Leica LTM LTM Pitfalls

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Dralowid

Dralowid

Michael
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Most of the contributors to this list are invariably polite. None would ever suggest that a fellow ltm-phile would ever:
  1. Take a picture through a lens cap
  2. Forget to extend a collapsible lens
  3. Buy a fogged Summar on Ebay
  4. Pick off a bit of loose vulcanite
  5. Lubricare a diaphragm with WD 40
  6. Mislay the shutter release collar
  7. Post a photo of a new acquistion to this site and have it shouted down as 'FAKE'!
  8. Forget to double check that the rewind knob is turning
What other well known LTM pitfalls can we list that may help the uninitiated to feel better?

Michael
 
Well, these spring to mind:

1. Forgetting to trim the film leader
2. Looking through a SBOOI / VIDOM finder back to front
3. Thinking you've found the LTM bargain of the decade, when you've just purchased an ELDIA copier

All of these have been done either by me, or someone I know at one time or the other.
 
Hitting the fast speed dial with your finger while releasing the shutter.
burning a hole in your shutter curtain.
 
After 60 years, picking off a loose bit of vulcanite it tempting and easy. . . too easy. My new skin is due this week.
 
I have forgotten to set the accessory finder to the focal length of the mounted lens. I have also on occasion not adjusted the finder for parallax before framing and shooting. I once took a particularly critical shot with a Summitar when the SOOPD hood on it was folded up.
 
'3. Thinking you've found the LTM bargain of the decade, when you've just purchased an ELDIA copier'

I like this one! Now, folks, how many of us have got a really very useful ELIDA copier tucked away somewhere?

I have, I bought it thinking the knobs would work as replacement rewind knobs...no they really don't!

Michael
 
Forgetting what speed/type of film is in the camera.
Forgetting to make sure the film is advancing while shooting a wedding.
Removing the baseplate before rewinding the film.
Buying a "minty" Summarit on Ebay.
Putting a flashbulb in before you advance the film.
Not making sure your viewfinder fits tight in the accessory shoe.
These are only the ones I remember. I know there are more.

My list would be a lot longer if we included M pitfalls.
 
owning & operating LTM for months and months and rolls and rolls never knowing how many shots are left on a roll before suddenly realizing what those little bumps on the frame counter ring are for. :rolleyes:

and i've dropped the take-up spool so many times, my wife says, "why don't you just go ahead and start out in the floor to do that." :cool:
 
My worst in LTM world was not listening well to my father about how to use his mooley and IIIa correctly. Second was winding and dry firing the shutter about 37 times as a crane moved my kids play/tree house on a Bessa L!

B2 (%>
 
Poke a dirty piece of paper down the camera back to load film or knock loose those )&!*&#$ bits of film sprocket you just know are there

Relube a lens with bicycle grease or clean a glass element with Windex.

Spend hours trying to explain to non-Barnack owners how superior the Barnack film loading scheme is to their doors and removable backs in the hope of converting them

Admit that the majority of your award winning portfolio was shot with FSU lenses and you only put Leica glass on for camera porn threads, avatar photos and RFF get-togethers.

Pay strange women to tear film leaders to length with their teeth and admit to anyone that it does do something unnatural for your libido...

There's more but it's embarrassing....
 
I remember some more.

Breaking a set screw that you had no business trying to remove in the first place.

Losing a set screw that you had no business trying to remove in the first place.

Losing an expensive lens cap. <---- Dumb

Losing another expensive lens cap. <------ and Dumber :bang:
 
These posts should be compiled as a book. Seven Hundred Ways to Make an Ass of Oneself is a possible title.
 
dlove5 said:
Buying a "minty" Summarit on Ebay.
Click to expand...

OK, please explain. I know the Summarit isn't the most coveted Leica lens. I recently bought one at a camera show. The build quality is very nice, although it's not terribly sharp. I'm just beginning to get results. Not blown away, but not disappointed either.

Is it because few of these antique lenses turn out to actually be minty?
 
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