[Leica] [long]My first M: notes & questions

[Alexey Merz <alexey@webcom.com>]

This was first posted a week or so ago; this was during the computer 
troubles and it never came up in digests that I received. 
Well, I finally got an M a couple of weeks ago. Following are a short
history, some comments on how this beast feels, a summary of plans
for the coming months, and a few questions for the LUG cognoscenti.

I began photography when I was 15, and by the time I graduated college
had shot and processed thousands of rolls of 35 mm film - mainly Tri-X
and HP5 developed in HC-110, but also TMAX 100/400. I alwys found TMAX
very frustrating with HC-110, until recent experiences with TMAX 
developer. XTOL experiments will start soon (see below). Color was rare 
for me because five rolls of HP5 cost the same as one roll of K64.
Besides, we had a wonderful B&W darkroom in college :-).

At some point towards the end of college ('92) I just stopped taking 
pictures. Not completely, but it was mainly snapshots on color negs.
This dry spell lasted five years.

In November of last year I found a great deal on a N***n FA, and
I discovered that at least part of the problem was that my main body, 
an FE2 purchased in 1983, was simply beat to hell - it had developed
so many minor glitches that it had become burdensome to use. No fun.
The FA, in Ex+ condition, was so good by comparison. I made a commitment
to awaken my somewhat rusty skills; I began reading and chose, at first,
to shoot only color transparencies. Errors in exposure would be 
stringently punished this way, and I hoped the learning curve would be 
commensurately steeper. I would also have to contend with color, which
I had rarely confronted in the past. Early results of these experiments 
are shown at http://www.webcom.com/alexey/news.html
(The slides I'm happiest with are not yet up, and unfortunately won't be 
prior to 1/99 due to travel and work.)

Well, around this time I came into posession of a binder of my father's
proof sheets and a box of negs spanning the period from around 1965 to
1970 or so. I was born in '67, and this was an amazing documentary of
my parents' (and my) lives around the time I was born. All were taken
with an M3 that my dad had bought during DOD-funded excursions to 
Europe. And an old itch started to bug me again. That M3 was sufficently
prized by my father that he had not really let me use it until I had
a couple of years' SLR and darkroom experience. Just as I was gaining
his trust, our house was blurgled and the M3, DR-Summicron, 90, 
and 135 Elmarits were taken... and replaced with... a Pentax. A fine,
capable SLR - but not fundamentally different from the Ricoh and Nikon
gear I was by that time using. That the M3 was a different beast entirely
was as obvious then as it is now.

Within weeks of getting the FA I was thinking, hard, about a Leica
rangefinder. I saved and wished, plotted and read. Almost bought a 
Mamiya 6, escaped by a hair's breadth ;-).

Well, now I've got the M6HM (a bit of time spent toying with both the 
0.72 and the 0.85 settled *that* issue). Also a 50 'cron-M (second-to-
last; I have a strong preference for fixed, rigid shades) and a 35 
'lux-M ASPH. Now, the latter lens provided a bit of a shock. I've 
shot some big glass in my time - 11" telescopes, a $200,000 Leica
laser scanning confocal microscope - but this was the first optic that,
straight out of the box, intimidated me. Maybe it was what it represented
as a proportion of my income, maybe it was that wild, concave front 
element. But this lens is one a serious piece of work. I'm glad I didn't
get a Noctilux; I would have passed out on opening the box!

In 2 weeks I realize that I've only scratched the surface of the M
world, but here's a smattering of what I've learned:

1. In direct comparisons - both fairly controlled and completely
uncontrolled - with the 35/1.4 ASPH and the 35/2 AIS-Nikkor, I found that
the Nikon is (as I have known for some time) a very fine lens from f/4
on, and downright excellent at 5.6-11. The 'lux seems to be about as 
sharp at these apertures (better in extreme corners), but has marginally 
better rendering of fine textures, and pulls out shadow detail better. 
But I was not really prepared for the comparison at wider openings. 
Simply put: at f/1.4 the Summilux is as good as or better than the 
Nikkor at f/2.8. If the Nikkor is used at f/2 (wide open), it does not 
come *close* to the Summilux ASPH at 1.4. After these tests, the Nikkor 
won't be used wide open anymore, unless performance is not at issue. 
The Summilux will, and often.

2. I can handhold the Leica at least as well as the FA, which has one of 
the best-damped mirrors I've ever used (noticably better than the FM2 or
FE2). That is, good images on K200 at 1/15th with the 35 maybe 75% of 
the time, as expected. I was surprised that I was able to feel the 
horizontal travel of the shutter curtain as a subtle but tangible 
'jump' of the camera. Moderate-speed exposures show no bias towards
horizontal blurring, however. With practice perhaps I will improve.

3. After 1.5 weeks with the M6, suddenly the FA, a very nice camera, 
feels rather clunky and awkward. Its viewfinder, despite a relatively
high eyepoint, is not so good. I'm left-eyed, and I shoot the M6
with head tilted, both eyes open. The wind lever is used DS, and 
does *not* poke me in the eye. Joy! What's more, unlike some, I can 
see the whole 35 frameline pretty easily. The 0.72 would be better, 
and I'll eventially get an M2 or M4 for that purpose. But if I 
have only one body, it's gotta be the HM. Black tape went on
early, and stayed there. I *really* like the way this camera looks
without logos.

4. I'm still ambivalent about Tom's soft release. On the FA it was
not better than that camera's already superb release. And on the M6
it's great, but when I advance the film the SR seems to catch under
my finger, resulting in a gentle torque on the shutter button. This
causes a LESS smooth release than the plain ol' shutter button. 
Any tips?

Regards, Alexey
..........................................................................
Alexey Merz | URL: http://www.webcom.com/alexey | email: alexey@webcom.com
            | PGP public key: http://pgp5.ai.mit.edu/ | voice:503/494-6840

Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she
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