Discovering Leica - in reverse

[photorat]

If you want B&W and you're not developing yourself then the logistics of colour-process (ie. take to a minilab, just like colour neg film) might be easier. That gives you Ilford XP2 and Kodak BW400CN, both of which are ISO400 box speed. If you're developing your own or have a convenient lab for real B&W, the options expand endlessly. I like Ilford Delta 400 but there are lots of others.

...Mike

Thanks a lot, Mike. Very helpful! Not sure I'm ready for the dark room fetish yet but no doubt that will come. I'll give Ilford XP2 a try as it seems to be commonly available at a lab I've used for printing before. I think they do more professional developing, too, so maybe I'll ask what they're capable of.

Cheers,

Jeremy

 

[Bully]

Hello Jeremy,

congratulations on your M2!
Welcome to the family of the legendary M-Leica!

Have fun with it and pay attention that the M2 is always loaded with film...!

Bully

 

[peter_n]

Jeremy they are all good. 🙂 My take on this is to buy the most recent body you can, so that would be an MP or an M7. If you're inclined to all-manual obviously the MP would be your choice and then you would have a body that wouldn't need a CLA for 10 or more years. They are not super expensive either, there have been a number on sale on eBay the last few weeks and a couple of weeks ago a 0.72x MP sold for $1825 I think it was. Congrats on the M2 and good luck in your journey!

 

[like2fiddle]

Congratulations on the choice of an M2, my primary M because I prefer the 35/40 mm focal length. I think going with XP 2 is a good choice for B&W C41 too. Down the road if you ever want to get into wet printing, you will be able to print from those negatives just as from silver negs, or so I have read, haven't tried yet. Kodak C41 B&W has orange mask.

 

[mfogiel]

photorat

1- 35mm rangefinders are extremely rewarding photographic tools, and in my opinion are at a "sweet spot" in terms of image quality and ease of use respect to the results obtainable
2- film in 35mm "exists" mainly in B&W, if you want colour, stick to digital, even though there's no satisfactory digital RF on the market yet
3- Leica cameras are obsolete and Leica lenses are no longer the best in terms of image quality, and are among the worst in terms of the price/quality ratio
4- in my opinion, the best rf tool today is the Zeiss Ikon, and Zeiss lenses in B&W give a drawing which is more pleasing than anything else - but this may depend on your taste
5- rangefinders cannot do everything, if you like a comprehensive approach to photography, you should have various tools, including SLR's (or DSLR's) and even LF monorail cameras
6 - if you decide you want to shoot film, before you overspend on cameras and lenses, overspend on a good scanner - I'd recommend at least Nikon CS 9000

Good luck and lot's of fun.

 

[crawdiddy]

Congrats, photorat! I'm not personally familiar with the M2, but acquired my first Leica recently (IIIf RD/ST) and I'm very pleased.

I disagree that B&W is the only film pursuit worthwhile, although it seems like the classical rangefinder style.

But DEFINITELY do B&W. I recommend Tri-X 400. Beautiful film, wide exposure latitude, easily pushed or pulled. Slightly grainy, but not objectionably so.

 

[Chris101]

... Not sure I'm ready for the dark room fetish yet but no doubt that will come. ...

Hey Jeremy, Developing film is not darkroom work. I do it in my well lit bathroom with about $50-60 in equipment (what is that 35 euros or so?) The chemicals are not very noxious, and the process takes an hour from unloading your camera to scanning your images.

And the control you will have over the look of your images is unsurpassed. Especially beyond what those pre-programmed chromogenic films have to offer. They're almost digital.

 

[photorat]

Sounds very interesting. Thanks for the tip! Where can I learn more?

Hey Jeremy, Developing film is not darkroom work. I do it in my well lit bathroom with about $50-60 in equipment (what is that 35 euros or so?) The chemicals are not very noxious, and the process takes an hour from unloading your camera to scanning your images.

And the control you will have over the look of your images is unsurpassed. Especially beyond what those pre-programmed chromogenic films have to offer. They're almost digital.

 

[photorat]

Thanks for that! I may give Tri-X a go if I end up developing my own film as I've heard other good things about its flexibility. Seems it might not be so complicated as I thought to get a set of scannable negs out of a film cannister.

Congrats, photorat! I'm not personally familiar with the M2, but acquired my first Leica recently (IIIf RD/ST) and I'm very pleased.

I disagree that B&W is the only film pursuit worthwhile, although it seems like the classical rangefinder style.

But DEFINITELY do B&W. I recommend Tri-X 400. Beautiful film, wide exposure latitude, easily pushed or pulled. Slightly grainy, but not objectionably so.

 

[photorat]

So my film arrived (XP2 and some HP5), my developing tank, accessories and chemicals arrived and my user M2 arrived (all on the same day). I go to load the camera with film and notice the take up spool is missing. 😡 Is this normal? Where can I get one (cheap)? I already spent my limit on this camera and am seeing original Leica spools on eBay for $100 a pop. 🙁 Any help would be very much appreciated...

Cheers,

Jeremy