No Purchase Policy

This is pretty weird.  So far in 2012 (end May) there has been just 4 lens purchases to date - a Leica 35mm f3.5 Summaron in LTM, a Nikon 28mm f3.5, a Sigma 30mm f2.8 and a Pentax 21mm f3.2; the first two of which was part of a trade for some Nikon lenses.  

This is unusual.  Usually I purchase approximately 25-30 lenses per year, most of which are again sold after I try them out, but this would suggest a purchase of about 20-25 so far this year.  So far only the Nikon 28mm f3.5 has been sold; the Sigma and Leica are most definately keepers, while I will ship the Pentax to my Dad.

Oddly enough , I have purchased 5 cameras this year, which is about normal.  Two of these cameras came with fixed lenses (Fuji X100 and the Fuji GA645i) and three as bodies only (Nikon F601, Pentax SFX and Sony NEX 5n).  The F601 hasn't been used at all and the GA645i has had a couple rolls through it, though I have had quite a bit of use out of both the digital bodies

An afternoon at the Distillery District - Part 3: Fujifilm Leica IIIf with 35mm f3.5 Summaron

The Leica was very much the old timer of this bunch.  Everything is completely manual and after the other two, you have to remember to focus and check exposure.  As there is no light meter, I set the X100 to ISO 100, which was the same speed as the Fuji Neopan black and white film I had loaded in it, and checked meter readings for the Leica with it.

Compared to a modern film camera, a Barnack Leica is a pain in the butt to load film.  You must trim the leader to a certain shape and size, pull out the take up spool and attach the film leader.  The after pulling it out the correct distance, both must be loaded back simultaneously, making sure the film holes align with the take up sprockets.

The big issue with Barnack Leicas is that the built in viewfinder is set up for 50mm lenses only.  If you are not using an external viewfinder, there is a bit of guess work involved when using a 35mm lens.  While the Summaron is rangefinder coupled, which meant that focusing was accurate, you were never quite sure what was going to be in the picture on the outer edges.

The other issue is with the 35mm Summaron itself.  It is very difficult to change the aperture unless the lens is locked in its infinity focus position.  Turning the aperture ring causes the focus to change, but nothing else.

My IIIf has the very rare Leicavit baseplate trigger winder.  This on its own is worth as much as the camera and lens put together.  I had mine rebuilt and it works well, significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to wind the camera on, however it requires quite a bit of hand force to operate and I always worried about breaking it or tearing the film.  Interestingly the new Abrahamsson Trigger winder for Leica M7 and MP's is almost a carbon copy of this Leicavit.

 

An afternoon at the Distillery District - Part 1: The mission

Three different cameras, three different formats, one location, one focal length.  That was the recipe for my shoot at the Distillery District.   

I had decided to go down as I needed to finish some film up in my Leica IIIf and my Fujifilm GA645.  It was also my first real opportunity to spend some quality time behind the medium format opportunity and I was really looking forward to seeing what it was like to use.  To instantly capture the moment I also took my Fujifilm X-100.

The interesting thing was all these three cameras were different formats, but with lenses around 35mm in full frame 135 format language.  The two Fujis have fixed lenses of 23mm and 60mm respectively, while I decided to attach the 35mm Summaron to the Leica.  Not only that, all three were rangefinders that used a different means of figuring out if the camera is in focus through the viewfinder; being a traditional optical rangefinder in the Leica, a digital screen on the X100 and an electronic distance scale in the GA645.

Another interesting point was the age of each of the cameras, being less than a year for the X100, approx 15 years for GA645 and 60 years Leica IIIf.

After persuading my wife to look after our little girl for a couple hours, I made my way downtown and spent a couple of hours wandering around.  Within a compact place there's lots to shoot, and I ended up taking approximately 130 shots, 30 each on the film cameras, and the rest on the X100.

Having one focal length for three cameras was actually beneficial as distance from an object when shooting always stayed constant.  It also gave me a better feel for how each camera worked in practice.

Leica 35mm f3.5 Summaron

Recently I picked up a lovely Leica 35mm f3.5 Summaron, and after some quick test shots, I am ready to declare I am a believer.  It produces lovely colours and is sharp.  Like most rangefinder lenses it won't focus down below 1m, but it is tiny and looks just wonderful on the NEX.

This is my second version of this lens.  I also have one in M mount with goggles, which is rather weird when using it on digital.