[Leica] Back From the Maritimes

[Bud Cook <budcook@ibm.net>]

We've just returned from a 4,500 mile trip from Minnesota to the
Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario.   It's the last time I'll take a long
trip in a car despite having the good fortune to drive a 300E.

I took along an M3 including a new 35 mm Summicron-M as well as a couple
of Leicaflexes and a whole variety of lenses.

This is the first time in a long time that I used the M3 so much and I
didn't even put film in the SL/SL-2.
I'd forgotten what a sensual pleasure the M3 can provide.  Film flows
through the camera, the shutter release is as smooth as it's humanly
possible to make it and that nearly silent snick of the shutter is
wonderful.  I haven't got the K25 slides back yet so I don't know how
much I'm going to like the new Summicron.

BTW, using a non-RF 35 on an M3 just doesn't work very well.

I found a camera shop in Halifax with rows of German Varta PX-625's.

The real star of the trip is my wife's new Minilux.  I couldn't keep her
in film.  The prints are all great.  I told her to forget all the things
I was trying to tell her about using the camera and just point and
shoot.  She's really happy with the results.  There are cases where a
spot meter or a meter and hold approach would have resulted in more
contrasty prints, but not very often.

The only reservation I had about the Minilux before buying it was the
low magnification viewfinder.  That hasn't been a problem.  On a few
occasions I helped my wife with things like shooting through a window
but for the most part, she was on her own.  Is the Minilux lens as good
as Leica prime lenses?  I can't say until I've had a chance to run some
Kodachrome through it.  I can say it's pretty darn good.

As for Canada, it's as beautiful as ever and the people are as nice as
ever.  Unfortunately, Canada like everywhere else is overrun with
tourists so you can no longer travel with any flexibility (unless you
have an RV).  Despite the weak Canadian dollar and ignoring the really
high taxes (17.5% in PEI), prices in Canada are still higher than in the
States.

Canadian Customs are a pain in the butt.  They worry too much about a
few dollars in lost revenue on undeclared liquor while pissing off
tourists who are going to spend a small fortune in taxes on hotels and
restaurants.

We did discover a chain of ice cream parlors called Cows that have
awesome ice cream and a chain of donut shops called Tim Horton that
probably provide most of the coffee consumed by the people of eastern
Canada.  EVERYBODY seemed to be carrying around a cup of coffee from a
Tim Horton donut shop.  It was sure better coffee than Dunkin Donuts.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

Bud