matt fury
Well-known
This past weekend I took my new M4 and 50 Hexanon with me for Lebowski Fest West 3 (a gathering for fans of the movie The Big Lebowski). I experimented with lots of new stuff for this weekend. First off, this is one of the few times I've carried a "real" camera with me recreational trip. In the past, my film experiences have mostly been assignments for school and other set-up kinda things. This was also my first shooting experience with a serious rangefinder. The only other RF I've really spent any time with is a Retina IIa, which is far behind in useability. I also tried some films I haven't used before.. Kodak Portra 800 and Fuji Superia 1600. Finally, this was also my first foray into flash photography, for which I used a $10 Sunpak.
Anyway, here's it is:
-I love the M4. It's great to shoot with. No blackout at exposure, which is something I thought didn't matter, turned out to be quite awesome. I felt like I really knew what was ending up on the film.
-As much as I enjoy the M4, I'm REALLY slow with it. I definitely missed a few shots here and there, but my friends were cool and all help their poses longer for me. 🙂
-Maybe it was just because everyone had cameras all weekend, but the M4 wasn't really stealthy at all. In this day and age, compared to any digital PnS, the M4 is a black and silver brick. I will say that even though people noticed me taking their picture, they wouldn't know I actually took one until I gave them some kind of confirmation, so it is quiet.
-Flashes aren't so bad! There was some karaoke going on in the bar at the bowling alley, and I got a few shots that I never would've got otherwise, even pushing my film. Maybe those shots didn't come out so good anyway, but it was better than not being able to get them at all! And I'm sure the quality will get better as my flash technique improves.
-Judging from the results, the Hexanon-M's f2.0 is sufficient. However, I felt all weekend that my shots were going to be far underexposed or way too blurry from the slow shutter speeds. So, while I can live with the Hexanon's speed, a Summilux or something is definitely on the wishlist. Also, it's probably something with my specific lens or my technique, but I noticed my aperture setting would move one or two stops if I wasn't careful. It never really happened at any important times however, and I'm still not sure that it wasn't my fault anyway.
-Film loading is easier than it feels. All 3 times I loaded film over the weekend, I felt like I for sure messed it up and had to double check it. It turned out to be alright every time, so I wasted a few frames for nothing.
-I forgot my strap, and the case I bought doesn't really convert from a full to half, so I shot "naked" all weekend. Never felt like it was a problem, but I think I'll get a wrist strap anyway.
Anyway, that's about it. I got my film developed on a Fuji Frontier from Walgreens, no prints, just CDs, for $3/roll. Not bad at all. Some of the shots are really noisy in the dark areas, and I don't know if that's from the scanning or my exposures, but that's really the only problem I think.
Overall, I'm very happy with the Leica, and it might've just been a placebo effect, but I definitely enjoyed shooting the M4 more than my 139Q or Retina IIa.
Anyway, here's it is:
-I love the M4. It's great to shoot with. No blackout at exposure, which is something I thought didn't matter, turned out to be quite awesome. I felt like I really knew what was ending up on the film.
-As much as I enjoy the M4, I'm REALLY slow with it. I definitely missed a few shots here and there, but my friends were cool and all help their poses longer for me. 🙂
-Maybe it was just because everyone had cameras all weekend, but the M4 wasn't really stealthy at all. In this day and age, compared to any digital PnS, the M4 is a black and silver brick. I will say that even though people noticed me taking their picture, they wouldn't know I actually took one until I gave them some kind of confirmation, so it is quiet.
-Flashes aren't so bad! There was some karaoke going on in the bar at the bowling alley, and I got a few shots that I never would've got otherwise, even pushing my film. Maybe those shots didn't come out so good anyway, but it was better than not being able to get them at all! And I'm sure the quality will get better as my flash technique improves.
-Judging from the results, the Hexanon-M's f2.0 is sufficient. However, I felt all weekend that my shots were going to be far underexposed or way too blurry from the slow shutter speeds. So, while I can live with the Hexanon's speed, a Summilux or something is definitely on the wishlist. Also, it's probably something with my specific lens or my technique, but I noticed my aperture setting would move one or two stops if I wasn't careful. It never really happened at any important times however, and I'm still not sure that it wasn't my fault anyway.
-Film loading is easier than it feels. All 3 times I loaded film over the weekend, I felt like I for sure messed it up and had to double check it. It turned out to be alright every time, so I wasted a few frames for nothing.
-I forgot my strap, and the case I bought doesn't really convert from a full to half, so I shot "naked" all weekend. Never felt like it was a problem, but I think I'll get a wrist strap anyway.
Anyway, that's about it. I got my film developed on a Fuji Frontier from Walgreens, no prints, just CDs, for $3/roll. Not bad at all. Some of the shots are really noisy in the dark areas, and I don't know if that's from the scanning or my exposures, but that's really the only problem I think.
Overall, I'm very happy with the Leica, and it might've just been a placebo effect, but I definitely enjoyed shooting the M4 more than my 139Q or Retina IIa.
