Belated Introduction

[Gabriel M.A.]

Hello RFF members!

OK, some of you may have seen some of my responses, but let me introduce myself. My name is Gabriel, and I hail from the State of Minnesota, in the USA. I was born and raised in Mexico, and moved to this tundra over 10 years ago; I've visited England, France, Holland, Germany, Austria and the Czech republic, and hope to visit them all again and expand my roster (I hope Barcelona/Madrid!), but I miss most of all my dear Mexico, and my second love, Paris.

I must say that I am very happy to have found this site; the sense of a community is much better felt than anywhere else in the Internet, for photographers. I had first found Photo.net a few years ago, but for those of you who have experience in their forums and "feedback" model, it has seriously been degrading in the past two years, and even more so in the past year.

I found this site while doing my own research on Leica gear and lenses. The gallery itself was a wealth of information (until that information was zapped last week in the migration! although the interface is nicer). The feedback here is friendlier, it is indeed broader, and I hope that in time I can establish good friendships.

My sincerest thanks and congratulations to Francisco Solares Larrave for launching such a successful site. I hope to donate in the near future, as I hope many of the rest of us who haven't yet, do.

This is so far a great place where an exchange of ideas, wits, and where true photography lovers (not just "photographers") have been interacting and are here to support and help each other, unlike other sites where conversations soon turn into vitriolic threads and into shouting matches and contests. Not here, and hopefully hardly ever.

A little late introducing myself, but I hope not too late. I hope to be here for a long time, and I hope we're all here for a long time, and most of all, a toast to all of you, may it remain the best photo forum on the Web.

 

[FrankS]

Good to get to know you a bit better, Gabriel.

I'm interested in the different 50mm lenses you have there. How would you define their characteristics?

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Hello Frank, and thank you.

Now, per the lenses, hmm, in my experience, I would characterize the Summitar as a precursor to the Summicron; it has a nice contrast rendition, not too many like it for color, but I find it works well if you know when to use it. It can be soft at certain distances (it's weird, I know); it does wonderful things with skin tones, and it is in my designated "people" and B&W lens; it has the "old world" feel. The Summicron has wonderful contrast rendition, great resistance to flare; very modern lens. The Summarit has a great personality; not good performance under even moderate flare conditions, but it has that je-ne-sais-quoi that screams "Leica" when used in low-light, and with people. It's all vague and short, I know, but I'd rather not go on an essay here...I could some time later. I hope to post (and process B&W rolls) some more shots in the coming weeks. I would elaborate on the 35 Voigtlander Ultron and the 90 Elmarit (1st Version), but that'd be too much; let me at least say that the 35 Ultron is a great lens, a great buy; the Elmarit should also be in every Leica owner's bag; if you can't afford that, get a 90 Elmar f/4. I really like that lens, and I'm buying it back tomorrow, if it's still there; very underrated. I have a candid portrait taken with it in my gallery.

The Franka rangefinder is a nice camera I found "by accident" at an antique store in Stillwater, MN for about $70. The slow speeds under 1/8 are sticky though. The lens is very nice; since it's a Medium Format, I think that the fact that it's also a Schneider-Kr. lens you get very nice images from it, almost like you would from a Carl-Zeiss lens of the same focal length from that era ('50s). My Olympus...it's a RF P&S I bought at Target in 1998; it is an incredible lens for the price (I bought it for $80 new); my Berlin Wall pic in my gallery was taken with it. Olympus lenses are rather underappreciated.

So that was my rantssay. 😉

 

[BJ Bignell]

I think Jorge Torralba started this site... Everyone refers to him as the 'big cheese'. Or, did I missing something?

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I think it's Francisco, and Jorge is one of the main administrators, but I could be wrong. I'll take your comment as a welcome 😉

 

[rover]

BJ is correct, Jorge is the boss. That said, Francisco was a early advocate of RFF and many of us made our way here after seeing his posts and links on other sites.

Welcome Gabriel.

 

[BJ Bignell]

I think it's Francisco, and Jorge is one of the main administrators, but I could be wrong. I'll take your comment as a welcome 😉

Of course, welcome! welcome!

Thanks for your introduction, too. When I joined, I didn't do the same. I just sorta snuck in and quietly started posting. I'm more "mysterious" that way. 😎

 

[BJ Bignell]

BJ is correct, Jorge is the boss.

I knew it! Ha! 😛

Just kidding... I not gloating, just teasing, but I was starting to worry that my mind was slipping. At my age (24), it would be a very bad sign.

 

[rover]

It was easier on RFF day 2 when we were all new. Everyone just started talking and like nothing almost 2 years later here we are.

 

[peter_n]

Welcome Gabriel, and I miss my native England as you miss Mexico! 🙂 Yes you will make many friends here - its a god crowd. And BTW, it is indeed Jorge Torralba who is the founder and big cheese here, Francisco is a member just like you and I. Doubtless our revered moderator Joe will be along to also greet you soon! 😀

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Oh! Ah!! Oooh. That's why I thought Francisco was the real cheese (as opposed to the "big" cheese), because it was due to his evange...err...spreading out the word that I became aware of the site, and when I was doing research it kept on coming up.

I registered about two months ago but didn't become active until about a couple of weeks ago, and I really liked the idea of the introductions. Foreign concept elsewhere. Thanks all so far...as I'm typing there are other posts (am I really slowing down w/age?? 😱 )

I'm soon off to see SW Episode III, and I'll see if I can get some shots of the people inside the theatre (what can you do, it really is an addiction) 😎

 

[ray_g]

Welcome, gabriel. Love your photos, by the way.

 

[back alley]

It was easier on RFF day 2 when we were all new. Everyone just started talking and like nothing almost 2 years later here we are.

2 years? really?
man time flies...

welcome gabriel!

to be clear, jorge started and owns this site.
i am his humble servant. i knew jorge from another site he used to own (about home theatre). when he started this one, i came over for a visit and soon after jorge asked if i would be moderator. this is actually my first & only moderating experience.

i agree that this is a haven on the internet where civility, respect and good humour reign.

we seem to have struck a very nice balance between gear & photo talk.
we are as interested in the photo as we are how it was made and what was used to make it.

welcome, stick around,
joe

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Bienvenido, Gabriel! Por cierto, soy de Guatemala!

Now... Imagine my surprise when I learned I had started this site ! 😱

I wish I had... 🙁 But I'm glad Jorge did it! 😀

In fact, and I wrote this to Jorge back when this site started, I had been thinking about setting up my own photography website and call it "rangefinder" when this forum started. I had recently discovered these cameras and didn't have anyone to "talk" to about them so this forum was a godsend. Hence my posting about it in some forums... which I no longer frequent as much because I come to this one all the time.

Stillwater... is it as touristy, yet pretty, as it was in 1995, when I visited MN? Lots of nice scenic spots in that state. Ever been to Summit Avenue? I believe that's in Minneapolis. Ritzy area...

And, of course, before you visit Barcelona, look up Oscar (aka Taffer), our Catalan representative.

Again, welcome to the forum. You'll enjoy it. We do take pride in the environment we've created and, just as you noticed, we consider ourselves a kind of support group, buncha pals and good friends, all in the common cause of the rangefinder cameras and photography! 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Thanks Peter, Ray, Joe and Mr. Cheese 😉 , Francisco. Just came back from the event of the week, and just wanted to quickly check on my e-mail and the thread. Very kind of all of you, thank you very much for the warm welcome.

Y Jorge, al principio pensé que eras de España, por el apellido y porque hay muchos otros de Barcelona, y bueno, pues he ahí mi suposición cuando puse dos y dos.

Very good job that you have done with the site; the frequent members are the other pillars of this forum, I hope it remains that way and that it can only get better. And two years? Where have you guys been? Rather, where had I been this whole time! 😱

Good night to all and greetings from Minne-so-tah 😀