[Leica] Leica] Leica Thread Mount Camera Poll

[pklein at 2alpha.net (Peter Klein)]

I used a IIIf from about 1984 through 1999.  With 50/1.4 Nikkor (and before 
that a 50/2 Summitar), 35/3.5 Summaron, 90/4 Elmar, and an Imarect 
finder.  I did a lot of travel photography with that gear.  It was sold to 
ease the financial pain of getting back into M cameras at the dawn of the 
new century.  If I'd had a IIIg, I would have kept it because of the better 
viewfinder.

I currently have a Zorki 4 and 50/2 Jupiter-8 (aka the "CommieCron" or 
Russkie-Sonnar).  I use it every once in a while when want the retro look 
of the Jupiter at wide apertures, or when I just plain feel like it.  Sent 
it to Russia for a very reasonably-priced CLA, and now it works 
beautifully.  There's a perverse pleasure in being at one with the less 
refined but quite servicable mechanics.

In some ways the Zorki is a more practical *casual* shooter than a Leica 
screw-mount, because of the combined range-viewfinder and higher viewfinder 
magnification.  But not if you wear glasses.  With glasses, I can only see 
about half the frame.  So I only use it when I'm wearing my contact 
lenses.  And when it's bright enough to see the shutter speeds 
clearly--some of the slower speeds are only a gnat's eyebrow apart.  :-)

There is something really beautiful about the screw-mount Leicas, 
though.  They are in some ways the archetype of the perfect little 
machine.  I found the separate range and viewfinder a bit too slow and 
awkward for the kind of people photography I prefer, especially as a 
glasses wearer (didn't have the contact lenses back then).

For a non-glasses wearer, I'd say an LTM camera is perfectly viable for 
many types of photography--particularly with an accessory brightline finder 
for a 35 or 50mm lens.

--Peter

At 01:20 PM 9/22/04 -0700, Greg Lorenzo wrote:
>Who still uses their LTM camera?
>And which camera or cameras, lens or lenses do you like to use?
>I use my IIIG with modern formula 50 Summicron primarily for street 
>photography.