Mod'ing my M5!?!?!

andredossantos said:
Additionally, if the meter isnt acting whacky because of a loose or dirty connection and it needs to be replaced im leaning towards having the arm taken out. I know the meter is awesome but honestly I dont use in camera meters really ever.
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Andre is one of those guys who can shoot collor slide film without a meter. He's pretty amazing.

Cal
 
OK Fine. I have a TomA Rapidgrip and TomA Softie on M5, that adds to the solid feel. I'd rather have the M5.


Calzone said:
My Wetzlar M6 has a Ti top plate with the Wetzlar engravings that predates the later Ti M6 by 5 years otherwise it would be just a regular Wetzlar Chrome M6 except that it has a Ti plated brass top plate.

I bought it off EBAY with a broken frame counter, but when the rangefinder needed adjustment I sent it to Sherry for a complete overhaul and added a MP finder upgrade. It came back as the smoothest M I have ever handled.

Its all pimped out with a TA Rapidgrip, TA Rapidwinder, and a TA softie that adds to the solid feel. A very pretty camera.

Cal
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Cal, I'm terrified of spontaneous immolation. That's some dangerous territory. I'd love to come for the shoot, but alas, I have about a gazillion hours of work to do this weekend for my day job. And, a house guest. Bummer. It sounds like a good place to shoot some slow 4x5 that I could then foul up while processing. I've been keeping my silly ponytail primarily as an excuse to have plenty of hair ties around the house for use in my not-yet-perfected tortilla method of developing those big negatives. Very mixed results so far. Anyway, I would love to be there, but it's likely to be a pass this time around. I assume you will be shooting with the Proshift. I'd love to play with that puppy. Enjoy. Hope the weather cooperates (no rain, but some heavy fog would be kind of cool, right?). Don't fall in the water (should something with so much other stuff in it besides h20 really be called water???).
 
andredossantos said:
I would LOVE to be able to mount a Super Angulon as well as use collapsible lenses would it be possible to remove the little metered arm from the inside thus allowing me to use those particular lenses? If the metered arm were to be removed would it even be possible to mount those lenses?
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With the arm removed you can mount just about anything.

However it's really easy to remove lenses and particularly adapters so that the arm won't come up in the first place. The arm itself collapses completely into the camera. Here's my M5 with a Jupiter-12, just about the deepest-mounting lens there is - if you can mount that, you can mount anything:

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The meter arm has a mechanical connection to the lowermost bayonet lug (that is the one that is lowermost when the camera is mounted). If you look into the bayonet's throat you'll see the little meter engagement switch. If you file down this bayonet lug, the lens can be mounted on the M5 without engaging the meter arm, and the meter stays down.

I have a set of filed-down adapter rings for 35mm and 50mm (no deeply-recessed 90mm lenses here) that I use with the J-12 and with collapsible 50s. If you have a Super Angulon and don't want to file it down yourself, it's really a minor operation that can be performed by any camera repairman.
 
robklurfield said:
Cal, I'm terrified of spontaneous immolation. That's some dangerous territory. I'd love to come for the shoot, but alas, I have about a gazillion hours of work to do this weekend for my day job. And, a house guest. Bummer. It sounds like a good place to shoot some slow 4x5 that I could then foul up while processing. I've been keeping my silly ponytail primarily as an excuse to have plenty of hair ties around the house for use in my not-yet-perfected tortilla method of developing those big negatives. Very mixed results so far. Anyway, I would love to be there, but it's likely to be a pass this time around. I assume you will be shooting with the Proshift. I'd love to play with that puppy. Enjoy. Hope the weather cooperates (no rain, but some heavy fog would be kind of cool, right?). Don't fall in the water (should something with so much other stuff in it besides h20 really be called water???).
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Rob,

We are both funny guys that went to art school. We need to hang out sometime to get the laughs out.

Perhaps then you can exercise some of my gear. It is there to use. The Proshift, although a 47/5.6, should be a 21 Super Angulon equivelent, but the peroscoping VF'er suggests that it is really a 24mm equivelent. Matches up perfect with one of my Nikon F3's that has a 24/2.0 permanantly mounted along with a DA-2 sport finder, and of course a loud obnoxious MD-4 motor drive.

I hope to start shooting the Plaubel for street. I use Slacker's Brew (Diafine) so I can shoot lots of film for almost no money. Christian looked at my 6x9 negatives and stated, "with negatives like these you don't need a 4x5." For now MF is enough because I'm a slacker.

4x5 at night would be sureal. At night its kinda scary because its so vacant. If anything bad happened you'd be F*cked.

Cal
 
In a tight situation, a camera as heavy a Crown Graphic or even an M2, can make quite a serious defensive weapon. I know I wouldn't want one upside my fragile melon.

47/5.6 = 21 SA? How much is that in dog years?

One of these days, I will join on one of those urban raids. But, living a Ted Kaczinsky-like life in the woods out here makes it tough to want to trek in there, having to cross not one, but two rivers.

Enjoy!

Careful of the Rapture. I suspect that Gowanus will be one of the first things to ignite. So, don't go commando; wear some asbestos undies.

Calzone said:
Rob,

We are both funny guys that went to art school. We need to hang out sometime to get the laughs out.

Perhaps then you can exercise some of my gear. It is there to use. The Proshift, although a 47/5.6, should be a 21 Super Angulon equivelent, but the peroscoping VF'er suggests that it is really a 24mm equivelent. Matches up perfect with one of my Nikon F3's that has a 24/2.0 permanantly mounted along with a DA-2 sport finder, and of course a loud obnoxious MD-4 motor drive.

I hope to start shooting the Plaubel for street. I use Slacker's Brew (Diafine) so I can shoot lots of film for almost no money. Christian looked at my 6x9 negatives and stated, "with negatives like these you don't need a 4x5." For now MF is enough because I'm a slacker.

4x5 at night would be sureal. At night its kinda scary because its so vacant. If anything bad happened you'd be F*cked.

Cal
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I'm with Mister E: save some cash, send your M5 to Sherry, restore that camera to its old greatness. According to Don Goldberg, rarely are the meters replaced; they tend to short more often than not when not used or poorly stored. Chances are that's the case with your camera. Then you'll see why the M5 is about the best Leica there is, and the most advanced of its time.

I know, I have two... and they're fun to use. 🙂
 
andredossantos said:
I actually just got a car so I may drive up to Sherry's one day and see what she thinks.
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Sounds like a plan, but be sure to talk to her first because I know she won't want you to just show up unannounced. She also works odd hours like midnight to 8AM. Please let her know Nate from Japan talked to you.
 
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Mister E said:
Sounds like a plan, but be sure to talk to her first because I know she won't want you to just show up unannounced. She also works odd hours like midnight to 8AM. Please let her know Nate from Japan talked to you.
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Thanks, Nate, I will do so.

And yeah, I was totally planning on making an appointment before driving up. I called her a little while ago but got no answer. I'll try back when I get another minute.
 
lewis44 said:
My M5 with TomA Rapidgrip. You have to modify it a little bit to fit an M5, but it works.
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This is what I want to do except I'll have my 75 Lux permanently mounted. Its not a problem not having 75mm framelines on a M5 because its very easy to frame a border within the 50mm frames. The distances inside the frameline coresponds to the length and width of the rangefinder patch.

Cal
 
In case you have a soft-release button on your M5, remove it before taking it to Sherry. She's absolutely opposed to them, and she'll lecture you about their evil effects. I speak from experience... 🙂
 
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