miguel_angel_p._prieto

<p>I bought an M3 1millionxxx serial 3 years ago. Absolutely pristine. Malcolm Taylor made a complete CLA to it, and it's like new. I use it with a 50 summicron (60's serial). I only shoot b&w, and I have to say that I'm absolutely pleased with it.<br>

Its size and ergonomics are perfect for me and the kind of pictures I take (street). Also, its viewfinder is AWSOME, I think that THE factor for me. It's almost 1:1, it let me see what`s around when I'm framing.<br>

So, for me, it's perfect for street work.</p>

<p>I have to say that sometimes I also use a 5D Mark II, and a GF1, I don't share that "exclusive camera" reasoning. In the end, cameras are only tools, you have to choose those that suit your "vision" of things. That doesn't mean you have to use only one camera. BTW, I also use in the street, sometimes a Hasselblad 500cm. It depends on my mood and what I'm trying to get walking the streets that day...</p>

<p>I own a Zeiss 50mm 1.4 ZE, and I'm very happy and impressed with the lens, its design, construction and performance.<br>

Talking about canon, I've previously owned the canon 50mm 1.8 and the 1.4.<br>

I've used and owned extensively many 50's (it's the only focal length I use): Nikon 1.8 manual, summicron f2, Rokkor 58mm 1.2 (which bokeh I LOVE by the way) and many others....<br>

I think that everybody has to choose the right tool for the kind of photography he/she does. The tool that works for me, maybe won't work for others. That doesn't mean the lens is better or worse, just less suitable to my style/work.<br>

Having said that I have to say that the Zeiss 1.4 ZE is the BEST lens I've used so far when it comes to "street photography" in digital (in traditional photography nothing beats my summicron 50mm f2 wih my M3 :) ): it's incredibly sharp at medium distances (a bit less in close up, in that case I use the rokkor, for portraits), manual focus is a JOY to use, very precise. As I need to shoot fast, it's very convenient also choosing aperture from camera, without having to stop down manually.<br>

I have to say, that AF for my is s*it, no matter what lens we talk about, I just don't want nor need that feature. I like lenses that feel like real lenses in my hand, well built, with good manual focus ring. But that's just me...<br>

So, I would recommend this lens to all the people who:<br>

-wants to control focus manually in a very precise way.<br>

-wants razor sharp street pictures<br>

-wants fast selection of aperture<br>

-wants a lens built like a tank, with no s*hitty plastic in it, just metal and glass.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I like B&W. The composition is nice as you took it.<br /> Don't like cloning at all, adding or removing things (personal opinion), but with some burning and dodging you can get to some places.<br /> Congrats for little, Mike!</p><div></div>

<p>I like B&W. The composition is nice as you took it.<br>

Don't like cloning at all, adding or removing things (personal opinion), but with some burning and dodging you can get to some places.<br>

Congrats for little Mike!</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I own a Leica M3 that needs a CLA. I live in Spain. <br>

I've been told that Mr.Malcolm Taylor does a great work on this cameras. Any experiences with this gentleman?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot.</p>

<p>Tri-X, Ilford FP4, Agfa APX 100.</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

After several years shooting b&w film exclusively, I've bought a Canon 5D markII. My idea is keep shooting film and shoot digital too, depending on the subject or project.<br>

With film, I shoot with a Leica M3 with a 50mm f2 summicron, sometimes I use a Nikon FM2, also with a 50mm (1.8)<br>

I have only the body of the 5D.I used some lenses from a friend to test it, here are my impressions:<br>

- canon 50mm 1.8 - I light piece of plastic, that hardly seems to be a real lens. I used it for a week. After the initial shock of believing that this little lens could really take pictures, I found that it delivers a good quality when it's closed beyond f5.6, better at 8. <br>

BUT, the lacking of a REAL FOCUS RING, ended annoying me enough to decide not to buy it.I'm used to shoot manual, and I really need a lens with a real manual focus ring.</p>

<p>- I also tested the 28-105 f2.8 zoom lens, very good image quiality, well built, but it was too heavy for me. Besides, I'm not used to zoom lenses, I don't feel confortable shooting with them.</p>

<p>So, I'd like to hear your advices in a good 50mm lens, with REAL manual focus ring, that feels like a REAL lens in your hands, and that delivers an image quality comparable to,say, my 50mm summicron.<br>

In my search, I've found the ZEISS PLANAR 1.4 ZE, and the CANON 1.4. Any experiences with these?<br>

Any other alternatives out there?Manual "OLD" lenses could be OK too. </p>

<p>Right now I'm waiting for an adaptor nikon to canon, to try my Nikon manual 50mm 1.8. Any experience with this combo?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help.</p><div></div>

<p>I think Medium format it ¡s just a different league. Not better or worse than digital, just different. There's thousands of posts discussing pixels, numbers, and that stuff. I think what matters is what texture do you prefer: film or digital?<br>

And as someone has pointed out I think those plugins that mimic film texture are just absurd, they're like that jeans you buy that are already washed and wasted: maybe they are similar to "real wasted jeans", but they're not the same, they're just fake...<br>

I shoot wih my Leica M3 in the street, and in more "calmed" situations with my Hasselblad 500 c/m loaded with Tri-x, FP4 or Delta 100. I love using it, I love the fact that it's mechanical, non battery dependant, and I love the results..</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks everyone,<br>

It makes a lot of sense that it has been an air bubbles problem at the beginning of the development. I develop in a 5 reel tank, and this time I only developed 2 reels.<br>

Maybe, agitating with much less developer than usually made more air bubbles than usually, because the liquid moves a lot in the big tank. With 5 reels, the tank is almost full, so the developer "moves" less when agitating, making much less air bubbles.</p>

 

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've modfied the size of the digital shot to match the size of the film shot. Result speak by itself.Less noise than film, but less detail.</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've modfied the size of the digital shot to match the size of the film shot. Result speak by itself.Less noise than film, but less detail.</p><div></div>

<p>Hi everybody,</p>

<p>I've been developing for a few months with PMK. I mainly shoot FP4 and TRI-X.<br>

I'm very happy with the results, but in the last rolls of Tri-X I've had a problem with some chemical spots.<br>

The PMK I use is mixed with distilled water as is the TF4 fixer.<br>

I developed with no presoak for 14 minutes 21ºC. Water stop bath. TF4 Alkaline fixer. 2 min After bath in used developer. water wash. I use distilled water with a couple of drops of photoflo for final rinse.</p>

<p>I've been doing this process with all my negatives with very good results. The only difference (and maybe there's the problem) is that in this case, after pouring out the developer, it passed like 20 seconds until I began to pour water in the tank for the stop bath.<br>

Maybe in that seconds some drops of developer made the spots? Is that possible?<br>

Anyway, what I heard is that the developer in that case would act in the shadows, and what I got was spots in the highlights...</p>

<p>Can anyone give some light to this problem?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

<div></div>

<p>Leica M3, FP4+ in PMK</p><div></div>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've just aquired a densitometer Xrite 890.I need it to read my negatives to get my personal EI for different films.<br>

Have any of you own this densitometer?<br>

How do you use it?As far as I know it's designed to read control (special) strips. Is it easy to use with "regular" strips?</p>

<p>OTOH, I mainly use PMK to develope my films, how would you use this densitometer to read the density in this negatives?</p>

<p>Thank you</p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I've been developing the rolls of b&w film I shoot for two years. To determine my EI of several films and define my dev times I've been using the densitometer function included in Vuescan, but, as I'm not sure if this function is accurated, I've decided to buy a densitometer in e-bay.</p>

<p>I mostly develop with PMK so I need a densitometer capable to read color.</p>

<p>What are your recomendations.<br>

Are X-Rite 880<a href="http://cgi.ebay.es/X-RITE-880-COLOR-PROCESS-CONTROL-DENSITOMETER_W0QQitemZ200348431048QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea5b272c8&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1315%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50"> </a> and 890 good for my purposes?</p>

<p>Do I need some kind of card to calibrate the densitometer?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>

 

<p>Thanks all for the responses,<br>

Kari, I usually meter with a Profisix, and sometimes with a Sekonic 758.<br>

Maybe, as Doreumus says, the film doesn't respond to tungsten light the same way it does with daylight, and that's the reason that, even using the reading given by the meter, the film is underexposed.<br>

I'll do tests as Christer Almqvist suggests. The only thing is that I don't have a real densitometer, I use the densitometer of vuescan with my scanner (coolscan V). I did test with this films, but only in daylight, as Ansel Adams says in "The Negative".And I'm follower of the Zone System, but always did the tests with daylight(my fault...)...<br>

Checking pictures I found </p>

 

</p>

<p>Hi everybody.</p>

<p>I shoot in b&w, both Ilford and kodak films (fp4 and tri-x mainly). I very happy with the results I get with both films outdoors, specially souped in xtol(1+3), and in PMK, BUT I'm very dissapointed with ALL my interiors with ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. Fluorescent or halogen, doesn't metter which one. All muy shoots in this kind of light look terrible: grained, flat,muddy...<br>

The thing gets better when I shoot with natural light, close to a window, for example. But with artificial light, always terrible...<br>

I suspect is an exposure issue,combined with a developing one.<br>

What would be your advice for exposing and developing in this light situation?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=505561">Alex Shishin</a>: nice coloured Elliot Erwitt moment :)<br>

Richard Gerraty: nice compostion and colours<br>

<br /></p><div></div>

<p>NYC. Leica M3, FP4 @125.</p><div></div>

<p>Coney Island - Leica M3 - Summicron 50mm </p><div></div>

<p>Hi,<br>

I've got a liquid PMK kit from Photographer's Formulary along with the Pyro Book by Gordon Hutchings.<br>

In the book he says that, given the high dilution of this developer (1+2+100), he'd recommend to use a minimum of 500ml of developer per roll...<br>

I don't know if he means ONLY in the case of 1 roll in the tank...<br>

I use a Paterson tank for 5 reels. In that tank I use 300ml per roll, that's the tank's capacity.<br>

If I take Gordon's advice, that would mean that I'd have to use 2,5 liters of developer in the tank..of course that's impossible with this tank.</p>

<p>What's your experience in this issue, guys?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot</p>

<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; ">If you like "calmed" photography: portraits,landscapes,architecture....Hasselblad 500 c/m with 80mm planar lens, two A12 back, a gossen profisix meter for studio, a Weston master V meter for shooting outside. But if you are a "street & documentary guy", IMO the best choice is a Leica M3 with 50mm summicron and the weston master V.</span></p>

Yes,

 

After several years shooting only b&w 35mm, I'm going to try Medium Format..

 

I mainly do street photography and documentary, and I'd like to try this format for portraiture and for taking "city pictures":

streets,buildings etc...

 

I've just got a beautiful and almost unused chrome Hassy 500c/m, with black 80mm planar.

 

I haven't shot anything yet (got it yesteday), tomorrow I'll get some rolls of fp4 and tri-x and I'll go out to shoot.

 

I love how you can handle this camera, and I think this system has an almost perfect design. It's like the Leica M3 for medium format

(in terms of peak of design and craftmanship) The only thing that annoys me is the fact that you have to look at the things flipped on the

viewfinder. So,that makes me think that photographing and composing with this camera MUST be a much more calmed process than

shooting with my Leica M3 :) .

Is there any trick for composing with this "flipped viewfinder"?

 

I've never taken pictures in 6x6 format, so I'm a bit worried about composing...can you give me some advices to begin with this format?

Should I begin with portraits,landscapes,architecture....?¿

 

Can you take pictures without tripod on the street at 1/250 or 1/500 without worrying about sharpness?

 

I'm thinking about getting an used "The Manual of Hasselblad". what do you think?

 

Which extension tube would you recommend me for close up portrais? (Don't have budget for another lens), a 16, maybe a 21?

 

thanks,<div></div>

Jason: the scanhancer definetely reduces de available light. The lock exposure for FP4 without scanhancer is about 1.9

and with scanhancer is about 70! !That would be explain that long times. anyway I was reported that this times should be

2 or 3 times over the normal time, not 6, as I'm getting...

 

Derek: the price was 25€ posting included from Holland.

Anobody else who's using the Scanhancer?

Where are you people??

 

:)