david_d4

Humm, the software here didn't quite post what I wrote!!!

 

Just wanted to add that you should get confirmation on this before trusting that lovely Nikon F to the accuracy of my memory.

 

If a few quick blasts of Dust-Off doesn't solve the problem, then leave it to the Camera doctor.

 

Good luck.

Jeff, I think a better place to ask this question would be the Camera-Fix Forum (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/camera-fix/), or the Classic Camera Repair Forum (http://www.kyphoto.com/cgi-bin/forum/discus.cgi). Or perhaps someone else here can confirm or deny what I remember...

 

It's been a long time since I've played with a Nikon F, but I seem to recall that the entire film counter mechanisim is located in that bump above the wind-lever, and is easilly accessable by loosening the three set screws at its base (see picture). Don't remove them, they're tiny. They just need to be loosened enough to allow the cover to be lifted off. A f<div></div>

If you're up to the hassle of dealing with 127 film, Both Rollie and Yashica made "baby" 4X4 TLR's.

I've been enjoying reading this thread.

 

Paul, just because shooting a Leica may be synonymous with shooting B&W for many people doesn't mean it has to be that way for you. I had a quick look at your bio-page here. Your stated purpose in photography is to use the camera to record your life - as it happens, so what better camera than a Leica for that? I'd say keep doing what you're doing for that aspect of your photography.

 

B&W is a whole other world, and since you want to take another stab at it, and you're fortunate enough to own an Omega D series enlarger, why not choose an entirely new and different type of camera and film format for B&W alone?

 

Using a tripod mounted camera and focusing an upside down image on ground glass will certainly change your approach to your subject. Graflex's are not too expensive (In case the experiment doesn't work out), reasonably light, and even hand-holdable. 4X5 negs certainly make printing a rewarding experience. There are other possibility's too.

 

I do believe that b&w photography requires an entirely different way of looking at the world, and if what you want to do is learn to see differently (which is what I think you are saying), then a slower camera than a Leica may help with that.

For me the whole point of B&W photography is the freedom the darkroom allows to play with the pictures after you've shot them. With colour, There isn't as much room for interpretation as we have such strong preconceptions of how the world should look in colour.

 

In B&W photography, I think the darkroom is more important than shooting - in so far as the finished image is concerned. The negative is just the beginning of the process, where I'll take that neg in the darkroom is where the real work begins. It's not "additional work", it's essential work in my mind.

 

Maybe I'm wrong about colour (Joel Meyerowitz and Ernst Haas, I'm sure, didn't just take their films to the lab - or did they?), but B&W is all about the darkroom.

For what it's worth, I'm using the "no script" extension with Firefox 1.5.0.7 , and have experienced none of the problems mentioned above.

 

The extension allows you to selectively permit Java scripting on a per-site basis. It's off on all sites by default - and in my case - has been off on photo.net for a very long time with no problems here of any kind.

 

you can get it at [http://www.noscript.net/whats]. Alternately you can just shut off java/java-script with any browser and accomplish the same end with less convenience.

Oh, forgot to mention...

 

A good general site on the Bronica Cameras:

 

http://nikomat.homeip.net/priv/camera/mednikkor/bronica/bronica-e.html

 

The Bronica pages from the Medium Format Mega-site:

Probably several hours of reading here, especially on Lens hacking (adapting all kinds of glass to your Bronica, which is possible since it has an its own shutter and built in focus mount)

 

http://medfmt.8k.com/bronica.html

 

Have fun.

Well I have an S2 (supposedly weak winding gears) not an S, and it's used monthly, not daily, but its previous owner was a semi-pro photog. and a full time photography teacher, so it wasn't babied either.

 

Like yours it's never seen the inside of a shop, and everything's working fine, even the focus. I'd never force the wind if it jammed (that's supposed to almost guarantee a broken winder), but hasn't jammed so far.

 

I agree that the controls are very well laid out. I especially like the way the crank works. Though it's pretty heavy for hand-held, it's do-able with the waist level finder and a good strap. The big bonus are the Nikkor lenses, they're very sharp.

 

On the down side it's not much fun hand-held (I use a mono-pod with this one), has a 1/40 sec flash sync., and a shutter that will turn heads a block away then it goes off.

"Steve Larese , sep 15, 2006; 04:32 p.m.

...I really like old typewriters, even though I can['t] use them to post on photo.net"

 

---

 

Sure you can! Type, scan, filter through OCR, spell-check, post. What could be easier? Wasn't it William Gibson who said that to go low-tech these days you have to be a very high-tech guy?

 

 

 

As for the M8, Leica has had the advantage of watching the fate of the RD-1 before presenting the M8, a lot of people want this kind of camera, at least enough for Leica to consider it worthwhile to make one.

 

 

I can see the M8 being popular with photojournalists. First-off they're gear-heads as much as the rest of us, and secondly, unobtrusive - quiet cameras are as valuable a tool in that line of work as they ever were. Unobtrusive is good if you are a professional fly on the wall.

 

There's also a lot to be said for going to work carrying your whole kit in your pockets. Leica glass is't just as good as anyone else's best, it's also a lot smaller.

 

The third big advantage for the best known PJ's is that they won't have to worry about the cost of the camera, Leica will give them away, I believe they (and Nikon and Canon too) have always done that.

 

I think Leica's trying to cultivate PJ-panache for their brand (which has always been such a big part of the Leica thing), and I think they have a good chance as long as the camera is highly usable and highly reliable. It is being recognized as the camera that is used by "elite" photographers that has always driven Leica sales, not the sales to those photographers themselves.

 

--

David Dutchison

Actually I thought Mr. Puts's initial reviews of the CV glass were on the whole highly favorable. IIRC, he rated many of them as equal to the previous generation Leica glass, which really, should be good enough for anyone. I believe he rated the 50 f1.5 Nocton higher than the pre-asph. 50 Summilux.

"Isn't there a rule of thumb that you go to the subject wit the incident meter and point it at the camera position to get a reading? (I've never actually used one.)"

 

 

 

This is what I was wondering too. Pointing the meter the wrong way (at the subject, as you would with a reflected light meter) will still give good results on overcast days because the light is very diffuse and non-directional. In sunlight you'll overexpose if the sun's behind you and underexpose if you're shooting into the light.

 

It's one possibility. My apologies Rene, if you already know this, I just mention it for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread in the future who's new to the incident meter.

Fantastic series of pics jim.

"It looks cool alright but the 35mm frame in the M2 is perfect for 40mm lenses,..."

 

Sorry, but in practice I found them to be far from perfect, at least on the M2. They're too wide. I also got the tops and bottoms of my subjects cut off, even at moderate distances

 

I understand that later Leicas (after the M4) have smaller frame lines to compensate for the cameras closer focusing distances so these may be fine,

The first camera I ever used was a TLR (my mothers Kodak Duoflex), so I'm very comfortable with them. What I like most about the Mamiyaflex is the ability to have a semi-wide TLR for less than the cost of a small yacht, or a Rollei-wide. The macro capabilities are nice too, but I find they're pretty limited by the absence of a D.O.F. preview. Still, at least they are there.

My god, you guys are STILL worrying about Frank?

"Michael P , oct 07, 2005; 06:48 a.m.

I gave up on that one finaly, ... and somehow it only works with the back off."

 

Actually that's normal operation for the S2. You have to put film in the back before the shutter wind mechanism will operate, or remove the back.

 

check out http://medfmt.8k.com/brons2manual.html

 

Kelly, That's a good bit of info to know. I'm going to be very careful mounting mine on a tripod from now on., thanks.

A others have previously stated, test first. If you can't do that before your vacation, shoot a couple of test rolls there and develop them first when you get back.

 

Here's a good article about Rodinal...

http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Rodinal/rodinal.html

 

I like Pan-f in Rodinal. I rate it at 40 ISO, and develop at 20 degrees, 1:100, for 10.5 min. Agitation is 3 inversions every 30 seconds.

Bart and Jonathan

 

Here are the links to the 2 repair manuals pdf's that Mark J. mentioned above. The smaller of the two (7Mb.) will tell you in clear detail how to remove the top-cover and also covers some basic adjustments. probably your best bet.

 

http://leicaclub.net/files/leica_m2_m3_m4_basic_repair.pdf

 

The second 27Mb pdf will tell you in sparse detail how to strip your Leica down to the bare chassis, and not much else. It does have good diagrams however.

 

http://leicaclub.net/files/leica_m2_service.pdf

 

Good luck, I've thought about painting my M2 too.