Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/11/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hello fellow Luggers! I bought an M6 classic last Thursday and exposed 6 rolls of film over the weekend on a visit to Tokyo. I used Superia 200, Superia 400, Neopan 1600, Ilford Delta 3200, and a couple of rolls of Provia 400X. This camera is eminently usable! I only got one roll developed, an evening at the Japan Salsa Congress, on Superia 400. One mistake was that I used my EOS 580 EX II as an auto-thyristor flash, but forgot to change the flash's ISO to 400 from 100. So I suppose the film was pulled by the over-the-counter camera store developer. Do you think this is so? Also, leaving the flash set to 100 iso instead of 400 is better than leaving it at a setting two stops or so in the other direction. Anyway, you can see these first shots at using a Leica here: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=leica%20m6&w=73557746%40N00 I'd like to get better at this sort of event photography and would like to become good enough to sell images from time to time. Could you give me any advice on my shots, in terms of composition, film used, technical or other things? I'm all ears to hear any advice and criticism - please do tell me how to improve and where I went wrong on some shots! Another little problem- I loaded my second film upside down- oh dear! So it will be unexposed and is now rewound in the cannister. I put it in my pocket after 36 (non) exposures and realized it would not have worked at all. Now I don't know which film roll it was. Do you think the camera store developer can save the film for me to use again? Anyway, a small right-off to experience and a valuable lesson learned. I only developed one film, because I accidentally left the other 5 behind in a bag I absent-mindedly left at Akebanebashi Subway Station, Tokyo. Before I got to Haneda Airport, a Subway worker attendant called me to tell me he found my bag (I had labelled it with my name, phone number and e-mail address). He very kindly offered to post it on to me, if I would pay the postage to the postal worker. I received the bag 2 days later, which was this afternoon. Nice service! I will develop the others tomorrow. Other things I'd like to know. I would love to have an eyecup for my M6. I use Fuji 6x45 and 6x9 rangefinders and can use $6 Nikon eyecups on those to shield my eye from light coming from my side, allowing the viewfinder to be seen more clearly. I have seen someone selling M6 eyecups for about $40, but I don't think they would be any better than a $6 dollar one. However, the M6 eyecup would have a smaller diameter. Anyone know where I can get a 5 to 10 dollar eyecup made of rubber, with a steel screw-in ring? I am thrilled to be able to take decent photos at 1/15th sec, maybe 1/8 and 1/4 is possible sometimes too, I think. I will see soon when my other films are developed. Any thoughts here? How slow can you go? And I have a feeling that if I load my film in a black changing bag, I should be able to get 1 or 2 extra exposures from my film. Is that so? I don't have a changing bag, but will get one if this is the case. Loading an M6, then winding and clicking 2 or 3 times before firing in earnest, it seems that at least the second and third shot need not be wasted. Anyone tried this? Um, what else? Oh yes. Most people use Leicas for b&w. What are your thoughts on using it for transparencies and for colour negatives? Finally, I'd like to develop my own films. I heard of table top, daylight developing kits, any advice on these - brand names, ease of finding the chemicals, anyone ever done this in Japan (where I live)? An old gent I met in Thailand told me he used to develop his own slide film and that was very easy. Any thoughts on this? It sounds like smoke and magic to me, hence very intriguing. Thank you for reading my long post, I hope to stay in this group as a long-termer. Don't hold back on criticizing my first exposures with the M6, please! Geordiepete