New to film, got an M3

[sanadsaad]

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Hi guys! So a little bit about myself for starters. I am a surgical trainee by profession. I have always been drawn to photography since I was 5. I used to have a point and shoot when I was a kid and then I kinda left it for a while. Entry into med school resulted in me getting a nikon d700 as a gift but college was brutal so didn't have much time for hobbies. Over the past few months, ive gone to the very basics and learned about the exposure triangle, composition etc. I also felt that the more I shot digital, the more I wanted to shoot film like I used to when I was a kid, loading that point and shoot, snapping away and then waiting for the prints from the developer to see the results. So I had the opportunity recently to purchase a single stroke M3 with a 50mm summicron(v2 I think) from red dot cameras so I made an impulse buy. I loaded it with a Fuji superia iso 400 and am currently learning how to use the sunny 16 method. Any advice you could give a starter would be brilliant. I have bought a Lumu light meter from a friend and will be using that from tomorrow. Oh and this M3, its sooooooooooo smoooooooothhhh! The viewfinder, the perfect weight in my hands, the advance lever, I get what the hype is Looking forward to learning from you all. I live in London btw. Do you guys have any meetings/groups in the area?

[skucera]

It sounds like you're going about it just right AND you're having fun. My first bit of advice was to get a light meter, but you got one already. I hope you find some fellow Leica enthusiasts in London, because sharing the enthusiasm is really fun.

 

Scott

[dpitt]

If you left your light meter at home, you can download an app for your smartphone and use it in most common situations

[dpitt]

Also, using a C41 B&W film like Kodak BW400CN would allow you to switch iso from 200 to 800 between shots on the same film! 

[ktmrider2]

Sunny 16 works great but in my experience is should really be called sunny 11.  Also, I think incident metering is the way to go.  And the M3 is probably just the start of the Leica addiction.  I started with a CL in 1974 and have owned them all up to the MP/M7.  If you start using a 35, check out the M2 which is my favorite film M due to the simplicity of its viewfinder.

[sanadsaad]

Thanks for all the helpful replies guys! So, question time. It may sound stupid but please bear with me. When metering a non-portrait scene, how do you do an incident reading? Just hold the meter in front and meter? And what about shooting at night? Is metering reliable in low light? I ask because for the past few days, it's been either overcast or overcast and raining but night is tranquil and beautiful with London bridge all lit up. Or should I shoot in daylight first and then apply what Ive learned to the night shots?

[semi-ambivalent]

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I'm an old geezer so check this out:

 

http://www.fredparker.com/ultexp1.htm

 

and don't forget to bone up on reciprocity failure.

 

Put that M3 to work,

s-a

[Denys]

In the 'old days' people stuck a back on their cameras loaded with Polaroid film, took a shot, waited for the photograph to develop then evaluate exposure and lighting. Once happy, they put a back on with 'proper' film.

You can do something similar; take a photo on the Nikon, look on the screen..

Maybe not!

Sure you will enjoy your M..and I'm sure London is a good place to find fellow enthusiasts!

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Sanadsaad,

 

Welcome to the Forum.

 

Some people use light meters. Others do not. Both groups, with proper instruction, can do more or less equally well in most situations.

 

If you choose to use a light meter this is a personal choice. Not a value choice.

 

If you are using an Incident Light Meter you have chosen the meter that is Easiest & Most Accurate to use in many situations.

 

This is because some light meters measure the light reflected off of the subject which then must be dealt with as a factor of a number of variables.

 

Incident light measurement is so easy that many people think that they have done something wrong when they take an incident reading. Because it is so simple to do & an incident reading usually needs no adjustment for circumstance.

 

Because what you are measuring is the light that is falling on the subject.

 

Here goes: Set the ISO on the meter.  

 

Go up to the subject.

 

Turn the incident hemisphere so that it is pointing to where the camera will be.

 

Take a reading.

 

Set the camera.

 

You are done.

 

Easier to do than to read.

 

By the way, if where you are standing is a place where the light is the same as the light that is falling on the subject: Then all that you have to do is to turn around where you are at the camera & point the hemisphere away from the subject along a line from the subject to the camera.

 

Push the button. Take a reading. Done.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael                 

Edited November 4, 2016 by Michael Geschlecht

[sanadsaad]

That was an excellent read s-a! And thanks for the tips Michael. I'll go out and shoot some more tomorrow. So this M3 has not been serviced based on the seal still being intact. It has a 6 month warranty as ive bought it from red dot cameras. Anything I should do specifically to test shutter speeds? And even though everything feels really smooth, should I send it for a CLA?

[michaelwj]

That was an excellent read s-a! And thanks for the tips Michael. I'll go out and shoot some more tomorrow. So this M3 has not been serviced based on the seal still being intact. It has a 6 month warranty as ive bought it from red dot cameras. Anything I should do specifically to test shutter speeds? And even though everything feels really smooth, should I send it for a CLA?

 

 

Some members recommend a CLA at any time. I'm not one of them. If it is working well then leave it be.

If you bought it with a 6 month warranty from a reputable store (as you did) then I wouldn't worry immediately anyway.

 

The acid test to see if the times are correct is in the pictures. If they are well exposed then it's all good. If not, then it could be your meter and/or the speeds. If this is the case then you can set up a test at home, meter with another camera and take the shot, then transfer the settings to the M3 for example.

 

Also, you may have noticed that not all the speeds sound the same. The 1/15th should have a lot of extra whirring, as the 1/8th too. If the 1/15ht is a solid clunk, then it needs a look, but you have a warranty so you can take it back for them to fix.

 

You sound like you are having a great time with it. Enjoy!

[ktmrider2]

Go shoot a roll or so of film.  If the camera feels like everything is working ok and the film is exposed correctly and focus is good, skip the CLA for now.  If you would have more confidence in the camera after you have had it checked out, the it is worth the money spent.  Generally, the worst thing you can do to any mechanical object is to just let it sit.

 

I just got rid of the M9 and currently using an M2 from 1959 and an M5 from 1973.  Have only had the M5 for a month and finding it to be my favorite M.

[EoinC]

If you left your light meter at home, you can download an app for your smartphone and use it in most common situations

The OP already has a Lumu light meter to use with his / her phone.

 

To OP:

B&W and C41 film has a lot of latitude on 'acceptable' exposure, so no need to let metering get in the way of having fun.

 

I tend to meter for the shadows, which can mean cupping a hand over the incident meter whilst pointing it back towards the camera, if the shadows are not easily accessible. Once I've established the exposure range I want to work with, I generally don't meter again unless the lighting has changed significantly (eg moving from outdoors to indoors).

 

I find Tri-X to be particularly lenient in coping with diverse lighting conditions, and generally rate it at ISO 200 for shooting.

 

Make sure you share your results on Doc Henry's "I like film..." thread - A very nice bunch of people contribute, and continue to inspire me.

Edited November 10, 2016 by EoinC

[Guest]

For testing the shutter best get a slde film (yes, for transparencies because it needs the most accurate exposure, hence you can see if the shutter is/is't working properly). And then please proceed by exposing "pairs" off a tripod, under constant light (no neon, though):

 

1/500 and f:2.0, 1/250 and f:2.8, 1/125 and f:4.0, 1/60 and f:5.6, 1/30 and f:8.0, 1/15 and 16.

A correct 1/1000 is simply asking for too much from an M3. Than you would only have an overlap at the 1/30 and f:16 (Series 1, Part A) and 1/30 and f:2.0 (Series 1, Part .

And of cause (in less light but the same procedure: tripod + constant light source please continue doung the same) at:

1/30 and f:2.0, 1/15 and f:2.8, 1/8 and f:4.0, 1/4 and f:5.6, 1/2 and f:8, 1 sec and f:16.

In order to fill the 36 exposures, best go through the whole series 3 times, but please not at each setting 3 identical settings one after the other, but the whole series three times, resetting after each shot.

 

Before you do this you (MUST) ask the seller (can't think of a better way to put it, sorry!) to let you do the exact same with an M8/M9/M240 body of theirs, to be sure that the apperture intervals are correct. This is much more likely than the proper function of a 60-70 years old shutter.

 

Having regular sized sheets of paper in each image with the time anf f:stop pairs helps a lot in keeping track.

 

Part 2: rangefinder checking tomorrow or from someone else.

 

There's no part 3: light leaks are easily visible and so are unequal spaces between frames.

[gwpics]

Hi guys! So a little bit about myself for starters. I am a surgical trainee by profession. I have always been drawn to photography since I was 5. I used to have a point and shoot when I was a kid and then I kinda left it for a while. Entry into med school resulted in me getting a nikon d700 as a gift but college was brutal so didn't have much time for hobbies. Over the past few months, ive gone to the very basics and learned about the exposure triangle, composition etc. I also felt that the more I shot digital, the more I wanted to shoot film like I used to when I was a kid, loading that point and shoot, snapping away and then waiting for the prints from the developer to see the results. So I had the opportunity recently to purchase a single stroke M3 with a 50mm summicron(v2 I think) from red dot cameras so I made an impulse buy. I loaded it with a Fuji superia iso 400 and am currently learning how to use the sunny 16 method. Any advice you could give a starter would be brilliant. I have bought a Lumu light meter from a friend and will be using that from tomorrow. Oh and this M3, its sooooooooooo smoooooooothhhh! The viewfinder, the perfect weight in my hands, the advance lever, I get what the hype is Looking forward to learning from you all. I live in London btw. Do you guys have any meetings/groups in the area?

 

 

Welcome to the 'dark side' of shooting film. The M3 and a very old Summicron were my initiation into Leica photography about 3 minutes after my darling wife said "oh, for Christ sake just buy the bloody thing" one day in Bath. You will have fun but beware, Leica ownership is a drug and you are now hooked my friend!

 

Gerry

[spydrxx]

If You periodically leave your light meter at home, and have a good understanding of the Sunny 16 rule, you may find that shifting it a notch, as I see you are in the UK, to make it a Sunny 11 rule, a little more accurate. The best way to decide about this issue is to do some periodic comparisons with your best guess and your incident meter...sooner or later you'll decide which works best for you. BTW it is basically a function of your geographical latitude as light passes thru the atmosphere. Now go and enjoy your camera.

[sanadsaad]

You know what im struggling with at the moment? Im babying this film around. Im hesitant to shoot. With the digital camera, I would go out and shoot first, ask questions later. With film, I have slowed down. I feel irritable at times when I dont know what to shoot. Impatience of a beginner I guess. It definitely is fun though. Im on shot 21. 

 

Gerry, my wife did exactly the same! She also told me id have to sell it if i didnt use it

[MarkP]

If You periodically leave your light meter at home, and have a good understanding of the Sunny 16 rule, you may find that shifting it a notch, as I see you are in the UK, to make it a Sunny 11 rule, a little more accurate. The best way to decide about this issue is to do some periodic comparisons with your best guess and your incident meter...sooner or later you'll decide which works best for you. BTW it is basically a function of your geographical latitude as light passes thru the atmosphere. Now go and enjoy your camera.

Down here we probably need sunny 22 in summer ;-)

[Guest]

So red with sunburn, while red with envy here

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Guest]

You know what im struggling with at the moment? Im babying this film around. Im hesitant to shoot. With the digital camera, I would go out and shoot first, ask questions later. With film, I have slowed down. I feel irritable at times when I dont know what to shoot. Impatience of a beginner I guess. It definitely is fun though. Im on shot 21. 

 

Gerry, my wife did exactly the same! She also told me id have to sell it if i didnt use it

Your wife will find out about film and processing costs.

The rewind know should turn everytime you transport to the next frame.

+ please remember that Leica film fans occasionally leave the lens cap on