New Guitar

[LeicaLike]

...somebody once told me that buying a good guitar was a waste of money if you can't play it. I think that was a bad lesson!

I've spent a small fortune trying to find the right low-priced camera!!

Well now I'm trying a new approach. I've bought a Leica M7.

Maybe I can't play my guitar (...true), but I just might learn how to enjoy taking pictures using a beautiful camera.

 

[FrankS]

Great first post! Congratulations and welcome, eh!

 

[Rafael]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[back alley]

welcme.

up north where?

joe

 

[LeicaLike]

...up North Nr. Darlington (UK).


Ummm...


Do I compromise and buy a screw adapter for my M7 ...I would be interesting to "see" how a Russian (Ukrainian) lense performs against a Summicron. I'm talking about the "atmospherics" of the picture - the "Leicaness" of the end result. Are there any issues that I need to consider (i.e. damage to the M7 etc.) in using or chosing particular lens?

 

[FrankS]

By all means get an adaptor to try FSU glass. No physical danger, only psychological. 🙂

 

[kbg32]

The only lens compatibity issues you would have would be with the early 1st version of the 28mm f2.8 Elmarit and the 21mm f3.4 Super Angulon. Also the Jupiter 12 35mm f2.8. These lenses fit so deeply into the body that they block the meter cell from reading off the shutter curtain.

 

[LeicaLike]

...thanks for that good advice.

True to my (hopefully now past) desire to buy low-cost cameras, I also have a BESSA-L (...hello ebay!) with a Voigtlander 21/4 Colour Skopar (...I think its like your's Rafael?). Is this lense a good performer on the M7 (...or M4) and can you use the Voigtlander Viewfinder (I have a 21mm and 50mm Viewfinder - not to mention an Industar L/D, when it finally arrives from the Ukraine).

🙁

 

[Rafael]

I love my CV 21/4. The results have been great for me so far. The lens is a real pleasure to use. And the viewfinder is amazing!

 

[PeterL]

Hi,

You're damn right ! I started enjoying photography a lot more when I bought my first expensive camera+lens (SLR back then). If you have a good hobby, don't hold back the cash if you can spare it. Get equipment that you really enjoy, and the results will come automatically !

As well as agreeing with you, I'm at the same time convincing myself to get that M3 I'm lusting after. I will, promised, I just have a few other things on my hands at the moment (philosophy exams).

You should definitely get an LTM convertor... I love my Industar-22, I love my Summitar ! And those lenses are *tiny* !


Peter.

 

[LeicaLike]

...I think my Skopar and Viewfinder is a 28mm (i'll check tonight) - I really look forward to trying them on my M7.


Thanks for all your advice. Painting the ceiling in the spare room will just have to wait until next week. Low light no-longer means that I can't take photographs!!

 

[LeicaLike]

...Hi PeterL.

Yes, I also kept my Nikon F90X. You have just got to have a good SLR.

...and I also want to catch those low-light explosions of acid green sunlight bursting through dark clouds in the evening - picking out sheep feeding on calm pastures during the last golden rays of evening. That's Leica territory, supported by excellent lenses, such as Leica, Zeiss, Industar, plus good lenses that I have yet to descover...

 

[Crasis]

Here's the deal with a good guitar vs a good camera. A good guitar makes you want to play more, but any great songs you write on a bad guitar will sound great on a good guitar as well. The songs will sound even better on nicer guitars!

You only have 1 chance to get whatever you're shooting on negatives. One chance. If you shoot it with a bad lens, bad camera, or anything that will be detrimental to the quality of your shot, you cannot have it back. You can't improve the negative after you've taken it so you want the best lenses you can afford to capture those memories.

At least, this is the major difference I see between a guitar and a camera.

 

[matt fury]

You shouldn't buy a good guitar if you aren't sure you're going to use it, but if you suck and you still play a lot then a good guitar might only motivate you to practice more. Same with a camera. If you have a camera that inspires you, you're more likely to take pictures.

 

[PeterL]

A friend of mine said: the difference between a boy and a man is in the price of their toys. So we try to prove our manhood by buying expensive toys.

There you have it ! The more expensive, the more man you are. No more excuses needed.

*grabs his visa card for an M8 + Noctilux + 75 Summilux etc.*


Peter.

 

[xayraa33]

a good guitarist can sound good even when playing a cheap guitar.
likewise for good photographers with cheap cameras.

 

[ehparis]

a good guitarist can sound good even when playing a cheap guitar.
likewise for good photographers with cheap cameras.

I've yet to hear a good guitarist who played a cheap guitar. 😉

I'm not saying there aren't any but they are few and far between. I think that each of us, including guitarists, picks a good tool to pursue his/her personal or professional needs.

I always grin a bit when I see someone trying to do photography with an Instamatic held together with gaffer's tape just to prove it can be done.

 

[FrankS]

I just got back from taking my daughter to music lessons at a guitar shop. I took some pictures of the wall to wall guitars, and strummed a few multi-thousand dollar guitars. The Taylor 12 string with pick-ups was very nice and rich. The Martin 6 string was elemental, kind of like a Leica m6. 🙂

 

[John Camp]

<snip>
At least, this is the major difference I see between a guitar and a camera.

Also, guitars have long handles, and strings. Most cameras don't have strings at all. Or long handles.

JC

 

[David Goldfarb]

I learned to play the trombone on a lousy student instrument, and for the first years I struggled to produce a smooth tone. When I got a better horn that I didn't have to fight with and studied with a few different teachers who had different approaches, I overcame my tone problems. Once I found the sound inside myself, I could produce a good tone on the bad horn. So maybe it wasn't all the horn's fault after all, and my teachers made a big difference, but I think I needed the good horn to find the tone that could be produced on the bad horn.