The new LEICA Rangefinder MP (Mechanical Perfection)

I'm likin' the chrome!

 

Pure industrial art.
Wow.
Dan C

 

Here's a "Leica" I might be able to afford.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1031944604.html

Dan C

 

Dan - that is so cool and cute

All the best - Andrew

 

This sure is a fine camera, I used it for about 10 years, until I could afford a T-90. Now replaced by EOS-3 and EOS-5. I'm also into view cameras of the Arca-Swiss brand.

People who want a decent, lightweight rangefinder, the Olympus 35RC is worth looking at. I bought one in excellent shape for $80 recently from a camera technician who had serviced it.

http://www.ph.utexas.edu/~yue/misc/35RC.html

Of course it doesn't have interchangeable lenses. Also, the meter battery can be hard to get hold of, as mercury batteries are now banned, but once you have it, it lasts for years.

Those who can afford should buy the Leica of course

 

Had an AE-1 (didn't we all?) 20+ years ago, which now belongs to my wife. I believe the shutter doesn't work and had to fix the mirror foam once.

Currently "use" a F1n with my old FD lenses from two decades ago.

Would the mirror foam rot even in NOS bodies?

 

The AE1 was one of the early electronic marvels, IIRC.
Easy to set and shoot, but also very versatile and fully manual if one chose. It had "chrome" plastic covers to cut costs and bring the SLR experience to many people. A great camera for the novice to serious shooter.

I LOVE the old small Olympus cameras. Their little clam-shell designs were so clever, and the old Pen half-frame line was incredible!

Another venerable and affordable rangefiner was the Minolta Hi-Matic line, which was in production for like 20 years.
I have a later model, a Hi-Matic 7 S-II, which a friend gave to me a couple years back. I use it for happy snaps now instead of the fully auto point and shoot APS format camera I used before. Great photos, very sharp lens and surprisingly accurate exposures (though it hardly matters with color neg these days).

PS: Don't get me wrong, I'm not delusional here. There's no rival to the Lieca. It's sort of like comparing a Honda Civic to a Mercedes SLK. Both wonderful products with different lots in life.

Dan C

 

Nybody here ever worked with an ALPA ? I never had occasion to but have always been intrigued by them. For plactical purposes I always stuck with the Nikon system Zenza, Rollie and Hassel. Fooled around with a Linhof every once in a while....big!

 

Another gas but not in the same league of course was the old Kodak "Medallion" rollfilm camera. Decent lens if I remember correctly.

 

My dad had an AE-1/Program (I forget what features were added for the "program" designation). I guess I've just inherited it...I should load a roll into it and try it out.

My current SLR is the original Minolta Maxxum 7000. The only thing I don't care for is the auto-focus: compared to today's far better and faster AF cameras, this one's a dinosaur. But I have lenses, and am very familiar with using all its features, so I hate to part with it. Unless the newer bodies will fit my lenses.

Most of my photos today are with my digital Olympus point/shoot. Target hasn't seen me for processing in two years. Takes great images, and the best ones end up on the web anyway. I can print 4x6's with my HP Photosmart printer that rival anything I've printed at Target. Bought the Mrs. a Minolta APS camera, which does take very nice pictures for its size, but it has hardly been touched since the digital came along.

I'm not all that familiar with the Leicas. What format does it shoot? I've always wanted a Pentax 645....my favorite photography is landscape.

 

Aaaah...history in a nutshell. Gracias! For some reason I thought this Leica was a medium format. (My subscription to the photography magazines expired a few years ago, and I've been out of the loop. )

 

It was brilliant photographers who took up the Leica in the '30s who set the standard for documentary photography that we all still follow today.

Many of those images made their mark in LIFE and Look magazines. It took almost 30 years for newspaper photographers to retire the 4x5 Speed Graphic and take up 35mm as the standard. Hard to believe, but there was a lot of resistance from the old timers and the press men at the time.

Dan C

 

Canon AE-1 vs. AE-1 Program

The difference between AE-1 and AE-1 Program is the program
I.e. you can set AE-1 Program to select both exposure time and aperture automatically. Don't use it, make your own decision about the exposure time and have the camera select the aperture. A good starting point is to set the time to 1 - 4 times the focal length of the lens in mm.

The AE-1 Program has a brighter finder (you won't find such a bright and large finder image in present AF SLRs by the way), and it has a problem fixed where you could inadvertently change the ASA setting when you wanted to change the time setting (in the AE-1, the time setting and ASA setting are on the same wheel, while the AE-1 Program has these settings on separate wheels, and the ASA setting is locked.)

 

I figured it was some kind of AE automation. Dad used to use it in full-blown program mode, though, and really took some nice photos with it. He had always wanted to get one of Canon's wide-angle "L" lenses, but never did. I could probably get some affordable lenses on eBay if I wanted to.

On my Maxxum, I have often used the feature to override the shutter speed, setting it manually and letting the Maxxum select the aperture. When shooting in bright light outdoors, I would set it so I could get maximum depth of field, especially when doing something like the Grand Canyon, when I wanted an object in the foreground to be in focus, having the canyon be in focus as the backdrop. And other times doing the opposite--forcing a shallow depth of field to "pop" an item into the foreground. (I'd set aperture manually and let the camera set the shutter speed.)

I don't have the patience right now, but in the future I'm going to work more with setting all exposures manually. I usually only putt around with the SLRs when I'm shooting landscapes. With kids around, I like taking quick one-off shots with the digital, and putting them online or printing them out for anyone who wants one.

 

Those Leica's are beautiful and razor sharp.
I really like non-SLR cameras.
I've been using my Mamiya C330 twin-lens reflex for a number of years and it does fine. No longer made, it was the only TLR with interchangeable lenses....

Mamiya's also have very sharp lenses and the larger negative format also helps. One nice aspect about TLRs and rangefinders, too, is that without the reflex mirror flopping around you can take stealthy pics without shutter noise.

Here is a shot of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse I took with it awhile ago...

My personal dream camera is Mamiya's rangerfinder model, the

Mamiya 7 II

6x7 cm format, interchangeable lenses, ergonomic, great cool factor....

Ere

 

I don't think they have hit the shops yet - everywhere is pushing the black bodies (which doesn't look half as nice IMO . Aren't you going to wait for the Titanium bodied version Steve ?

All the best - Andrew