First roll with new M6/35mm Skopar - I'm in love!

[Steveh]

Hi all - took delivery of my new M6 classic and 35mm Color Skopar a couple of days ago and made it into town (Cambridge, England) bright and early this morning to test it out - a couple of my favourites from the first roll of Fuji Pro 160 attached.

I'm impressed with the lens, but I absolutely love the camera - I've been shooting with digitals and latterly a Contax G1, but this is a whole new experience for me - the engineering quality, the little "snick" of the shutter, the whole package. Now I understand why people rave about these things, although I'm still struggling a little bit with rangefinder focussing - give it time!

Can I join the club now? 🙂

 

[rogue_designer]

Nice shots! Have fun with that combo.

 

[Steveh]

how very southern of you

I see the charm schools of Lancashire are still churning out graduates skilled in the arts of polite discourse. Give the whippet a kiss for me 😀 .

But seriously, what on earth was that for? My life on this forum could be very short lived indeed if you're typical.

 

[Nachkebia]

Congrats! very nice photos!

 

[clarence]

I sort of regret not taking as many pictures when I was in Cambridge this summer. It is an incredibly beautiful town and the place has a special meaning for me.

Clarence

 

[Andrew Touchon]

Hi all - took delivery of my new M6 classic and 35mm Color Skopar a couple of days ago and made it into town (Cambridge, England) bright and early this morning to test it out - a couple of my favourites from the first roll of Fuji Pro 160 attached.

I'm impressed with the lens, but I absolutely love the camera - I've been shooting with digitals and latterly a Contax G1, but this is a whole new experience for me - the engineering quality, the little "snick" of the shutter, the whole package. Now I understand why people rave about these things, although I'm still struggling a little bit with rangefinder focussing - give it time!

Can I join the club now? 🙂

Nice photos. FYI, I took some photos with my M6TTL/with 35mm Color Skopar and then changed lens to my 50mm Summicron, and took more photos of the same subject. I could not see any difference in the color or sharpness on the prints. My 35 Summicron ASPH is probably a slightly better performer than my 35 Color Skopar, but you really have to look close to see the difference.

 

[troym]

I like the photos. The one of the shop window is particularly well done. The jacket, shirt, and tie almost seem to have a life of their own.

And please stick around RFF. The waters are usually pretty calm, barring the occasional storm and the odd unexpected gale.

 

[beethamd]

Pete, When are you updating your signature to BA (Hons)?

 

[beethamd]

Steve,
Those pictures are wonderful. Number three's the pic.

 

[Jocko]

Steve, welcome to RFF. Please ignore the posturing twerp.

All the best, Ian

 

[Steveh]

dont wory about me 🙂

pete

I won't 🙂 .

Thanks for the other kind comments everyone - my faith in RFF is restored!

 

[jky]

Steveh,
I too have the combo you have & I too am very pleased w/ it! I've had the lens for several years now & enjoy the contrast it delivers, but the camera....nice... 🙂
Nice shots... like #2 & #3 alot...
Cheers, j

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Steve, welcome to RFF. Please ignore the posturing twerp.

All the best, Ian

Allow me to concur with Ian, welcome to the forum Steve !

 

[leicaphant]

Steveh...Nice shot of window and bikes. Well done. I like the way you handle color. Do you like Ralph Gibson's work? www.ralphgibson.com Hope you continue to enjoy the M6 classic. Two things may assist you with RF focusing. 1) make sure your right hand doesn't block the light coming into the patch. 2) pre-focus based on an estimate of the distance to your subject.

 

[ChrisN]

... Two things may assist you with RF focusing. 1) make sure your right hand doesn't block the light coming into the patch. 2) pre-focus based on an estimate of the distance to your subject.

I'll add my welcome, and also my appreciation for your shots, especially the window and the bikes. Your images are nicely sized and presented too, with that simple thin border.

One trick with focusing is to always return the lens to infinity after taking a shot, so that you don't have to hunt the lens back-and-forth to find the focus point, just a smooth rotation of the focusing knob until the images line up.

Keep up the good work, and welcome to the "club".

 

[Steveh]

Thanks for the focussing tips Leicaphan/Chris - very helpful. I had one catastophically out of focus shot from the first roll where I was obviously focussed at the wrong end of the scale and lined up two completely vertical window frames! I seemed to manage ok with most of the rest in the end but pre-setting the focus manually makes a lot of sense, cheers.

And I did find myself covering up the rangefinder window a couple of times, and got the dreaded M6 patch white-out when I was trying to focus the bike shot, so I've been through the whole experience in one roll! On the plus side I've surprised myself by how accurately I can guess the exposure before checking it with the metre - a couple of times I got it absolutely spot on, which I didn't expect.

A bit more on the Color Skopar - performance seems fine, sharp and contrasty, although the light yesterday was very good which helped. I'm less sure about the ergonomics because it is so very small - I struggled to find the aperture and focussing rings/tabs blind, which slowed me down. I'm sure I'll get it with a bit more practice.

Finally, to Peter - "ile" ?? - before you start your degree maybe you spend a bit less time on internet forums dishing out unprovoked personal abuse to people you've never met and a bit more time working on your spelling.

S

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[kevino]

Skopar

Skopar

Hi Steve. Nice photos. My favorite is #3.

Are you using the screw mount Skopar or the M-mount Skopar PII?

 

[Steveh]

Hi Steve. Nice photos. My favorite is #3.

Are you using the screw mount Skopar or the M-mount Skopar PII?

The M mount Skopar PII - which I'm still finding annoyingly fiddly but does seem to work pretty well. If I can't get a handle on the ergonomics I may have to think again on the lens front - maybe a nice chrome ZM 🙂

I had an interesting day today - went out for the day with my Contax G1 and got through a roll, and then ran out to catch the best of the light by the river this evening with the Leica. Compared to the M6 the G1 is really quite like shooting with an SLR, and seems very noisy with all the motors whirring away, although I like it's compactness, ease of use and the quality of the Zeiss 45mm is fantastic. The M6 is just a totally different beast, it slows you down and makes you think, which is no bad thing, although I'm so used to auto everything cameras that I just forgot to focus for a couple of shots tonight :bang: . Oh and the viewfinder is fantastic compared to the little tunnels of the G1 and my Nikon D70.

I also find it interesting how people in the street respond to the camera - 99% of people are totally oblivious to it (which is great when you're trying to take their picture) or don't see it as a "serious" camera, which is what I'd hoped, but then you get the 1% who know what it is and are very interested, which is nice too!

So all in all I just love the purity of the M6 - no extraneous functions, just the basic controls you need, quiet and smooth. Perfection. I'm hooked.

 

[venchka]

...Finally, to Peter - "ile" ?? - before you start your degree maybe you spend a bit less time on internet forums dishing out unprovoked personal abuse to people you've never met and a bit more time working on your spelling.

S

Amen!

Welcome to our little group. Continue to post photos from the Oxford/Cambridge area. I love them! SWMBO is always talking about visiting there. Based on what I've seen lately, I might enjoy the area also.