rick_koo

I've been very happy with the Metz 32Z-2 in combination with its dedicated SCA 3502 adaptor, which provides TTL control. At GN 105 (in feet/ISO 100/50mm lens angle of view, if I remember correctly), its output is fine for daylight fill at a reasonable distance/aperture. It's also shorter than some of the other Metz shoe-mount flashes and contains fewer features that aren't supported by the M6TTL (=> higher benefit/cost).

Regards,

Thanks, Jay, for once again reminding me of how incredibly helpful and knowledgeable the folks on this forum are.

The looseness doesn't seem to be messing with anything yet, so maybe I'll leave it alone and see if it gets worse.... Or maybe I'll take the job on some time between now and the date my passport warranty runs out.

Eric-

If there's any question about whether EI 1600 will be enough speed for the venue, then I think Delta 3200 would be the better choice. I've often pushed it to 6400 (I develop in XTOL 1+1 and print out to 5x7) and am quite happy with the results. Shadow detail obviously suffers and grain goes up with the push, but I don't find either objectionable and the tradeoff for a higher shutter speed is worthwhile to me.

Regards,

I noticed that the top plate of my M6TTL has a bit of vertical play on

the rewind crank side, which I don't remember being evident before.

Can someone out there tell me if a) this is common/expected and b) how

the top plate is attached and how it can be tightened?

Thanks,

Rick

Recently moved to Los Altos, previously a Santa Clara/San Jose

resident - but as an alumnus of UCB and a fan of sailing, I definitely

have a soft spot for Berkeley as well.

I was just told by Leica (NJ) that the all-metal M3 film advance lever is "no longer available." Anybody know of a source for new stock of this part? Leica distributors in other countries? Dealers?

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Thanks!

Anyone who has experience in removing the film advance lever on an M6: I would appreciate comments on how this is accomplished, what challenges/risks may be involved, etc.

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I'm considering replacing the swivel-tip M6 lever with the M3 style - any feedback from those who have done this operation would also be welcome.

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Thanks.

Michael-

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A while back, I expended quite a bit of effort trying to optimize my

Kalart. I was mostly successful. I don't have a definitive answer for

you and I don't have my Crown in front of me, but I feel your pain, so

I offer the following from memory in the hope that it might be of some

help:

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First, note that the rangefinder arm that contacts the eccentric on

the bed is connected at the other end to the actual rangefinder pivot

(the post going through the body) by - if I remember correctly - a

couple of (allen?) screws. I found that in practice, if these screws

are not super tight or the arm is given a good bump, the arm can

"slip" and put the rangefinder out of adjustment. Nothing surprising

there; what followed in my case is that I adjusted the rangefinder

internals per the instructions on Graflex.org, without recognizing the

misalignment of the arm. I found that the altered arm orientation can

put the rangefinder at or near the limits of its adjustment and

accuracy. This is manifested as either an inability for it to reach

image alignment or non-linear behavior (don't ask me to prove this or

explain why - purely anecdotal evidence). You'll know this situation

because you get almost there in terms of adjustment, but can't figure

out 1) why every setting is so different from before, 2) why it still

isn't spot on, and 3) how it got so damn dark outside already. If this

describes your situation as well, try getting everything back near the

way you found it, then readjust the arm to a position that puts the

travel of the internal rangefinder mechanism mid-range for the range

that the bed can be racked in and out. Don't forget to put the bed

mounted eccentric in a mid-adjustment position as well; it works best

as a final fine tuning mechanism, in my experience.

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David also makes a good point about checking for smooth movement of

the arm. It can get caught up against the cable routing for the body

release, or, with the slippage problem I described above, it can

completely cease to move once it has reached the Kalart's range of

pivot, even though the bed is still going outward.

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Unfortunately, you may in practice have to compromise a bit. I

adjusted for maximum accuracy in the closer distance range (i.e.,

images don't exactly coincide at confirmed infinity focus), knowing

that depth of field would be more critical in these situations. Well,

I also kind of hoped that I would generally know infinity when I saw a

reasonable approximation of it.

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Hang in there. It's definitely an iterative adjustment process. And

feel free to email me if needed.

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Rick

Here's a slightly different tack on the "what's going on with my XTOL" threads.

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Initial Zone I, V, and VIII exposures developed in a 1:1 dilution showed a realized EI of 400, but with densities of V and VIII ~0.1D and 0.3D+ too high, respectively (measured on the cheap with a Pentax spotmeter in what should be a fairly linear region for the meter).

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I repeated the Zone I, V, and VIII exposures, but added exposures up through Zone XII for laughs. Reduction in development time by about 15% still gave Zone I density of ~0.1D above fb-f (measured to the effective 0.1D resolution of the spotmeter), still too high contrast up through about Zone VIII, then a profound flattening of the curve through Zone XII, with the higher zones increasing in steps of about 0.1D.

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Did I just cut off development early enough that the higher zones didn't get enough development time? Shouldn't some extremely high zone placing still reach D-max? Could it just be too frequent agitation combined with too short development time? I believe my procedure is repeatable, I'm using enough stock developer, I'm agitating every 30 sec. with a several minute presoak, and no, I haven't tried distilled water yet.

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Thanks,

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Rick

Jerry-

Sorry about the ambiguity - the magazine does in fact have a counter, as well as the red/white exposed/unexposed dot, both of which work fine. Maybe I'm just being picky, but for $4K+, I expect more than the Hasselblad equivalent of a magic eight ball on the side of the magazine (how much film has been consumed? Ask again later....)!

Speaking of economics, I noticed and confirmed with 'Blad USA that the kit doesn't come with the "rear cover MultiControl." I guess all that gold plating had to be offset somewhere....

I've found that the status of the crescent shaped film consumption

indicator on my new A12 back (just picked up a Millennium kit) doesn't

seem to reflect reality. When I load the film insert, it shows

approximately one-fifth red. Advancing the film to the first frame

resets the indicator to all silver, as one might expect. But from

there, the progression of the indicator with film usage is spotty and

non-linear. I've seen it indicate about one-third red when I'm eight

frames through a roll. On the present roll, I'm half way through and

it is completely silver.

Is this a common observation/problem? Do I need to have the back

serviced already? Is there some trick to getting this to work

correctly?

Thanks,

Rick