The issue for me was that it's a great system for stationary subjects. I shoot nature, so leaves, branches, grass all move and then you end up with artifacts.
Pancake lenses are/were pretty common. I had a Contax 45mm/2.8 pancake. There's one for Fuji XF as well. They made SLRs pocketable. All photography I did in my childhood was done with a 45 mm (because that's what was on my Zeiss Contaflex Alpha) so 50 mm has always felt a bit long to me.
Tom
My main camera is still M2. Some day I will get something digital that is not a phone.
I bought my M2R in 1971 -- with a 35mm f/2.8 Summaron it was less than $200 from Willoughby's in NYC. It was a great camera to shoot basketball pix I used it until I won the football pool in 1990 and purchased an M6 at Wall St. Camera.
I think $200 in 1971 is about equivalent to $1500 in today's dollar. Still a good price for a new Leica M2 and lens!
Btw, a used M2 in good condition still fetches $1350 at MPB, so not a bad investment.
Btw, a used M2 in good condition still fetches $1350 at MPB, so not a bad investment.
Mine is a little odd. I get a bit less than a full roll worth because the spacing was changed so my negatives have a larger than usual gap. It is convenient in the darkroom but not necessary. For taking photos with lots of time between rolls maybe it could stop any potential bleed. The finder is good. I have no plans to ever get rid of it. I would like some Lecia digital equipment at some point. I am likely to end up with some smaller frame digital though, first.
I wish I didn't get rid of a few things I had but whatever. Not sad I sold my Nikon F Apollo. It was nice but like carrying a rock. When I bought it for a photography class it was at an estate sale and I was texting a friend on a flip phone if it was good... the guy was like, "do your ebay stuff somewhere else." What a prick. **** him anyways though cause I bought an Apollo for chump change and sold it for a premium later after I got other cameras - his loss. If I had been younger I did hear at one point Leica everything was being sold for almost nothing, along with all film gear, due to fear of digital. Before my time.... ugh. Now it is all premium price again.
I have a little half frame Pen D that I should really get tuned up and carry with me. It's even smaller than my Yashica T4. Maybe get another Olympus Stylus. It isn't the best camera ever but some of the best photos were taken with it. I let a girl borrow it and uh never saw it again. Has really good pocketability.
Fuji X100, Sigma Quattros w/viewfinders etc, Sigma fp, M11 Monochrom, Ricoh GR. That is my shortlist, without all the specifics, of digital I will try to attain at some point. Medium format I am fine with film, expense excluded of digital.
I wish I didn't get rid of a few things I had but whatever. Not sad I sold my Nikon F Apollo. It was nice but like carrying a rock. When I bought it for a photography class it was at an estate sale and I was texting a friend on a flip phone if it was good... the guy was like, "do your ebay stuff somewhere else." What a prick. **** him anyways though cause I bought an Apollo for chump change and sold it for a premium later after I got other cameras - his loss. If I had been younger I did hear at one point Leica everything was being sold for almost nothing, along with all film gear, due to fear of digital. Before my time.... ugh. Now it is all premium price again.
I have a little half frame Pen D that I should really get tuned up and carry with me. It's even smaller than my Yashica T4. Maybe get another Olympus Stylus. It isn't the best camera ever but some of the best photos were taken with it. I let a girl borrow it and uh never saw it again. Has really good pocketability.
Fuji X100, Sigma Quattros w/viewfinders etc, Sigma fp, M11 Monochrom, Ricoh GR. That is my shortlist, without all the specifics, of digital I will try to attain at some point. Medium format I am fine with film, expense excluded of digital.
I never heard of a Nikon Apollo - had to look it up. Reminiscent as predecessor to the FE/FM body style - one of my favorite Nikon film bodies.
yashica - that’s a camera brand you don’t hear about nowaday!
It is the predecessor to all SLR Nikons. They had Rangefinder series that is still popular today. With the f1.1 lens it was something for the time for sure, but probably not as well remembered as Canon's f.095 despite being better.
FE is a nice balance, all the right controls, light, etc. But not a wartime photograph machine. For that the F# series was king for long time. (F2 and F3 during time of FE). Not that pictures would be any different with the same glass, and Nikon has plenty of it good and relatively cheap. Although I'd probably go Pentax LX because I like the way b&w is rendered on Pentax lenses, where I looking all over. For whatever reason Pentax never offered good light-meter included full manual options, super annoying, outside of the expensive LX. The Olympus M2 is also a gem for usability but I am not in love with the lens renderings even though they are good. There are some very good and sometimes reasonably priced macro lenses for the Olympus M mount though. I actually made money flipping them numerous times in college.
I'm actually still hanging onto a Minolta XE-7 because the shutter mechanism is the same as one of the Leicas and it is stupid smooth. I was using an M42 adapter and weirdo lenses on it. But SLRs are still hard to hand hold with long exposures, no matter how smooth. The best thing you can do it improve it is getting a bigger button extension so you can press with not the finger tip and be gentle. I had a Leica IIIx (a I think), and with that technique of laying the finger over shutter release I was able to take 1/8s shots with a minor amount of concentration. I kinda miss it, even though it was silly having the rangefinder and viewer separate. The collapsing lens (f3.5) was nice, just needed a Voigtlander meter on top that was pricey for me at the time...
A thread to which I may actually contribute (newbie here)! I'm mainly digital - Sony A7RV body, but love vintage lenses, in this case the Canon 35mm Tilt Shift from the 80s. I assembled the Bottlehead kits with my own casework. Can't be all digital though, with a newly acquired M2 and my father's Agfa Karat 36 that I restored in '21.
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Thank you! I've owned Summilux and Summicron Leica lenses of varying focal lengths and have decided my Canon LTM lenses are just as much fun at 1/10th of the price...flame war material, I know, but satisfying to use!
You might be interested in this slick little thing from TTartisans.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtyFDWQ
Although I feel that sunny sixteen rule works very well and can generally guess exposure within 1/2EV.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtyFDWQ
Although I feel that sunny sixteen rule works very well and can generally guess exposure within 1/2EV.
I have no plans for giving up my Gossen Sixtomat Flash though I haven't used it in years.
Tom
