laurentvuillard

<p>Hello,<br>

I am shooting 4X5 using 150 and 90 mm. These are sometimes too wide for mountain photo. Can anyone advise on :<br>

1) Pros and cons of 210 vs 300mm<br>

2) What would be the 24 36 equivalents<br>

3) Which lens would you reccomend to buy SH in 210 or 300mm; keeping in mind that size+weight are an issue!</p>

<p>Many Thanks</p>

<p>LV</p>

<p>Have it serviced! If this is</p>

<p>To actually use it to shoot pictures , buy an M6. definitely!<br>

6 are smaller , easily available SH, more recent and cheaper. The potential advantages of 5 are insignificant for any practical purpose.<br>

Only buy a 5 if you fall in love with it's peculiar appearance or feel.</p>

<p>Saw the one in geneva airport late june , however my experience is that in these "duty free" shop you buy (anything but booze and fags) tax free at the price of tax included elsewhere while technically still being liable for VAT so beware.....</p>

<h6>I've seen a similar problem when I bought an that was old but looked as new. That means it was seldom used and the lubricants were stiff. I operated the shutter at all speeds quite a few times and all was well again. It would still be a good idea to have it serviced. Get advice on where to send it though!</h6>

<p>In sequence I bought and sold an old (scallope ring) summiron then a pre asph summicron then the current elmarit. I woudl reccomend the current elmarit which is very very good , celarly better and smaller than the crons especially the old ones ! if money is an issue he old summicrons are not so bad at all!</p>

<p>Paul,<br>

50mm is more difficult than 35mm as it frames tighter and mostly as the depth of field is such that you really want to choose what you want to be in focus. Nevertheless including for landscape it's a must. You just nailed it the pre asph summilux is an excellent lens not cheap but not an arm+leg either. It is very good overall the field over f4 and excellent in th ecenter more open. The new asph is stunning for sharpness but the out of focus rendition is not very nice. I had both the cron and the lux 50 sold the lux and it really was a stupid move... Buy the Lux version 2 with as serial over 1 854 000. they were I think only two versions before asph the first being not so good and the second kept for a long time despite cosmetic changes of the barrel. All the best<br>

LV</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

From my own experience with Leica 50s:<br>

I owned at some point the last summicron F2, the pre asph summimux and the first version of summicron f2. Hand held from f4 yield the same sharpness. I suppose that on a tripod and with slow film the modern summicron may be very slightly better. Conclusion for daylight outside, find any good condition summicron and you'll be fine.<br>

Using the leica in low light brings out the differences between lenses:<br>

a) The constrast and edge sharpness of new summicrons is significantly better than the first version (contrast is much highe rwhich may or may not be good).<br>

b) The summilux remains sharp in the center of the field up to 1.4 but edges are much softer.<br>

My own advise if you also shoot indoors or low light would be to buy a pre asph summilux, they are not cheap as I take many people regard them as versatile which they are. I sold mine and do regret it as one speed fatser makes a hell of a difference in sharpness. I tested the new asp summilux (on film), it's outstanding but the rendition of out of focus has the "asph" look which is not to everyone taste.<br>

Outsider: I also used a pre war zeiss f1.5 which was not sharp at full aperture, and v godd but not as good as modern leitz at 5.5 However id did produced nice work, it is said that the ZM equivalent was somehow based on the old design and could be an option if you look for a certain classic look. </p>

<p>One man statistic (I.E. I do not know how significant thhis is ) :<br>

I once had an M4 2 that eventually could not fire the shutter any more when pressing the release. That is , the release point was at the very bottom of the release course when I got it and then did not fire anymore, it was not an expensive repair. I would however advise to check that the shutter does relase without having to press the release button righ to the bottom, if your future camera is to be serviced it may be worth checking. It was a fine camera no difference with the M6 but for the meter.Just anothe comment: I recently looked for M6 on Ebay where they seemed only about 1000 euros. Get an M6 if you can, I found it so convenient to have a lightmeter when I left my 4.2 for the 6 !</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

I'll soon go to Boston, could a native tell me 1) where to buy 4X5 + 35mm film , 2) good place for 2nd hand large format.</p>

<p>many Thanks, Merci d'avance!</p>

<p>LV</p>

<p>1° Frankly nouveau riche BUT I realy love the lens shade !<br>

2) Shall we soon see fakes in streetmarkets in San Remo (Italy) like for the hand bags with poor leather that flakes !<br>

3) Maybe Erwin should discuss the leather grain as I think he did for vulcanite...<br>

4° PS John I love your comment (anodized...), do not tell them they'll do it....</p>

<p>Any modern cap (the old leitz flat vith grey bayonet are probably out as they are slim!). 28 3rd version is a super lens , enjoy!</p>

<p>Do not worry damage is visible when it happens ! Ex: I dropped an M6 + summicron 35 at an airport safety check, not more than 30cm on the metal slide of the x ray machine: Result the lens thread was destroyed. I could not focus until replaced 300 euros later. However the lens block looks and was solid enough no damage. How do you expect "de centering" lenses that are held so tight, either they break or they stay in place ! Do NOT bother, wood is not so hard and if I'm right 6 inches is only 15cm! not so high !</p>

<p>1000USD is probably the price of the instruction leaflet for noctilux anyway .... But for that money I'd rather buy a lens to use it than read about it!</p>

<p>Nice, not too strong effect. Has anyone used an M8-IR combination for haze reduction in landscape photo ? Examples perhaps ?</p>

<p>Mail to leica , M8 are recent and bound to be warranty registered ! In doubt send it to me ha ha ha</p>

<p>Frankly from exprience on elmarit28 and cron 35 the DOF marks are badly optimistic for film, you need to close at least one F stop more than what the marks on the lens show. So if focus is more critical with senor this is becoming nasty!</p>

<p>Almost 10 years ago I sent my m6 for a faulty lightmeter to Leica (France) for repair. They fixed it but also managed to replace the rewind crank which had a very very minor bump (no practial effect), there was no way I could ask it to be left alone. I do not remember he price but it was stiff, (not to mention the business practice...). Official answer to my protest was "we must ensure the camera is reurned to you in 100% operational condition"as if a bent lever would prevent its use. Well well....</p>

<p>Buy a lens with SN over 1854000, this will be the last of 50 lux before aspherical, frankly it's very good in the center wide open , the edge gets even only around5.6 but it's definitely a super lens with high quality results and smooth images. I sold mine to buy a 28mm and still regret this move!</p>

<p>Simple answer/ If you shoot hand held Leica shakes far less than any MF camera, so unless you use a tripod leica will always come out better (except for the grain as you have to enlarge more). I had an absolutely identical experience with Leica and Hasselblad (incidently I used the Hassie ELM with electric release an that was better than the mecanical 500cm). So if you cannot or does not want to shoot tripod bound photo: use a Leica.</p>

<p>Yes !! to both questions, I had a v slight leak on my M6 , a serious Leica repair person did put it on the account of the very thin seals that run vertically along the flap and advised (and performed) replacement. Do not tamper unlesss you have evidence for light leak however!!</p>

<p>amazing , using an 8x10 on location like this!<br>

PS: it looks like some rooms are in a bad need of redecoration though.......</p>

<p>I'll probably say yes ith a full frame. But wait, something we all wait for will no doubt come for free : A review by our good Erwin ! He'll discuss all suttle features of MXX and M9! How will he feel the smoothness of the gear trains without a winding lever?? He'll have to discuss the glare of the back screen of the 9 when compared to the 8!</p>

<p>I doubt that quality from say an elmarit 28mm V4 or summicron 35 f2 exists in an SLR lens. In SLRs the mirror imposes that the back element must be quite far from the film hence poses strains on the design that impair the lens quality.</p>

<p>I bought one in 2002 and used it much. The center is v good the edges just good , no significant vignetting or distorsion. It's a fine lens for its price. The true leica that I tested is better but this does not really matter in rectise for many subjects; In summary it's a nice way of using a very wide fro not much money. The viewfinder is super! </p>