Re: [Leica] My first week with Leica

["Jacques Grilli" <grilli.jacques@sympatico.ca>]

I went true the same feeling one month ago - after many years with a SLR
(F4-F5).
I would like to get your comment on the 75mm summilux f1.4 with the M6.
- -----Message d'origine-----
De : Nathan Wajsman <nathan.wajsman@euronet.be>
=C0 : Leica list <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Date : 9 mai, 1998 07:32
Objet : [Leica] My first week with Leica

>Dear all,
>
>I thought I would share my experiences with the M6, which I have now
>owned for about 10 days. While I have been taking pictures (always as a
>hobby) since 1985, I am completely new to Leica. I have until now always
>shot mostly with SLRs (Pentax); I also owned a Hasselblad 501 for a few
>years but sold it last year because I was not using it enough. I have
>now shot 4 rolls of film with the M6, transparencies and black&white.
>Mostly with the 2.0/35mm Summicron which I got first, but also one with
>the 1.4/75mm Summilux which I got a few days ago.
>
>The things that I really like about the M6:
>
>1) The beautiful finish and general air of fine craftmanship;
>
>2) The back-to-basics approach. While shooting mostly autofocus SLR the
>past year or so, I had forgotten the joy of carefully composing an image
>in the viewfinder, to think about things like hyperfocal distance,
>exposure etc. The M6 encourages this kind of approach, which for me has
>brought back the fun in photography.
>
>3) The superb lenses. When I looked at the first slides shot with the
>Summicron, I was floored by the sharpness of the image, corners and
>centre. I also shot a very familiar scene, namely the view from my
>backyard, which faces fields and often looks very beautiful in the
>morning as the sun rises and burns off the fog. The Summicron captured
>the mood of the scene like no other lens I own. Last weekend, I walked
>around Brussels' Grand'Place, taking pictures of the tourists and the
>beautiful buildings on Ilford XP2. Again, the sharpness of the images is
>amazing. I will put some of those on my web page, but of course the
>scanner and monitor resolution will not do them justice.
>
>4) The smallness of the outfit compared to an SLR.
>
>5) The short shutter lag which allowed me to capture an image of a
>Japanese tourist trying to get his little son to pose, an image I doubt
>I would have gotten with my autofocus SLR (the scene did not last very
>long at all).
>
>6) The fact that everything except the meter works even if the batteries
>die. With my autofocus motorized SLR, no batteries=3Dno pictures.
>
>7) The helpful people here on LUG (and on Compuserve's photography
>forum), who answer questions quickly, point me in the right direction
>for information, and provide a supportive, mostly flame-free
>environment.
>
>The negative aspects are few. Of course there is the price of the stuff,
>but I do not mind paying for this level of quality. Focusing with the
>rangefinder is not always easy, but I am sure it is a question of
>learning and getting used to it. The meter is nice to have and seems
>very accurate (I have compared the readings to those given by my
>Seconic, which I know is accurate), but I wish that the indications in
>the viewfinder were more comprehensive.
>
>I look forward to many years with this little gem and hopefully also of
>hanging out on this list.
>
>Nathan Wajsman
>Overijse, Belgium
>
>
>
>