My first Leica

[canonetc]

Hi all,

Finally have my first Leica. After years of wonderful Canonets and a Contax G2, I gave myself for Christmas an M6 .72 with a 35mm f/2 lens. Yes, I am happier than anticipated. I thought it would be time consuming to use, but it's not. My first roll I shot nothing, however, because I didn't load the film correctly. A friend (Maurice at Terry's Camera, Long Beach CA.) taught me how to tighten the film (by rewinding until it gets tight in the can) and Wa-Lah! Needless to say, color rendition, saturation, and sharpness is superb. I also got myself a leica grip. Once I remember how to post photos here at RFF, I'll be uploading.

Another Leica fanatic who frequents my local camera store gave me a screwmount Canon 50mm 1.2. It has a tiny tiny nick in the front glass, far left side, but this has had ZERO effect on my photos. With a screw-mount to M adapter, the 50 takes great pics, even at 1.2. I compared it to Leica's 50mm f/1 (?) and it was hard to tell any difference. Cheers!

Chris
canonetc

 

[Designer]

Congratulations! Chris,

Wellcome to be another new Leica Man. Seems Getting new cameras has really hotted this month. 😀

Keven

 

[former member]

Congratulations on the new camera and lenses.

Leica's are not the easiest camera to load; The Canonet IS certainly the easiest fixed-lens RF to load.

The Canon 50mm F1.2 is certainly under-rated, and it is the best deal going for super-speed lenses on M mount cameras. We have a couple of people here that use them. Little nicks, small coating separation, and cleaning scratches have very little effect on the overall picture. Build up of haze in the elements, or misaligned optics are a different story.

Uploading images to the gallery is fairly easy, you may have to still create a username/password for the gallery, then just click "upload photos". The Browse feature takes you to your computer.

 

[peter_n]

Chris congrats on the new cam! Looking forward to seeing the pics! 🙂

 

[Todd.Hanz]

Congrats Canonetc,
You'll enjoy the M6, so much so that we might see your name change to "Leicaetc" 😀

Todd

 

[gns]

Chris,
Is Terry's an old store in downtown Long Beach? I think I might have bought my first M2 from them in 1974 or so. I still have it, although I may put it up for sale soon.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Congratulations, Chris, and welcome to the world of nervous, yet happy Leica owners!

I'm nervous at times carrying the Leica, but still pretty happy to have it!

Any questions or concerns, just post it here! 🙂

 

[Doug]

Chris, welcome to the Leicaphile family! The 35 Summicron versions each have their own classic character, a great choice.

I wonder if the rush of new cameras has been compensation for the lower photo ops due to winter weather... and anticipating Spring? Resolute though I've been, I did succumb to temptation, and my Belomo Elikon arrived today (Olympus XA clone from Belarus). Not a Leica, but it's cute.

 

[dll927]

In another forum, I once read some guy who claimed he had re-loaded an M Leica in an almost dark off-stage area of a theatrical production. If he did, and the film went through, the guy must have almost miraculous touch!!! And that was an "M". Figure what would happen with an older LTM version without the "back door". No one short of Cartier-Bresson would attempt that!!

 

[denishr]

In another forum, I once read some guy who claimed he had re-loaded an M Leica in an almost dark off-stage area of a theatrical production. If he did, and the film went through, the guy must have almost miraculous touch!!! And that was an "M". Figure what would happen with an older LTM version without the "back door". No one short of Cartier-Bresson would attempt that!!

It's not that difficult... I thought it would be a nightmare, but it's really not - you really have to have ten thumbs to sc*ew up anything when loading the M Leica... I've been using it (them) for about six months now, loaded about 40-50 films so far, and never had a problem.
Even did it in the middle of the street a couple of times...

I bet I could even do it blindfolded - it would not be in a world record time, but I could do it.
Just open the bottom, put it in a pocket, remove the film and take up spool, take another film, slide the end onto the take-up spool (this might be the tricky part), and put the whole thing back in. Open the back door, feel if the sprockets have engaged, close the door, put the bottom cover back, turn the lock, and you're good to go....

Not the easiest thing in the world, I admit, particularly if you're older, and do not have nimble fingers or are suffering from arthritis, but it's not rocket science, either.

Now, the old "Barnack" (screw-mout) Leicas are another thing... Never tried one of those. 🙂

Denis

 

[jdos2]

(I'm a New Leica owner myself)

I've owned a few before, though.

The new Leicas are extremely easy to load, at least the way I do it. I just need a pocket for the bottom plate.

I too could easily do it blindfolded.

Pull out a few inches of leader.
Drop the can into the body, but hold the leader. pull on the leader until it's long enough to fit into the tulip (which can be felt in the dark). With the back door open, feel for the sprockets engaging whilst winding a touch and pushing up gently on the film (it'll make an audible click, too).

Close the back door, and it's done.

No, it's not as easy as the G2's "pull to red line" but it's certainly not far behind.

Screw-mounts are rather... Different. Had one of them, too. It was frequently a challenge to get it right- the film all floppy in the middle and not wanting to ride up over the frame rails.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

After a bad experience with film in one of mine, I asked for help. Later, I practiced with a roll of dummy film, loading, winding, rewinding and all that until I got it down pat.

Now... I've had a couple of misloads on ocassion, but most of the time, it's a cinch.

Yes, I tried to do it in the dark. In fact, soon enough I'll have to, as I have some EIR film to test in the spring, and the stuff can only be handled in the dark.

It'll be a fun experience... 🙂