[Leica] New to the group....

["tlianza" <tlianza@mediaone.net>]

Hello to all...

I was delighted to find a group filled with such passionate leica advocates.
I have recently returned to the Leica fold with the purchase of an M6 with
50mm f2 summicron.  My degree is in Photographic Science from RIT and
despite that I enjoy photography with a passion. I collect cameras and
electronic calculators when I am not out taking pictures.

I have a very complete Nikon system (F100, n80) with a wide range of lenses
(including the 14mm and 80-400VR lens), but I was finding that the equipment
was very intimidating to people when I was photographing in the street.  My
engineering work takes me all over the world and the slr's don't pack really
well.  I was also doing some theater photography and the mirror noise was a
distraction during rehersals.  The Nikon N80 is very quiet and compact, but
I found that autofocus was nearly useless in stage situations. As I looked
at my work, I noticed that a lot of composition errors were being made
because I had to make sure the focus sensor was in the correct place or
alternatively focus, press the lock button and recompose. Both the N80 and
the F100 let you move the focus sensor position, but in reality the whole
process starts to detract from the concentration of taking the picture.  In
the end, I realized that I either had to go back to the manual cameras (I
still have the "F" that I got in 1969) or take a look at range finder
system. I had an M2 with the dual range summicron when I was in highschool.
I loved that machine, but I needed some money when in college and I sold it.
I looked over some of my work from High School and I realized that the old
M2 /summicron really did produce.... !

Well, I found an M6TTL .72 on ebay with the 50mm f2.0 lens and TTL flash for
around 1800 bucks and I just hit the BUY NOW button.  I really fell in love
with the camera.  I've been shooting the new Kodak Portra 400 B&W  C41 film.
I normally shoot negative materials and either print or scan them.  I use a
Nikon Ls2000 and print with an Epson 1200 printer fitted  with an external
inking system and archival inks. The Portra 400 BW scans beautifully because
it matches the basic transmission characteristics of the Portra Color
Negative Material.  I was very pleased with the first results of various
printers, but now it's time to get into the darkroom and actually try
printing the material on both color and black and white paper.  The film has
been balance to produce a "neutral" tone on color paper, but I still want to
try some of the old standby B&W papers. This will be a challenge due to the
colored mask and I expect some odd problems with the tone reproduction,
especially with multigrade paper.  If any one is interested in the results,
let me know.

Thanks for your time, and I certainly am enjoying your posts!



Tom Lianza
Technical Director
Sequel Imaging Inc.
25 Nashua Rd.
Londonderry, NH 03053
tlianza@sequelimaging.com