johns1

The lad in the cable car is accompanied by his mom whose torso fills the right side of the frame. Both were French. Later in this cable car ride, Mom got the biggest kick out of seeing her son finally get to a place where he could hang outside the car.

 

I don't remember the name of the Italian restaurant but it is on the west side of Powell about 1/2 block south of Union Square. Food and service for this Friday night dinner were above average.

 

Yeah, I know "SFO" means the airport only but I get in trouble is this household if I refer to the city as simply 'Frisco so I use the aviation shorthand.

Try again to upload . . .

Airline flying has long since lost its "luster", eh? Whilst

trudging from one gate to another, I was struck how the reflected

lights inside the building seemed to cast a Beatific blessing on an

American Airlines flight getting ready to depart. Would that were

true . . .

 

M4-P, Canon 25mm/3.5, Fuji color print film, Nikon scanner.

 

Oh . . . the subsequent flight from ORD to SFO was one of the worst,

most crowded and miserable I've had in two years. No wonder biz-jet

sales were up 35% last year.

Here's the second shot . . . again the 24mm Elmarit.

 

(Lens borrowed for the weekend with many thanks from Leica USA rep, Christian.)<div></div>

Two shots from our recent weekend in San Francisco.

 

Come on . . . post ssome pictures!

 

'Nough of the chatter; more photography!<div></div>

Stuart,

 

I like your shot #2. A very wistful image. Thanks for posting.

Torben,

 

How's that TE working out for you?

 

(I love my 75 Summicron.)

 

-jb

I have no interest until I can handle a one that is BLACK.

 

Why is Z-I so obtuse on this?

"Mind the gap!"

 

(Our forever memory from riding the tube extensively in London over the years.)

 

Thanks for posting your DMR experience.

Ya, but the local coffee is so weak!

 

-lesserseattle

If a French can build sonmething as spectacular as this in the 18th century, you'd think the Germans could build something as (relatively) simple as the digital M in the 21th, yes?

 

Thanks for some shots of this fabulous and famous building which I hope to visit some day.

Joe,

 

Scary picture for sure. Berlin, after hours, eh?

 

The stuff of nightmares this.

If you absolutely positively MUST have the "biggest on the block" well then you're choosing between the right pair.

 

BUT if you can stop down to f/1.4 or f/1.5 and want to save a few bucks, either buy a clean Canon f/1.4 LTM or a new CV Nokton f/1.5 (with an adapter for either). Both will give you superior performance for the dollar invested.

Alan,

 

I have this Canon 25mm LTM lens and have no problem getting an accurate engagement with all my Leica Ms. And I use a non-Leica adapter! The serial on my Canon 25mm is 105XX.

 

The lens perform fine with no problems.

 

-jb

I don't have the M2 version but on my M4 anbd M7 Tom taught me how to deploy the silver lever from the Rapidwinder and move it gently through one cycle so that the gearing of the Rapidwinder and engage with the gear of the Leica body BEFORE you attempt to turn the key and lock the unit in place. Try this...

Jack,

 

I've never seen the Epson 49XX in operation. Most of my film is 35mm so I can justify lots of bucks for a high-end 120 scanner but this Epson might fit the bill for the 120 I do have.

 

Do you just plop the naked negative on the flatbed or does Epson provide some sort of carrier? Also, what is their s/w interface like? Anything like Digital ICE provided? Curious...

Harry,

 

Obtain your own film scanner. Unless your use a pro lab who cares about the quality of the scans, I doubt you'll get very good quality from any "volume" lab. With you own film scanner, you'll have more control.

Ed,

 

That's a compeling shot of your three "kids" no matter what you used to capture it. Any parent should be proud of that trio.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

Now, will someone pick up on the rumor about the RD2? Let's see if we can give this whisper some legs, eh?

 

-jb

Kodak gave me a roll of Tri-X this past weekend and even though I

have not shot this emulsion (or any true B&W) for two decades I ran

it through my camera during a trip to San Francisco. The lab

returned the processed roll with a contact sheet yesterday and the

faint memories (rommance?) of processed Tri-X from my salad days

crept in on cat's feet to demand that some interested frames be

scanned and worked.

 

In attempting to scan the roll into my Nikon Coolscan IV with

Digital ICE 4, I got a rude surprise. Bad things happened when I

used ICE although I was somewhat successful in scanning the neg when

I turned ICE off. But now I have to deal with the cleanup of the

photo where I used to rely on ICE to take care of minor debris on

the negative. Note that this negative is fresh from a pro lab with

no visible junk on the negative when viewed through my loupe on the

light table. (Yes, the scanner was re-programmed for monochrome.)

 

What's the deal with using Digital ICE whilst scanning Tri-X with a

Coolscan IV? (Yes, I have Nikon's current scanning s/w loaded.)

Having thought and shot at 400 speed for so many decades, the LX1's reputed noise at that speed is off-putting to me (not to mention its slow lens).

 

I'm interested to peek at the Fuji F11 when it becomes available. Fuji digi-cam owners seems to relish their toys.

 

But for real fun, the Leica M still fits the bill (as long as my film scanner continues to work properly). The ONLY item that would give me a firmer push into digiland would be the complete collapse of an available mini-lab. I currently have three reliable options.

Best pix of the Lil' General's tomb I've ever seen. Good ol' Fuji color print film...

I'd check to make sure the shutter is still light-tight, operates within tolerances and that the rangefinder is properly adjusted. In not, factor that into your considerations and perhaps send the body to a qualified Leica service source for a cleaning, lube and adjustment (CLA).

 

I've never owned the M2 but I have friends who consider it the best Leica M. (I do like the film frame counter better than other Ms.) Properly cleaned and adjusted, the M2 will operate longer than you.

Will Epson market an R-D2? Anounced at Photokina next year? Anyone in the know?

I've never shot through the ZS2 but I do like the ZS1. If you need more, use a PhotoShop filter. I prefer to do as much as possible in the camera to get the look I want and not make more work for myself on the bloody computer later on. That's my put...

I'd shoot with a digi-cam if I could find one I like but none are usable yet, IMHO. (There's hope: a digital Leica M will be announced at Photokina next fall.)

 

Until I can find a digital I can abide, I still use the Leica M with Fuji NPH ans NPZ films and still get favorable comments from the Bride and her bankrolling parents when they occasionally view my output with any other photog's work of the same event.

 

Film also continues to have a clear edge for archival storage of the image.