[Leica] Re: And a rather nice time after all (long)

["Victor Wek" <photvictor@hotmail.com>]

Some other observations:
- - On local Leica day someone brought merger of two different worlds. It was 
a LTM camera which had Leica top (housing) and the rest was not Leica made. 
It looked like old Leica in the shop display with engraving and patches of 
brass , but the winder feeling was not the same. The fake LTM was discovered 
by Keith, who also pointed how it was made.
- - The R8 viewfinder brightness was great even with slow zoom lenses. I had 
to see as Tom Grand said. To focus, split view worked, but I did not noticed 
any changes in microraster area. On my FM2 Nikon lower portion of split 
image is always dark with slow zoom lenses, but microraster around shows 
focus changes. New 21-35 R zoom was not available, but 15/2.8 lens was.
- - I was not impressed by Digilux1 images in sizes 8x11 and up. Sort of flat 
colors and lack of razor sharpness. The look like my Russian LTM lenses. The 
prints had no processing, they were just printed in local store. It is 
always fun to see good image which has all details  from film scanner, and 
full opportunities for changes against final output from digital camera with 
almost no room for changes (which were already made by digital camera 
software).
- - My quest for perfect 35mm still continues. I have new 35/2 and the only 
problem is flare. I have to have sun behind when I take a picture with that 
lens. I was lucky to use 35/1.4 ASPH on M7 in Auto mode on that show, thanks 
to John. I did not test that lens against sun. From my experience Leica M 
extremely wide lenses or short telephoto do not have flare. But of course 
other brands will give flare always, my Summicron plus hood does it 
sometimes.
- -Question about loading M camera may look strange, but John’s technique is 
faster then mine. I do more checking before I am certain the film will “rock 
and  roll”.
    It was nice to see few people who own or owned Leica in one place.

Victor

John wrote:
From: John Collier <jbcollier@shaw.ca>
Subject: [Leica] And a rather nice time after all (long)

Well it certainly was not what I expected and I had a very good time.

I am afraid that deep down I thought the Leica rep from Germany would be
dressed in liederhosen and all the store staff would be wandering around
muttering, "and just don't mention the war". Surprisingly, restraint was
show by both sides. Once the rabbit was let loose it was very thick at
the front with the local Germans but they quickly tired of trying
different lenses on the M cameras and peering intently through the
finder. Something we all do at first I guess.

I only intended to stay a short while and once things settled down I had
a nice conversation about the Canadian distributor's repair department
with Keith Matson. He is the Leica chap at Lisle-Kelco. As Emanuel Lowi
had warned me in advance, he was a wonderful person; very knowledgeable
and thankfully frank and honest about Leica in Canada.

As I gathered together all the broken cameras and lenses my four year
old had tested, in preparation for hasty departure, a voice behind me
asked if I was John Collier. I then turned and met our own Victor Wek.
Too many nice people in one day can be wonderful and so it was.

We had the usual conversation about this and that Leica gossip, politely
not mentioning Ted's underwear, and he even disarmingly asked me to show
him how to load a M camera. I did but I am sure I saw a trace of an
impish smile behind those glasses. I imagine he had a hidden camera
recording the whole thing to play for his friends later. You know the
whole trying to put tab A into slot B when you can only find slot c sort
of thing that always charms us on those Funniest Home Videos shows that
America seems to make so many of.

As once again I was preparing to leave, he mentioned his disappointment
at Leica not having brought a 35/1.4 Asph to demo. I cheerfully lent him
mine and busied myself with knocking various Leica bits and pieces onto
the floor while he ran a roll through a M7.

One of the staffers surprised me by showing up with a IIIg on which were
mounted a 35/2 Asph and its finder. I took one look through the
rangefinder and remember why I thought LTM cameras are nasty little
creatures only loved by those who actually do wear liederhosen and
collect garden gnomes. I then took one look through the 35mm finder and
fell madly, deeply in love.

The finder was bright, clear, with good eye relief and lots of room
around the brightlines. A bit of a cloud fell over the proceedings in my
eyes I as I cursed aloud at its unattainablilty. Keith then surprised me
by saying he still had two in stock. I swiftly reduced his unallocated
stock by one and the roses quickly opened their pedals again to the now
bright and shining sun.

As Victor shot his last few frames I had a quick peek in a R8
viewfinder. Holy doodle! That is a bright clear finder. Everything
glowing that has been said about the R8 finder is one hundred percent
true. I also fiddled with a Motor-M and am afraid my dislike of grips
soured me on it.

Well the strain was beginning to be more than visible on the staff as my
son had just finished disemboweling the filter drawers and once again I
made prepartions, this time successful, to leave.

John Collier

PS: If you want a modern Leica 35mm finder, there is one left in Canada.
Contact your nearest Canadian Leica retailer.




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