Leica LTM Amazing -- People recognize LTM Leicas

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
I love it when they stand there speechless with their mouths open and that am-I-dreaming look. The Zorki 2C (high top version of the 1) really gets them.

Regards, David
 
When I use my IIIf or my Rolleiflex in NYC I always get a few comments. I was using my IIIf this week in Toronto and did not get any comments at all.

On another humerous note, I was in an antique mall ( one with many dealers) and someone had a Yashica TLR for sale with a tag that read "vintage movie camera" 😀. Unfortunately the camera was way over priced.
 
At Ellis Island a couple of years ago, I had somebody ask if the VIOOH finder on my IIIf was new cutting-edge digital technology. 🙄

This summer, I was standing next to and slightly behind a pro photog at an event; he heard the TAK-PLAK of my IIIf going off, and he nearly gave himself whiplash spinning around to see who was shooting a Barnack. He said he used to have one, and regretted selling it.

It seems my M is only noticed by wanna-be gear geeks and pros wondering why I'm there with an M.
 
Anything German seems to work ... wish I could work it out. Maybe things get even better with a III?
 
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eric mac said:
...Anyway one street vendor saw what I was carrying and mentioned he didn't see too many of those around. I turned to look at his wares and noticed he was a photographer. He was loading up for the day, so we just smiled and went on our way. The second guy saw the camera and said Ohh, M-8? I smiled turned the camera to show him the back where the lcd screen wasn't and said Sorry, M6. I think he was a little disappointed...
Eric
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You could just tell him that it's better than the M8; it's a full-frame rangefinder!!

~Joe
 
Gorgeous Camera!

Gorgeous Camera!

marke said:
Hmmm...I wonder if I'd be able to prompt a conversation with this...

original.jpg
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probable reaction: "as an expert for time travel what do you think......."
 
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Mr_Flibble said:
The only chicks my cameras attract are those that are married, engaged or so far out of my age-group that it never leads to more then a pleasant conversation about the camera in question, being my Leica IIIc, Speed Graphic or Pilot-6. 😉
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The chicks that comment on my Barnack Leicas are, unhappily, in my age group and also gray.

It's my Tachihara that seems to draw the 20 somethings. Also some really rough looking characters when I've been down near a waterfront or on a pier. After everyone, chicks or stevedores, has taken me up on my offer to peer through the groundglass with the darkcloth over their head we're all friends.

In Europe, my Rolleiflex seems to draw Germans.
 
Several people commented on my "old leica" and my Kodak Medalist this last weekend, mainly photographers and collectors, but they didn't know what to make of my R-D1.
Saw some members of the public out and about with some classic SLRs and one with a Rolleiflex too.
 
Surprised today when a Thai restaurant waitress commented “don’t forget your Leica” as I was getting up to leave.

Not bad at all, she had recognized it from just the brown leather case ( that came with the 0-series replica ).
 
Sinar Handy with Strap and Cable Extension by Nokton48, on Flickr

My "Sinar Norma Handy" causes people to approach me and ask about it. Happens every time I take it out. I built this camera in my workshop, using mostly original Sinar Norma parts. It takes 4x5" sheet holders and backs, and has a 43mm Mamiya 7 viewfinder on top. The pistol grip is from a Graflex XL. What a luxury to shoot with this. Handy it is. The lens is a Schneider 65mm F8 Super Angulon mounted on a Norma Handy Nose Cone with Schneider 65mm F8 Focusing Helical. So it is all period correct.

Imagine shooting a 19mm lens with 4x5" fidelity that will work handheld with the required fast film. I've been shooting HP5+ pushed in Acufine or Microphen.
 
I've gotten a lot of attention when I went out with TLR's, Leicas, etc, but the camera that got the most attention was a Konica C35. They just look so cool. They're small, but not too small, and are really a beautifully designed, classic, silver and black camera. If only they were made a little better, but for a long as they work they take great photos and get a lot of comments.
 
I like to bring a Barnack to events where I want to get pics, but I want to get pics slowly and methodically.

In 2010 I brought it to the USGP motorcycle race in Indianapolis, which I always found fun because it had a big international attendance. With about two dozen other fans I was waiting in the paddock in hopes of getting a pic of my favorite rider, when a couple of young Frenchmen with heavy accents started pointing at me and saying, "Cartier-Bresson, Cartier-Bresson" as I stared back blankly. Finally got my head out of motorcycle racing and realized they were pointing at my camera and referencing Henri Cartier-Bresson. They came over and looked over the camera and we had a laugh. It was cool.

Best,
-Tim
 
Was just out this AM at a local sports store shooting with the Leica IIIf and a guy and his wife walked by and the guy said thats a real camera and asked about it and told me he had a Q.
 
I've had a few people recognise the old cameras that I've been shooting. One guy recognised my Rolleicord and stopped to say hello and to tell me that it was rare to see someone shooting a cord instead of a flex. He was only in his 40's at a guess.

I've had waitresses and shop staff taking an interest in my Rolleiflex and quizzing me about how I get film for it and wanting to know why I use it.

By far the best was a man in Greece (Rhodes Island) who saw me with my M2 and pointing at it asked me "Zorki?".

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk
 
Emile de Leon said:
TLR's always get lots of attention..
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What I enjoy is older people telling me what my Rolleiflex is... "Do you know what that is? That's a Rolleiflex." "Yes." "That's a really nice old camera!" "Thank you." I understand on some level that they're just trying to demonstrate that they know something, but it's really weird to set it up with the assumption that maybe I just happened to end up with a Rollei by accident without any knowledge about TLRs, the history of cameras, or film photography. This happened to me multiple times when I was traveling in New Mexico last summer.
 
I always get positive reactions to the various screwmount Leicas and Barnacks I use, but my absolute favourite was when I was carrying around a FED 5 in Falmouth, England back in 2010... some guy with a very thick accent got very excited to see something from his "homeland". I can't remember, to my shame, if he was Russian or Ukrainian, but seeing that FED really made his day - and mine.
 
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