Hoo boy... I just splurged a little

gavinlg

gavinlg

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Well,
I've gone and spent most of my money I've collected over the last few weeks. At least $150 of it was supposed to be going toward a new waterpump for my car, but I think I can last a little longer taking the train to uni.

I bought:
A very scruffy/well used early leica m4-2 which I have been assured is working perfectly and has none of the glitches typical to that model (or they've all been fixed by now). For the amount of use its had (really brassed) I doubt it has any issues. I got it for a good price.

1 Domke f5xb Bag in olive - I contemplated the f5xa which is the smaller version but I usually carry with me everyday a rangefinder, extra lens, 2-3 rolls of film, small notebook and an oly xa etc and I get the feeling the f5xa would be a tight fit with those. Hopefully the olive color wears to a nice dull grey green. I'm going to water tight it with a canvas spray when I get it.

1 Jupiter 12 35 f2.8 in excellent condition from a seller here and a FOTODIOX m39-m mount adapter to use on the m4-2. Only thing that worries me a bit is that they didn't ask me which type I wanted when I bought it - eg. 35/135 framelines etc. I sent them a message on ebay requesting a 35mm one - I hope thats what I get!

Also, a first for me from Adorama, a Sekonic L-208 Twinmaster light meter. It's cheap, small, light and seems to get good reviews. Plus it does incident and reflected readings which is a plus. Only cost $90us so if it works well I'll be so happy with it.
This will be the first time using a rangefinder with an external lightmeter so I'm planning to take a reflected reading whenever i first start shooting, taking into consideration what f stop I'll be using and then every time the light changes, take another reading. If I'm doing a portrait or have time to set up - I'll take an incident reading. Is this the same sort of thing everyone else does?

I've got a few rolls of Tri-x, some neopan 1600 and some kodak 160nc ready to go,
I'm super stoked about the m4-2. I want to be able to really really use it and make it become like a phantom limb. I had an m6ti before but I didn't want to devalue it (I paid too much for it) by getting it brassed and scratched up.

I'm already eyeing off hexanon 50 f2 and a biogon 35 f2. Oh, and a new skin from camera leather. Oh, and a CLA. Oh, and.......

This forum is part to blame. Why am I posting this here? Well - My girlfriend doesn't listen when I babble anymore 🙄
Gavin
 
Sounds like a fun kit. Enjoy.

I usually take a few sample incident readings, to get an idea of the light in the open/vs. in the shade, etc.

Then put the meter away and shoot - adjusting as I go towards the readings I took earlier (as appropriate)

If the light changes really dramatically - I'll take a new sample or two.
 
payasam said:
You have a 35 and you spoke of portraits. Perhaps you should think of an 85/90/100 first.
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Conventional wisdom and most normal people love the longer lenses like 75/90 for portrait work - I can understand why with the flattening of perspective and all but I've found through the years I much prefer portraits of people in their surroundings. A good 35mm lens has little to no distortion and can perform excellent journalistic portraits of people in their surroundings or in their certain situation, getting into the shot what a longer lens cant. It also lets me get closer. The photos feel more like the viewer is part of the moment rather than looking at a picture.

The 50mm focal length is about as long as I go on a rangefinder for the moment. those 2 lengths just work best for me. I had an ultron 28 1.9 but didn't really like it that much, and on my SLRs I never seem to use anything over a 50.

Cheers,
Gav
 
There are portraits, Gavin, and there are portraits. I too use normal and wider lenses sometimes for portrait work. I don't know if it's justified to dismiss an old and widespread practice as "conventional wisdom".

In the circumstances, I must take back what I said.
 
fdigital said:
Well,

This will be the first time using a rangefinder with an external lightmeter so I'm planning to take a reflected reading whenever i first start shooting, taking into consideration what f stop I'll be using and then every time the light changes, take another reading. If I'm doing a portrait or have time to set up - I'll take an incident reading. Is this the same sort of thing everyone else does?
Click to expand...

My RF cameras are a Bessa R (with a TTL lightmeter) and a Fed 5b (without lightmeter), and sometime I take the Fed and use it (with BW film) exactly in "your way"... And I'm learning a lot of things about the light. The only problem is that the viewfinder of the Fed is dim and ugly, and the camera has no straps, so it's not so nice to use... But your M4-2 i all another word !! Enjoy it!

Ciao
Franco
 
Congrats and enjoy, Gavin !

Your metering method seems OK, I measure only every few shots outside, but try to measure incident.
When you get used to the zone system, you need to measure less and less ....

Take it easy on buying lenses, I can tell you 1st hand that it's a slippery slope ...

Interesting that you want to combine the Hexanon with the Biogon.
Why not 2 Hexanons or Biogon and Planar ?

Cheers,

Roland.
 
fdigital said:
This forum is part to blame. Why am I posting this here? Well - My girlfriend doesn't listen when I babble anymore 🙄
Gavin
Click to expand...

We don't listen either, Gavin, but we read you... like a book 😀

Congrats man!
 
Good on you! Enjoy it. I just hope that water pump doesn't give the ghost tomorrow. Ever heard of buyer's remorse? 😛
 
Thank you all, Yes the camera is a little gem. A well use gem but a nice one, nice and smooth and the shutter speeds seem very accurate etc. it's smoother than my old m6ti in almost every way as well.

payasam, I value your input to anything on this forum, you don't need to retract any statements! I will eventually get something of a cheap 90, although I find in all photography work I don't often use short teles. Could be useful sometime though!

ferider - Well if I was smart I would probably not be mix matching brands, however I Think I quite like having a few lenses with different looks in my arsenal, just diversifies things. All my canon glass for work have the same look - technically excellent lenses but very clinical - I really enjoy the character differences in high end M mount glass.

RML - Well, the waterpump did ended up giving up, but I bought one, buckled down and changed it myself. Figured out an old timing problem as well - took a while, but I managed to fix it and afford the camera/accesories at the same time. I regret nothing!
 
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Thar she goes.... Lightmeter/bag etc coming probably tuesday. I'm very keen on seeing what using the l208 twinmaster is like...
 
Chris - I dont mind posting the price up because if/when I sell it, it'll be for what I paid for it.. Was on Ebay australia and I won it for 530aud + postage. Picture makes it look a little nicer than it is. It really is well used but very honest. If you look closely theres a dent which has been fixed above the front viewfinder window and the paint is pretty worn in some places. A lot of people dont like the look of worn paint on the m4-2/p but personally I think it looks great. I'm loving it so far, I found out it has travelled the world and had regular CLAs in sydney every few years.

Just need that lightmeter - sunny f16 is a good rule but tedious to use as I spend most of my days hovering around the f2.8-5.6 region and that needs a lot of calculating on my behalf.
 
memphis said:
btw, for a 90, try either an elmarit first version or the nikkor 85/2 (excellent performer) -- my m4-2 is with sherry right now -- be careful of your flash synch posts (protect them somehow)-- they can break off--- but aside from that, it's a spectacular camera --
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The elmarit was exactly what I was thinking actually! It's funny - the flash syncs already gone 😱 but all is well, I never plan to use it. When I send it in for a CLA I will have a new one fitted. For now it's taped over with some ever useful black duct tape
 
I was watching that - it had been listed before and got no bids - I was sorely tempted to bid but managed to distract myself! I'm glad you got it. The cosmetics look a lot like my chrome M4, well-used, which is a good sign. For CLA send it to Sherry; I can't recommend the local Leica people in Melbourne.
 
Nice camera 🙂

Can I ask who Sherry is?

I'm going to go pinch the family heirloom (early 60's M3) soon, as she is sad and neglected, and I suspect it will need a CLA... how much $ $ ??
 
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