Leica MP thoughts

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canuhead

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Had, used and then sold my first M6 but now using a classic M6 and a newer version MP. One thing to keep in mind when you get a Leica is that eventually you will be drawn in by the siren song of Ixmoo cassettes. In this regard the M6 is better since Ixmoos won't fit in the film chamber in the MP. Very tempted to see if it can opened up but afraid of what the tech would say upon the suggestion lol.

The MP feels very good in hand but the M6 is s bit lighter and has the M2 style rewind which is better than the post.

Ideal world would see me winning the lottery and buying a pair of a la carte MP with the lever rewind :wink:

tl;dr - get an M6
 

sepiareverb

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One problem with having the best equipment: All lousy photographs are one you.

During my years teaching Photo One this was always an issue. Tracking down the user error vs camera faults from that piece of junk SLR that had been in an attic for twenty years lovingly lent to the grandchild taking a photo class.
 

Ko.Fe.

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Mostly boats, beach, some street, landscape. 90% B&W - Acros 100, 10% or less Color Ektar 100.These are the only two films I shoot. NO digital. Budget open, but I am a shooter not a collector. The camera will be used not saved in a cabinet.
My go to lens on my Hasselblads are 80MM, 150MM,(portraits) and a superwide camera. Almost all the work that I sell are taken with the 80 (boats) or superwide (landscapes). By far the biggest prices are paid for the superwide pictures that are hand printed, wet prints. This camera will be for fun not to sell pictures.

First thing which came to my mind after info you have given is - no fast 35 needed. Color Skopar 35 2.5 is great for color, but it was driving me nuts with bw prints (primitive contrast). But most of 35 lenses are sharp enough from f5.6, no matter how old they are, as long as optics are clean. Still, IMO, modern lenses might be better choice if you like sharp photography. Modern Zeiss 35 f2, f2.8 going to give it. Personally, I prefer Leica Summarit-M 35 2.5, which is close in price range to Zeiss. I like its rendering on bw, color is great as well and handling.

Honestly, I don't think what adding M6 and 35mm will add to the sales anyway. RF is great for grabbing of the moments, it works for intuitive, spontaneity taken pictures best. While exact framing is somewhat possible, but if you need to have objects aligned in related to each other matter, RF will fail due to the parallax factor.
For example: You have noticed what moon is visible while sky is still blue. You want it to be aligned right above of the boat mast and you want the rest to be framed certain way. If you will use RF/VF for it, the moon is going to be off the mast.
But if you walk on the beach and here is something, you don't even know for sure, but feel it as special and brisk. RF camera with RF lens equipped by focus tab will allow you to capture it instantly as long as you will not bother with in camera meter. Result often comes with crooked horizon, un-perfect exposure and OOF. It will be cherished by MoMA curators and guys like me who don't want even look at sharp images of boats, but proud of their pictures like this:

:smile:

But RF still might deliver in more traditional department, while having fun. I walked many times by this spot, but one evening it was worth of taking it. It was at these three minutes of sun dropping under horizon. The quality of light specialty on this day and how everything was lit by this light. It took me twenty seconds in total, one frame and f1.5, handheld.

 
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It's hard to make recommendations without knowing your budget. You can spend a lot or a little very easily. I generally recommend a used Zeiss 35mm F2 Biogon. It has no distortion, great contrast and color, and is of course very sharp at pretty much all apertures. If you want a little more bokeh, I would recommend the Voigtlander Ultron 35mm 1.7 (current production). Both of these lenses are great performers generally. They are easily beyond the point at which you could blame your lens any photographic issue.
 

blockend

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Result often comes with crooked horizon, un-perfect exposure and OOF.
If those are your criteria there are many less expensive ways of fulfilling your goals. A plastic lens point and shoot will give you all those for less than the price of a beer.
 

Ko.Fe.

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If those are your criteria there are many less expensive ways of fulfilling your goals. A plastic lens point and shoot will give you all those for less than the price of a beer.

It is called as "lomography" then and required expired color film or E-6 film in C-41. I have tried it.


Cat.


New Lomography camera broke within first ten rolls, non Lomogaphy P&S beer priced ones have flash which is very independent from user control and I don't like film cameras with batteries, power rewind and code readers.
I have Smena-8M and plastic fixed focus diving camera for now if I want to beat my Leicas on OOF and get most unpredictable framing. They works because I have paid for them less than 2$ beer. One dollar per each.
 

blockend

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It is called as "lomography" then and required expired color film or E-6 film in C-41. I have tried it.
Lomography is fridges to Eskimos, I'm thinking of the kind of cameras that have a fixed aperture, no means of focusing and come 25 to a box on eBay. The ones that contain somebody's roll of film with three successive Christmases and the men have mullets on every frame.

The upmarket version is a Bessa L, a wonky Russian lens and no viewfinder. I had two Lubitels when they cost £12 and Dianas were sold alongside rubber snakes and fart powder and cost the same price. It doesn't require a Leica budget to go there.
 

Ko.Fe.

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Lomography is fridges to Eskimos, I'm thinking of the kind of cameras that have a fixed aperture, no means of focusing and come 25 to a box on eBay. The ones that contain somebody's roll of film with three successive Christmases and the men have mullets on every frame.

The upmarket version is a Bessa L, a wonky Russian lens and no viewfinder. I had two Lubitels when they cost £12 and Dianas were sold alongside rubber snakes and fart powder and cost the same price. It doesn't require a Leica budget to go there.

Actually "Lomography" was updated since Dianas were sold as souvenirs. Not only Dianas and Holgas went under Lomography, but FSU FEDs are also reviewed on Lomography side. Now Lomography lenses made for Leica M mount at price tag of 400$ and up... Lubitels also went under Lomography.

All of these ebay sold old cameras .... most of them sold in the box for 25$ will come DOA. One or two will work for a while and clunk out no matter how simple they are. And do you really want to use someone else old junk for your creative photography? :smile:
 

blockend

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All of these ebay sold old cameras .... most of them sold in the box for 25$ will come DOA. One or two will work for a while and clunk out no matter how simple they are. And do you really want to use someone else old junk for your creative photography? :smile:
I bought a box of 50 for £5, no other bids, and only a Kodak was lifeless from battery leakage. The other 49 were good, many looked like they'd barely seen a film. The usual mix of 80s and 90s fixed lens and zoom compacts, from plastic lens snappers to 6-element jobs with an output like an SLR. Film compacts are almost literally worthless, unless they have T4, Mju or similar on the side. Anyway, we're drifting off topic from the necessity of Leica ownership :wink:
 

Ko.Fe.

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I bought a box of 50 for £5, no other bids, and only a Kodak was lifeless from battery leakage. The other 49 were good, many looked like they'd barely seen a film. The usual mix of 80s and 90s fixed lens and zoom compacts, from plastic lens snappers to 6-element jobs with an output like an SLR. Film compacts are almost literally worthless, unless they have T4, Mju or similar on the side. Anyway, we're drifting off topic from the necessity of Leica ownership :wink:

Actually, we are right on the money. It is matter of choice. I did same as you did, ebay, charity stores, antique stores, cameras given to me, cheap cameras of all kinds. At the end I get rid of them all (except two I have mentioned) and I stopped buying, trying. I went with Leica instead. Build to last, easy to operate and gives you free choice between Russian "wonky" lenses, modern "lomogpahy" lenses, old Japanese and even modern from Leica lenses are allowing to create OOF or sharp images. For me it is easier and much more reliable with Leica. Why do I need load of old junk if I could have sharp and OOF images taken with one Leica M camera? I did, I really did this "cost effective" way you are pondering on. The thing is what for me the gear must me comfortable, easy to operate, yet elegant. It happens to be only with Leica. With film M I'm totally free how I want this image to be taken. Like this:



or like this:



It is from exactly same camera and lens. Old M4-2 and modern Summarit-M.
 

Chan Tran

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Never own a Leica but I think Leica lenses are very sharp. Just don't see too many sharp pictures taken with the Leica.
 
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