twice a year I'll get a picture I really like.

As for other kit, I'll soon get a portrait lens (probably the 75mm) - I just love that

kind of length - and probably a 35mm, although I don't often use wide angle. Plus

the Leica flash for occasional indoor use. And that's it, really. At the moment the

50mm, some PanF, FP4 and HP5 and a light tripod are all I need. Oh, I got one of

those Crumpler backpacks (Formal Lounge) in place of the CCS bag my old gear was

(and maybe still is) in. Excellent choice, comfortable, good protection,

unobtrusive, and with room for a laptop when working or for the paraphanalia that

goes with small kids when I'm not.

Gosh, I've really rambled on here. I'll stop now.

Cheers

Andy