Fiddlefye

I never carry a camera around my neck, either - just nice to hang on a shoulder. I've tried a wrist strap on my Canon IVS (seen in the background in the pic), but don't really care for it that much. There are some nice new half-cases available and maybe one fine day I'll treat myself (and the Vito) to one. It really is an incredibly smooth camera to shoot with and I actually really like the left hand knob focus set-up that some complain about. I found my Vito about 25 years ago in a used book store, of all places. It came with the manual and nice little meter in a Crown Royal bag for $25. Ah, those were the days!

Yesterday I finished a roll of HP5 in my beloved Contax IIa and then dropped the camera off to my tech of its once-in-four-decades lube/oil/filter/adjust. It is still working perfectly in every respect, but forty years is long enough between services I think. Just started a roll of Delta 100 in the Voigtlander Vito III (later version with Synchro-Compur). Quirky camera perhaps, but ever-so-smooth. I would use it a lot more if I had a case for it as there are unfortunately no strap lugs in the design.

I finished off the roll of Fuji 200 colour film in the Konica S2 and while I have a roll of B&W film going in each of three cameras currently (Konica S2 - again - Contax IIa and Pentax LX) my Canon IVS just came back from its first full service in nearly seven decades so it will get a roll in it and out the door ASAP.

I have a few selenium meters that work just fine, but the only ones I actually use are the'80s vintage Sekonic L-398 and the meter ion my Canon 7. Both are about as accurate in use as any meter I own, if not as sensitive.

The Konica S2 got put on hold while it gets some new light seals for the back door. They were looking pretty frayed and no point in having a disappointing light-struck first roll, right? I contemplated the Canon 7, but my beloved Contax IIa called out to me... after three and a half decades together still my favourite 35mm camera, I must admit. In company with my favourite meter these days. Choice of HP5 or Delta 100 TBA depending upon weather conditions.

For me this is my "Big Three" of all-mechanical manual focus 35mm SLRs. I love all three and shoot with them often, but sometimes I ponder what might be if I could combine what I like best about each of them into one camera. Anyone else ever have such ponderings? From the Nikon F2s - I like the mount, the body size and shape and the general level of reliability and durability and the extended slow speed range on the self-timer is kinda cool. From the Canon F-1n - the self-timer/stop-down lever/mirror lockup is brilliant. I like the way the prisms mount and dismount and the metering being in the body. The bright and colourful meter display is appreciated as well, though I'd welcome having the f-stop in the finder. From the Leicaflex SL2 - The shutter speed dial/release/wind lever confluence is wonderful - top plate in general for that matter. Biggest, brightest, easiest to focus finder of the three. Readouts in the finder are very nice as well. The "black chrome" finish is superb.

This week a friend gave me her father's Konica S2. I got it working properly and promised to shoot some photos with it and so I shall. Nice camera, really. HP5 maybe?

Nikon F4S/50 f1/4 Nikkor AI/PanF @ ISO 25.

The roll of Pan F in the Nikon F4 went by rather quickly so I'm going to have a bit of fun with this.

Canon F-1n/50 f1.4/HP5

Birds of a Feather Canon F-1n/50 f1.4/HP5

I've never shot an Industar, but the Sonnar 50 f2 and Helios 53 f1,8 I use with my Contax IIa are also lovely. Not entirely sure what the crossover might be to LTM, but I am pretty certain there is a 50 f1.5 Sonnar in LTM mount, if horrendously expensive these days.

Not the weekend yet, but this afternoon I shot a roll of Ilford Delta 100 in the camera on the right in the photo.

At one point I owned both a Leica IIIf and Contax IIa. The IIIf is long gone, but the IIa and I have been partners for over three decades now. I get my LTM jollies out of a couple of canon bodies these days. Both have far superior rangefinder/viewfinder arrangements than the Leica had.

The rain is coming down in buckets and the lightning is fast and furious. Time for the Nikonos.

Yes, the hole size will serve the purpose just fine with a retaining ring on the inside, but someone went to the bother of cutting threads rather than just a hole. What would possibly use a 40mm opening with relatively coarse-pitch threads? That is what I am trying to determine. None of the European shutter types have the identical diameter and thread pattern, but what of American types? I'm still looking for specific data on the possible candidates.

Yes, I can certainly make something work, what exactly was the board actually machined for? Therein lies the question.

What the board was presented as when I bought it, but 39mm Leica thread just drops in without even contacting the threads. I keep wondering if thinking "metric" is the right approach given where the board was sourced and if perhaps one of the American-made shutters just happens to approximate 40mm.

A 40.5mm filter won't thread in, but the 40mm off my 50 f1.8 Serenar catches nicely, though the thread pitch of the filter is far too fine. The only threaded lens mount I can find in the listings at 40mm is the Practiflex and cannot imagine why anyone would machine a board for a lens for that!

I suppose this is technically a medium-format question, but it seems the answer to it can only lie in this forum. I have a Rolleiflex SL66 and have been adding various boards to my lens arsenal. One board that came into my hands recently is a bit of a mystery. It was listed as being L39 (I was planning on mounting enlarging lenses on it), but is in fact slightly larger. My digital calipers put the diameter of the inside ot the threads at 39.6mm (1.56in). I've tried a Copal No.1 and it drops in without contacting the threads. That is the only metric-dimensioned shutter I can think of that comes close. I've been through listings of every lens mount known to man and nothing matches. Given that someone once bothered to get a blank board and have it machined to these dimensions I can only presume they must have had something good and suitable to mount on it. Any ideas? Anyone know of a listing of US shutter thread dimensions?

A few shots from a roll of Delta 100 shot in the Pentax LX through the 50 f1.2. I am very fond of this combination.

The D750 is headed back to Nikon for the fourth and last time so the D3 will be handling any digital chores. In many ways I prefer it, anyway. Such a beautifully built camera. 35mm chores are moving over a Leicaflex for the next while. I'm still not 100% sure which will get the nod, the SL or the SL-2. My hand will let me know when I pick them up. A couple of rolls of Delta 100 await. This combination is going to head out for an extended session with the peonies tomorrow. I'm really curious how the Taylor Cooke Hobson looks when focused in the closest range. Perhaps Delta 400 this time around? Could be very interesting...

Both are excellent and super reliable. In terms of flexibility and meter range the FE is superior, but if you want a camera that can runs without the battery then it is the FM you need. I've used both, own the FE.