astral

Re: Peter M's comments on driving on the other side ...

 

In England we drive on the left which is right, because the right would be wrong. I America I drive on the right because it's right and not on the left because it's not right. The left-right-right-wrong issue seems to depend where you start from ... I started with a Nikkormat - seemed a sensible place to put v. big shutter control!

 

Sorry Gary, my view is the bigger dial is easier but doesn't exude the quality of the earlier dials.

"Leica warns that using non-Leica branded ..." Hmm! There's a thought! Leica film, batteries? Are we allowed to put a Leica camera in a non Leica bag? Don't give them ideas, or we could end up with mega-branding like Porche or Ferrari if the Solms/Hermes marketing people catch on!

 

Who's for a nice black Leica bomber jacket with "Leica" embroidered on the back in red? And sneakers that are ultra quiet so no-one can hear you tip-toeing up for that candid shot. The possibilities are endless! Shucks - I need to get out more, the combination of caffeine, Leicaphilia and a dull job in corporate marketing is getting to me .. I'm off to Ebay ...

In the manuals for Weston meters it is suggested that a duplex reading is used where lighting is tricky - simply select an exposure part way between the incident and reflected reading - numerically half-way usually suffices.

 

Comparing the incident with reflected will help in preventing blow-out of highlights or blocking of shadows. If the difference in readings is greater that c 1.5 stops (with transparency film) highlights and shadows will become problematic.

Who puts film in the darn things? It's a Leica and we all know that those 'grumpy owd gits who own Leicas only have 'em to impress their Nikanolta-owning neighbours'.

 

Personally I take as long to load a film as it takes my wife to become bored waiting ... tee hee hee! Then I can wander off alone while she discovers a new dress shop.

Don't you just love it when someone effectively says - "I only stole them for my own purposes, not to sell to anyone".

 

Putting a small copyright notice on any 'original' work is always advisable: eg "© 2006 Jim Bean, jimmyspix.com". Sure, the determined b&gg&rs will still erase it, but they can't plead ignorance.

 

In the pre-digital age copyright was "vested in the original work" - ie if I created the original I had full claim to the copyright (unless someone employed me to make it). Nowadays it is so easy to forge a digital document/image, and its creation date/credentials, that we have a higher risk of being ripped-off without much legal redress. The first line of defence is to scare the crooks off with a strong warning ...

 

I think is relatively easy to make images viewable, but not downloadable, on webpages. I recall that a transparent/rollover image can be placed on top of any image which effectively disables a keyclick and renders the image invisible to a screen grabber. But it's a long time since I was a html-speaking webnerd so I can't offer the exact solution - maybe someone else can?

F4 screens are interchangeable! I have a split prism/microprism fitted (can't remember the number) works fine for all lenses.

Nice photos. Apart from modern 'synthetic' dyes and colourants life in the past was often just as colourful as it is today - eg buildings were often painted bright colours, etc. The sepia B+W world is an artefact of B&W photography only .... Makes me wonder why we like B&W so much?

I have used several Tokina 2870s if it helps:

 

The early ATX 28-70 f2.8 is a good lens with acceptable barrel distortion at 28mm and a tiny touch of pincushion at 70mm: I use one regularly. I used a 28-70 f2.6-2.8 ATX Pro-I for a while and returned it because I did not like the pronounced barrel distortion at 28mm.

 

In its place I now use a 28-70 f2.6-2.6 ATX Pro-II which I believe has better distortion characteristics and edge resolution. Slight light fall-off/'vignetting' is discernable at times but is noticeable when using a polarizer. I used the Pro-II regularly and would recommend it unreservedly. If you want better use a prime. My experience is corroborated at www.photozone.de which has cumulative user feedback tables on many modern lenses - more informative than Photodo's mtf charts.

 

Supplementary: I have never had much problem with corner softness with the 28-70 (original & Pro-II) at f4-5.6 onwards - Anyway such softness can be an illusion in photographs of 3-dimensional subjects: namely, in the corners of a photo-frame the subject is very often on a different plane of focus compared to the centre of the frame. Few lenses are perfect for photographing brick walls.

Abram - I can only tell you my experience in similar circumstances:

 

Originally I bought a Leica M2 to mount my wideangle Voigtlander & Konica lenses. The viewfinder is great and the camera handles well. I mostly use it with a contemporary 50mm Elmar and 35mm Summaron with a handheld incident meter.

 

For no real reason I bought a M6TTL - with 0.58 because I wear glasses. It gives me framelines for more of my lenses than the M2 - this is nice. It has a meter which is mostly fine.

 

But, I do not actually like the M6TTLs 0.58 finder as much as the M2's 0.72. I do not like the M6TTLs aesthetics as much as the M2's either. In reality day-to-day I would rather use the M2 than the M6; the M2 does everything I need except metering. I may sell the M6 but will never sell the M2.

 

Tough choice - try before you buy.

Camera Care Systems offer similar range at lower prices. However they may not be available outside the UK/EU. I find many CCS bags to be more useful than Billinghams. CCS was started by an ex-Billingham manager and is located nearby (according to my CCS rep).

 

CCS offer the very similar quality of product and customer care - www.ccscentre.co.uk

Only for the Brits ...

 

I hoped the topic was gonna be related to the Two Ronnies Sketch featuring "4 Candles" !!

 

[NB may be unintelligible to non-Brits, sorry]

I use two Mamjya 645s (1000s and 645J) for colour & b&w. Both were cheap: lenses, prisms and film inserts are inter-interchangeable(!) and not too expensive. I just had a 35mm Sekor fully serviced with a minor repair to the 1000s included for 70GBP by the official agent. Great cameras & lenses but rather weighty - mirror lock-up on the 1000s is handy. I hiked around the Mission Range (MT) with one of these and a Nikon f4 for a week. I was fitter at the end - the photos are fantastic.

 

For a medium-weight option I use a Rollei T (75/3.5 Tessar) but it is best with a tripod due to the reversed view. People will pose for a Rolleiflex.

 

For lightweight use I use a Balda Super Baldax (a pocket-size folding crf camera) with Schneider Radionar or Rodenstock Trinar (coated triplets). Quality is plenty good enough for non-landscape use - and these cost around 50GBP. Excellent for street photos 'cos no-one thinks you are a serious photographer - no-one cares if it's pointed straight at them!

Pentax MX with M42 adapter! Stop-down metering and modern batteries. Alternatively almost any Pentax AF slr - e.g. the AF becomes focus confirmation on the SFX.

 

I use a Super Takumar 85/1.9 on my MZ5n, MX and LX with no problems. Unlike Nikon (also used here) Pentax AF cameras do meter (manual) with all older lenses - including my classic Auto Takumar 35.f3.5!

I have used the Sigma ASPII 28mm f1.8 which effectively becomes a short standard lens on the D70. Seems OK so far. The Sigma's softer edges at full aperture are not an issue on the D70. And it is not an expensive lens secondhand (70GBP) - it is a useful lens to have for 35mm format too, despite some edge issues at full aperture.

 

Otherwise the 18-70 Nikkor is just fine. Image stabilisation? Yup all my lenses have it. Called tripod/monopod/minipod.

The natural tendency when hearing the call "There is no shortage of Dr Plum's Wonder Elixir" or "Classic Oka-Coka is to be withdrawn due to falling sales" is to rush out and buy some - even if you don't need or want it.

 

I thought a while ago that I should stock up on film and put it in a feeezer as my 'strategic' stock. But then I realised that my local supplier (who has a wide range of film at fair prices) will probably still be in business in a few years time if I buy regularly from him, rather than buying a job-lot from AnonymousFilmdotcom, etc, who are here today and gone tomorrow.

 

Fuji's announcement is moderately reassuring, but I suspect that some of their emulsions may become casualties of the digital hegemony: Astia is becoming harder to obtain, for example, partly because of the trend towards saturated emulsions that Fuji and Kodak both promote currently. With fewer newcomers coming into traditional photography, experimenting with exotic film emulsions may be a minority sport now; such emulsions may become very difficult to obtain - Jessops (the major high street chain in the UK) appears to be reducing the use of film fridges in its stores, thus crippling counter sales of 'interesting' emulsions, roll film, etc.

 

Surely the key issue now, regarding film, is "use it or loose it", particularly with regard to the professional or less usual emulsions. After all, few were happy when Kodachrome 25 disappeared, but in reality for most it was an icon, not a film that was used regularly.

Come on! Enough is enough!

 

Just how envious are you trying to make us poor Summicron users? Keep this up and I'll have to buy a IIC & Summar that I have so far barely resisted for 3 weeks ....

126 film, 127, 110 and a few other oddities

 

Frugalphotographer dot something or search for "126 film Solaris" - not cheap, in fact loaded with this film any 126 camera will treble in monetary value ;)

Who put ' marks in my message?. Seemed fine when I previewed it *&^%$ﾣ"! We didn't have this problem with telexes.

Am I suddenly living in a parallel universe?

 

Cameras that don't use film are selling better than cameras that do. Most cameras for which film is no longer available are worth more than cameras for which film is available.

 

Many photographic shops do not sell film; some do not sell cameras. You can buy a camera from a telephone shop and vice versa.

 

Film companies are seeing falling film sales, but photographic paper companies are selling more paper. You don't need photographic paper to print a photograph on.

 

Agfa has gone bust, but Ilford is still around. Kodak has discontinued Kodachrome II.

 

Voigtlander lenses are not made by Voigtlander, Zeiss lenses are not made by Zeiss. Rangefinder cameras are popular again, but one model does not accept film.

 

Many cameras that do not use film are designed around the modern and innovative APS film size. APS film is obsolescent.

Zeiss lenses are to be made for cameras that were obsolete in the 1970s.

Film is available for these obsolescent cameras but batteries arenﾒt.

 

Anybody can take photographs with a telephone that they carry around in their pockets.

 

Nikon have recently made a copy of a rangefinder camera that was obsolescent in the 1960s. Nikon have also introduced a technically advanced camera that uses film, but which very few people can afford or need. This camera cannot be used to make telephone calls.

 

Nikon are stopping making film cameras. Zeiss are to start making lenses for cameras that Nikon no longer make. Zeiss make lenses to fit Leica cameras. Leica lenses are fitted to cameras that don't use film and which are manufactured by a Japanese electronics firm in Siam.

 

I give in! I guess the next thing is for Leica to start making non-rangefinder cameras that donﾒt use film, but which have an inbuilt cordless telephone.

 

 

ﾓBeam me up, Scottieﾔ

Yup! Ask the Police and make sure you have your National Identity Card, Passport, letter of accreditation from MI5, MI6 and the CIA .... and don't use the word "shoot".

 

Taking photos in public in Britain can be a real problem nowadays - apart from landscapes and natural history. Even convincing property owners that you are legitimate can be a problem.

 

I suggest if you are going to approach owners, etc, to gain access to bulidings, that you have a portfolio with you (at least), which demonstrates your style and quality of work and what you want to achieve.

 

Good luck, I really hope you do get the photos.

Some while ago I gave a slide-talk on 'My Bit Of Britain' to a photo society in northwest USA - the photos were the very best I could muster and won many compliments - but there was consternation at the end when I produced a battered Nikkormat FTN with 24mm Nikkor plus a F4 with Tokina ATX 28-70.

 

People take photos, cameras & lenses just make it possible.

 

AC. Nottingham, UK

I have the TOKINA 19-35 f3.5-4.5 Mk1 (non ATX version).

 

It has good contrast, and good resolution at f5.6 onwards. There is a little edge softness upto f8 but is normally masked because the corners are rarely in the same focus plane as the centre. Distortions are acceptable for me - light fall-off and flare characteristics too. The Mk1 is reputedly better than the Mk2 version, but a shade behind the f2.8 ATX version.

 

It is sufficiently good for me to have bought two - for Nikon and Pentax cameras. Very good value for money.

 

My photog. is normally chromes/slides of travel subjects, architecture , etc. The Tokina 19-35 and a Nikkor 18-35 are standard fitments on my cameras: the Nikkor is plasticy, the old 19-35 f3.5 Tokina is a shade

more compact and robust.

Richard - Thank you - I had not seen that photo/webpage! A nice treat!

 

Yup, with a small toupe and false moustache I might be convincing. Not sure if he used a Leica or Reid camera though! Actually, would anyone notice if I just carried a black-painted Zorki I wonder?! I'm sure I can find a vintage Players/Lucky Stripe/Airman cigarette packet in a drawer ..... Authenticity can be carried too far though!

 

[i'd have to swap my newly aquired B17 for a Reid camera with nice TTH lens!]

 

Alan. "Robin ..." etc

I'd suggest Nikkormat FT2/3 or FE2 - these have needle type metering that enables you to easily and reliably select any degree of under/over exposure (within c.2stops). The l.e.d. display cameras (FM/2/3 ...) are less Precise, but the meters are more Sensitive and Accurate (per se). Not recommended for night photography.

 

 

FA - great camera but not a wonderful viewfinder display. However, the multimode functions are absolutely fine AND it has matrix metering with "almost all" AI and later Nikkor lenses (except those 'G'-things). Good at night.

 

 

Otherwise F4 + multifunction back (brill!) - the best ever manual focus camera, with matrix (& AF as a bonus): a few fiddly issues like the annoying switches, but gimmick free and it will accomodate a VERY wide range of Nikon lenses - Oh yes big viewfinder c.99-ish percent! Doesn't like 'G' toy lenses. Brilliant all the time, develops your muscles too. Can go to 6 frame per second -- gooood for sport but could become eexxppensive at that speed.

 

 

My choice: Nikkormat FT2 (for day trips) FA (for a weekend trip) or F4 (for world tour) ... Oh yes, FM2-thingy when my conscience pricks me to use it - rare event.

Well folks, it seems like we are drifting into a WWII photo thread of potentially wider scope.

 

I guess the following should really be put up in a new thread - but I ain't sure where? (Being new to all this interweb stuff I can only comprehend a few jargon words and conventions - a "troll" for me is a cave dwelling Norwegian giant with no computer connections - and I haven't seen one for years!).

 

To continue ..

 

As a willing guest at a forthcoming WWII re-enactment in Central England (82nd Airborne, I think) I have a parallel interest to the main topic of this thread. I have been trying work out how to get some good re-enactment photos, from inside the arena, which means assuming a sympathetic role of say, War Correspondent, so I don't stick out like a sore thumb. Sadly British War Correspondents couldn't afford Leicas (anyway, our source of German cameras was cut off in September 1939 apart from those bought in via the US). American cameras were largely unavailable.

 

So, does anyone have a suggestion about where this WWII photography topic could move to? I guess the Argus / Speedgraphic users would be just as interested as us Leica-likers.

 

Alan C "Robin Hood & co..." UK