bjhurley wrote:
An old friend recently sold me his Leica M2R (a relatively rare model, only 2,000 made, excess units from a design for the US Army); here are a few shots from my first roll, with Portra 160, testing some of my more modern lenses to see how they look on film.
Looks great. The MS 28 shot came out nice, especially given all the grief that lens and its 1.7 replacement has recently received in the MS thread.
All lenses look great on film. Because film.
I'm hesitant to say how little he asked for it, as it would make him sound like an idiot, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Let's just say that I asked him to confirm that his quote wasn't missing a couple of zeros. He sold it to me with three Leica lenses: the 35/2.8 Summaron (with goggles, not needed for the M2R but he wears glasses and found it hard to see the 35mm framelines), the 50/2 dual-range Summicron (unfortunately very hazy, I'll have to get it serviced), and the 90/2.8 Elmarit. All for less than what you'd pay for the Summicron alone in decent condition. A solid friend indeed.
I'm hesitant to say how little he asked for it, as it would make him sound like an idiot, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Let's just say that I asked him to confirm that his quote wasn't missing a couple of zeros. He sold it to me with three Leica lenses: the 35/2.8 Summaron (with goggles, not needed for the M2R but he wears glasses and found it hard to see the 35mm framelines), the 50/2 dual-range Summicron (unfortunately very hazy, I'll have to get it serviced), and the 90/2.8 Elmarit. All for less than what you'd pay for the Summicron alone in decent condition. A solid friend indeed. ...Show more →
Knowing it’s going to a good home and will be used by someone who will appreciate it can be more important than profit.
madNbad wrote:
Knowing it’s going to a good home and will be used by someone who will appreciate it can be more important than profit.
Exactly. It's not in collectible condition (it has some cosmetic damage on the back, which doesn't bother me in the slightest) and he didn't want it to go to a collector. He contacted me after seeing some film shots I'd posted and offered me the camera and lenses, saying he wanted it to go to someone who'd use them. I'm not totally jazzed about the lenses yet (except the 50mm Summicron once it gets de-hazed); the 35mm Summaron is great but those goggles are big and heavy and you can't detach them without knocking the rangefinder calibration of the lens out of whack. The Elmarit is nice but I actually prefer my 1947 Elmar LTM. But it's early days; I'll give all the lenses a good workout on film in the months ahead.
I guess the moral of the story is that getting your work out there can be worth it. I sometimes feel silly posting photos here and elsewhere, like I'm back in Kindergarten doing show-and-tell, but in this case it paid off (he actually saw my photos on Facebook).
I'm hesitant to say how little he asked for it, as it would make him sound like an idiot, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Let's just say that I asked him to confirm that his quote wasn't missing a couple of zeros. He sold it to me with three Leica lenses: the 35/2.8 Summaron (with goggles, not needed for the M2R but he wears glasses and found it hard to see the 35mm framelines), the 50/2 dual-range Summicron (unfortunately very hazy, I'll have to get it serviced), and the 90/2.8 Elmarit. All for less than what you'd pay for the Summicron alone in decent condition. A solid friend indeed. ...Show more →
Awesome, a friend indeed. The Summicron needless to say is a superb lens once clean.
I had the Summaron 35 3.5 goggled - and it performed way beyond my expectations. I sold it though because I did not like the way the goggles unbalanced my Ms. Very cool concept though.
pic taken w my M7 and the 35 Summaron 3.5 goggled:
Desmolicious wrote:
I had the Summaron 35 3.5 goggled - and it performed way beyond my expectations. I sold it though because I did not like the way the goggles unbalanced my Ms. Very cool concept though.
Yes, I feel the same way: it's a fantastic lens, very sharp but with nice character wide open and close to it, just what I like, but the goggles are hard to deal with. I like the extra room offered by the 50mm framelines, but the goggles are really heavy and the camera feels too weighty to me. Plus they are top-heavy and more than once I've accidentally hit the lens release button with my finger and the weight of the goggles makes the lens dismount. Not good. There's a goggle-less version but I have enough 35mm M- and LTM mount lenses already so I don't think I'd get one unless it was a trade for my goggled version.
Kraft Mountain, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
Three consecutive 35mm frames taken handheld, arranged as a panoramic triptych. Nikon FM2n, AI Nikkor 50mm f/1.8S, Kentmere Pan 400, developed in LegacyPro L110 at 1:31 for 5.5 minutes.
Fuji KlasseW, and my test roll of Wolfen NC400. I rated it at ISO 200 which seems correct. Box speed would definitely underexpose this film.
It is similar to Lomochrome Metropolis in the fact that it leans to cool tones, but it is grainier, less sharp and halates. So it is not Metropolis.
I guess I will keep my remaining rolls and use them for urban/street type shots, where I can get up and close relatively speaking.
Very nice! I always wanted to try a Hexar RF - it seems that's what a 'modern' M7 should be (minus auto wind - I love the Leica manual film action!). But have been scared away by the electronic failures w/ no-one apparently willing to work on them.
An M7 w/ a 1/4000 shutter and NO dx coding? Perfect.
