Don't be so sure Randy. Like Cal said, a regular M5 with a 35mm summaron "won" one year.
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
The meetup with 7 M9s was either my first or second time I met with you guys. John G. still had his M9 before he jumped ship to Fuji, Tung brought at least one, a few other folks had them and I still had mine right before I jumped ship to Fuji then to Nikon RFs. I had defaced my M9 with a Yashica Electro logo, replacing the red dot.
Too much homogeneity, in my opinion!
You've seen one M9, you've seen pretty much most of them.
This year I'm not entering any Leica gear. My M4 is staying at home. I do have a hacked lens to enter and may have relieved a bit of GAS, if this deal goes through next week. Still no 65mm Super Angulon for my David White SuperWide Plus-X Pan Kodak Realist. That's still going to take some time, unfortunately.
In other news, get out and shoot tomorrow! It's Lunar New Year!
Phil Forrest
Too much homogeneity, in my opinion!
You've seen one M9, you've seen pretty much most of them. This year I'm not entering any Leica gear. My M4 is staying at home. I do have a hacked lens to enter and may have relieved a bit of GAS, if this deal goes through next week. Still no 65mm Super Angulon for my David White SuperWide Plus-X Pan Kodak Realist. That's still going to take some time, unfortunately.
In other news, get out and shoot tomorrow! It's Lunar New Year!
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Randy,
Moral of the story is that John Chee every year bought a camera that not only was a worthy contender, but should of won. Again and again he was the clear favorite, but quickly became the underdog as a rowdy mob turned on him. In Olympic terms John Chee is like the Jamacian Bob Sled Team.
John Chee is a great sport and clearly knows the"agony of defeat. Last year he finally won with a black paint 2005 Nikon SP with black paint 35/1.8. What a beauty.
AN ASIDE: the 25/2.8 Summaron mentioned above originally was owned by Andre Dos Santos, who sold it to me for a $650.00 insider price with hood; I sold this lens to John for the same price with the stipulation that if sold again I and then Andre would have debs, and if sold to an outside party that any profit would have to be split 3 ways. Later john sold this lens back to me, and now Andre hints at wanting to buy back his old lens. To me this is a lucky lens in really nice condition.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
The meetup with 7 M9s was either my first or second time I met with you guys. John G. still had his M9 before he jumped ship to Fuji, Tung brought at least one, a few other folks had them and I still had mine right before I jumped ship to Fuji then to Nikon RFs. I had defaced my M9 with a Yashica Electro logo, replacing the red dot.
Too much homogeneity, in my opinion!
Phil Forrest
Phil,
Pretty funny. I guess all those Leica M-bodies look alike, although Kristian Dowling's M9 was a nice chrome M9P.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
GEAR ALERT: Finally found another good deal on a used 21/3.4 Super Elmar for my black MD-2. The idea is to build a small format 21 FOV ultra-wide to complement my Plaubel 69W Proshift that only makes eight 6x9's on a roll of 120. I bought back a black TA Rapidwinder that I once sold to Fidel, I have a second TA Rapidgrip, and a 21mm Zeiss VF'er. I expect delivery Monday or Tuesday next week. Although a used lens I was told that it is coming with a black warrant-T card.
Cal
Cal
SuperUJ
Well-known
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
I think we should petition for a new category of "extraordinarily rare."
Last year was the first time I had seen a 5cm Micro-Nikkor for the rangefinder. I had read about them many times but have never seen one in person. You'd rule this category, I think. That Rolleiflex "diving helmet" case was amazing. The belle of the ball during that meetup!
Phil Forrest
It's hard enough getting a winner in one category Phil.
JMQ
Well-known
LOL, I didn't win....even with that 5cm Micro-Nikkor
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Good point.
I got the owner of the Micro-Nikkor wrong! Sorry all!
OT: We're going to miss you at the Pho Bang meetup!
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I requested that Jean-Marc bring back that 50/3.5 Macro Nikkor in LTM. It is a very rare lens, only about 500 ever made. It is suppose to be remarkable in terms of resolution, also flat field so even though its a 50's lens it has sharp corners.
I wonder how it would render on a Monochrom. I find that the old single coated glass has that mid-range tonality of medium format, and old glass generates a very nice wide/broad histogram that seems to capture mucho highlight detail. The contrast range is very different than modern glass and I say the old glass captures what I call "air."
I'm thinking that Jean Mark's Macro-Nikkor could likely be hidden treasure, especially since Jean-Marc is now a Monochrom owner.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jean-Marc,
It is a badge of honor to have your rare and expensive gear dismissed. LOL. At this event we would rather be inclusive and welcome $10.00 cameras that are cool and have a backstory.
We mostly make fun of ourselves, but we also see mucho odd cameras and crazy rare and expensive stuff.
It all gets really crazy fast. LOL.
Cal
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Cal,
When I had my M8 and M9 I always preferred the old lenses such as the 50mm f/2.8 Elmar, the rigid Summicron, the Summarons, and other lenses of the Mandler or pre-Mandler era due to their flatter tonality which really seems to open up the histogram on the Leica digitals. I found that highlights were better rendered and then shadows would follow with a little PP work.
Phil Forrest
When I had my M8 and M9 I always preferred the old lenses such as the 50mm f/2.8 Elmar, the rigid Summicron, the Summarons, and other lenses of the Mandler or pre-Mandler era due to their flatter tonality which really seems to open up the histogram on the Leica digitals. I found that highlights were better rendered and then shadows would follow with a little PP work.
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I totally agree with your assessment. This little black 28/3.5 Canon is a very-very interesting lens on the Monochrom. Optically it is the same formula as the early chrome version I owned, but it was said that the later black versions had an improved updated coating. The single coated glass does not have the extended shadow detail, but the highlights are more wonderful. With filtering and correct/perfect exposure I can get 9 zones of contrast on my RAW histgram.
The black 28/3.5 Canon also has better ergonomics over the chrome version. A simple old man like me has to love that the distance scale is in feet only. BTW the 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM also has the distance scal in feet only, and my 50 Rigid also.
I will also say that a 35/2.8 Summaron has a center sharpness that is either equal to or rivals any ASPH Leica lens, corners being the exception of course.
I think Jean-Marc likely has a very special lens for his Monochrom. That Macro-Nikkor is considered one of the sharpest lenses ever made. Who needs a 50 Cron APO???
Cal
JMQ
Well-known
Cal, I was making fun of myself. Anyway, I do look forward to the parade.
B-9
Devin Bro
Gosh, ide love to attend one your meets, any objection to a Michigander popping in?
Proly not as soon as February, do you guys do this often?
Proly not as soon as February, do you guys do this often?
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
B-9,
Guests are always welcome. In fact we have people drop in from all over the world. When you get a date post it in one of our monthly threads. Generally we make adjustments to schedule our monthly Meet-Ups so that it fits our visitor's schedule.
Definitely keep us in the loop and feel free to join in the fun. For over 5 years we have had monthly Meet-Ups. Every February we have a gear centric event that is very much over-the-top. We are like a support group, but also know that our event includes regulars from Philly and New Jersey. At one Meet-Up the Jersey boys outnumbered the New Yorkers. It was kinda like a flash mob.
Cal
powasky
Newbie
Hey guys. Just moved to NYC in August and this is the first time I've come across the meet up thread. Would love to take part in February's meet. Anyone mind PMing me the details?