Film Homage to the Creator of Serious Compacts...

[BillN]

For all the fuss we make about Leicas these days, they were never on my radar at all when I was shooting 20 and 30 years ago - not once!

It was only when I started into the digital m43 world that they started to become visible to me, and curiously I've never particularly wanted one, whether Barnack stylee or M-stylee (although I perfectly see that a nice Barnack is a very pretty camera, and an M - perhaps especially the MP - is a handsome beast in a Bauhausy-cum-Form-Follows-Function sort of way).

(My Bessa is a very nice camera indeed, but I only bought it to properly employ the various M and LTM lenses I'd acquired for my E-P2.)

I always just wanted a really nice SLR (preferably an Olympus), and now I've got one
Well, more than one, actually

Paul, I can lend you one of those Oscar Barnacle things as I have a few - (provided you have a suitable security deposit!!!),

but not back until after Easter and you will need good eyes as you cannot see a thing through those Luftwaffe viewfinders

I only ever used them for B & W - and my efforts, if I remember, were poor, (my Trip 35 efforts were much better),- I am sure two of them are pre war

apparently a Steller's Sea Eagle has escaped somewhere in N England - been reading up on this magnificent bird - keep your kids inside folks

 

[pdh]

Paul, I can lend you one of those Oscar Barnacle things as I have a few - (provided you have a suitable security deposit!!!),

hoho - that's very kind of you Bill, but I've got nothing to offer as security ... in fact I'm selling cameras & lenses to fund restoration of the F2 Photomic someone gave me (it's proving a very expensive "free" camera); of course I don't have any lenses for it apart from the fungusy-and-looks-like-it-was-run-over-by-a-bus 50mm that came with it

I have just remembered though that I do have an ersatz Barnack tucked away - a Zorki-4 that doesn't work

 

[BillN]

Lens are attached, Paul

 

[pdh]

That's also very pretty, Mr N ... But
I meant I ain't got no lenses for the F2!

I've got 2 28s and 2 50s in LTM ...

 

[drd1135]

one can alleviate that problem by using rolls of film with 24 exposures instead of 36.

Oh, Lord, I can't believe I did that. I guess I have purged all memories of film.

 

[Luke]

It's definitely understandable. We really take for granted that we now get a choice of between around 8 different ISO settings FOR EVERY SHOT...and we can change them around all willy nilly.

 

[BillN]

That's also very pretty, Mr N ... But
I meant I ain't got no lenses for the F2!

I've got 2 28s and 2 50s in LTM ...

lots of "cheap" Nikkor lens around for the F2 but the original ones are big heavy things

here's my F2
and I managed to pick up a 55mm f1.2 for £50 or £70 - cannot quite remember

 

[pdh]

A fast 28 or 35 is 2 or 3 times that unfortunately, more like 4x from the likes of Greys
But this is rather hijacking poor Mark's thread with all this SLR chitchat ...

 

[olli]

a Zorki-4 that doesn't work

That was my first camera. Great fun it was. No idea what happened to it.

 

[stillshunter]

A fast 28 or 35 is 2 or 3 times that unfortunately, more like 4x from the likes of Greys
But this is rather hijacking poor Mark's thread with all this SLR chitchat ...

Please fellas don't stop on my account. I'm of the opinion that we might start at 'my tree' but the path meanders as it will. I'm liking the talk…hey at least it's still about film and not about customising knobs and comparing OLEDs

Paul, the offer of a Barnack might be fun. That's the beauty of them too…they don't cost an arm and a leg. Most my costs were sunk in service which outweighed the cost of the actual equipment about 2:1….but man it was worth every single cent - that Youxin Ye is a master. I don't intend these two going anywhere even if I ever complement with an M3….now Luke I know you can use the QUOTE function but please, please….fight the urge brother.

 

[Lawrence A.]

Hey Larry,

Considering my first foray into Leica was with an M2 I thought the separate finder windows would figure as a issue, but they are affecting my approach to photography…and in a healthy way. I am now more mindful, esp. about the very separate act of focusing and composing. Often times with the M, I'd trip the shutter as soon as I found a nice crisp image at my eye. Now I am thinking more about my critical point of focus and then my depth of field. Hence, I am better understanding the role of hyper focal shooting and thinking in 'zones'. Once I have my zone (including metering figured out upstairs), I am free to focus (pardon the pun) on composition and simply watching. Now I confess to wanting an SBOOI (the Leica 1:1 hotshot finder) but not as an objection to the 'squinty' viewfinder but to augment the watching/composing experience. The idea of both eyes open observing a scene within your zone is an attractive one.

Again it is early days and just an early observation about something that's clicked for me. I imagine someone like yourself coming from zone-focus camera your mind was wired this way early. Mine is a road of undoing the laziness about fundamentals. Not blaming digital per se, but just like most mathematics can be done on a calculator, understanding basic arithmetic and your times tables can give you a better appreciation of how that numbers stuff works.

Mark:
I agree that the separate windows can separate the steps of photographing in a very useful way. I've felt the same thing when I have used the IIIb, though I use the turret finder so I can see the whole frame to compose. It's a process I still occasionally enjoy, which is why I keep my Barnack going, but, with all due respect to Oskar, I think putting the viewfinder/rangefinder in the same window was a brilliant advance. I doubt I'd be as enthusiastic about my Olympus 35 SP purchase if I had to contend with two windows. And my next Leica, if there is such a thing, will be an M.

I'll be putting a B&H order in soon, and will be sure to get some Xtol, which of course one cannot find in this cow-town (with, however, a climate I can live with). I moved here 22 years ago from Boston, fearing I'd slit my wrists some endless New England winter, but I do miss EP. Levine for equipment, and Hunt photo for supplies. Thank God for BH Photo. Freestyle is closer, being in California, and does have a committment to black and white, but the costs are enough higher that B&H is still my go-to place. And, of course, I'm still an east coast sort of guy.

 

[Lightmancer]

My Barnack is a II(D). It first saw the light of day as a I but went back to the factory and was upgraded to a II with the addition of the view/rangefinder assembly. I've had it now for about seven years and it is still my favourite "pure" street camera. A Barnack with a 5cm collapsible Elmar is the ultimate in "unplugged" photography. I only ever feed mine 400CN, and shoot "Sunny 16".

IID 5cm Nickel Elmar par Lightmancer, on ipernity

London Water Leak IID 3.5cm Elmar par Lightmancer, on ipernity

Planning the trip par Lightmancer, on ipernity

Hands par Lightmancer, on ipernity

 

[Lawrence A.]

Happy 100th, Leica

[url]http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jan/31/leica-100-birthday-photographers-messages[/URL]

I thought this would be appropriate in this thread.

 

[stillshunter]

IID 5cm Nickel Elmar par Lightmancer, on ipernity

An absolute beauty Bill. There's an aesthetic that has been lost…well certainly after the M4. Funny around the same time that cars also lost their mojo…and their chrome.

Was the I an original black or is that a later factory repaint?

 

[greyelm]

I have the Barnack bug, in fact I've got seven. They range from 1929 to 1955

Here is my shooter (when I actually make the effort). 1950/1 IIIf BD with a modern half case.

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[stillshunter]

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Nice one Malcolm. Is that a 2.8 or 3.5 Elmar on board there?

Also what's the case? an eBay find or a Luigi number?

You should join us over here at the Film Forum more often - especially the Fun with Film (image thread)….as I'd love to see what you do with the IIIf - esp. if it's anything like I recall you doing with that X100 a few years back. ….also I'm sure the folks here would appreciate a break from me and my cows - as I'm sure the IIIf is capable of so much more

 

[greyelm]

That's a 3.5 Elmar but I normally use a 1942 Summitar.

Here are the other shelf queens. The one on the left is a 1929 Standard that was converted to a model II sometime in the 30s.

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Here's a shot with the Summitar on the IIIF.

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I haven't shot film for a couple of years so I must make the effort this year and I will post in the film forum

 

[stillshunter]

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My shelves here at home are Old Mother Hubbard in comparison.
DROOL!

 

[olli]

Some anniversary thoughts on Barnack and Leica from photographers at The Guardian.

 

[KillRamsey]

That shelf full of goodies is stunning.