johnwolf

That’s a tough one. More keepers usually means greater care, but greater care is often the enemy of creativity. To me, that’s the most compelling argument for digital; one can shoot freely, even with abandon. If anything were to turn me to digital, that would be it. John

Chicago Riverwalk | M10

Adams St., Chicago

LaSalle St., Chicago | M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

Lake Michigan, Chicago | M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

Michigan City, IN | M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

Michigan City, IN | M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

M2 | Summarit 50 2.5 | HP5+

The good news is it likely won't happen again. 😃 A few months ago I bought an M2 and my local Leica dealer. I had never used its loading system, so I bought a roll and asked the salesman to show me. He loaded the roll while I watched. I figured I'd better shoot the roll to test the camera, so I wandered the city having a great time. Like you, I got to 36 and it just kept going. Sure enough, the film was never engaged with the take-up spool. Weird, because now that I know how to do it, the M2 system seems about a foolproof as one could be. We all do stuff like this. A friend recently told me she got her developer and fixer mixed up and poured the fixer in first. John

Lake Geneva, WI | M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

Naperville, IL | M2 | 50 Summarit 2.5 | HP5+

The feel of the cameras is different for me: M2/M6 vs M10. I much prefer handling the former. Maybe it’s in my head, but they feel lighter, sleeker, more solid, more comfortable, even though I know they aren’t that different. I try to bring the same shooting mindset to both, but never seem to be able to. I shoot more freely with the M10, which can be both good and bad. The great boon of digital, of course, and it’s a big one, is ISO. I sometimes push HP5+ to 1600, but that’s just getting started on the M10. I don’t shoot color film, and I really enjoy the BW film workflow - developing, making digital contact sheets, scanning - all of it. It feels like there’s some craft to making pictures. And then there’s the aesthetic, especially with BW. No comparison, IMO. If you’re a dedicated M user, you probably owe it to yourself to try a digital version. And I agree the basic M10 is ideal. John

My usual lens is a 35, so the 50 is quite a change, especially for zone focusing. As part of the initiative I intended to explore genres other than street photography. But I keep gravitating back to candid people photography, although in a different way. Less about the people and more about setting with people as another compositional element. But I’ve also gotten some non-people stuff that I really like. I’m really enjoying the experience. John