Popular Post davidsuchoff Posted January 26 Popular Post Share #1 Posted January 26 Advertisement (gone after registration) Greetings all! This past December I decided to dive into film photography for the first time. I bought a new Leica MP and used 35mm summicron ASPH (v5). I took the camera and a number of different film stocks on a family trip to Taiwan. What a joy to use! I finally understand what others have said with regards to the pleasure of using these cameras, regardless of how the photos come out. A few things I learned: I tended to underexpose and need to get a better handle on the exposure meter. As a wearer of glasses, the 35mm framelines at 0.72x magnification can, at times, be challenging to see. I also found myself wanting to frame tighter (50mm Summilux is on the wishlist!!). I need to get better at ensuring that the camera is level - I had to straighten a few photos in post. I need to work on white balance and editing in post. Either way, I'm really excited to continue down this path and looking forward to more participation in this forum! Here are a few photos from the trip: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 20 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418853-first-time-with-leica-mrangefinder-and-film/?do=findComment&comment=5746890'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 26 Posted January 26 Hi davidsuchoff, Take a look here First time with Leica M/rangefinder and film!. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jpark114 Posted January 26 Share #2 Posted January 26 Contrats on your new acquisition! Lovely photos! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmueller Posted January 26 Share #3 Posted January 26 Welcome and congrats to the MP. Few comments Most of the negative film can make good use of 1 stop more light. For example, I expose Kodak Gold 200 with ISO 100. You will get better over time with the framelines. I wear glasses too, not so much of a problem any more. Most important advise, others might disagree: Shoot with the 35mm lens for at least a year before getting any other lens. Pretty much everything can be done with the 35. And finally, please keep on posting images. Best Regards, Ralf 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexffm Posted January 26 Share #4 Posted January 26 Hallo @davidsuchoff welcome to the forum and congratulations on the camera and lens. I see that these are very good starts. I would recommend that you do without glasses and get a diopter adjustment. You have to test it in the store to see which one is right, there is no other way. Since I have had this one, I have been able to get the pictures really sharp (OK, not always, but much more often than before). As @rmuellermueller says, you can always expose other films, e.g. the Porta series from Kodak, with half the exposure to get richer colors. I have also had good experiences with the Extar 100, but expose it as indicated. I don't know if you will get the pictures as a TIF file. But I can only recommend it, because you can adjust a bit more than with JPEG. I look forward to seeing more of your pictures 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsuchoff Posted January 26 Author Share #5 Posted January 26 Thank you both! Ralf - I appreciate the comments and advice. Here are more shots from the trip. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 8 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418853-first-time-with-leica-mrangefinder-and-film/?do=findComment&comment=5746957'>More sharing options...
mikeamosau Posted January 27 Share #6 Posted January 27 Huge congrats on the purchase and wonderful images! My MP is very much a favorite camera. Hopefully many trips and lots of happy film use in the future for you too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeetona Posted January 27 Share #7 Posted January 27 Advertisement (gone after registration) You have a superb kit. Don't buy a 50mm lens for now, just get used to the 35mm and improve your composition skills. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansvons Posted January 27 Share #8 Posted January 27 (edited) Looks like you pretty much nailed it. Well done!! Regarding the advice you are asking for, I couldn't agree more with @rmueller 8 hours ago, rmueller said: Welcome and congrats to the MP. Few comments Most of the negative film can make good use of 1 stop more light. For example, I expose Kodak Gold 200 with ISO 100. You will get better over time with the framelines. I wear glasses too, not so much of a problem any more. Most important advise, others might disagree: Shoot with the 35mm lens for at least a year before getting any other lens. Pretty much everything can be done with the 35. And finally, please keep on posting images. Best Regards, Ralf Stick with the 35mm for 20+ rolls to find your voice (I shoot 90% of my stuff with the same lens as yours. Brilliant lens for film!) and expose colour films on the fat side by rating them one stop lower than box speed. For B&W this can be different, e.g., Tri-X looks marvelous at ISO400. This is, BTW, best practice in documentary filmmaking and cinematography in general. The MPs light meter is “dumb”. It’s basically a wider spot meter depending on the field of view of the lens. With a 35mm, chances are not low that you’ll be metering parts of the sky, which inevitably will lead to underexposure. So, “looking” at surfaces that resemble roughly 18% grey (slightly tanned Caucasian skin, green grass, medium bright tarmac) in the appropriate light will bring you into the right ballpark. But most of your images already look sharp and correctly exposed, so what do I say. Nice! Edited January 27 by hansvons 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeetona Posted January 27 Share #9 Posted January 27 Spend the money for your 50mm on private lessons from a good Magnum photographer instead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeetona Posted January 27 Share #10 Posted January 27 Yes looking at your pics again you might want to start developing themes, tell stories etc. A new lens will not help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted January 27 Share #11 Posted January 27 (edited) I'm guessing you're already an experienced photographer with digital? What sort of work have you shot previously? (Before we tell you what lessons you need......) It's helpful if you tag your film shots with the film used, and what EI you used. Did you scan them yourself, or was it done by the lab? Edited January 27 by LocalHero1953 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsisishi68 Posted January 27 Share #12 Posted January 27 (edited) Hello everyone, I’m jumping in on the topic proposed by David because I’m in the exact same situation with the same setup (MP and 35mm summicron) ! I’m enjoying it just as much, but I had an issue with a B&W (400TX) film that ended up being completely overexposed, even though I followed the same process as I usually do with color film. What do you think? Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Edited January 27 by Vsisishi68 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418853-first-time-with-leica-mrangefinder-and-film/?do=findComment&comment=5747086'>More sharing options...
Mute-on Posted January 27 Share #13 Posted January 27 30 minutes ago, Vsisishi68 said: Hello everyone, I’m jumping in on the topic proposed by David because I’m in the exact same situation with the same setup (MP and 35mm summicron) ! I’m enjoying it just as much, but I had an issue with a B&W (400TX) film that ended up being completely overexposed, even though I followed the same process as I usually do with color film. What do you think? Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Was your camera set to 100 iso? If anything, learn to expose properly at box speed. This means learn the behaviour of the MP wide spot metering, as @hansvons described above. Understanding what 18% grey looks like is the foundation for this process. Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmueller Posted January 27 Share #14 Posted January 27 (edited) Hi @Vsisishi68, could be many things including the developer too old or cold etc. Usually light meters are tricked by snowy conditions and believe the subject is brighter than it really is. Here it seems quite the opposite. Any chance your black gloves were in front of the camera when you took the reading? Just kidding but happens. Did you develop the film or was it done by the lab? How about the brick wall, was it that bright or much darker? All fishing in the dark here... EDIT: Was this even snow? Not so sure anymore. Regards, Ralf Edited January 27 by rmueller Closer inspection of i mage Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidsuchoff Posted January 27 Author Share #15 Posted January 27 Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement. @LocalHero1953 Yes - I've been shooting digital now for ~10 years. I have always stuck with plants/natural scences and do a lot of studio macro/still life. I sent the film to Midwest Film Co for development since one of the rolls was Vision3 250D. They also scanned the film: color was scanned with a motion picture scanner and they send the log files, BW was scanned with a DSLR. My next step is to scan them myself. Once I'm comfortable with scanning I'll then start developing my own BW film. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansvons Posted January 27 Share #16 Posted January 27 3 hours ago, Vsisishi68 said: What do you think? Does the whole roll look like this image? If so, you either have an EI (exposure index) that is way too low, e.g., box speed ISO400 vs EI100/50 or your lab/yourself overcooked the film. When looking around the wall in the image's centre, I see a properly exposed image. Maybe the rest of the picture is immersed in bright sunlight, and the meter has metered only the (darker) all at the centre? 3 hours ago, rmueller said: EDIT: Was this even snow? Not so sure anymore. Yes. Snow is much brighter than middle grey, which tricks the meter into underexposure. The rule of thumb is to open the aperture by two stops or, more accurately, to meter your hand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansvons Posted January 27 Share #17 Posted January 27 1 hour ago, davidsuchoff said: I sent the film to Midwest Film Co for development since one of the rolls was Vision3 250D. They also scanned the film: color was scanned with a motion picture scanner and they send the log files, That's the best workflow you can get when shooting colour-negative film, as you are basically leveraging the expertise and technology of the long-proven and maxed-out cine workflow in all three relevant aspects: cine stock (most advanced film tech), development (ENC2) and scanning to Cineon-Log, with the last two being pivotal for colour accuracy. Home development and scanning of colour negatives will be close in quality only when you are prepared to invest uncountable hours in colour science, editing, etc. However, as you indicated, doing your own B&W home dev and scanning (the Valoi Easy35 is the best scanning device for 35mm) can be fun and worthwhile. It can also be even better than a regular lab, as you can choose the developer and push/pull your negatives to your liking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
archive_all Posted January 28 Share #18 Posted January 28 13 hours ago, rmueller said: Hi @Vsisishi68, could be many things including the developer too old or cold etc. Usually light meters are tricked by snowy conditions and believe the subject is brighter than it really is. Here it seems quite the opposite. Any chance your black gloves were in front of the camera when you took the reading? Just kidding but happens. Did you develop the film or was it done by the lab? How about the brick wall, was it that bright or much darker? All fishing in the dark here... EDIT: Was this even snow? Not so sure anymore. Regards, Ralf Developer being too old or cold would likely have the opposite effect of being underexposed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
archive_all Posted January 28 Share #19 Posted January 28 If you're certain the exposure settings were correct I'd consider the developing process and scanning. Who did which or both? I'd check the negatives, do they look very dark? It looks like a scanner issue to me, first guess anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktmrider2 Posted January 28 Share #20 Posted January 28 (edited) For all the discussion here about how different digital and film are, they really are more similar than different. You must expose digital like we exposed transparency film way back when; underexpose it by one half to one stop. The easiest way is to adjust the exposure compensation on your camera. Negative film (both b&w and color) does better with more light so overexpose it by a stop (set your cameras ISO to one half the recommended ISO). The meter in the MP is very convenient and very stupid. The best way I have found to measure light is with an incident exposure meter. However, that requires you to carry an extra piece of equipment so instead use the MP’s meter and measure using an 18% grey card or meter subjects with 18% reflectance (all grass lawns are the perfect grey card). Be careful of getting sky into the MP’s metering field. It is the fastest way I know to underexpose your photos. Metering the palm of your hand is also an old trick to get a consistent reflective reading. I am getting too old to remember for certain but I think it is about 32% reflectance so you would need to open up about a stop. I know it is not 18% but cannot remember. Edited January 28 by ktmrider2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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