morgan_malaska

<p>Some of my own polaroids are going up on the first blog sometime saturday night (GMT). Ulf does a great job with 591photography though, and you've got some great shots too, Matt.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the tips, seems like I need to try the film canister again but with something to secure the rolled up film from moving about - Thanks for that.<br>

<br /> Paul - I have some experiences with this myself, but the company has a pretty good turn around rate, I send it in and two days later I get my roll back, cut and put in sleeves, or that is what they say. I hope that's quick enough to not screw (litteraly) the base up too much.</p>

<p>Derek - Unrelated to the OP, but I have been thinking along those lines, Nikons are prohibitive in price, so Iv'e been looking at a Reflecta DigitDia scanner for about 700$ that seems to be the nicest deal I can find in Sweden. Any experiences with that? Or better yet, any good links to share?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hello.</p>

<p>I've been developing my own film for quite a while now, been happy with cutting the negatives into little strips, fitting them into plastic pockets and then sending them off with the mail to get them scanned in high resolution - But recently the company whose scanning services I employ has decided to charge the same fee for scanning from these small negstrips as they do for developing a roll and then scanning... So the question is, how do I keep my developed roll of film uncut, safe (relatively) from scratches and good to mail? I've tried rolling it up into a film canister, but that gets it scratched easily, way too easily. Any tips on this?</p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Morgan.</p>

<p>I want film canisters like that old kodak one, so good looking. But speaking of old film... In a Swedish art photo. mag named Motiv there was a story about an exposed roll-film bought at a flea market, developed and then dated to the early 20's (the articles' authors guess based on the bathing suits used)... It was fogged to hell and back, grainy, washed out and most of the images were ruined... But three frames were amazingly clear considering how old they must have been, and in them were four women bathing.... I wonder how long my Epson prints will last by comparison? ;)</p>

<p>I haven't yet had it around in very heavy rainfall, but I've had it on my shoulder during a snowstorm and the typical drizzles and showers that autumn in my part of northern europe offers and I've yet to have a problem with water even getting to the insides of the bag - Even the notepads that are more or less fully exposed to the weather have fared well since my body has protected them from significant exposure to rainfall or snow. So I have to say that it has fared well, and perhaps above expectation when it comes to keeping my gear and my books dry and neat.<br>

This all said, the Billingham bags you have settled on were clear alternatives for me aswell, and I would probably be writing this very same praise for the Hadley Pro or Hadley original had they suited my budget at the time of purchase. But I don't regret my J-803 purchase for one minute, perfect for what I need it to do, even if it looks quite a bit more boring and drab compared to the beautiful Billinghams.<br>

Good luck with your purchase!</p>

<p>Though it seems like you've already come to a decision to some extent, I want to recommend the J-803, I've only had it for about a year and a half but it's a true wonder of a bag, it fits most everything I want to tug along for a schoolday or a day off for that matter. A typical schoolday it contains my Leica M4-P fitted with a Summicron 35 (in the padded insert, main compartment), a Ricoh GRD (front pocket), four books (main compartment), two A4-sized notepads or a Macbook (in the rear pouch), iPod (front pocket) and a varying ammount of filmrolls (front pockets). I sometimes tug my D200 with a battery grip and 24mm lens around in it, which rules out having books or a laptop along for the day but still allows me to cram a Polaroid EE-100 special, or my Leica into the main compartment along with it.<br>

The following two images represent my daily setup, four books, Leica M4-P fitted with lens and all the other things mentioned above, except the notepads and the Macbook in the rear pouch.</p>

<p><img src="http://morganmalaska.se/bag1.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> <img src="http://morganmalaska.se/bag2.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>I settled on the L-208 Twinmate, according to factory specs it meters down to EV 0 which is certainly good enough for most of my shots, and seeing it in-store I noticed it was really really tiny... Which fits my discretion bill perfectly. At 75$ I think it's a bargain even, if it doesn't prove to be enough in all situations in which I hope to use it.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies, especially Wayne F, for some reason I totally missed the manuals and quickguides on the Sekonic site.</p>

<p>Hello, I just recently managed to drop my fathers old Zeiss Ikohpot to the ground, and thus breaking it. So for a good while I've been on the lookout for a good, compact and discrete lightmeter. After a while, my eyes fell onto the Sekonic L-308S, and it's little brother the L208.</p>

<p>My question now is, which to buy? I am looking for something that will give me decent low light performance aswell as discretion, the Ikophot afforded me the latter, but hardly the first. I shoot ALOT of low-light street scenes, or rather, I almost exclusively shoot low-light street scenes.</p>

<p>It's not a matter of price or performance - But personal preference.</p>

<p><img src="http://morganmalaska.se/dirt/5s.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="435" /></p>

<p><img src="http://morganmalaska.se/dirt/7s.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="435" /></p>

 

<p >Leica M4, Summicron 35, HP5+</p>

<p >Location: Stockholm, Sweden.</p>

I just got about 40(!) free rolls of TRI-X which all expired in April '04. Judging from the responses in this thread, developing them will be no issue. But just to be on the safe side, is there anything I need to keep in mind during the process? I plan to use D76 and the films I have shot already I rated at ISO 800.

Thanks for all the answers, folks, heartening and interesting to read - Both those of the Leica vets and those who reply with a somewhat questioning tone towards how special Leicas are, or at least how special they are to some people.

 

I never hope to claim that the Leica is the only way to somehow align oneself with photography, nor do think it inspires better photographs. I am still uninspired at times even with a Leica in hand. The camera doesn't inspire me, but perhaps makes me more inclined to snap up the fruits of inspiration when it does come strolling along. There is no "Leica Zen", at least not for me. I am sure I could be as comfortable with another piece of kit, but my M4 has left me without much reason to keep on looking. There is really no way to carry a fruitful debate on the matter, it is just as subjective as ones preferred flavour of ice cream, but I love reading opinions and experiences about photography no less.

 

And to answer Harvey's question about what meter I use, I currently expose with the help of my granddads old Zeiss Ikohphot, works a charm so far, but I don't use it for every shot, nor do I follow it to the tee.

 

And Clive, I actually bought all the bare necessities for developing black and white film yesterday, no proper darkroom yet, but I hope that my bathroom developing facility will give me nice enough negatives with a bit of practice on my part.

 

Charming shot by the way, Richard!

Totally forgot about the compulsory technophile query:

 

Oh, by the way. I picked up a Summicron 35/2 (with a tab for the aperture ring) & a super clean Leitz UVa filter for 650 bucks, swell condition with only one practically invisible nick in the paint job. Good deal or total ripoff? I hear these lenses offer poorer resolution than it's peers in the series. Though it's not really a concern, things like these are nice to know.

 

Also, please forgive my abuse of the English language - I blame the Swedish educational system for it.

 

Kind regards / Morgan Malaska

So... A week ago I hawked off my Nikon D300 along with all my space-age Nikon glass. And yeah, you guessed it, I

bought a Leica! This, shall we say, transition came natural to me. Though at the same time it has left me feeling

insecure, and a bit lost to be perfectly honest. There are so many aspects to Leica ownership and gear, so many

things to consider, so many lenses, and so much money. And so much emotion, as with photography in general.

 

But now, to the point of the post: My question(s) and reflections.

 

What makes the Leica M series so special to you? What defines it as THE camera series, what makes it worth it,

money wise, effort wise... My own answer to these questions are rather simplistic. The reason for my regression,

or really, my introduction to analogue photography is the pure and simple fact that to me, it provokes that much

more thought and emotion than any digital camera could - In some ways, I feel that the cocking lever is really

the embodiment of this "enlightened state of the photographic mind". A flick of the thumb cocks the shutter,

pulls the film forward, thus adding the previous 1/15th of a second to history and leaving the rest of the roll

open to my own interpretation and imagination of the world around me.

 

When I first lifted the horribly brassed and nicked M4 that I would later call my own, all of the above just

seemed to come over me - The odd sensation of holding something timeless in my hands, a something that has been

on this earth a lot longer than my own insignificant twenty years. The click of the shutter, and the sound of the

cocking lever, everything somehow spoke to me.

 

In my thoughts and visions about Leica cameras, I had always feared that when I bought one, it would be under the

pretension that it would somehow make me a better photographer. I am glad to say that that particular fear has

been allayed, with my M4, I feel comfortable, I am still the same as when I shot with my D300 - But somehow the

M4 makes me live and breathe photography, it doesn't make me better at it. And perhaps most importantly, when I

hold it, my M4 refuses to let me focus on anything but the world around me.

I used, and still use an Olympus 35RC before I bought my M4. Even side by side with my M4, the Olympus is a lovely piece of kit that really squeezes the "soul" of rangefinder photography into a small, and nowadays very cheap package. I got mine for about $12 (+$9 for some light sealing foam) and it has been snapping away happily for the two years that it has been with me - The only thing I can say about it, and any other rangefinder camera is... Be very careful, my twelve buck Olympus camera inspired me to spend my entire student loan on an M4 and a 'cron 35.

 

I can also vouch for the Ricoh 500, a pleasure to use (I am fond of my friends' 500GX sepsecially)

Hello, as a recent inductee to the Leica-M system I am on the lookout for a discrete flash to go with my black

M4-P. I have only looked at fairly recent compact flash units, and found the most likely candidate in the Nissin

Di28.

 

This brings me to the point of this post - Does anyone have any experience with it? Will it even fire on a

standard hotshoe? And finally, are there more, shall I say competent, yet still compact alternatives out there?

 

/Morgan Malaska