roberto_watson_garcia

I sold one midle 80`s version, very good at close distances, soft at

2.8 but good enough at 4.

Interesting site specialy if you are looking to see how this lenses

work wide open (most of it seems wide open).Altough I agree there

isn´t much to see but two or three good pictures.

Is there a reason why I like the out of focus in front of the point

of focus more than behind the point of focus?

For example the picture of the two guys in suit aproaching the big

poster of ladies in a wall; I liked it; hope you can find it among

the tons of pictures.

Jason; let me give you a wellcome to M photography, I suposs you´re

already a photographer, so the only thing you´re changing is your

camera; they say a Leica M is for all tasks specialy for dificult

ones, for me a M is the perfect camera to walk and photograph people

while you´re among them, is a fast camera if you master it; the

secret is to anticipate, with an auto SLR you just rise the camera

and spect it does everything, when you know what you´re doing that

becomes very unpersonal; with a M you set the exposure by your own

considerations; pre-focus and rise,frame and shoot.

<p>

In the act of rise,frame and shooting is hiden all the beauty and

delait of using a LeicaM; to get to that you just have to practice;

what I do once in a wile is to pick up my ligth meter and measure

diferent ligths specialy those in wich I work most, measure the sun

at diferent times and shadows at diferent deeps, also the interior

ligthing like supermarkets or offices or home, so I don´t use my

meter wile shooting, although I always carry it (well most of the

time), just to feel safe.

<p>

Well after you can handel with ligth; that probably you already do;

then you have to master the focusing act, you can prefocus by looking

at you lens setings, or use hiperfocus (specialy with wideangles and

small apertures),or focus direct to your subject,this last one can be

the most precise but also the most delayed when fast shooting is

required.So as you can see the secret is playing with the toy.

<p>

50 summicron is a gret lens specialy wide open you´ll see.

<p>

The leica M is specialy useful with wide angles; I personaly recomend

the last 35/2 (summicron too), the one before the aspheric, is a tiny

little lens that does marvels in <64°.

<p>

Well Jason wish you the best,

<p>

I bougth my first M3 in 1986, I don´t use any SLR anymore and I hate

changing lenses, and I like working with three lenses (28/35/50), now

I own four bodies and several lenses and I´m very happy with

results.And I had to sell my Renault.

I know any one that´s interested in Leica M photography wouldn´t ever think about digital photography; any way thank´s for reading.

<p>

This is my idea:

Take an M body, without baseplate and backdoor; instead of a backdoor we put something exactly the same but with a digital sensor instead of the film preasure plate, all the conections go down to something like a motordrive that will hold all the electronics stuff and battery

that may needed.

Tecnology will recive our exposures from a clasic camera and will read it into the new tecnology.

And I think it can handle over exposures or under quite easy, so we could use the shutterspeeds and apertures we wanted in any ligth situations; f/2 and 1/8 at sunligth or wathsoever tecnology alow us.

<p>

You may think I´m a digital tecnology freak; no way, I love the grain of my TRI-X; but I belive Leica M can make a steep into new tecnology; for me the most important thing is to have another reason for M leicas to live.

<p>

Please let me know wath you think.

<p>

RW

Dear Steven; I went to the same question time ago, and to confirm the

need of a shade specialy in older lenses; I put the lens in any

reflex body to be able to see throuh it,you will see it focused very

near, but is just to be able to make a judgement , and then check the

diference with and without the shade with a side ligth like a

lamp,lens wide open, better if you do it in a dark room with a side

lamp to see flare.Good look.

My opinion; use the shade.

R. Watson

In my 20 years as amateur photographer, I´ve seen many cameras as

probably most of you, and for me there is no best investment than

leica. I don´t know if it is expensive as a colection item,(it

depends on the colector); although it is a good investment (specialy

M´s), as working equipment I´m sure there is not better, you can pay

for a "comfortable" autoeverythingbatterydependable disponsal body

(yes until now everything that work with ships is disponsable, or who

waranties us an F5 can be working in 30 years, after everyday usage)I

don´t mean they are not good cameras, but who can fix an electronic

body from the early 90´s today; and using leica gives you leica

quality to all your pictures; and they last, so for me in a scale,

leitz quality makes the diference for the users.

And M´s make better photographers.

I Just been looking at lens MTF test at www.photodo.com, and just want your own coments, also would like to know how is this test done, and if they test the entire format or just the center or an average of this, I felt 50 summicron under rate, specialy when it is the best lens wide open, by a margin.

How objective are this tests?

And what do they represent?

You´re rigth this is a civiliced place, and a M6-35 summicron pre

asph combo is great choice, I´m sure you won´t ever be disapointed.

I wander why owning a leica can make someone more civiliced, well I´m

sure one of those autoeverything SLR´s can make anyone get stressed.

Enjoy your Leica and have a colorful Christmas

Interesting topic on more interesting photographers work.

Me too had the curiosity to examinate DAH NatGeo pictures since I

knew he works with M leicas mainly, I even look in the book impresion

work, since I tought it may be some scaning situation.

What I´ve been looking in his Leica pictures (of course after

apreciate them from a journalistic poin of view, wich I find in it a

gret piece of work), quality of image, there are two or thre pictures

that call my atention about flatness of field, for example the

picture of the sailors with a man with a hat in first plane and the

sea as foreground, if you look at the most distant sea on top of the

image, on the left side you can see a boat far away and sea in

perfect sharpness, on the rigth at the same higth you can see sea in

a difuse way like not in focus or moved.

Other picture, the one of the cowboys working with a wire, with a

horse in the midle of the frame and blue sky at top and grass in the

low part ofthe frame, you can see this grass in perfect focus in the

middle of the frame and try to follow this grass shapnes to both

sides of the frame, and I have check it in my Nat Geo Magazine and in

the book of Cuba, again it is just a thecnical point of view, I am

very interested in coments on this matter.

R. Watson

Great body for a 21mm lens if you are the prefocus kind of

photographer.Roberto

Dear James; let me tell you, as a carpenter, the leica lens carrier

attachment, as always been very helpfull, I don´t like it when

shooting, but as a hammer, with an Hektor 135 4.5, is a great tool,

but been serious I can tell that the most sensitive knok or presure

side of a M body is the base plate, I once droped my M3 and it hit

the floor with the corner of the baseplate that has the ear hole, and

the knok made the base plate open, yes, just like that, it was a fell

of about four feet to the cement floor, when I picked it up I shoot

it a couple of times and look carefuly until I found the base plate

was out, so any thing that can hang from it doesn´t seem such a good

idea to me, may be as a hammer.

R. Watson

You´re rigth, no thread, the inner one is from where the lens

dismounts, I was sure it had a 41mm, any way is a great lens, so

compact for a 1.4, just be careful when wide open with ligth sources

just out side the frame, I just got great halos,like rings of ligth

15 to 20mm round, actualy prety interesting, I don´t know if Steve

LeHuray got them in his 353xxx lens, mine is 2626xxx, otherwise a

great 35.And I think you can use earlier 35mm shades.Roberto Watson

first a 35/2.8 summaron on a M3 then a 35/1.4 on a M4P, (what a

change), last year I got this 28/2.8 third gen, that I use with my M3

and a 28 finder, now insted of one camera I carry two the 35 and the

28, since my main lens has been 35, the 28 adds a lot without change

much on my prespective, I find very dificult to concentrate on

several lenses, I used to work with a 35 only.

I have use a 21 on my M3 when younger, but I´m old for that stuff.

I´m waiting for the oprtunity to put my hands on that new summicron.

28.