jeff_matsler1

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Wayne,<br>

<br />I've been looking at your images for nearly a decade and they just keep getting better!<br>

All of these are outstanding. Your bird shots are some of the best I've seen and those clouds.. wow.<br>

<br />Jeff</p>

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm back from a year in Afghanistan and am selling my Sony Alpha 700 and battery grip that I used while over there.<br>

I used it in extrememe circumstances and so have sent it off to SONY to be totally worked over and it came back LIKE NEW last week with a 90 day warranty.</p>

<p>Asking $950 w/ the VG grip and an extra battery & memory chip. </p>

<p>Contact me at <a href="mailto:jeffmatsler@verizon.net">jeffmatsler@verizon.net</a> if interested.</p>

<p>Jeff M</p>

<p>Hey Wayne,<br>

<br />Has Sony come through for you yet? Anxious to hear.<br>

<br />Jeff</p>

<p>Check KEH. Their prices are on the high end for Leica gear, but what they sell is as good or better than described. They generally have M3's in conditions ranging from BGN to EXC, so you would have a few samples to compare his to.</p>

Hello,

 

I've never understood what people don't like about the M5 (and that's after reading the above objections to it - here

and other places, always the same thing). It's my favorite and my most used Leica RF.

 

I shoot 28mm most of the time and my black 3 lug has built in 28mm frame lines. That's probably the reason I like it

better than my M3 single stroke so much.

 

The spot meter is refreshing to use after being slave to modern averaging and matrix metering systems. It lets me

decide what part of the image is the point of concentration.

 

There is an engineering issue with the battery compartment, but that is easily remedied if / when it rears its ugly

head. As for the battery, I either use 3rd world mercury batteries when I can get my hands on them - not hard in

Afghanistan - or adjust the ASA to match my Voightlander meter on my M3 when they're not available.

 

The same people who complain it's too big seem to lust after motor drives for their M4's and M7's. Go figure.

 

I guess the real isssue is that is doesn't matter what others think of it. If you like it, use it.

 

The fact that many don't keeps the price realistic if I ever decide to buy another one (not that I'd need to, this one will

last until my grandchildren are ready to give it to their kids - or until film really dies: whichever comes first).

 

 

Jeff M

BOKEH, dude. It's called BOKEH.

 

Jeff M

Hello,

 

Way back when Minolta introduced this flash shoe design, they also sold two converters for those of us feeling the way you are right now:

one to go from classic to the Maxxum mount; and

one to go from Maxxum to classic.

 

They're still out there, new or used if you look around. If you check out www.9000.org, I believe the site lists the model numbers.

 

Jeff M

That would be a cool read. Thanks Peter.

 

Jeff

errr, I bought an SCA to use my flashes on the 9000 is what that should have said. :-)

Hi Peter,

 

Good to hear from you.

 

Either you misunderstand what I'm asking, you're answering a question other than what I've asked (wouldn't be a

first), or you have not clearly stated what you're trying to convey in the way of an answer, because the above doesn't

tell me anything.

 

I have no intention of using both flashes at the same time. I have a 9000 and a 4000AF (on the way from KEH) and I

own a PG-2 along with a 360PX and a score of other flashes, mostly Metz. I also bought a Metz SCA for the

4000AF, BTW.

 

I want to shoot off camera - on a bracket of some sort, preferably the dedicated one, but I can't locate a CG-1000 in

working condition from a reliable source at this instant.

 

So I'm wondering if I can use the AF4000 on the PG-2, or if the 360PX will function as it is designed to with the 9000

if it's on the PG-2. My experience with 80's era Minolta and Nikon gear is that taking stuff off the camera - even with

the proper connecting cords, often altars the dedicated response of some accessories.

 

So if you know, please let me know.

 

Thanks.

 

Jeff

Hello,

 

I am reading in old Minolta literature that the 360PX will work on the 9000, with the only drawback that it doesn't

automatically scale to distance like the 4000 AF would do.

 

That said, here is my question:

 

 

If I can use the 360PX in TTL mode with the 9000, does it suffice to say that I can also use the PG-2 Flash Power

Grip with the 9000?

 

And the 4000 AF on the PG-2?

 

 

 

I understand it wouldn't have the cool connections on the bottom of the camera, but if I used the TTL cables on the

PG-2, wouldn't it work fine?

 

If anyone has tried this - or has a CG 1000 they want to sell , please let me know.

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff M

Hello,

 

The closest "fit" would be the 7sII, but it doesn't fit.

 

LUIGI sells a custom case on ebay - or you can link to his website from his ebay store I think. If you tell him what you want, he'll make it and post it on ebay with a BIN price - at least that's what he used to do. His case will likely cost you 1/3 or more of your cost of a used CLE.

 

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

 

Jeff M

Hello,

 

The best guidance I can give you is what I received as a youth - which has made photography an integral and active

part of my life for over three generations and counting.

 

 

Take LOTS of pictures. As many as you have time and funds to shoot.

 

Take pictures in sets of three - one over, one under and one exposed according to your meter.

 

Experiment with the shutter speed and aperture to see what effects you get and what you prefer.

 

 

TAKE NOTES.

When I was learning, I carried a notebook and logged every image I took - the object, the shutter speeds, apertures,

noted whether that day / roll of film was cloudy or sunny.

 

Then, get with an honest (polite, but not not to the point of being non-critical) group of fellow photographers who can

help you evaluate your photos. Join a photo club that really takes pictures, not just sits around and talks about their

gear.

 

You have an awesome, manual camera. More importantly you have access to some incredible and very affordable

lenses. I wish I could have bought Minolta primes for $50-$200 back in the 70's and 80's!

 

Most importantly, if you learn how to use your SRT, you will really be a photographer, not just someone who takes

pictures.

 

Good luck!

 

Jeff M

Hello,

 

Have you considered the M Rokkor 28mm, f/2.8? It was designed during the Leica / Minolta collaboration years and sold to go with the CLE. Great lens if you can find one that has had the spot issue resolved (the lens was known to spot up after a number of years - Minolta corrected the issue at no cost back in the day, but that was 20 years ago and Minolta is no more).

 

The lens is largely ignored by the Leica crowd, but produces very pleasing images. I would put it up against a Cosina / Voightlander any day of the week. It is affordable - < $600 in EXC condition.

 

Jeff M

Hello,

 

If you have $1000 budgeted, you should be able to skip the Russian clones and move right into a Leica (if you prefer) or any small sized SLR system you fancy.

 

Someone said the Minolta XD11 was "less like" a Leica than the Olympus camera systems. I find that a confusing statement, as the Minolta XE and XD cameras were part of a joint venture with Leica that produced them and their counter-parts: the R3 / R4. This partnership also gave us the jointly designed CL / CLE rangefinder bodies. But perhaps the other writer knows of something about the Olympus cameras more Leica-like than a camera co-designed by the company in question.

 

The XD11, even today, is a state-of-the-art manual focus SLR. It is small, even with the winder. The Rokkor lenses are superb. Bokeh-wise I would put them put against Leica (heresy) and although they aren't Leicas, they are as close as any Japanese company has come to reproducing the glow you get from a Summicron. The XD11 is also affordable to have CLA'ed (and I would recommend this for any 30 year old camera you buy).

 

Another small camera that is pleasing to use (and impossible to destroy) is the Nikon FM. The Nikkor lenses will be (in my experience) the LEAST Leica-like in warmth and bokeh, however. Nikkors are scientifically sharp - the converse of the Leica glow.

 

If you go with a Minolta, for under $1000 you could buy a LN XD-11 and an arsenal of lenses and accessories. If you like flash photography, I'd suggest the X570 instead. It is a newer body - about the same size and has TTL flash compatibility and metering in manual and all modes (like the XD - unlike the "flagship" X700).

 

The Leica CL (as mentioned earlier) or the Minolta CLE would also be considerations, especially since this is an RF forum. If you don't use a flash (we are, after all talking RF), get the CL. If you want to play with an RF but don't want to give up TTL flash - and stay within your budget - a CLE is really the only option out there. There are published drawbacks to the CLE, but as someone who has carried one all over the globe in all sorts of environments, I can say mine has never encountered any "potential" issue people warn "might" happen to the camera. I think most of the warnings, quite frankly, are of the "it's not a Leica" thread if you get down to the bare bones of their argument. I know few CLE users that will speak negatively of it or its traits (consider Stephen Gandy's praise of it on his website).

 

In this price range you could also get a BGN M3 and one lens - like a Summcron DR 35mm or 50mm.

 

If you're wanting the most affordable small camera option that gives the warmth and feel of Leica glass, the setup I would go with, however, is this:

 

ANY Minolta body (XD-11 is a great one, of late I have been shooting with a green-leathered XGse w/ winder when shooting Minolta) and the Rokkor 58mm, f/1.2 lens. This is a cult status lens with warmth and bokeh like nothing else out of Japan. Minolta users swear by it and to this day pay a premium price for either verison of it. That would be my choice for an affordable "Leica-like" image producing camera system. Other "MC" Minolta lenses (the 85mm, f/1.7, etc.) also fall into this lens' category and for $1000 you could get quite a few different lenses.

 

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

Jeff M

 

 

ASIDE:

If you prefer to have a "unique" camera, consider the Minolta Super A. The camera is the end result of the Minolta SKY project, designed to compete head to head with the Leica M3 in the late '50s. The SKY had an M mount on it - and after objections from German litigants the mount was changed along with the name (prior to commercial release) to a Minolta-specific bayonet type mount. LIke all other Minolta endeavors that had a hint of greatness, this project failed miserably and is merely a footnote in the company's history. But the camera and the glass used in the lenses is of the same caliber and quality as the Leica M system (of course the lens selection is limited - about 7 lenses total: 3 of those being 50mm varieties). Pictures taken with this setup will rival pictures taken with 1st generation M lenses. And I guarantee you'll be the only shooter on the block using one. ;-)