It's Official - I got my Ikon today...

DRabbit said:
I got the camera today! (Bought used on Ebay). Biggest surprise is how light it is! I almost thought the box was empty when I picked it up at the post office (and a little bit of panic set in).
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I love the fact that the ZI is so light! Its one of the reasons I purchased a second one for travelling . Every gram makes a difference when you're carrying your kit all day every day for several weeks on end, and my current ZI kit (two cameras & three lenses) is now waaaaaaay lighter than the two FM3As and three Nikkors I used to carry.

Though I suspect its because the ZI is so light compared to the competition that some people say things like its "not as robust or as durable as the M7" etc.

At this stage of the game I don't find the ZI lacking in the robustness and durability departments, but I'll need a few years of usage to prove it beyond a doubt 😉

Congratulations on purchasing a great camera! Enjoy 🙂
 
jonmanjiro said:
I love the fact that the ZI is so light! Its one of the reasons I purchased a second one for travelling . Every gram makes a difference when you're carrying your kit all day every day for several weeks on end, and my current ZI kit (two cameras & three lenses) is now waaaaaaay lighter than the two FM3As and three Nikkors I used to carry.

Though I suspect its because the ZI is so light compared to the competition that some people say things like its "not as robust or as durable as the M7" etc.

At this stage of the game I don't find the ZI lacking in the robustness and durability departments, but I'll need a few years of usage to prove it beyond a doubt 😉

Congratulations on purchasing a great camera! Enjoy 🙂
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That avatar is a little blatantly cruel don't you think? 😛
 
Keith said:
That avatar is a little blatantly cruel don't you think? 😛
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Oops, forgot about that. I normally turn graphics off when browsing at work 😉 The F6 is an awesome machine, but I couldn't imagine lugging two of them plus lenses around while travelling 😱
 
Welcome to the ZI world.

Like Keith I remember the thrill of the box arriving from Japan. Woah! I thought. I still get a bit of that feeling when I pick it up to take with me for a day's shooting. 🙂
 
Currently, I shoot with the 25, 50 and a 40mm Sonnar made for the Rollei 35 RF.

I probably use the 40mm Sonnar more than any other lens. It's a very compact package, and this is really a sweet piece of glass. Its focal length sits nicely between the 25 and 50.

When I get some cash, I want to pick up the 85mm Tele-Tessar ... the budget lens in that focal length.

The body is light in weight without compromising on rigidity. After a few years, I think I would have liked a smaller body. For me, I've always felt that the Zeiss Ikon Contax IIa represented the ideal size for a rangefinder.

Plus, I tend to lean toward smaller cameras, rather than larger. However, I should qualify that by saying that I enjoy using the Contarex (huge SLR), the Contaflex TLR (huge 35mm camera) and TLRs.

But if someone were to ask me, I would have trimmed about an inch from the left and a half inch from the right. I don't think much could be done with the top deck because of the expansive viewfinder.
 
Film Processing

Film Processing

Amy - To really enjoy the film experience, you should consider processing the film yourself. It's not difficult or costly, and you don't need a darkroom to just do film. I recently decided to get back into BW developing, so I ordered some Diafine to process my Tri-x, and will be souping some film very soon. The Diafine is super easy because the time and temperature requirements are not at all critical. I'll let you know how it goes. ---john.
 
I'm in the same boat as Amy, owing an M8 and just having bought a ZI (is it pronounced Eekon, Eyekon, as in English, or Ikkon?).

Anyway I shot my first roll (Ilford B&W) and sent it off for developing so should arrive back in a day or two.

I'm mainly shooting with the ZM 35 f/2.8 C Biogon and 50 f/1.5 Sonnar.
 
akiralx... I'm interested to hear your impressions since we're in a similar situation. I have some of the film I ordered arriving today so I'm going to go out later and this weekend. I also decided to try developing myself (for true B&W - C41 I'll take to a lab).
 
DRabbit said:
akiralx... I'm interested to hear your impressions since we're in a similar situation. I have some of the film I ordered arriving today so I'm going to go out later and this weekend. I also decided to try developing myself (for true B&W - C41 I'll take to a lab).
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I've liked shooting one roll with it (!) but haven't seen the results yet. I looked at a Bessa R4M which was quite nice but the Ikon is clearly better built and with a much nicer viewfinder, plus aperture priority which I guess I need. The lightness of the body compared to the M8 is really good.

I have 9 M-mount lenses so no shortage of glass to put on it, but I'll stick to the two I'm using, taking UV/IR filters on and off between the ZI and the M8 is not ideal. Could use the CV 35 f/1.2 Nokton on it as well I suppose.

Alex
 
Alex, I recently posted a question about taking the IR filters off... if you're shooting B&W apparently there's no need. Of course, I haven't developed anything yet, but I trust the members around here 🙂

I'm taking my first C41 B&W to the lab tomorrow. Hope to develop my first roll of Arista Premium 400 sometime later this week!

Amy
 
Congratulations.

I too recommend Ilford XP2. Monochrome film with nice tonal range and everyday C41 color processing.

If you do it yourself, Tri X is fine. If and film is overdeveloped, holding highlights in scanning is difficult. When you do it yourself, the highlights can be controlled.
 
Hi guys
I can't recall where I read it but I heard that with XP2 rather BW400CN you have higher possibilities to get some kind of greenish cast on your pictures.. is it true?
 
akiralx said:
I'm having my first roll developed and scanned, should be here in a day or so. I shot Ilford HP5.
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Here are some of the results, basically a test roll but I did shoot a series at a chess match I played in. Shot with Zeiss 50mm C Sonnar wideopen and 35mm C Biogon at varying apertures. They were developed and scanned by Ilford, only at 1700 x 1100 though.

One thing that surprised me was how noisy and high contrast they were - I thought HP5 was a medium contrast film? It is ASA 400.

But I'm quite happy as the focus seems OK. The chess ones were under harsh strip lighting I suppose. What film should I try for less grain and harshness?

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Keith said:
Design wise yes ... it sounds like you may have had problems with yours per reliability?
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Curious as to what design wise you prefer about the zi over a mp, Keith? I can see it from a functionality perspective, as mps just don't do AE 😉 But design wise I can only think of the traditional M style film loading and the way the RF patch works in the ZI? I guess to some Leica M film loading is a big hassle.

As for my two ZI copies, I think I just had bad luck, but it has been enough to keep me from taking a chance on a third ZI. Reliability and QC were my issues. Both had RF problems. I returned both. But, I did almost pick up a third a couple of weeks ago....though my memory held me in check😉
 
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