M6 Newbie!

[jimblob]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi all,

 

Long time reader first time contributer..blah blah blah....

 

I have just purchased my first Leica...and M6 Classic with 50mm f2 summicron. Am hoping that this will improve my photography as I was becoming far to dependant on my Canon 20D's automation and the dreaded 'Auto' fuction!

 

Can anoyone here give me some tips on how to progress. I have soo many ideas swimming around my head....My starting plan is to shoot b&w, colour film and colour slides to see which yiled the best results for me...

 

When it comes to devleoping is it common to do this in a bag and scan into a computer? or shoudl i send of for slides or negatives and then scan?

 

Will scanning make my moveto film/slides redundant?

 

So many options...i am keen to hear what people think is the best approach to starting out with film...and maximising the quality of results when you have no darkroom and limited funds...

 

Many thanks.

 

Jim

[keithdunlop]

Jim,

 

Congratulations on your new M6, and welcome to the forum.

 

I think the best way to start to get to know your M6 is to just start shooting with it. Start simply with some rolls of B&W film -- Tri-X or HP-5. I would stick with B&W film for a while before doing too much experimentation with color print or slide film. You want to get your technique dialed-in and the best way to do that is to work with one lens and one kind film for a long while -- allow the shooting to gradually become second-nature to you. Get into the habit of carrying the M6 with you whenever you go anywhere and just shoot. No need to over-think the whole thing.

 

Since you say you don't have a darkroom (although one is not needed to process film), my best advice would be to start out by having your film commercially processed and scanned for you. I don't know here you're located, but the labs I would recommend for this are either Richard Photo Lab or A&I, both in Hollywood and both do service by mail. Richard Photo Lab even gives me an FTP login and I can download my scanned files even before the film comes back.

 

Once you get comfortable with the whole rangefinder experience, you can start to think about processing your own film. It's not very hard, and there are plenty of resources on the net to help get you started (including this forum).

 

So, get out there with your M6 and shoot, and report back when you've got some frames to post.

[jsrockit]

I'd start with some color film (or / and C-41 B&W) and have it processed and scanned locally until you know if you really like using a film camera. Then, if you do, go to traditional B&W and process your own at home... and maybe even buy your own (relatively inexpensive) scanner like a Plustek 7600i. Then, once you know your exposures and are consistent with your exposures, try slide film.

 

Scanning film / slides still offer different results than a digital camera, so it isn't redundant.

[jimblob]

Thanks for the response guys. I am based in London and should be able to find some good quality labs. I like the idea of using only b&w for a while. Makes sense.

 

I'll post some contributions if there are any worthwhile results!

[koray]

I will second jsrockit's suggestion, go for C41 film - colour or B&W. Get it developed and scanned professionally. Local Jessops will charge you an arm and a leg, but there are mail-in film labs providing process+scan at very competitive prices. This way you can shoot more film and have better feedback for your work.

 

I suggest Photo Express for mail-in processing, currently they charge £4.50 for process and 6MP scan to CD with free return postage. I had dozens of film processed by them last year, they never let me down (same day return).

 

You can keep a small notepad with you to note your exposure settings since you won't have the luxury of EXIF info. Moreover, you can add this data to your scans in Lightroom database.

 

Developing B&W yourself adds another variable to your quest, so I humbly advise you to switch after you feel comfortable with your lab returns...

 

Cheers,

 

Koray

[cheewai_m6]

i'm definitely agreeing with the guys that said to go with c41 film. not only is it way cheaper to buy, but it's cheaper to process. c41 does not lack in quality at all. it looks different to pro films and true black and white, but it's quality is definitely not bad at all.

 

as others have said, get negs developed and scan them, print the ones you want to save on costs again.

[Xmas]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi and welcome

 

You can get most of the dev equipment for free if you join a local camera club and confess to being a film wannabe...

 

You stand up and say

 

'Hello my name is Jim and I'm...'

 

In London you will additionally need 5l of deionise water, for final wash.

 

The processing is easy and fun, yes a scanner allows you to post or bubble jet print, but you can get an enlarger from camera club as well. If you are a pervo you will like the wet prints.

 

Noel

[Ruhayat]

Hi. I'm an M6 newbie too... just got mine 2 months ago. Still using a Canon 5D for work (with Summicron-R 50mm lens sometimes), but for personal work I've come to love working with film exclusively. It's added enjoyment because of the slower process and uncertainty until you get the film processed. Certainly more thrilling.

 

Biggest obstacles for me were:

 

- moving from an SLR way of looking at things to the rangefinder way (portraits, for example: you have to imagine how the depth of field is going to look like... I still sometimes dial in too much DOF and get too much blur when I wanted to keep the background still somewhat recognisable). The only way around this is to shoot shoot shoot, as someone said above.

 

- moving from an all singing all dancing automated camera to a fully manual one. Learning how to focus, set shutter speed and adjust aperture at the same time as getting used to rangefinder focusing took quite a while of getting used to. Like switching from an auto car to a manual. Getting better, but I still lose some quick moving shots. So have bought a Leica R-E SLR for its Aperture Priority mode for those times when I go to fast moving events. Best way around this would be to use a wide lens, which gives bigger depth of field hence helps with focusing error in quick-changing situations. Also, learning how to hyperfocus helps, too, and is again much easier with a wide lens.

 

- loading film in an M took some getting used to. But I've only lost 2 rolls (so far!), and that was in the early days, and I can now do it in under a minute even on location. Have even done it one-handed when I had a glass in one hand. It just takes practice.

 

The excellent meter in the M6 certainly helps a lot, though. It's quite accurate in daylight and under white fluorescent lighting, and the majority of my pics come out better exposed than those from my R-E.

 

I find that for events and in the streets I get better results with the Summicron 40mm on my M6 compared to the 50mm on my R-E. Tempted to get a 50mm Nokton 1.1, but for now I use my 90mm Summicron as if it's an extra-long 50!

[Ruhayat]

Oh yes. And I second the recommendation to use B&W film. Mainly because it's more forgiving than colour film, so you won't look at the results and feel too disappointed. My first 5 rolls -- all colour -- were crap... there was just too many things to think about at the same time, that the composition really suffered.

 

But also because I think the main reason anyone would want to shoot film would be to get the inimitable B&W film look of actual film grain. Fuji Neopan is my current favourite, although I don't mind Kodak T-Max and Tri-X. If I want cheap I go for the Chinese Lucky B&W 100.

 

B&W film costs a bit more to develop than C-41 types, but where I'm from the C-41 stuff costs more than the pure B&W stuff. Price difference makes the gap in processing costs insignificant, so I just use B&W all the way.

[segedi]

I just got an MP and am really enjoying it. I picked up some Kodak Ektar 100 (C-41)because i knew I could get it processed cheaply ($2.50 for dev and $2.99 for lo-res scan to CD at RiteAid in the US). Wanted to see how my focusing would be - was a bit leery because of my reliance on autofocus for the last 15 years. Here's what I found:

 

My first few rolls were great when it comes to focus. Too good though, because i was worried about depth of field, I was shooting a lot at f/8 and f/11. The shots that were at f/2 (Zeiss 50mm Planar lens) were so much more pleasing. And the focus point was still dead sharp.

 

Bought a few rolls of B&W film in a few speeds from a few different manufacturers to see what I like. But plan to settle on one 400 speed film and picked up a neutral density filter so I can get lower f stops (f/1.4 - 2) in daylight.

 

I just need a thermometer and I'll be setup to process my own. I've done it before (a decade ago) and agree with the others - printing might need a workshop or course, but film dev is pretty straightforward.

 

Mistakes I've made:

Opened up the camera without rewinding the film (oops!)

Forgot to set the ISO dial to 100 from 400, since I had been shooting a lot of 400, it wasn't something I remembered to do.

 

Surprise - When I shot color in the past, I'd always loved using slide film. I haven't even picked up a roll... The cost of the film and processing was one of the reasons, but I don't really miss it.

 

Best of luck with your new M6! Hope you enjoy the difference from digital as I am.

Kevin

[zeitz]

Welcome to Leica photography, Jim. I too recommend starting in B&W. But I would recommend Tri-X or another real B&W film. And do develop it yourself.

 

You'll need a changing bag, a daylight developing tank (likely to be stainless steel reels), a thermometer, and various bottles and measuring equipment. Look for a camera show near your city and buy everything used, except the reels. The equipment should be almost free. Stainless steel reels that have been dropped or used with the final solution of E-6 slide processing can be hard too load. Just go ahead and buy new ones. You'll have your negatives minutes after you're back home.

 

You'ld probably benefit from the Kodak Master Darkroom Dataguide. When I bought mine, it was $5.40.

 

Then have the film scanned professionally if you will be using a digital workflow from there.

 

When you're ready, you can get an enlarger, which most people will give away to get rid of them.