jim_jeblee

The M2 is my fav camera. I use a grip if walking around a lot because I tend to carry the M2 in my hand, but around home or short trips I do not bother. I use extra take up spools pre set up for stage or night work because I find them faster and more reliable to reload than my M6 in the dark. When I travel I sometimes take an extra spool just in case I lose one, but never have in 20 years of M3s & M2s. I did have Sherry put an M3 lens release button shroud on when she did a CLA a few years ago, but mostly because I do some stage work & change lenses in the dark & was used to it on the M3. I only use a handheld light meter for tricky light, I just keep updating the exposure settings as I wander around by best guess so that I can just raise the camera, focus & shoot. I shoot mostly print film so this works well. Best of luck, Jim.

I use the Elmar-M often on my M2, it's a great lens for both color & B&W. I only collapse it when I put it away for the end of the day or to go in a coat pocket during dinner or travel bag on the airplane. Otherwise I have it out & ready to go. Jim.

I have an M6 & an M2, I also use the M2 much more often than the M6. Sherry did a CLA, PC type flash socket and added an M3 type lense release shroud ( I bumped the orig M2 lense release a few times during vert shots, but I seem to be the only one who had this problem). I can see the film counter better than on my M6. I like the frame lines better. When shooting in low light I carry 3-4 extra take up spools preattached to film rolls, with a rubber band around it, and I find this quicker & more reliable than the M6 or 'quick load' options - well untill you run out of spools. I have been thinking of having M2 frames installed in my M6. Gee I wonder if I could convert the M6 to use spools?

Good luck with the M2. Jim.

I have one of these battery packs that I do not use much and now I can only get one LED to light. I tried discharging it & recharging but it did not seem to help. Camera runs w/ the motor now but for how long and does this mean it is time for me to think about rebuilding my pack also?? Thanks for help I can get, Jim.

I have a Leica 28 2.8 that I use a lot on my M2 & M6. Great lense (3rd gen), Sharp w/ great colors & tone good for B&W or color. I use one of the small external CV 28mm bright line viewfinders for speed & good framing accuracy & zone focus for longer distances & smaller F stops and just use the rangefinder when I need more accuracy up close or in lower light. Best wishes, Jim.

I have both the M & R versions & have used the eos 100mm & other cannon lenses, though not much anymore. I use the 135 some wide open for stage work when I can get away w/ f2.8 - sharpness is vgood but not apo (a 90AA or 180apo is noticeably sharper) but the color redition is great. But I use these on the Leica's they were built for & other lenses w/ adapters that I have used end up being a bit of a pain. You have to decide exactly what you want it for, it would be nice for a longish portrate lense but an EOS 70-200L or a 100 or 135 2.8 would make a better general purpose lense. Like is said many times here you can buy it & try it & resell it if you don't like it. I paid $300 for a mint 135 Elmarit-R several years ago, but they may be cheaper now. Best wishes, Jim.

If you can afford a Leica 180 apo 2.8 or 2.0, from what I've seen that is about as good as it gets. I do some stage work & use a Angenuex 180 2.3 APO (yes 2.3 not 2.8) that was about a $1000, all I could afford several years ago, they may be less now. I use a Apo-Telyt 180 3.4 for outside when there is pleanty of light, great @ 5.6, but too slow for most indoor stage shots. I use Maxwell screens to help focus, but @ f2.3 & 30-40ft (10-12m) it's very hard to focus on moving subjects but the pics are great when I succeed. Good luck, Jim.

I have the small metal 28mm brightline external Voigtlander finder, which is really great! I have not used the 25mm one, but if it's not as well made you could most likely use the 28mm one without problem. You might ask if anyone has tried this. Good luck, Jim.

I have a freezer in the basement for film, both new & those awaiting development. I was going to try to clear the backlog last winter but it didn't happen. So now I need advise on how to convince my wife I need a second freezer! Good luck, Jim.

I have an R8, you can use 3-cam, 3rd cam & ROM lenses. The ROM lenses may be out of your price range & are mostly nice for flash use. I have a 3.4 & a 2.3 Anguenex (ok spelling!!), one to carry when there is pleanty of light & one for low light stage etc.. Both these lenses are really good & not very expensive. I've seen pics from the 180 2.8 (non-apsh) and they were good also. The 3.4 gets to be a little slow inside & is slowwer to focus but great for the outdoors, close focus appears to be at least as good as the 2.8 & distance shots are fantastic. If you set on 180mm that fine, but I picked up a late 135mm 2.8 3-cam from KEH at a really cheap price & was surprised at how good it is, at 20ft +/- I could not tell it from the 3.4 apo-Telyt. Once you get to 5.6 & far off shots w/ the Apo-Telyt it seems to be a little sharper, but the 135 is no slouch & only a couple hundred if it fits your needs. Just a thought. Good luck, Jim.

Sometimes when I travel I take a daylight load Jobo tank, measures & quarts of Dev, stop & fixer & a couple clips. I can dev 1-2 rolls at night in the hotel and inspect and page them for when I get home. Some people do not like the daylight load tanks & I do not use them too much at home because I have a darkroom. But what ever you use, practice w/ several rolls of non-important film first. Good luck, Jim.

It's nice that I can now afford cameras that I always wanted, I just hope I can wear out my M2 & M6 before I die. Before long they will most likley be down to B&W film at higher prices, hey if I can pay $3 for a gallon of gas I can pay $10 for a roll of film. I still buy sheet film & the price is up a little, but not bad. I wish I had the time to shoot even the film that I can afford! Good luck all!

I have a Motor M (latest vers I think), bought used at a very good price. I use it 10-15% of the time, in two situations. 1) fast moving stage, musicals & dance, mostly NPZ @2000 dev +2 so I don't have to move the camera from my face & usally w/ a bipod & 90AA/50lux. 2) street fairs & ourdoor events w/ 28mm & camera hung low, thumb on release to catch action. I never got good results taking seq shots & you can't mount/dismount a 135 w/ eyes while motor is mounted. I don't use the higher speed, but I find the lower speed very quiet, much better than on F4, or R8 w/ motor. I don't use mine too often, but I would not want to be without it for those times I do use it. Buy a clean used one, live with it for a while & sell it if it doesn't fit your needs. Good luck, Jim.

Thanks a lot! I still have not decided but I was interested in more low light ability than my 8x30. My Swarovski 8x30 are very very good but could use a little more brightness when used at dusk. Jim

Hi, I hope this is not off topic. I was looking at a 8x42 BN Trinovid Binoc

that was on sale and I wondered what the difference between them & Utravids

were. I could use a pair of 8x42s and these are half the price of Ultavid 8x42s

and seem just a little heavier. I have a pair of Swarovski 8x30. Any body have

an idea how these three compare? Thanks! Jim (M & R user)

I have a Motor M bought used here on this forum for a lot less than new cost. There are a few around for sale by people that do not like or use them. I like mine a lot, it's pretty quiet on low. I use mine mostly for stage events on a M6 .85, especially dance where I need to focus & shoot quickly. I use a monopod about 50% of the time for this because of the low light levels. I use it some for outdoor pics of my kids sports, but it's unneeded weight for travel and vacation pics. When I was looking at motors, the motor M seemed much better than prev motors But please note that you can not mount/dismount most leica lens w/ eyes while the motor M is attached due to the battery housing. For the cost used of these I would just buy one & live with it a while and then sell it if it does not fit your needs. Best of luck, Jim.

Get a few extra spools, preload them & put a rubber band around each set. This is as fast or faster the M6 loading & much more reliable in the dark. Just before I drop them into my M2 I wind the film out of the canister past the wrinkle and it drops straight in. This is a trick I got from Al K. a couple years ago & it works great. Thanks Al K.! Lots of luck, Jim.

I use a 28 2.8 on my M6 .85 and also on my M2. In both cases I use a CV metal 28mm brightline finder (about $125). At F5.6 & up I just zone focus & frame w/ the aux finder, below F5.6 I use the RF to focus & aux finder to frame. It takes a little getting used to but most of the time you don't need the RF because of the large DOF of a 28. Good luck, Jim.

I wish Huw all the luck in the world as his design is much closer to what I want in a digital M. I wish Leica would build something similar, although I am not holding my breath because I don't think the demand is there. I do have enough embedded product design that I could follow Huw's lead and perhaps build my own. Currently I have the same problem that I'm working 60-70 hour weeks. I have not even taken a pic in about three weeks...rats! Jim

M2 + 50 lux (pre-A) + Tri-X. And boy would I miss my 90AA & Reala!

I spent years in south Fla. I kept a mid size hard cooler w/ insulated lid and one or two blue ice(s) in my home, at about 75degF. Do not put in fridge or freezer if your region has med or high humidity - you get condensation on everything! I eveh had a little condensation in summer starting at 75degF. Take out camera, let warm a min or two if needed, close cooler lid quickly, and return when done. I have used this in a trunk & the floorboard of a Jeep (I tried to keep out of the sun). A cooler is a low theft threat, I even used this to carry camera gear to the beach & some parts of town that I should not have been in. Radio shack sells a dig temp gauge that records min & max temps (about $16) so you can do a test run with no risk. I used the blue ice @ room temp just to increase the thermal mass, mostly for the summer. Good luck, Jim.

I like mine, picture quality is great. Can not change lenses mid roll if you are using the Motor-M which is a shame because it greatly helps w/ balance. If you need the reach for stage work it seems to work better than my 135 Elmarit-R on the R8. I now leave my SLR & 180mm lens home if I think I will only use it a little and take the 135 Elmarit-M because while a little larger than other M lenses it still beats taking a SLR system. I always take an M or two anyways so this works out best. Also if the light is not going to that great I take a monopod. These lenes are fairly cheap and easy to find give one a try. Good luck, Jim.

Thanks, I'll take a look! Jim

Hi, I saw this lens listed, but I don't know much about them. Does anyone have

one? If so how do you like it? What are the pictures like? What's the images

like at 2.0? Thanks everybody! Jim

My M2 is my most used camera, I love it! The exposure guide inside the film box is my most used 'meter'. Works great outside if your using print film, I don't shoot much slide film. When light gets a bit trickier I use a Gossen Digisix, very small, cheap, but I need my glasses to see it in low light and no off switch so battery lasts about 2 weeks unless I take the battery out. I use a L 408 when I need more control or very tricky light & a Gossen Ultra spot for stage work. If you want small & light, about the size of a compass, look at the Digisix, if small is not that important the a 308 or 408 would be better. Or you could just buy several like many of us here. Good luck, Jim.