peter_yankin

Rene, most of the time a dim rangefinder in an M is just dirty and either of them can clean it up fine. M's don't have semi-silvered beamsplitter mirrors like the LTM's that can permanently fade. If on the off chance it's a problem with the prism, then Don is definitely the one to go with. He will separate, clean, and re-cement the prisms. Sherry won't, she'll just install an M4-2 rangefinder, which costs a whole lot more and then you won't have the non-flaring .91 finder anymore.

Yeah, everything's about buying more lenses.

 

"What do I need in the way of filters or other equipment to have a decent workable kit for available-light portrait work"

 

B&W or color? Indoors or out? Makes a little bit of difference in terms of which filters you might want to try, don't you think? (Or maybe you don't know...sorry if I assumed too much knowledge/experience...a medium-green for outdoor b&w, warming or cooling filters or CC filters for color, depending on the color temp of the light).

 

Outdoors I'd try using a reflector instead of the flash fill. As long as the subject isn't going anywhere it lets you preview the effect, and you're not limited by the Leica's antiquated flash sync speed.

 

The biggest necessities for portraits is knowledge of how to pose and light the subject for the effect you want. Sadly you can't order that from B&H or win it off ebay.

Don and Sherry are self-employed. If they do a crappy job they have to do it over at no charge, which means they stay late or take time away from a paying job. If they screw up enough they'll lose a customer, and with these Leica forums, word travels fast, they'll probably lose more business. If they lost enough business they'd go out of business and have to live off their savings. OTOH Leica's techs are a bunch of hired hands. If they screw up they do it over and get paid their hourly rate anyway. If they screw up enough and got fired they'd play video games and watch MTV all day until their unemployment checks ran out, and then the govt would use yours and my tax dollars to re-train them for another job.

You're welcome, Frank.

" I am going to buy one these but I am not yet sure which. Any advice would be appreciated."

 

Unless you can't stomach the thought of being seen with an <$1000 lens, figure the non-APO 90 Summicron into the mix. With all 3 wide open, it's closer to the character of the 75 Summilux than the APO.

" The LHSA Annual Meeting for 2006 will be in Wetzlar.

There will be a tour at the Leica factory"

 

Even if it's padlocked by then?

The reason Leitz made the original collapsible 90 was that ERC's were all the rage back then and the rigid ones wouldn't fit. But nowadays since internet forums when using an ERC brands you as a nerd, what's the point of this lens vs an Elmarit unless you're going to pop another 8 bills for the closeup eyes. Even with it collapsed, it's hardly a pocket rig.

You should've said it was the new macro-elmar and waited for the showoffs who buy all the new lenses to go on about it's superiority to those soft, flarey, low-contrast old lenses, and then drop the hammer. BTW, beautiful shot and a perfect one for K64, lots of blue and white and no reds.

"How does one "pronouce" something? Is it something I missed from MTV?"

 

You don't know the difference between a pompous affectation and a simple typo. You're in good company with the rest of the MTV generation.

In what century, Shakespeare's? I've got Eastland's and Bowers' and Matheson's Leica books, they are/were all British and they all spell lens l-e-n-s.

" I want to get a 35mm lense"

 

I always wondered, do the people who insist on spelling it like that pronouce it "lensy" too, or is their affectation limited to the written word?

" Is this a common problem, or cause for another professional repair job?"

 

I can't speak to the commonness (knock wood my MP so far hasn't manifested it)but as long as its still under warranty, which they all should be unless someone was daredevil (being nice)enough to buy one gray or used, I'd consider anything going wrong "cause for another professional repair job". They charged us enough for the warranty.

"Buttons aren't the problem. Small fiddly buttons are. So small you have to move them using a fingernail, in the case of the 3501 module I'm using."

 

Got ya. Yeah those little dipswitches on the Metz modules are the epitome of fiddly. Don't quote me on this, because I've never used the 54MZ3 on a TTL Leica, but with the other brands you can set the compensation on the LCD of the flash. You still have to use buttons but I never have a problem just pushing them with my fingertip. There's also a good ole dial on the 54!

"There have certainly been more quality issues with the M6 than there were with the M2."

 

There are more <i>publicly reported</i> QC issues with the M6. I attribute this to the fact that a lot more new M6s than new M2s have been purchased since the advent of the internet. Unless it had just been CLA'd by DAG or Sherry or someone equivalent, including recementing of the finder prism, I wouldn't stake my life on an M2 being more reliable now than an M6. If you're comparing workmanship and finesse, I might agree, the M6 is a little rougher and probably simplified mechanically to a little degree, but that's stuff for collectors to argue over single malt scotch. Someone who just wants a camera to take pictures with would be smarter to consider more practical matters, but like you said, to each his own.

"Rene Braun Photo.net Patron Prolific Poster, jan 03, 2006; 01:00 p.m.

Yankin. Don't be a smartass. Trevor already put enough research into his decision, plus everyone knows that Leica makes great lenses so there is no need to salivate over MTF charts. He is on the hump and wants a little nudge to get over to it plus it makes for a great community discussion. We're all friends here and we're just talking."

 

Yeah? Well I wasn't getting that when Trevor said "I want to see some idea of its capabilities." And maybe you and your friends call each other smartass but my friends have manners and class so I wasn't getting that part either.

Hey come to think of it, if you're shooting interiors with the flash as key, why can't you just change the ISO for flash compensation?

"the interface is a bunch of fiddly, tiny buttons and it's hard to plus or minus compensate on the fly."

 

I don't know of any TTL flashes that don't have an interface with buttons. None that have and dials like a Leica if that's what you're after. If you can give up the TTL a Vivitar 283 has a pretty simple minded interface. For TTL flash with a Leica there's only one game in town, and that's Metz. AFAIK the compensation can be carried out on the module, no? Any of the 40MZ-series have some pretty sophisticated functions but most of them don't work with Leicas, even the R8 and R9, just cameras with sophistication like Nikons and Canons. The 54MZ3 is designed more like a conventional "cobra" style flash, but the interface is buttons too. If the only thing putting you off the SF20 is the lack of swivel, you could take a Nikon TTL shoe cord and shorten the cable to a couple inches, then epoxy the female shoe to a swivel and that to the male shoe.

You people really aren't embarrassed to say you'd buy/not buy a lens based on <200KB web uploads?

"Peter was a little harsh -- there are other ways and places to display one's pictures, after all -- but it's still an important point, and one echoed by Brad."

 

Sorry Rog, next time I'll try to make my sarcasm a little less subtle for you. Brad didn't echo my point, he illustrated it.

"As an ex Leitz techy with Lysle Kelco" you'd know that it was Lisle-Kelco, not Lysle Kelco and that they became the official distributor and service agency long after the name changed from Leitz to Leica.

Of course, sell the newest, most functional one. That makes perfect sense, considering.

My New Years Leica resolution is 300 lppm.

I follow the Gospel Of Photo.net Leica Forum in reference to taking advice: First, it's crucial to check the person's photo.net gallery to see if they have any pictures posted. If they don't, it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are poseurs, charlatans, lousy photographers and can't know a whit about cameras and lenses or practically anything else. If they do have photos posted, then they must be honest if they say they made the photos with a Leica, because anyone who posts pictures is honest. So it's ok to take their advice, but only if it agrees with what I already think. If it doesn't, then a second look at their photos will always reveal that they are awful photographers, and therefore can't know a whit about cameras and lenses or practically anything else.

Hmmm...it <i>looks</i> like a film vs digital troll...it <i>sounds</i> like a film vs digital troll...<i>smells</i> like a film vs digital troll...it even <i>tastes</i> like a film vs digital troll. Hey, I'll bet it <i>is</i> a film vs digital troll. Whew, glad I didn't step in it!

"He sounds like someone who was banned previously and is back under another name."

 

Speaking of someone with "nothing constructive to say but only posts nasty sniping comments" let's add "someone who makes irresponsible allegations designed to cast the shadow of doubt on anyone who speaks the truth"

 

Then again why should that be surprising coming from a Bush Republican.