[Leica] Backups - long (was What are some other camera brands...)

[Gilbert Plantinga <gilplant@earthlink.net>]

My main body is an M6 TTL 0.72 and I have lenses 24/2.8 ASPH, 28/2 ASPH,
35/1.4 ASPH, 50/1.4, 75/1.4, APO 90/2 ASPH, and APO 135/3.4.

Iıve also got an M6 TTL 0.85, and R8 with the 35-70/4 and the 80-200/4.

My everyday street-shooter is the .72 with either the 35 or the 28. I
generally ignore the meter and with the 28 I use the external bright-line
finder and focus "by feel" with the lever (though I do use wider apertures);
Sal DiMarco will attest to the fact that I can load film quickly with my
eyes closed (but Please, letıs not start that thread again).

But lately, Iıve been shooting some landscapes and rocks and ferns and
peeling paint and other things that do not move, because I found out in a
show I had in a local coffee joint this past summer that street photography
doesnıt sell.

And I got a copy of Ansel Adamsı "The Negative" which I had read as a kid,
but has been revised since, and I figured it would be a good thing to review
all this zone system stuff.

Big Mistake #1.

I have a little Luna Pro Digital F that I use for incident readings when the
light fails at the end of the day on the street, but after reading some of
Adams, I bought a 7 1/2 degree spot attachment for my old Luna Pro SBC
(holding out for a true spot meter) and Iıve actually started using the spot
setting on the R8 meter.

That (the meter attachment) was Big Mistake #2.

In the R8 Iıve been shooting Delta 100 and developing it in Xtol 1+3. And
Iıve been getting a lot of film over-exposed. Dummy that I am, I took that
to mean over-developed, and cutting the time helped. But after reading
Adams, I decided to get a grey card and do some tests. What I found was that
the meter in the R8 was reading 2/3 stop off!

Meanwhile, when I load my M6 0.72, I find that I now have to crank off three
frames instead of two to get the counter to start at the zero mark.

Rich Pinto has a Leica Day at Photo Village on Wednesday this past week. So
I call him up to find out if he thinks Brenda from Leica NJ will be able to
do anything for the R8 meter or the M6 counter. He doubts it, so I call
Brenda in Jersey. No, she wonıt be able to do anything, but she can check my
cameras. I decide to bring only the M6 because I want to get some shooting
done and nothing makes for a bad day of street shooting than too many
cameras. Iıll bring the R8 to Jersey on Thursday (yesterday).

So on Wednesday ­ Leica Day at Photo Village ­ Brenda checks out my M6. The
shutter speeds are within tolerance, and the meter is dead on. I knew that.
The counter will have to be checked out in Jersey ­ I knew that too.

On Thursday I left the house with all three bodies and some lenses (oh, I
forgot to mention that the aperture ring on my 50/1.4 is feeling kind of
gummy and its Passport runs out in October). I was hoping that the R8 could
be done right away while I was there, and I expected to have to leave the M
and the 50. Well, the machine they use to diagnose the R8 was down and
wouldnıt be back up until today, so I left two bodies and one lens, and I
went on into the city with the M6 0.85 to do some street shooting.

Iım walking down 42nd St. and I come under what New Yorkers call a sidewalk
bridge ­ actually a roof over the pavement that protects pedestrians from
construction debris. Turn the shutter dial down to 1/125 and check the M6
meter display for the aperture. I KNOW that it will be f2.8. Itıs not. It
wants f2! Chalk it up to bad judgement.

Then in open shade I know that Iıll be shooting 1/250 at f8 on the shady
side of the street. But the M6 wants f4 or 4.8. Iım not carrying a spot
meter or a grey card, but the Luna Pro Digital and an evenly lit grey wall
make for some quick field testing. The M6 TTL 0.85 reads about a stop off,
just like the R8.

Now I really want to believe that my Leicas are right and both my instinct
and my meters are wrong. I come home and test the M6 against my other meter.
Itıs off. Doh!

So today Iım going to bring my "backup" body to New Jersey. Iım hoping that
at least one of my other cameras will be fixed. And Iım hoping that the
meter in a TTL Leica M is adjustable, like with a screw or something (as
opposed to replacing a circuit board).

None of these bodies is over two years old.

Oh, what other cameras do I have? My old Olympus XA has never failed me
(except when I found out that it wonıt work without a battery). Iıve got a
PAW commitment to keep. And I wonıt ever get this obsession turned into a
career (that is my goal) unless I have a backup to the backup. But a Leica
loaner would be nice ;)

Gilbert Plantinga
New Paltz, NY
http://www.gilplant.com