gnashings

<p>fascinating camera! and an equally fascinating windfall of anecdotes, great read.</p>

<p>Proposed rule: never, ever, never ever never never utter the cursed "is this considered a classic?" question... look what happens at the mere mention of it! Its a veritable Pandora's box and guaranteed to start a 30 page thread dealing with anything but the actual pictures or cameras or anything photographic in particular. If something is really out of bounds, someone will respond to your thread with a helpful suggestion of where best to post it. </p>

<p>Now lets see the pictures! :)</p>

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<p>I would find it irritating to have my shots "improved" by someone else without asking. It's OK if they are a paying client, but for just personal stuff its annoying and in my book a little rude</p>

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<p>I couldn't agree more. I don't really care what the rules of this site say in regards to this practice, I guess that's why its not something people lose their memberships for, but its in poor taste and smacks of just about EVERYTHING that people hate about internet forums. Especially when its done in the abrasive fashion that is Cliff's trademark... Mind you, I'm just venting, it seems the OP doesn't care, its not against "the rules", building are now immobilized and represented in a realistic fashion and one man out there thinks everything is right with the world now that he has put an end to the silliness and lefty, artsy, hippie notions - as long as pictures don't show buildings doing things they are clearly not meant to do. I am really shocked that he tolerates black and white photography, clearly that is not the actual state of the world out there, and its just dishonest and misleading to lie to people and make them think there is a world out there that's entirely in shades of gray, contained by a the framework of black and white. What's next? Buildings evoking a sense of motion? Women voting? Man walking on the moon? Crazy talk...</p>

<p>I think Finland and a Leica M3 sounds great, mind you it would take me a long while to get over the school boy drool induced by knowing that I may be on roads traveled by some of my driving heroes - in my warped mind Finland = rally drivers :) And snipers I suppose... but I digress.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Nice haul! especially the tak!</p>

<p>"where the fence ends" is spectacular, a stand out among some lovely images!</p>

<p>"a very shallow, deep DOF".... "distorted colours"... you do understand that neither of these things have ANYTHING to do with the camera body you use, right? OK, wait... I know the answer - you don't.</p>

<p>Second question - you know that "deep" and "shallow" are direct opposites, right? I mean... that's not camera knowledge, just basic... language...</p>

<p>You usually shoot medium format yet you haven't the slightest idea about the most basic principles of photography... wait... by medium format, did you mean HOLGA?</p>

<p>My suggestion is simple. Forget cameras, first stop - an ESL course, second read a book or two, maybe take an introduction to photography course. Second, re-read JDM's post... I am not as much of a stickler about cross posting (although its a very good point), I am just against proliferation of stupidity. </p>

<p>http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/10-worst.htm</p>

<p>ehm... take with grain of salt:)</p>

<p>David, I am not surprised you're liking the Portra. it really is an excellent film - a friend of mine uses it a lot and makes actual darkroom prints from the stuff, its always an eye opener to see how drab the lab prints look next to his work... but I digress. <br>

Your photos are lovely as always, they convey that spirit of being out and about with a camera taking in the things we are usually too rushed to appreciate. As far as needing a lens hood, perhaps - but i would be willing to bet my favourite camera that many a graphic designer working for an ad firm or a magazine has gone to great lengths to get that exact flare into a picture rather than out of it:) It certainly magnifies the atmosphere captured in the image, even if gear heads like us look at it and frown lol</p>

<p>I get the funny impression that Zap is pretty smart... he gets to be Zap, and do Zappy things regardless of his owner's grand designs:) his expressions kind of remind me of a certain blue dog at my feet right now... he has taken playing dumb to a fine art...<br>

Dog talk aside, I love the look you get with this film, its almost pastel like. And the pictures are wonderful as always, I especially like the first two, and of course there is Zap:)</p>

<p>very, very cool post - glad to come along on your adventures with these vintage beauties.</p>

<p>The Leicaphiles are in the background, in Masonic robes, making all the decisions and consorting with aliens. <br>

I have taken a picture of the same tree over and over. I have photographed cats. And I would love that camera store... at least someone in it would know something about some kind of cameras, which is more than I can say about what passes for most photo themed electronics stores that exist now. I never thought I would need one more place at the mall where I can buy ink cartridges... Makes me want to murder someone, I just don't have a safari vest...</p>

<p>These are all wonderful, really beautiful. But the first one is a MASTERPIECE! I was captivated by it for a long time, and the sense of motion, and the unfiltered happiness of the children doing things for reasons we have long lost (like the fun of it) is amazing. Hats off to you, Sir!</p>

<p>JDM makes (as usual!) an excellent, and often overlooked point: the Koni Omega handles in a fashion that belies its size. For something that awkward looking, its actually amazingly handy. It may actually... fail your pain in the a$$ handling requirement! Plus, there is the gun thing lol</p>

<p>There is something to be said about TLR's, though. Waist level viewing is amazing, and allows you to shoot around corners and from high above your head, and did so long before flippy screens on photo computers were invented. </p>

<p>And lets not kid ourselves... you'll get hooked... its really rather hopeless:) they have a way of multiplying.</p>

<p>JDM makes (as usual!) an excellent, and often overlooked point: the Koni Omega handles in a fashion that belies its size. For something that awkward looking, its actually amazingly handy. It may actually... fail your pain in the a$$ handling requirement! Plus, there is the gun thing lol</p>

<p>There is something to be said about TLR's, though. Waist level viewing is amazing, and allows you to shoot around corners and from high above your head, and did so long before flippy screens on photo computers were invented. </p>

<p>And lets not kid ourselves... you'll get hooked... its really rather hopeless:) they have a way of multiplying.</p>

<p>pleasure as always, and completely agreed on the brew, it seems to be bringing out more tonality and broader range - looks good!</p>

<p>oh... I didn't get <em>that</em> memo...</p>

<p>Michael, thank you very much, I will be sure to contact them - exactly what I was looking for. <br>

Vilk - thanks for weighing in, much appreciated vote of confidence.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone, you've been very helpful!</p>

<p>Wow! Were there some zero's missing after those prices!" :) unbelievable find, glad it found a good and appreciative home.</p>

<p>I've found the FG to be the little camera that could. Its a little plasticky in feel (it is what it is), but it always does everything I asked of it (although at first I thought every time the mirror went up and down I'd have to look for it down the road somewhere - but that was just a matter of very subjective perception). Its small, its light, and is far more capable than most people give it credit for. Mind you - I'm not a Nikon expert by any stretch, so this recommendation is not even Nikon specific as much as just a little camera that pleasantly surprised me regardless of what brand you consider. It would get my vote for sure over the very limiting EM's and FG20's, which really get you nothing in terms of smaller size, but sacrifice a lot of control.</p>

<p>Hi Bryce, thanks for the suggestions - I couldn't agree more completely about Henry's... that place is (with a few exceptions of nice knowledgeable people) a lost cause. I will be sure to look into contacting Nikon.<br>

Honestly, its just matter of wanting the camera to work right, more because I'd like it than for any really practical reasons. A lot of the time I just shoot sunny16 with my old, meter-less rangefinders and various oddities, and I have no shortage of functioning meters in my main system and even my other Nikons seem to be dead-bolts reliable, even though they are not exactly "pro" level bodies... Just seems I have bad luck with FM's :( It bugs me because I really like those cameras, I just... I don't know - think they're everything an SLR should be and nothing it shouldn't lol</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>Have an otherwise nice Nikon FM, but meter is wonky. Its off by as much as 7 stops in artificial, or low light, seems to be closer in bright/sunlight. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could point me to a place or person that could at least give me an estimate (or idea of what's causing it at least). Of course if any of you can chime in with ideas as to what is causing it, how hard it would be to DIY (of if possible), anything and everything would be helpful.</p>

<p>Seems I have bad luck with Nikon FM meters... are they all just getting to that age? :(</p>

<p>Any info, even a knowledgeable amateur who has done this kind of work in the past, would be appreciated. I understand that these cameras are not expensive, and yes money IS an object, but I am leaning towards thinking that it may be worth having one serviced over playing the roulette with more unproven eBay finds, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance,</p>

<p>Peter.</p>

<p>PS. its a late FM (NOT FM2), with smooth collar around shutter release.</p>

<p>According to Buzz Lightyear, the expression is "To infinity and BEYOND!" :)</p>

<p>I find the close focus feature to be really, really useful. One of my favourite lenses was my old 80-200 f4 L zoom (Canon FD), and I think the fact that I could always just focus down to about as small as I could practically want to go. But - it never made me stop and go "crap, wish I could get just a tiny bit closer!". This, I find, happens quite a bit with most teles, and even most 'macro' zoom either limit you to only using the short end for their close focusing or require some "secret handshake" to get into it... and by then the photo is gone or I just cant be bothered. </p>

<p>OK - so that was a long and round about way of saying I like that feature and it would probably make this a 135 I would use a lot more than the others, simply because of it alone, especially since it obviously gives wonderfully sharp, contrasty results! Oh, and Hermione is super cute!</p>

<p>Cliff - personally I like it. I love the look. I also have a soft spot for pictures of generations, there is something about them that captivates me.</p>

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<p>Peter, what does this mean, "any photographic criteria aside". I don't understand what you are saying ?</p>

 

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<p>Cliff - it means that even if you take any technical aspects out of the equation, the pictures represent a treasure. Perhaps, now that I think about it, that IS a very "photographic criterium". Anyways, it was a compliment.</p>

<p>David - these images are F A N T A S T I C!!! Great job, lovely as photos - priceless as memories. Did I mention you did a great job?!:) </p>