gary e

Bob,

 

It seems you may have a 6MF? There are lines in the viewfinder that show the 6x45 and 35mm film landscape at all times. The viewfinder patch will remain the same regardless of the lens as the viewfinder magnification remains the same. When switching the lens from 75mm to 50mm, the outermost square lines will move to the outermost side of the viewfinder, but the inside lines will remain relative in size and position to the outside lines. You will not see them change unless you mount a 50mm lens; I don't have the 135mm but it would be the same only going in smaller.

I don't know of any other place than dr5 to develop this film. I sent in my last 2 rolls and mailers (which gave me a discount on their services) and all came out fine. I can whole heartily recommend them for service and quality results.

The Fuji GW rangefinders will only test fire with the back open. Testing will also advance the counter; that's why you see the counter inbetween numbered rolls because partial testing was done.

I use M's most of the time, so my F2's sit idle most of the time. But there are times the SLR will do the job better, so I've decided to keep them around and not sell them; though it has crossed my mind a few times when I want to buy new equipment it just wasn't worth it to sell. The CV lenses are a great value, but if you must have the Leica just save a little longer. The sale of your FM2 will not speed you much closer to the Leica 24mm than saving for another month.

Victor,

 

If this is a single stroke M3 and you now cannot advance the frame, then your M3 is stuck. I've had this happen to me before on my M3, and after had it sent out for an "unsticking" I found that there is a little lever that gets reset to allow for the advancing of the frame. It can fall off it's seat if you have jarred it too hard. I know Leica's are known for robust reliability, but I assure you I did not drop mine to have this happen to me. Find a reputable Leica repair person and get it fixed.

I recall mine was 72mm for the press on cap. But like Jeff above, it too came off too easily after a while and always fell off at the wrong time. I now use a 67mm snap in cap. I always keep my shade retracted to protect the dials and never had a problem taking off my cap.

 

Gary E

I agree too. I am still a film shooter, but most of my photog friends are all digital. I am always amazed at the clarity and sharpness of my 6x7 chromes from my GW670. I always wanted a GA645i for a walk-about shooter. It's no accident Hassy went with Fuji to make their lenses for the H series. Those lenses are sharp!

 

By the way, I liked all your B&W shots with your GA645i. I missed using the darkroom at the college back when I was shooting B&W. I may have to go back via your route with the changing bag and developing in the kithen setup. I always wanted to scan my 120, and your Epson V700 setup looks like it does a fine job. Have you printed large prints from the scans?

What color is the dot? And how big? If you're talking about the lcd information area, I've a small half cirle dot that creeps into the mettering pattern lcd area. It's not intrusive, but just annoying that I can't get into the viewfinder to fix it. If it's in the image area, have you tried to clean the surface of the glass prism? You can't clean inside the VF though. If it's behind the prism, sounds like condensation caused a water spot to form on one of the prism's surface.

If it had a standard RF and MF lenses but with auto winder like the Hexar RF then maybe it would have worked out. Wait the Hexar is also gone, skip that thought...

Doug, leaf shutters flash sync at all speeds. 1s-1/500. One of the beautiful advantages of MF leaf shutter lenses.

Anthony, The three places I've used in NYC are FlatIron Colorlabs, US Colorlabs, and Duggal. The first two are cheaper, but I've never asked for a low res scan of my 120's. Where was the last place you used that changed your mind to switch. I would like to know so that I will avoid them...

Jeff,

At the end of the roll, I too get a scrapy sound. But I never had any problems with the results (no streaks or scrapes on the negs), so I think it might need a little lube somewhere?

 

My lens sometimes takes a slight bit extra effort to remove; I do notice it doesn't happen in winter and mainly during the hot and humid months. Not sure if the tolerances are high to give it that tight snap in lock.

 

About the only thing I can say for my 6MF is that the VF's vertical alignment is ever so slightly off. Kind of bugs me at times, but I still get sharp results.

 

Gary

It looks good, but it would be more perfect with a flash extension so that you could mount the flash 1/4" above the actual flash shoe. I know real Leica shooters don't use flash, but still... And what is holding it to the shoe? Doesn't seem to have a set screw. Friction alone from the flash shoe springs? Not with my 5000 camera it won't.

Steve, The E55 is most closest to Series VII. It is actually a 54mm filter thread, so I use a 54-55 converter ring with lenses that do not have a built in sliding hood. I'd suggest this if you already have 55mm filters in your bag.

Short answer "no".

 

Long answer "motor drive, we don't need no stinking motor drives" The F2 is a pleasure to use as is, even better with a DE-1. But if you must shoot multiple shots with the F2 use three or four...

It's as Greg said, the 35mm is like a middle slice from the 6x6 image. The pano kit comes with mask (to hide sprocket holes), a canister adapter for the 35mm film, a takeup spool and a winder attachment. This winder clips onto the bottom strap end and the tripod socket. Nifty tool, but it hinders my strap use; I like to hang the RF from the end of the body and leave the right side free of straps.

 

The other issue is the entire 35mm roll is panoramic, and you waste a good portion of film at the start of the roll. The winding mechanism is still believing there is 120 roll film inside and requires a good windup before getting to frame 1.

 

The focal length doesn't change and the results are not any better than if you took 6x6 then cut it to the same ratio. Though the speed and emulsion would affect it more then just the ratio.

Nope. M9 - M100 will most likely be digital. Why? The M7 & MP are as good as you can get, the M3 is all you really need and if you really want a new M with a motor drive or higher shutter speeds you'll have to wait for the new Sony Hexar RF.

Mine is slightly blue. Doesn't seem to bother me if used outdoors only indoors.

I have the M6 and wouldn't give it up as it is portable and medium format at the same time. Some of my best photos came from this camera. Even my friends who see the square print say it is better than digital; though only use P&S digi's. I haven't tried the 150mm but the 50mm is a sure bet if you like wide; I have both the 50 and the 75.

 

I have some Nikon 35mm as well, but it really depends if you're satisfied with the MF workflow. I have to get it developed at the pro lab and get prints from them too, so it's not as convenient. The 35mm can be developed almost anywhere; though there are less and less places that do it. I scan with my 35mm but not with my MF, so YMMV.

 

Gary

Yes you should keep it and use it. I am using a Yashica D with the 3 element Yashikor lens and find it superb. I don't know how much more you'll get out of the 4 element Yashinon lens, but this is plenty sharp for me. You just have to get used to the reversed image. Also, make sure you have the lever on X and not M (flashbulbs). I believe the older series use 120 roll film only.

I have Fuji Provia and Astia in the fridge (not freezer) and have been shooting with this film for 2 years; the oldest expired roll being 2 years old today. I did not find any degradation with the Provia 100 and 400, but my Astia required an extra 1/3 to 1/2 stop exposure; so I rate it at 64 ISO. In either case, the colors looked fine.

There were 3 generations of this camera. First gen had shutter speed dial with (*) and a [*] for Auto and Auto Exp Lock. The second gen is the 6MF with VF lines for the 35mm panoramic adapter and has A and AEL instead of the symbols in the first gen. The 3rd gen reverted back to a regular non-MF non-panoramic VF but kept the A and AEL on the shutter speed dial.

 

As I recall, only the first gen had the gold "G" sticker on the front as you mentioned; it's the only gen I've seen it on at least. So if this is the case, you'll just be buying an older gen which may be used more than a 2nd or 3rd gen; but that's not alway the case of course.

 

I have the 6MF 2nd gen for several years now and it hasn't given me any problems (with the exception of the RF alignment going out of vertical adjustment slightly; drives me crazy but the images are still sharp).

 

PS: Get the 50mm is you can.

I've been using NiMH 2500 mAh in the ol' F5 for some time with good results. I've never reached the end of battery life as I don't shoot that many rolls at once, but I charge up the batteries prior to use as they loose charge on the shelf faster than Alkalines and Lithiums. I have read about the mods out there for the 9th cell but have not attempted to do so as I don't need the high speed.

The last I saw this model it was going for around 600-800 for minty condition. But today, I saw a RTSIII in Ex condition for 650, so it may be a bit less than that.

My old Master III had a brown case and my current Master IV is in a gray case. But with both, the invercone was in a brown case.