[Leica] Photokina 2000 (long!)

[TTAbrahams@aol.com]

Every two years the camera-nuts gather at Photokina and fondle the latest 
"innovations" in the photographic industry. There are 100 000's of dealers, 
shooters, and the general public, all dragging huge bags with brochures, 
pamphlets and the occasional free roll of film. It is also a gathering point 
for LUGgers from all over, who come there to see what new things have been 
promised by Leica.
 Tuulikki and I left Vancouver on the 13th of September and picked up a 
rental car in Amsterdam and drove up to Sweden and for the first time we 
could do this without touching a ferry! The new bridge between Copenhagen and 
Malmö was opened in July and no more long waits at the ferry terminals. 
Impressive sight but there is really no vantagepoint for getting a good shot 
of the bridge, except from a boat or a chopper.
On our way to Sweden we stopped for a while in Copenhagen, at Photografica, 
one of the better Leica stores there and we had a meeting with Claes Bjørn 
Larsen, this year's World Press Photo winner. He is an avid Rapidwinder user 
and I brought him a new one with the Rapidgrip and he had kindly put together 
a wonderful portfolio of prints for us to take home.
 After Copenhagen it was a couple of days with relatives in Sweden, nice and 
peaceful, but I managed to squeeze in a quick stop at Prokam, a store 
operated by a friend of mine, Kjell Kullsten and we swapped some pieces back 
and forth. I ended up with a nice M2 and an extremely ugly 90/2,8 (somebody 
has painted it black with what looks like the paint you use on concrete 
floors!).
On the 20th of September we drove down to Cologne, settled in our hotel, 
conveniently located at the railway station in Bonn-Buele. The Photokina 
day-pass works as a train-ticket too. The difference in cost of staying in 
Cologne or 20 miles outside is drastic. The Dom Hotel charges US$ 1000/night 
and our hotel was US$ 65! On Wednesday we decided to just take a couple of 
hours off and wander around in Cologne. The interesting thing is that during 
Photokina, every camera store put all the "goodies" in the window, trusting 
that a lot of collectors and "bargain" hunters will show up. They are right; 
every store is 3 deep with customers. There are not too many bargains 
available, but the current high value of the $ makes it reasonable for buyers 
from dollar based economy to buy. I did find an almost mint 50/3,5 in M-mount 
for US$ 150, not a great lens compared to the new ones, but it makes an 
M-body truly compact when collapsed.
 Thursday was the first day of Photokina madness! Leica changed their booth 
and it is now less like Fort Knox. They had a lot of counterspace outside and 
people behind the counters were actual Leica staff who knew the cameras, the 
lenses etc. The new items from Solms, the 0,58 M6, the 28/2 Asph-Summicron, 
the new M-winder, and the "Null" series replica were available to handle. My 
absolute favourite is this "Null" series replica. It is absolutely beautiful 
and, yes I have ordered one. I rather wait with upgrading one of my M6's and 
have the "Null" camera! It will be interesting to see how it works out. You 
have to cap the shutter every time you advance, the shutterspeeds are 
2,5,10,20 and 50 and this indicates the slit-with of the shutter. The finder 
is a folding peephole type. The camera looks like it is copied after either 
the # 101 or #112 camera at Leica. Leica will make about 300 of these cameras 
a month until the demand is filled and thus avoiding creating a 
"collectible". 
 The 0,58 has a nice viewfinder, better than the same magnification finder on 
the Hexar RF. Because of the "wider" field there is more intrusion in the 
finder from the hood and now and then you guessed what's hidden in the lower, 
right hand corner. The 28/2 is slightly smaller than the 28/2.8 and felt 
comfortable to use. Bill Rosauer and I had an opportunity to run some film 
through the camera and lens on the Sunday, so in the next Viewfinder issue we 
will do a story on it. The new M-winder is a disappointment in my estimation. 
Yes, it is smaller than the old ones and, yes it has 2 speeds (1.5 frames/sec 
and 2-3 frames/sec) but the combined grip/battery chamber is not very well 
thought out. It is a round post like the old Topcon DM motor. You can't 
really get a good hold on it and although it is ruggedly built, I would be 
hesitant to lift the camera body and a heavy lens by the grip only. All the 
"demo" winders at the Leica Booth had the same problem; every time you fire 
with it, it completes the advance cycle and then the shutter release is 
"kicked" up. The punch is bad enough that it shakes the camera! The first 
version of the ill-fated M4-2 winder had the same problem but it was almost 
gone by the time they put the last version of the M-winder on the market and 
now they are back at square one again!
 I also had a chance to meet with Voigtlander/Cosina and I was shown the 
latest from them. The 12/5,6 did create a bit of stir and so it should. The 
longer I use it the more I like it! Voigtlander also showed a 28/1,9 Aspheric 
in screw-mount. It will be released in early 2001 and from the first 
impression of handling it, it will be a serious competitor for the Leica 
28/2. There is also a 90/3,5 screw-mount Apo-Lanthar coming in early 2001. 
Slightly longer the 75/2,5 and marginally heavier, but still very compact. 
For those of us who still hang on to our old Nikon F's and F2's, they have 
made a 125/2,5 Apo-Lanthar Macro. With a close focussing to 45mm (less than 
2"). Great looking lens with a bayonet hood similar to Hasselblad and a very 
smooth focussing action.
 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we spent at Photokina and on Saturday 
afternoon Erwin had arranged a meeting with LUGgers and Leica/Solms 
expertise. It was held in a remote area of the exhibition and if it had not 
been for Sal DiMarco's skills as a tourguide, a fair number of us would never 
have made it there. His Leica held aloft, he plowed through the crowds and 
got us to the right place at the right time. I will leave it to someone else 
to do the review of the meeting but I can say that the new guys at 
Leica/Solms are younger than the M-cameras and they appear to have an idea 
where the company should go today.
 Saturday night was the main reason for being there. The 2nd LUG Photokina 
dinner. It was a rowdy crowd that descended into the dungeons of the Italian 
eatery that we had chosen. The members of the original "Leitz of the Round 
Table" from 1998 were there and several newcomers. The evening was surely a 
Leica feast. Lots of red wine, beer and to top it off, several bottles of 
Sekt (German "champagne") were emptied, courtesy of Terance Dixon (UK). Nice 
touch and we toasted Leica, Barnack, and some other stuff that I can't 
recall. Of course, being LUGgers there was a large quantity of cameras around 
so we decided to build a centerpiece with them. The initial call was for 
black paint only and that was quite impressive and later we decided to 
include any Leica. I did count to 27 cameras on that table, all M's except 
Nathan Wajsman's son who had a R8. There were at least 3 Millenniums, one 
LHSA M6 and a M6J with a 50/1,2 Noctilux, black M2 and black M3, a black 
paint Summarex 85/1,5 as well as an old Leica II (1931) with only two owners 
since new. It was interesting to watch the reaction when the waiters passed 
plates of food over the cameras or glasses of beer and wine. Hey, we are 
LUGgers and we are cool!
On Photokina Sunday there is a swap meet a couple of kilometers from the 
exhibition and quite a few of us migrated there for "bargains". With the 
strong $ the prices are not too bad on the run of the mill stuff. 
Unfortunately Bill and I had to go back to Leica and probably for the first 
time I left a camera-swap without having bought anything! Could this mean I 
am recovering from Leica-fever! The European prices are all over the board 
though. A very nice, clean 35/2 chrome (2xxx xxx) was US$1500 at one table 
and less than US$800 at another table!
 Sunday afternoon was spent with the 0,58 M6 and the 28/2 and the weather was 
great so I did run 5 rolls through it, mostly Neopan F rated at 40 ASA and a 
couple of Delta 100. 
 Monday AM we packed our Nissan Almera (where is Almera? and what connection 
does Nissan have with it!) and proceeded to Utrecht and a great dinner with 
Erwin and his wife Els. We kept the camera talk to a minimum and enjoyed the 
food instead. Erwin is putting the finishing touches on the Lens Compendium 
and it should be out in late October/early November. I saw the "dummy" copy 
and it is written so that one does not have to be a lens-expert to understand 
it. No MTF curves (all-right, not that many MTF curves) but obviously a lot 
of information about Leica lenses. It will become an essential book for every 
LUGger and Leica-user.
 Yesterday it was Amsterdam, short walk through the Dam-district after having 
returned our rental-car and then the 9 hour flight back to Vancouver. I am 
quite happy that this event only occurs every two years, I don't think I 
could handle a yearly Photokina. All that good food, wine, beer and  people 
takes a while to digest. But we are already making plans for the 2002 
Photokina…
All the best,
Tom A