An interesting commute

["Jeff Segawa" <segawa@netone.com>]

I've lately devised an entertaining way to get to work in the morning,
which makes good use of the Leica: I live in central Boulder, CO, and work
in the north part of town, and have discovered a very nice walk, which
takes me over Mt. Sanitas, along the mountain, through some back streets
and walking trails, to within a block of my workplace! Granted, this is a
2+ hour trek, but the weather has been most cooperative lately, and the
vegetation is lush.

Mornings are typically cloudless in this area, but we've had a few hazy and
partially cloudy mornings lately, which have made things interesting. High
contrast is a problem, but I've discovered some gullied terrain to the
south which show up very well in the morning light, and which make for
fairly spectacular 'chromes. Under such lighting, I have found only a 1-1/2
stop difference in brightness between sky and hillside, which makes for
very rich hues, and the sidelighting enhances texture, so the photo looks
dramatic and contrasty, but really isn't. Due to some annoying power lines,
which seem to crisscross some of the best vantage points, I find myself
wanting a 90mm lens, which should be just about perfect for isolating
smaller subjects. I have tried incorporating these power lines as part of
the image, but inevitably, the lines look less like social commentary and
more like an oversight on my part! Afternoons of late have been wonderful,
with dark clouds and sunshine--just a matter of scouting out a good
composition and getting to the site before the light changes; a person
would have to work hard to get a bland shot under such conditions.

Equipment-wise, I sometimes wonder if I should've gone with the 50
Summicron, rather than the Elmar. They're both fine performers, but the
Elmar has a screw-on metal hood which complicates filter changings. And the
Hoya filter that I had been using is not to my liking: Possibly, the
threading is not quite Leica standard (39mm not equal to E39?) and it tends
to stick badly, even when the threads are burnished with graphite.
Interestingly enough, if one grabs the front of the filter ring between two
fingernails and tugs it forward in a number of spots, the filter then
unscrews without undue force. Alternately, if such a thing as an E39 rubber
hood exists, that might also help.

The tripod has been another area which might be improved: My Linhof Profi
II ballhead does not work very smoothly with so light a load as the M body,
and when the tension is cranked up a notch, the baseplate of the M can be
felt to flex rather a lot. If one of those M grips could be machined to
include an integral tripod QR plate, else the QR plate be permanently
attached to the baseplate, that might help lots. I had been thinking of
getting a small lathe/milling machine, and can see where these might be
useful first-time projects.

On an unrelated note, I just got a brief hands-on with the R8 and thought
it fit my hands well. I'm a little mystified at what's filling the
capacious body casting though, and wonder if it might've accomodated an
internal motor drive. I would've liked to see the standard configuration
include a silent winder, with the option of a bigger battery pack, for
higher speed. Just a thought-the camera's current price (with rebate) is
still beyond reality, as I know it :-)