Re: [Leica] E. Europe/Leicas

["Dan Post" <dwpost@email.msn.com>]

Very Nice! Funny- The place names are a little strange, but the kids in
jeans, T-shirts, ball caps, and sneeakers make good old Praha seem a whole
lot like home!! The world is indeed, getting to be so much smaller! Kids and
the Internet! The great leveler, because they seem to be the same
everywhere- may be hope for us old folks, yet!
Thanks for sharing!
- ----- Original Message -----
From: <InfinityDT@aol.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 10:20 AM
Subject: [Leica] E. Europe/Leicas


> I'm back from 2 wks in eastern Europe, happy to report that my 2 M6's and
> lenses functioned perfectly and returned intact.  I had initially opted
for
> the 15-28-50-90 combo, but at the last moment substituted the 35 ASPH
> Summicron for the 28 because I wanted another f/2 lens besides the 50.  I
> came to regret that decision, because of having to grind my glasses into
the
> eyepiece and twist from side to side to see the 35 frameline (and I have a
> .72 finder!).  Finally I switched to my spare glasses which are smaller,
sit
> closer to my eyes and are more flexible, and the problem was slightly
> lessened.  As is always the case with me, with any camera system, the
> "normal" lens was the one I used the most.  I used the "latest" 35-50-90
> lenses because I specifically wanted top performance wide open so that I
> could shoot handheld at lower light levels, but compared to my
'70's-vintage
> lenses the new ones are quite a bit larger and heavier which becomes very
> apparent after walking a few km with them.  My Domke F4XB shoulder-belt
bag
> was perfect for the kit; low-profile, secure (waist and shoulder straps)
and
> small enough to carry on the metro and tour-bus without requiring a seat
of
> its own!  It also kept my Leicas bone-dry on a long walk in an unexpected
> downpour in Vienna. (The same downpour prevented me from visiting the
Leica
> Shop there...major bummmer!)
> I found myself using the Heliar 15mm extensively in castles, churches and
> museums.  It is a tiny, light lens and the finder is amazingly bright.
The
> DOF is so great that lack of rangefinder coupling is a non-issue.  I was
not
> sorry I didn't bring a 21mm lens (I spent all my time in cities, otherwise
I
> would have missed a 21).  I used the 90 Elmarit least of all,  but
> nonetheless it was indispensible for detail shots of intricate building
> features, and also at concerts and opera performances.  For the latter I
> switched to Fuji 800.  Incidentally, I opted to shoot negative film (Royal
> Gold 100 and a couple rolls of TCN and XP2) for the trip for a few
reasons:
> 1) I knew I'd be shooting a lot at mid-day in contrasty situations, 2)
> Wouldn't have much time to fiddle with exposure or bracket shots, 3) Negs
> scan as good or better and retain their greater tonal range when printed,
and
> 4) everyone I know would rather look at an album than sit through a
slideshow
> (my fault there, I'm sure).  Experience I've had with Royal Gold 100 in
the
> past has been superb, so I'm looking forward to the results.
> As a somewhat-collector and avowed camera-nut, I of course had my eyes
peeled
> on the hordes of tourists.  I did not see even one single M Leica.  But to
> put this in proper perspective, I saw *no* Contaxes at all, and only 2
Leica
> R's (an elderly R3 with an elderly 50 Summilux carried by an equally
elderly
> gentleman, and one R8 with a 28-70 3.5-4.5).  I saw one Nikon F5 (again,
with
> a slow 24-120 zoom), one pristine black F2 with the DP-12 finder, and one
> Nikkormat FTn.  By contrast, there were hundreds of lower-level AF SLR's
and
> (estimating) thousands of AF P&S's.  There were also a few digital P&S's
and
> a large number of compact camcorders.  I felt very secure carrying $$$ of
> Leicas around, as it seemed as if no one gave it a second glance.  Only
when
> I had both M6's out did tourists stop me...and that was to ask me to take
> their group picture with their P&S (evidently I "looked like a pro" with 2
> cameras around my neck).
> One Leica-user (but not carrying his Leica at the time) stopped me in the
> street in Prague to talk Leicas and give me his website URL where there
are
> some very nice images to be seen.  It is worth checking out:
> http://www.kocman.com
>
> I'm hoping to be able to post some images from my trip to a personal web
page
> (if I can figure out how to do it).