Re: [Leica] Big Leicas (slightly off-topic)

[Jeff Moore <jbm@instinet.com>]

At 23 Apr 1998 10:21:18 PDT, "Tim Atherton" <timphoto@hotmail.com> wrote:

> What kind of big Leica (medium format rangefinder) should I go for?
> I am looking to go for a wide angle lens to start off with, then go for 
> a standard.

I'm pretty fond of the Mamiyas, although I must admit that, probably largely 
for reasons related to relative frequency of use, my ``hit rate'' for 
pictures I like is far lower than with Leicas.  You work best with the tool 
you're most used to.  Yeah, yeah, there're the already-discussed medium-format 
aperture 'n' such issues, too.

I adopted a 7 after some years with a 6 because I realized I just wasn't very 
good at `seeing square', and great opportunity for personal growth that 
retraining my eye might be, I had other things I was more interested in 
beating my head against.  That having been said, I think the 50mm wideangle 
for the Mamiya 6 is a fantastic lens.  I only have the 80mm `normal', a fine 
workhorse, for the 7.  I retain a definite interest in the available 65mm 
(which I expect my eye would find comfy) and of course the amazing 43mm, 
but that interest has so far continued not to exceed my interest in Leica 
glass when shopping budgets have become available.

The 43 requires an auxiliary finder, and its protruding rear elements appear
also to be to blame for the 7's lack of the 6's collapsibility for compactness 
when being transported.

The longer (150mm for both cameras, and apparently unadvertised APOs) lenses 
suffer from some rangefinder imprecision, and there's even a suggested
direction for the final focusing-twist pass to attempt to maximize accuracy.

There's often more on the film than appeared within the framelines.

See how a 7 fits in your hand; mount a 65 and check out the rangefinder.  You 
might just like it.  Quieter than a Leica, I suspect, and a 6x7 hunk of Tri-X 
is just a luxury in the darkroom.

 -Jeff Moore <jbm@instinet.com>