steve_king1

I bought a demo M6-ttl about two years ago. A couple lenses; it's easy to spend $2500.

 

Most incredibly indulgent material possession I've ever owned. It was wonderful to shoot -- no doubt. Just *felt* good, like a Snap-On 1/2" rachet drive, or any simple, finely-machined item.

 

Ended up selling the system, because ultimately the pictures really weren't any better than anything I've taken before or since, and I never really did get processing my own B&W down, completely, and film scanning is an enormous PITA.

 

Still.

 

Buy one, enjoy it, and I don't think you'll have to worry about losing an inordinate amount of money in the next 10 years.

I think you'll find the 3047 a tad too heavy, and the hex QR plates are uncomfortably large on 35mm bodies....3030 is perfect, IMO, for the 3021 and 35mm...You might prefer a ball-head, though a good one is pricey.

I'm finding more and more the only good reason to shoot "real" B&W, if a scanned image is an endpoint, is that it's cheap, once you amortize the equipment.

 

XP2, TCN-400, and the like are much easier to scan, and it's handy having the 4x6 prints as proofs.

 

But either way, you need a scanner. :)

--<div></div>

USS Arizona Memorial<div></div>

Don't forget to double-check your deductible, too....

 

If your homeowners policy carries a $1k deductible,

and your M6-TTL gets stolen, you might be unhappy twice.

Take up golf.

 

You'll be amazed how well you can estimate distances....

 

This only works up to 230 yards, or so, however. Any distance greater is then referred to as: "300 PLUS, dode!"

<i>Actually, 511 pixels is the limit.</i>

<br><br>

Yet the long side of the inline picture above is 550 pixels?!

<br><br>

I have a question, too, being relatively new to this: do y'all have problems uploading pictures? It often takes at least 3 attempts for me; either it goes at once, or else I get the inevitable timeout, and perhaps an error message.

<br><br>

I'd appreciate an honest answer, before I start digging into my firewall/network config. :)

not nice nap<div></div>

wash dc<div></div>

My $.02 US --

 

I'm in exactly the same situation, having unwisely sold a 35mm pre-ASPH 'cron, to buy various photo goodies, one of which being a 28mm Hexanon.

 

That leaves me with a 50mm Summicron, and a 28mm Konica, and 90% of the pictures I've shot in the past I really liked were with a 35mm.

 

The 50mm is just a great lens at a great price, so I wouldn't sell that, but I empathize with the constant lens changes, believe me. I'm very sorry I bought a 28mm -- it's just wide enough to be annoying with a .72 finder.

 

Regardless of one's socio-economic status, I think it's generally evident that swapping/buying/selling lenses for film cameras in the ~$1000 range, requires careful thought.

nice nap<div></div>

I like the B&W better than the color.

 

I don't know. Protest pictures are hard. Without any intimate, frame-filling faces, I mean BANG RIGHT UP CLOSE!, the images are just...people with signs, made more anonymous and distant with a wide-angle.

 

MHO only, of course. I've been incredibly frustrated with the few rolls I've shot of a protest in Raleigh and one in DC two weeks ago, so my eye might be jaded....So far I've seen about *two* good shots of protests, here: one by Brian something-or-other, who had a terribly disturbing, but powerful, shot of the US flag burning, and another by someone else in San Francisco, I believe.

<i>Also, mthe 24mm I had ain't no elmarit asph, so flare was a problem inside the temple. </i>

<br>

Oh oh.

. .<div></div>

(sorry -- bumped return key)

asdk

Excuse the words. Excellent shot, Brian.

I don't really have anything useful to offer, except it might be possible to salvage something with Photoshop.

 

I went through a similar experience, recently. I'd been asked by a friend to shoot his band at a fund-raising performance, for use on their website.

 

They'd been previously pleased with some of my efforts. (I'm not a pro, but from time to time, I'll do something like this, and charge for film, processing, scanning, and some amount for my time).

 

Anyway. To make a long story longer, I chose film unwisely, and neglected to bring a flash. I've found I can juggle a Viv.285 in one hand, and the M6 in the other (though I've had some nasty surprises, if I'm not careful with the PC cord). The place was dimly lighted, and a tungsten hell of mutiple chandeliers(sp?)....

 

But most of all, I just did a lousy job. It's funny how you can frame something, and *know* it's not particularly interesting, but you press the shutter anyway, trusting to a magical transformation.

 

Worse I lost control of the situation. I showed up, as they started, took a roll or two, then headed to a nearby place for dinner. Unwisely, I decided to go back in, after dinner for a few more pictures. One of the band members grabbed me, and said, "Steve! Can you stick around until we finish? We really, really want pictures of us together." Yeah. I guess. "30 more minutes" turned into something well over an hour. I was bored, and resentful, and it was getting late on a work night. When they finally ended, the band was high on a natural post-performance adrenalin, and not particuarly easy to round up. I shot a few more pictures of them as a group, and left.

 

Those I shot on Press800 ended up with a horrible caste, not surprisingly, and badly underexposed. A few I managed to convert to grayscale, and salvage something. Others, shot on Delta 3200 were marginal. Composition was "OK." Technically, I still don't have the hang of this film, or processing it, and ended up (as usual) with some very thin negatives, and almost no detail in the highlights.

I emailed jpg's of the best shots I culled from the rolls to the band member who'd asked me to shoot them, and he expressed a considerable amount of disappointment, and said, literally, "I guess you get what you pay for...." While they ended up using the pictures on their website, they didn't pay me anything, and I notice, just now, that the site is gone.

 

The lessons for me, are: 1) Don't rush/force shots if there's not a need. 2) Experiment, but don't abandon what you know works -- ie, XP2 and a flash, for times when there simply isn't available light. 3) Have pride and professionalism -- I should have said, "Hey, I'll be glad to shoot y'all as a group, but lets choose a time and place that's convenient, so we can get as good a shot as possible."

4) Get paid.

 

Anyway. My two pennies.

 

Steve

+<div></div>

Bermuda<div></div>

<i> I sent an Tri Elmar and a 35mm Summicron, via Leica USA, back to Germany for repair Sept. 22. Tri Elmar came back last month with problems still there, and the 35mm isn't back yet</i><br>

*SIX* months, and it's not back yet?? This is a warranty repair? I certainly have no emotional investment in Leica, except, well, I like my M6, but it's disturbing to hear this. Surely this isn't the norm?

North Carolina....

I recently picked up a 90mm f4 Rokkor-M, which I understand is the same as the 90mm f4 Elmar-CLE? This lens replaced an old hazy 90mm Elmar. Dunno; I'm not really a lens geek, but I wanted a reasonably decent 90mm without paying a fortune for a modern Elmarit or Summicron. I find using a 90mm *really* difficult on the M6, in general. Anyway, it works just fine, and is just a bit longer than my 50mm Summicron.<div></div>

xp2<div></div>