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New Leica, first film,


DTD

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I recently got my first Leica; an M6. Got my first film (XP2) processed yesterday, the photos were mainly taken at the Manchester meet up. Thought I'd give my first impressions of the camera…

 

Well the pictures are very sharp! I not going to pretend I'm seeing what the lens (50mm Summicron) can do at its best on a machine print, so it's probably even better than it looks.

 

Build: The camera just feels incredibly well put together (I seem to have got a wobbly lens– but that's another story!).

 

Focusing: It's my first rangefinder, so I'm not quite used to focusing yet, the jury's out.

 

Exposure: I was surprised all my photos were pretty much correctly exposed. I'm used to a swing needle or auto exposure, I'm sure I'll get used to the red triangles, but I'm not there yet.

 

Film loading: Taking the base plate off is bizarre, but loading the film is (surprisingly) easy.

 

It's bigger and heavier than I thought it was going to be. I know people have described it as a pocket camera – I thought Leica owners only needed deep pockets to pay for the lenses! I'm afraid the Ricoh GR1 stays as my carry aroound camera.

 

Ergonomics: I'm not convinced at how well it handles – perhaps I've got used to handgrips and cupping my hands to hold the lens as with an SLR?

 

So, I think I need to get a few more films through it yet – and oh thanks to Rolo for giving me some tips!

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It's bigger and heavier than I thought it was going to be.

 

Agreed. Since I bought my M6 I can't understand people calling it "compact" and "lightweight". It feels like it is machined from a billet of solid steel. Then again, perhaps it is ;)

 

Congrats on the purchase. Happy snapping.

 

Michael

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Film loading: Taking the base plate off is bizarre, but loading the film is (surprisingly) easy.

 

LOL, if your first real camera was an M3, as in my case, you tend to believe this is the normal way of loading film:) Same thing with rangefinder focusing, just soo easy and quick if this is how you started your photographic life.

 

Enjoy your M6, and don't give up too quickly, it takes some time of getting used to if you've never used a rangefinder before, but most likely it will grow on you...

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

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Film loading: Taking the base plate off is bizarre, but loading the film is (surprisingly) easy.

 

It's bigger and heavier than I thought it was going to be. I know people have described it as a pocket camera – I thought Leica owners only needed deep pockets to pay for the lenses! I'm afraid the Ricoh GR1 stays as my carry aroound camera.

 

Ergonomics: I'm not convinced at how well it handles – perhaps I've got used to handgrips and cupping my hands to hold the lens as with an SLR?

 

So, I think I need to get a few more films through it yet – and oh thanks to Rolo for giving me some tips!

 

 

David,

 

really pleased your first film came through OK. Good to meet you last Sunday.

 

Think back, of the 5 of us, only the guy shooting the M wasn't carrying a camera bag or a chestful of cameras. He'd been with you for an hour before you knew whether he had a camera with him, or not. He had two lenses in his pockets covering a range from 24mm to 90mm and two films. Admittedly, there are smaller cameras; I have a Rollei 35S, and the M's are not spy cameras, but they are a complete solution in a small package.

 

Film loading is very positive and you'll get used to handling the camera with practice. I borrowed a Nikon F5 for a wedding shoot and hearing the whirring of the drive and seeing no movement of the rewind is a pain too. Regardless, the loading process is not the M's best feature. Often, I load/unload 14 films in a session and it's just a chore of using film and you become more familiar with it.

 

Ergonomically it's a fine instrument. Small enough to pocket, big enough to handle without fumbling. Suggest you try it with a lightweight wrist strap and no neck strap. Cup the camera in your hand whilst you walk about, slip it in and out of your pocket.

 

Try to make a practice of:

 

returning the lens to infinity so that you only focus in one direction; use zone focussing when wandering;

 

keep your left eye open when focussing with your right;

 

peek at the aperture setting through the viewfinder;

 

learn to rest the joint of your index finger on the shutter release and move the shutter speed dial with the tip of that same finger;

 

embed in your mind which direction of the shutter speed dial makes the flags move in which direction;

 

settle for the right hand flag and the centre spot showing at the same time as you've got slight over exposure and that's better than the left flag showing;

 

in a hurry, don't bother changing lens, move yo' ass boy and learn to move the focus ring as you do;

 

Finally, fix a stop on the lens so it won't go past f4 :-). Seriously Dave, it takes years to realise that these M's make different pictures when they are wide open. Your wobbly Summicron will do everything you need at f2 and the pics will be different to everything else you shoot.

 

Apologies to others for going on here, but I know Dave is receptive to advice for which he will thank me with a packet of his wife's homemade coconut macaroons. :D

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Great tips Rolo.

 

I have burned into my brain something a long-time M-user told me once: "Use f 8 only in an emergency!"

 

:)

 

And it does take some time, David.

 

I used to lay on the bed and focus on the light fixture on the ceiling to practice my focusing technique.

 

Once you get used to it, though, it seems like you're cheating (yourself) when you again pick up an AE/AF camera.

 

I also wanted to comment on the compactness issue: the 50 'Cron is at the upper limits of what I'd consider pocketable. If you really want to enjoy the camera's size I'd urge you to put a 35 f2 ASPH or the new 28 Elmar ASPH (a great buy on a new M-lens BTW) on the body. Then you'll begin to see what people are talking about in this regard.

 

Thanks.

 

Allan

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Thomasw–I use a wrist strap on my GR1, so I might look into something similar.

Not sure I like the concept of the finger sling, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

Rolo–particulary like the tip about returning the lens to infinity. And it hadn't even occured to me that you could see what aperture was set through the viewfinder.

 

I'm stubbonly left eyed and for some reason if I do use my right eye and keep the left one open I can't focus!

 

abrewer– Mrs Dave has assured me that if I do bring my Leica to bed – even to practice focusing – I will have to cook my own macaroons ;-)

I tried Andy's 35mm lens and this indeed made the camera a lot more pocketable, but to be honest any more lenses are unlikely at the moment.

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Great tips Rolo.

 

I have burned into my brain something a long-time M-user told me once: "Use f 8 only in an emergency!"

 

:)

 

I have never understood why one would want to restrict oneself this way?

 

There's much more to taking photographs than restricted depth of field, IMHO.

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Funnily enough I think I might follow this idea, the depth of field scale on the Ricoh is marked in Miles and KM ;-) and most of my photos were in focus front to back.

This was one reason for a change of camera and going for a 50mm over a 35mm lens.

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There's much more to taking photographs than restricted depth of field, IMHO.

 

It's a subjective issue, isn't it and the beauty of photography is that we have the choice.

 

My personal phrase is "Isolate & Emphasise" to force attention on my chosen subject. I try to achieve that by the use of focus, light, composition, or darkroom manipulation.

 

That's not to say that all my images have massive OOF areas, but I nearly always use at least one of the above to encourage the reader to focus where I want him to start/end.

 

A straight representation of what the camera sees at f22 is not what I atempt to achieve.

 

You will recall our conversation by the canal on converging verticals and the need to straighten them. Rarely do I worry about that, more often I swing the camera over to emphasise an angle and make it part of the composition.

 

This is not a lecture, I'm just chatting here. There's a whole school of thought that does the opposite, but they're wrong. :D

 

What time are the 'Famous Five' meeting tomorrow? Could go upstream ?

 

Dave, aperture setting through the viewfinder - keep that to yourself, I've never heard anyone refer to it before. It's not possible with all lenses and on some you can't see the set aperture, but you can see the one wider and deduce what it is set to.

 

DOF in kms ? You are going to have some fun. At 0.7m (I hope your lens is an 0.7m version !!) the DOF is in millimetres. Read the DOF table so you've got a feel for how little you have.

 

See you tomorrow.

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"Horses for courses"

 

 

He said that, too!

 

:D

 

I think the point is, take advantage of the distinctive look of Leica's OOF area and use it as often as possible to isolate the subject. At least that's how I interpreted the instruction.

 

Thanks.

 

Allan

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