First Roll back from lab...

[tamerlin]

Here are a few portraits from my first week with the Leica m7... they need work,
I know. It's all part of the learning process. And since I'm not used to the focussing
system yet, and the subjects of these portraits aren't really much into posing, most
of the shots were out of focus simply because I'm not dialing in the focus quickly
enough 🙂

 

[peter_n]

Hmmm, is it just me or are the thumbnails missing?

 

[peter_n]

Guess its just me! 😉 They're not that badly out of focus, it looks to me more like shallow depth of field... 🙂 Nice cats!

 

[FrankS]

I'm waiting for shots of the blonde.

 

[tamerlin]

These are from the half that was NOT out of focus 🙂

For most of the shots I took, the cats moved pretty much as soon as I found the
focus... or when I realized that my exposure was off, or something... once I
accidentally released the shutter because I had unknowingly set the shutter speed
dial to "bulb" and it wasn't turning on the light meter, so I thought that I wasn't
pressing the relese far enough. 🙂

The pictures of the blonde will have to wait until I make it to St. Petersburg 😀

 

[Doug]

Good tests! Whiskers & fur look pretty sharp to me, though certainly shallow DoF... Notice in the first pic that the dark areas have a blue/green sort-of hazy look, low contrast. That looks like typical under-exposed shadows in color neg film. I set my ISO dial to 2/3-stop lower film speed with C41 negative films, and that's usually enough to restore proper color and a richer look to the shadow areas.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

One possibility is to try distance focusing. Mentally and visually figure out a certain distance, say 5 feet, that you are comfortable with, then set your lens to that distance, and then merely move that distance in relation to the cat. That way you need not even focus looking in the viewfinder. The wider the lens, the easier this is to do.

 

[jdos2]

Or just accept the fact that if they are standard issue cats, they are horrible posers.
I've grown Real Grey Hair trying to get gorgeous photos of the front end of mine.

They are tough. Focusing on them is tough, too. Focusing on them, with very shallow depths of field are a challange!

Practice, but know what you are doing is TOUGH until you get the swing of it.

 

[gelmir]

Nice cats 🙂 Did you let the lab scan your film too ?

 

[tamerlin]

Good tests! Whiskers & fur look pretty sharp to me, though certainly shallow DoF... Notice in the first pic that the dark areas have a blue/green sort-of hazy look, low contrast. That looks like typical under-exposed shadows in color neg film. I set my ISO dial to 2/3-stop lower film speed with C41 negative films, and that's usually enough to restore proper color and a richer look to the shadow areas.

Thanks!

What's a C41 film? I'm using Fuji Superia, ISO 400 right now (I figured it would
be best to start off with cheap film so that I waste cheap film on bad exposure
before getting into really nice film).

 

[tamerlin]

One possibility is to try distance focusing. Mentally and visually figure out a certain distance, say 5 feet, that you are comfortable with, then set your lens to that distance, and then merely move that distance in relation to the cat. That way you need not even focus looking in the viewfinder. The wider the lens, the easier this is to do.

I'll give that a shot... after I get home and get my m7 un-jammed -- the
shutter release is stuck -- and I'm in Boston! 🙁

 

[FrankS]

Your new M7 is jammed?!

 

[tamerlin]

Or just accept the fact that if they are standard issue cats, they are horrible posers.
I've grown Real Grey Hair trying to get gorgeous photos of the front end of mine.

That's true, but they're very cute! 🙂

They are tough. Focusing on them is tough, too. Focusing on them, with very shallow depths of field are a challange!

And flashes scare them, so even if I had a flash for my Leica, that wouldn't work
well. So, wide-open is the only option. They're indoor cats, but my house has a
lot of windows... it's just that windows aren't very effective when the clouds are
too thick 🙂

Practice, but know what you are doing is TOUGH until you get the swing of it.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy 😀

 

[tamerlin]

Your new M7 is jammed?!

Yes, the shutter won't release! :bang:

I'm going to visit Calumet after my class to see if they can help... and if not, it
will go back to Leica. I'm not worried about getting it fixed, but the timing is a
bummer... since I don't (yet) have a backup body, and I'm in Boston for a few
days.

 

[tamerlin]

Nice cats 🙂 Did you let the lab scan your film too ?

Yes... but it was just MotoFoto, so the resolution of the scans isn't
spectacular.

 

[FrankS]

See, you should have bought yourself a good camera!

 

[peter_n]

What's a C41 film?

C41 is the name given to the processing chemistry used in developing color negative film, so C41 is used to loosely describe that film. Chromogenic B&W films can also be developed in C41 soup; Ilford XP2 is an example of such a film.

 

[tamerlin]

Ok, I get it now. Thanks!

 

[former member]

Did you get the M7 Unjammed??? Have you tried the two shutter speeds that do not require batteries? My Nikon FE2 and FG do this: if the batteries die, or get weak, the camera locks-up until turned to "M" for the x-sync speed. Once there, all pops back to normal. Worth a shot!

 

[tamerlin]

Did you get the M7 Unjammed??? Have you tried the two shutter speeds that do not require batteries? My Nikon FE2 and FG do this: if the batteries die, or get weak, the camera locks-up until turned to "M" for the x-sync speed. Once there, all pops back to normal. Worth a shot!

I walked over to Calumet, and they tried that and a few other things as well,
no dice 🙁

But they were nice enough to send it to Leica for me, so it should be back in my
hands and as good as new in a little over a week, so I'll be back to shooting with
it soon!