jon_streeter

Nice bokeh? I have both the 35mm Summicron f/2 ASPH and a '60s

vintage (I think) 35mm Summicron f/2 with "frog eyes." I also have

the 50mm Summicron f/2, latest generation, and the DR Summicron f/2.

I did a bokeh test, not rigidly controlled to be sure, but just to

see if there were any obvious differences. I took one photograph

each of my fiance standing in the shade with a sunlit bouganvilla in

the background. I was attempting to produce those little circles of

out-of-focus hightlights so characteristic of the Leica, mindful of

the decreased number of diaphragm leaves in the newer lenses, and

wondering if I'd get septagons instead of circles. Well, while there

were differences, all four photographs, taken at f/2 on Provia, were

characteristically Leica and characteristically beautiful. The out-

of-focus highlights in the newer lenses were indistinguisable from

those of the older lenses.

Of course the differences between these lenses can be revealed only

after long experience or much shooting or some combination thereof.

I have noticed distant out-of-focus highlights from the 35 ASPH which

are exactly the shape of the hole made by the diaphragm leaves in a

photograph made at probably f/11. But in my test, as I say, the

results were indistinguishable. I viewed the slides in my Leica 5X

loupe, so I couldn't see them at the same time. This is important

when comparing images because it's difficult to retain enough

information for an adequate comparison. But I'm not Erwin Puts, just

a fan of his.

I have some scrap leather lying around that I ordered from a leather

shop when my son and I got interested in making slings some years

ago. I unscrewed the diopter from my M3, traced it on the leather in

an area where the leather was really thin. This provided the

outline. I pressed the diopter into the leather and turned it a bit,

making an impression of the glass area, and using a Swiss Army Knife,

I cut out the donut-shaped piece of leather. I glued it to the

eyepiece using "Household Goop," a kind of glue or cement which bonds

disparate materials together, tends to remain flexible, and is easy

to remove when it squishes out from between pieces being cemented.

I've been using it for years, and it hasn't scratched my glasses.

It's also quite thin, so it doesn't noticeably diminish the view I

get. I like the idea of using the rubber M6 eyepiece; however, my

M6's diopter alone cost $71, and the leather was virtually free.

I use a diopter because I'm farsighted and I can't read the camera

without glasses nor see through it perfectly with glasses. But often

I have no chance to remove my glasses before taking a shot. And I

realized, before it was too late, fortunately, that I was even more

likely to scratch my glasses (my "plastics"?)when in a hurry, hence

the leather protection. Now, if someone would only come up with

something to keep the eyepiece and the flash plug from catching on

the shirt when wearing the camera around the neck. (And no, I don't

carry it there all the time.)

The main reason I can see in using a Leica M camera with fill flash

is to use Leica lenses because, as most Leica fans will readily

agree, they give the most pleasing image of any lenses. I recently

crushed my tender sensibilities and used flash on my Leica M3 at a

wedding reception for a friend. I would have used my Nikon, but it

spontaneously stopped working just before I needed it, so I used the

Leica M3. I'm glad I did, because it opened up a new realm for me

that I had not even considered, that is, using flash with a Leica M

camera. When I saw the results, I was delighted. Some of the

portraits, in particular, just after sunset -- the "quiet light"

period -- I thought were particularly nice because the trees in the

background had those beautiful out-of-focus jewels of light that only

only a Leica lens can produce. And even indoors, the flash shots

were beautiful because of Leica lens. By the way, I used a Vivitar

283 on automatic. Since then, I've been searching the web for all

the information I can find on flash fill so I can figure out how to

use my Leica in bright light. One thing I'm going to be trying in

the next few days is using a neutral density filter and the 283 set

so it will provide minimal flash fill so the people in the photograph

won't look as though they've been cut out from somewhere else and

pasted on. It sounds complicated, but it might just work. If there

are any people out there who can help, I'm all ears.