nee_sung

LFI, which carried the interview that revealed the digital M, stated quite clearly that all new lenses will be suitable for both digital and film M.

 

The factor 1.33 was chosen so that every lens will be "lengthened" one notch, 28 ---> 35, etc; so that it will be easy for the photographer to think about his lenses. Of course I know technical constraints are the main reason for not going "full frame", but it's a thoughtful innovation nevertheless to make the most of an unsurmountable obstacle, which no Japanese manufacturer thought of. I am sure this innovation will once again be copied by the Japanese.

I recommend a used Minilux. It has a 40mm Leica lens. If you think I am ignorant or inexperienced:

 

This is my 26th year of using Leica.

 

M lenses I have owned/used: 28/2.8, 35/1.4, 35/2, 50/1.0, 50/1.5, 50/1.4 Asph, 50/2 (many versions, including DR), 50/2.8, 50/3.5, 75/2 Asph, 90/2, 90/2.8, 90/4, 135/4, 135/4.5, 200/4 (can't remember exact max aperture)

 

R lenses I have owned/used: 24/2.8, 35/2.8, 50/2, 60/2.8, 80/1.4, 180/3.4(Apo)

 

The 40mm lens is closer to the "real" normal lens than the 50mm. (The "real" normal focal length is 43mm, which is the diagonal of the 135 film). Its distortion is lower than the 50/2, in my personal experience.

 

I have used/owned the Minilux, I loved it so much I bought a CM. But I don't really think the CM lens is better than the Minilux. The lenses have different design priorities. And I think the Minilux lens is more "truthful". In fact, this is another instance when the saying "never sell a Leica" has once again been proved true. Now I want both the Minilux and CM!

 

This may dormantise your M6, but with Leica's it's a lifetime thing, and you're still a student; so what's the rush? You can always buy "proper" lenses when you have money. Besides, the Minilux synchronises flash up to 1/400s. In fact, either the lens or flash capability alone is worth the price of the whole camera. I think you can still get brand new ones, but you don't really need to. The titanium shell is very robust.

M4 + Summicron 50, back in 1981. Traded-it in for an M6 in 1986.

 

Added and deducted an M3 between 1981 and 1986. I didn't know at that time why I kept grabbing it instead of the M4 (now I know, it's the view finder). But I had to sell it to finance a lens.

 

Last year I finally got back an M3, a DS.

Maybe we should confine our responses to only those with a helicopter beside their names. At least it's a sign they are serious. And they can't create any number of new users as they please.

When I got the 1937 uncoated Elmar I sold my collapsible Elmar.

 

The collapsible is sharper, but I LIKE the uncoated Elmar more.

 

At that time I was poor and I couldn't afford to keep 2 90mm's. Now I would like to have them both.

I have used several versions of Summicron, the latest 1.4Asph, the Noctilux 1.0, and several versions of the Elmar.

 

The Elmar (all versions) is the ONLY normal lens (in fact the only Leica lens that I know) in which I cannot detect any distortion with my naked eye. Distortion is the most important factor to me personally.

 

So now I only use Elmars to take photos of my family, whom naturally I am most familiar with and whose faces look "life-like" only with the Elmar, and no other lens.

 

Note this post deals ONLY with distortion, and nothing else.

I am a painter as well as a photographer. As painters we talk about our materials as much as any photographer. We talk about which paper is better: Wallis or Canson, for example.

 

For myself, when it comes to Pastel, I cannot produce anything I like with Sennellier (France) but Schminke (Germany) works wonders for me, even though most people say these 2 brands are "very similar", being both from Continental Europe.

 

There are artists who would give their left hand just to be able to know what sort of techniques and tools Rembrandt and many of the old masters used, because many of these techniques and tools have been lost (they were trade secrets at the time). For that reason there is no human alive who can paint another Rembrandt.

 

 

So please do not degrade yourselves by thinking that "real" artists don't talk about the tools of their craft.

 

In fact, the tools make the art. Can you paint with a camera? Can you chisel with a brush? Can you photograph with a canvas?

 

It's OK to talk about the tools. It's OK to be preoccupied with them, even.

>>and also the margin the Leica importer takes for itself.<<

 

That explains why Leica said it needed to re-structure its distribution system*. I didn't know the importers in Europe take such a large margin.

 

The price I quoted in my last post is not the listed price. It is a "street" price. Typically the Hong Kong dealer will give you a 25% discount from the listed price. For some items it may be more. You may also receive a bigger discount if you are a regular customer.

 

 

*From their latest annual report, which was issued before the present management was installed.

Nicholas

 

It is distressing to hear what you have said. But what I don't understand is: here in Hong Kong, a brand new M7/MP DOES cost around 1800 Euros (from an authorised dealer, full warranty)! It costs twice as much in Europe? France and Germany are next to each other, so transport costs are much less; and I think there is no import duty amongst EU countries. So why is the difference so big?

 

Taxes?

I would think that auto-focus, and focus-confirmation for old lenses, should do it for Leica.

I bought my R5 brand new 18 years ago and I've never had any complaints about it. I don't know what you mean by density, though. I have used all exposure modes and I'm satisfied with all of them.

 

I don't think that made by Minolta is any drawback, especially when it was QC'd in Germany and up to 80% were rejected!

With Leica shutters, you can usually regain the faster speeds by just using it! The faster speeds have been lost due to non-use, usually because it had been sitting on the shop shelf for too long, and the shop owner did not bother to fire the shutter regularly.

 

If you keep using the 1/60 and below frequently, you can start trying the 1/125; and when it is accurate you can move up to 1/250...and so on.

 

Or if you are impatient, just spend one or two hours and keep on firing the shutter. By the end of that time you should get at least 1/500.

 

If you had losed the slower speeds then to the repair man it should go.

I like almost all the shots on this thread.

 

Once again it shows that the normal lens really produces the largest number of great shots.

One issue of last year's Leica Fotographie International gave some clue to the problem.

 

Apparently when Germany legislated for maximum working hours Leica's costs shot up. That was in the early 60's, I think. Also in the 50's many M3's were assembled by Wetzlar housewives who took the camera home and assembled them. Times were hard and a little bit of extra cash helped the families. So it would seem that the legendary M3 quality was due to the quality and work ethic of Wetzlar women folks.

 

LFI was suggesting that the disappearance of female part-time labour and madated maximum working hours were starting to exert cost pressure long before most of us were aware of it (or for some, even before they were born).

 

That would account for the fact why Leica's are now so outrageously expensive.

By far the most popular cause of chest pains is stress. And it is not necessary that you feel the stress.

 

It could be that all the flak you've been taking on this forum is getting to you (only half joking).

 

Another popular cause for chest pain is actually stomach trouble. If all the $2000 was spent on heart specialists, they won't look at that possibility, (or any other, for that matter).

 

I am not a doctor, but because of my wife's heart problem I read so many books on this subject that I feel I can at least give some suggestions.

It will be delayed again.

 

Software issues. That means Imacon.

 

There is no way Shriro is going to allow a product superior to the back for the H1 to be released.

 

Expect perpetual delay until Hasselblad announces that it has got a brand new back that promises to blow everybody out of the water. Immediately after that the DMR will come on the market, but *not* before.

>>So why buy the latest consumer electronics toy? To help the economy?<<

 

Yes. Otherwise many people (the manufacturers, designers, distributors, etc) will die from shame of irrelevance. Have pity on them!

>>This photo is really a shocking contrast to your other work. Now the question is why?<<

 

Because it's taken with a Leica + Summitar.

I am one of those people who like old Leica lenses. In fact I found myself getting older and older lenses.

 

I used to have a pre-war and a post-war 90mm. I found that I have not used the post-war lens for 15 years! So I finally sold it.

 

Now I've got another pre-war 50mm/3.5 and like my friends have warned, I'm now "poisoned". I don't want to shoot any coated or post-war lenses any more.

 

I can't describe the feeling. But I do have a theory, although not yet fully formulated.

 

These lenses are now producing images never even dreamt of by their designers, because they are now paired to *modern film*. When these lenses were designed, most probably they were designed using Kodachromes as the standard (because Kodachrome was probably THE standard for colour films in those days) and the Kodachrome processes of the day. They could never have imagined how film technology would evolve in the following 70 years. So the images we are producing with these old lenses are not *old* images, they are *new* images. And for that reason alone, all Leicaphiles should at least try the old lenses, to see if the old lenses agree with their own artistic temperaments, and help them in their artistic expressions.

I was 19 and was shooting with a Nikon F. I got it as a present for doing well in exams in 1972.

 

There was a "Joint School" history exhibition. The theme was World War II and I shot over a hundred photos from various magazines and books, developed all the films myself and print all the photos (8X10, 11X14) myself in the school darkroom. I had a marvellous time and my BW D/P skills were established for life, but I didn't pick up any girls even though the other 3 schools were all girls schools! The other guys in the exhibition team were busy meeting the girls while I was busy in the darkroom.

 

I was also President of the school's Photography Club.

 

With all these credentials I naturally failed to get into university the next year!

>>It is not a lamb, but a goat,<<

 

Oops...gave away the fact that I'm a city person :-)

Oh my! A baby lamb! Cutie Cutie!

 

I didn't notice the background at all. You're lucky to get any shots of your children and each picture becomes a more and more precious possession with the passing years. In ten years time your teenage son will already be marvelling at these shots and wondering to himself "Is that really me?" And you will be absolutely amazed at how fast time has gone by and how much they have grown! In twenty years time your son will look back at how differently he felt as he went through each stage of growing up. It's going to be a wonderful experience.

 

I know. I've been there. My daughter is now 22 and I've been taking pictures of her ever since she was 14 days old. Still clicking.

I have had a GW690III for 2 years now. I have nothing but praise for it. The lens is excellent. The shutter counter is unique. And I agree completely that it is very close to LF, which is probably why I like it so much.

 

I have no problem with the shutter sound, the ergonimics or the weight.

 

If I must find a fault, then I wish it has single-stroke film advance, but this is probably a price to pay for the 6X9 negative.

Antony

 

I enjoyed your photography more than your tests. :-)

Their financial statements show that their largest market is now Germany and the rest of Europe. Historically the U.S. has been the largest market. This is the case, I think, even before WW2, because a Germany devastated by WW1 simply did not have the means to buy such an expensive camera.

 

This present reversal of market share is due to the long-running high exchange rate of the Euro to the US$.

 

So I think Leica's troubles are mainly caused by the high Euro/US$ exchange rate. I think Leica will recover quite well if the US$ were to strengthen appreciably against the Euro within the next 6 months. Failing that their only chance is to change their marketing strategy and sell more within the Euro-zone, by catering to European tastes.

 

The rising economies of Asia, predominantly China, cannot help much because their currency is tied to the US$. So a Leica in the "China Zone" has probably gone up as much as it has in the US.