Canon LTM GRRR: P and 35mm / Arches UTAH.

Canon M39 M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
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djon

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I love these cameras (P). But with glasses the finder's simply NFG for 35mm.

I COULD use a Canon external finder, or wonderful Leica VIOOH finder...
..but they'd fall out and get lost exensively because Canon's into loose shoes (2 loose Ps Vs my old Leica's proper tight shoe).

..and who wants to use external finders if they don't have to?

..HUH? :mad:

Soo...I'm going to lift my coke bottles, stick my eye in the little hole, peer fuzzily and hope for the best. Sometimes. The rangefinder spot's bright and sharp enough for the purpose. :bang: Supposed to be doing some of this without staring thru a finder anyway.

Driving to Arches National Monument tonight, 3 days hiking: Velvia and Neopan 400. Two Ps, 25/35/50. 93deg. :D
 
it can be frustrating for sure!

if i had a brain i would have chosen differently as i love the 35mm fov and the p is best with a 50 but who can control the affairs of the heart?

joe
 
djon

Can I recommend an L-1? Rotatable viewfinder magnifications for 35, 50 and 100? I just got one from someone here at RFF, good price, ideal for 35mm.

:D
 
Chris, I'm happy you like it and happy I could give you a fair price :) Problem is, I'm wild about the view thru the P, even though it's no good for 35. Joe said it perfectly.

If I was suddenly the King of Saudi Arabia, I'd probably forsake the Ps for whatever latest M-istake Leica's making. On the other hand, I'd lose friends in the process ... :angel:
 
Utah, Arches, PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Utah, Arches, PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

...and as I head out the door for Utah I've decided to forgo B&W entirely...

Arches is Kodachrome country so I'll take Velvia 100F ;)

Shot a test roll yesterday in all sorts of light, one half the roll in each of two Ps, had it processed at the local pro lab...perfect exposures per my Gossen Digisix. Yikes :D Not bad :D

Of course, Velvia's useless in shadows, but if everything works as expected I'll call the inpenetrable inky shadows "Art." :p
 
Yep - can't beat the view through the P viewfinder, even if it doesn't cover the entire field-of-view of the 35. So at the moment it's P with 50 (loaded with colour neg film), L-1 with 35 (loaded with B&W). And I can always switch lenses if I need to.

Have a great weekend at the Arches. Don't forget to post some pics!

I'm off camping for the weekend, and they're forecasting rain. :mad:
 
Chris, entering Arches from Moab Utah the sky opened and dumped amazing amounts of water. Torrents, instant rivers, falling 500' from cliffs above. Lightning bolts etc. So we camped in a motel for the night, had civilized dinner in Moab (Utah town devoted entirely to outdoor recreation and selling stuff to outdoor recreationists), went back in and tented the next two nights. Amazing, glorious. Beautiful weather. Wonderful hiking. We were really there for the hiking more than the photos: I'm blessed with a woman who likes to stretch out and see the boondocks on foot.

The Velvia performed exactly as I expected: pitch black useless shadows. Most shooting was Sweet Sixteen, despite 125ASA...it's very bright in the desert, a mile high. I wanted a dark sky and didn't have a polarizer, didn't want to use a graded filter because a P's not an SLR so I just exposed to enrich the midtones and highlights, gave the shadows away...

... lesson: If I'd had an SLR and graded filter or polarizer I could have metered for the shadows and still had the dark sky I wanted. Next time. Anyhow, I'll post something in day or so...hope you do too!
 
Looking forward to it. We cancelled - our friend had invited a novice along, and we didn't want to be on steep muddy tracks (4wd) with a novice behind us ...

Mind you, we need the rain badly. Why does it have to come on the weekend?
 
I'm half-expecting to have one of the impending 10MP APS Sony's with me next time:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/09/08/sony.cyber.shot.r1/

I shot almost everything this time with 25mm, which was almost manditory . The Sony offers 24mm...

Woulda/coulda/shoulda: coulda hauled an F1 with 24mm (woulda allowed a polarizer or graded filter ) but...grunt.... :rolleyes:

I do think polarizer or (better) graded filter is crucial in the desert...big lesson, not previously learned because I've mostly shot forgiving negative film.

The only shots I know for sure that I blew, 3.5 rolls, were 1) a single over-exposure,
2) a dozen NFG because too much black 3) a half dozen because I'd sweated onto the lens, making a salt filter (may actually be interesting/romatic) :eek:
 
Here's one from the first roll with the L-1. Ever shot a roll and been totally unimpressed with just about everything? I need a change of scenery.
 
If you like the 1x finder of the "P", but want to see the full-view of the 35mm lens, why not get a VI-L. My VI-T (same finder) has 1x for the 50 and 100, auto-parallax correction, and has the rotating optics like the L1 for 35mm and 135mm. The 35mm eyepiece kicks in a 0.65x view; very usable. The L1 has a 0.4x finder for the 35mm lens and a 0.7x finder for 50mm.
 
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who are you and what have you done with our beloved Moderator!!!!!!!!!

Did anyone else here that Thud? Canon P prices coming back down to Earth.
 
Hehehe...

Btw, what do you guys mean, you can't see the whole 35mm lens field of view in the P's viewfinder? I thought the P's 1:1 viewfinder had honest-to-ghod 35mm framelines.
 
If the Canon P is like my Nikon S3, the framelines for 35mm are difficult to see when wearing glasses. I can get them by "squishing" against the finder, but most of the time settle for what I can get. The Nikon SP and Canon VI-T is much easier to use with the 35mm lens. Instead of "going for" a 1x finder to cover a 35mm lens, they use lower magnification FOR the 35mm lens. The SP has a secondary finder, not RF coupled, but positioned to conveniently slide your eye over to use. Kind of like a Leica IIIF. The VI-T maintained RF coupling, and swings a different eyepiece into place. Very Cool. Nikon went that route with the "experimental" Nikon SPX, which had an RF coupled zoom finder.
 
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Hiya hoot

The P has 35 framelines, but you have to just about squash your eyeball flat against the glass to see them! With my specs on I can just see the full framelines for the 50. So I guess it depends on your eyesight and how comfortable you get with "knowing" the 35 frame picture. Joe has no problems with a P/35 combo (in fact several!) and I understand he wears specs too.
 
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I have got to hold a Canon P to compare against the S3. I have no problem seeing the 50mm lines on the S3, and can just about get the 35mm lines. I am extremely nearsighted.
 
i never said i could see full frame with a 35! (just for the record)

i don't find it any trouble though.

i look at the centre of the frame and i completely ignore the 50 fl - do not see the 100 fl and just do this 'zen' thing for 'seeing' what will be in a 35 shot. and i rarely crop more than the scraggly edges of the neg.

i think this is why i have so much trouble with a 50mm lens and why it seems like a short tele lens to me, cause i do the same thing with the 50 - just look at the centre of the frame and my peripheral vision do the rest.

freaky eh?

joe
 
Luke, use the framelines. It is a highly sophisticated piece of optics that dedicated teams of engineers spent years to determine the exact position of those painted on lines. Don't ignore them...

The Canon P and Nikon S3 engineers were just ahead of their time. They new that medical breakthroughs would make eyeglasses a thing of the past and that their cameras would survive FAR into the future. We are just not there YET, but the cameras will one day make it.
 
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