Leica If ready for Battle like Al Kaplan

aoresteen · Nov 9, 2015

On Saturday I took out my Leica If, Voigtlander 15mm lens, loaded it up with Arista 400 (Tri-X), and used it at a raining football game. It's been quite a while since I used my If and I had fun getting to know it again.

Here she is dressed & ready for battle:

It has a Voigtlander double shoe, Voigtlander light meter, Leicavit, and a Domke strap. The Leicavit makes it a completely different camera. Very quick to operate.

The 15mm always reminds me of Al Kaplan. In his last years he used the 15mm on a Bessa L body quite a bit. A remarkable photographer & man. I miss him.

Richard S. (rich815) · Nov 9, 2015

Nice!!!

summicron1 · Nov 9, 2015

very pretty. Is that a leitz leicavit or one of the canadian ones? I have a canadian one on my iiif, very lovely and smooth.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Nov 9, 2015

Camera looks like a dior dress ,voig somesting lens looks like motorcycle helmet .

aoresteen · Nov 9, 2015

summicron1 said:
very pretty. Is that a leitz leicavit or one of the canadian ones? I have a canadian one on my iiif, very lovely and smooth.

It's a Leitz Leicavit. I like them so much that I decided to get one for the If and one for the IIIf,

My M bodies are all motor driven including my M3:

Guess I have a lazy thumb

Red Robin · Nov 10, 2015

Dressed, and ready for . .. ... ?

Sorry folks, I'm a bit new to Leica. My entire collection only has 2, count'em two RD's. My first a Leica iiif, followed up a week later with a iif. They both seem just too small and delicate, much less waterproof to take to a ball game. I've read lot's on how tough they are (going to war, on expeditions to deepest, dark jungles of wherever) but this pair didn't get to be 50+ by being bashed about or swimming in the monsoons thank-you . Believe I just take good care of mine and pass them along. With care who knows how long they may last.

Xmas · Nov 10, 2015

aoresteen said:
It's a Leitz Leicavit. I like them so much that I decided to get one for the If and one for the IIIf,

My M bodies are all motor driven including my M3:

Guess I have a lazy thumb

I have so much of a problem reloading I don't need a motor.
I do use the Leica quick load kit on each body which does help.

aoresteen · Nov 10, 2015

Xmas said:
I have so much of a problem reloading I don't need a motor.
I do use the Leica quick load kit on each body which does help.

I had Don Goldberg convert my M3 to M4 loading for much the same reasons. While the M3 quick load kit did help, the M4 loading is way better.

ColColt · Nov 10, 2015

The IIIf would be fun and I considered one but didn't like the idea of a separate rangefinder/viewfinder and the crazy way you have to trim film for it.

Richard S. (rich815) · Nov 10, 2015

ColColt said:
The IIIf would be fun and I considered one but didn't like the idea of a separate rangefinder/viewfinder and the crazy way you have to trim film for it.

It's a very different way of shooting. But tried and true. And classic. Amazing cameras. And pre-trimming the film and the loading is no big deal.

ColColt · Nov 10, 2015

I could get use to having to trim the film but, it slows you down having to look through two different finders to compose and focus. However, as you said, classic cameras for sure and I understand they're even more quite than the M cameras.

aoresteen · Nov 10, 2015

ColColt said:
I could get use to having to trim the film but, it slows you down having to look through two different finders to compose and focus. However, as you said, classic cameras for sure and I understand they're even more quite than the M cameras.

That's why I only use the If and IIIf with wide angle lenses like the 15mm and 21mm. You have to use an auxiliary finder anyway. My 21mm is RF coupled so I focus it with the IIIf focus window and use the 21mm finder to take the picture. It would be the same if I used my M4-P or any other Leica M camera with lenses wider than 28mm.

I do use a 50mm with the IIIf on rare occasion but the squinty viewfinder doesn't bother me.

Ronald Moravec · Jan 4, 2016

I miss Al. Probably would still be with us if he did not smoke like a chimney.

karl · Jan 4, 2016

I miss Al as well. The king of the selfie before the selfie was king.

IloveTLRs · Jan 5, 2016

aoresteen said:
Here she is dressed & ready for battle:

View attachment 119521

It has a Voigtlander double shoe, ...

That's quite pretty!

I just looked on the 'bay for those double shoes, and nearly fell out of my chair upon seeing those prices.

aoresteen · Jan 7, 2016

ILOVETLR said:
I just looked on the 'bay for those double shoes, and nearly fell out of my chair upon seeing those prices.

Yes they have gone up. Glad I bought one each of the three sizes made while they were available. Never to be sold!

kivis · Nov 1, 2016

aoresteen said:
On Saturday I took out my Leica If, Voigtlander 15mm lens, loaded it up with Arista 400 (Tri-X), and used it at a raining football game. It's been quite a while since I used my If and I had fun getting to know it again.

Here she is dressed & ready for battle:

View attachment 95299

It has a Voigtlander double shoe, Voigtlander light meter, Leicavit, and a Domke strap. The Leicavit makes it a completely different camera. Very quick to operate.

The 15mm always reminds me of Al Kaplan. In his last years he used the 15mm on a Bessa L body quite a bit. A remarkable photographer & man. I miss him.

Al was a one of a kind, bidi smokes and all.

Trask · Nov 1, 2016

aoresteen said:
I had Don Goldberg convert my M3 to M4 loading for much the same reasons. While the M3 quick load kit did help, the M4 loading is way better.

Intrigued by your assessment, I pulled up the Leica M4-P manual on Butkus and took a look at the loading system. It appears be very much like a quick load kit. So what's the difference between a QLK and the M4 loading method?

summicron1 · Nov 1, 2016

OK, I'm stupid: Who was Al Kaplan?

summicron1 · Nov 1, 2016

Trask said:
Intrigued by your assessment, I pulled up the Leica M4-P manual on Butkus and took a look at the loading system. It appears be very much like a quick load kit. So what's the difference between a QLK and the M4 loading method?

the m4 system works a lot better. I had an m2 quick load thingy and could never get it to work right in my M3. Wasn't worth the hassle and fear of mis-loads if I did something wrong, so I sold it to someone with due warnings and so forth.

Some folks like them.

karl · Nov 2, 2016

Al Kaplan was a North Miami based photographer and retired photojournalist, who took a lot of wide angle selfies with a Voigtlander Bessa and 15mm Heliar. He posted a lot images and stories on Photo.net back in the day. Did his own darkroom work and just seemed like an interesting character and all around good guy. King of the selfie before the selfie was king.

michael markey · Nov 2, 2016

Yep ... miss Al too.
Still read his blog "The Price of Silver" from time to time.
We exchanged a few interesting emails .

gb hill · Nov 12, 2016

aoresteen said:
On Saturday I took out my Leica If, Voigtlander 15mm lens, loaded it up with Arista 400 (Tri-X), and used it at a raining football game. It's been quite a while since I used my If and I had fun getting to know it again.

Here she is dressed & ready for battle:

View attachment 95299

It has a Voigtlander double shoe, Voigtlander light meter, Leicavit, and a Domke strap. The Leicavit makes it a completely different camera. Very quick to operate.

The 15mm always reminds me of Al Kaplan. In his last years he used the 15mm on a Bessa L body quite a bit. A remarkable photographer & man. I miss him.

Been a year. Perhaps it's time to run another roll of film through it.

frank · Nov 12, 2016

I've got a Bessa L with a CV21. I call it Al.

Richard Jepsen · Aug 26, 2017

Yes, Al Kaplin was a hero of mine. In the early days of Photonet and APUG he was there helping people out with their questions about Leica equipment. You could take what he said to the bank. His Minolta 40mm hack to enable the 35mm frame on the M model is a classic.

Leica If ready for Battle like Al Kaplan

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