Leica LTM Opinions on this IIF

[DownUnder]

Did I say Leicas don’t show up often where I live? Found the IIIF this weekend at an estate sale. It was about the same price as the IIF, yes I bought it. Only problem I already told my coworker I’d buy the IIF. Wasn’t really planning on spending this much so close to the holidays. Cleaned the IIf up some, looks much better.

You have Leicaitis. Incurable. Enjoyable. jWelcome to the club, it's a big one, but be warned, the membership can be expensive!!

A beaut iiif. The Summitar is an excellent lens, it predates the Summicron but some say it was the lens that eventually moved up to the 'cron.

Now about all the other Leitz lenses...

 

[Coldkennels]

Did I say Leicas don’t show up often where I live? Found the IIIF this weekend at an estate sale. It was about the same price as the IIF, yes I bought it. Only problem I already told my coworker I’d buy the IIF. Wasn’t really planning on spending this much so close to the holidays. Cleaned the IIf up some, looks much better.

That's a lovely kit you've got there. Good that they're still both black dial, though - not that there's anything wrong with red dial ones, but the changes in shutter speed can feel confusing if you're using them side-by-side, and the two cameras would need different flash settings if one was black dial and the other red.

If you do plan on using electronic flash with these, note that you set the top dial to 1/30th and the ring below it should be pointing to 2. If you want to get into flashbulbs, you can use other shutter speeds (even up to 1/1000) with full sync if you have the right sync settings dialled in.

Also, that Summaron is the only 35mm I've ever really loved. Great lens. Congrats!

 

[DownUnder]

That's a lovely kit you've got there. Good that they're still both black dial, though - not that there's anything wrong with red dial ones, but the changes in shutter speed can feel confusing if you're using them side-by-side, and the two cameras would need different flash settings if one was black dial and the other red.

If you do plan on using electronic flash with these, note that you set the top dial to 1/30th and the ring below it should be pointing to 2. If you want to get into flashbulbs, you can use other shutter speeds (even up to 1/1000) with full sync if you have the right sync settings dialled in.

Also, that Summaron is the only 35mm I've ever really loved. Great lens. Congrats!

Where can you buy flash bulbs/cubes in this day and age??

Serious question. Asking for a friend.

Agree, the OP has the makings of a uniquely beautiful kit now. I have the 35 Summaron, and I agree, it's a beaut lens.

Next step, more lenses. Boom!! goes the bank balance, but heck, it's only money. As I found out...

 

[Coldkennels]

Where can you buy flash bulbs/cubes in this day and age??

Serious question. Asking for a friend.

eBay! There's more than enough out there. I went on a buying spree earlier in the year and have been thoroughly enjoying blinding people with Philips PF1Bs ever since.

They're not the easiest thing to use (and certainly not the most economical option), but there is something oddly pleasing about the light they create. They get a good reaction from people, too.

 

[DownUnder]

eBay! There's more than enough out there. I went on a buying spree earlier in the year and have been thoroughly enjoying blinding people with Philips PF1Bs ever since.

They're not the easiest thing to use (and certainly not the most economical option), but there is something oddly pleasing about the light they create. They get a good reaction from people, too.

Ebay... of course!! Now why didn't I think of that...

I used flash bulbs very briefly in the 1960s before I managed to save enough $$ from my school money and from odd jobs to buy a Mecablitz, for which I paid the hefty sum of CDN $35. I kept it going until the mid-'70s when I took it traveling to Asia and it mysteriously vanished in Saigon while I was hastily packing to depart before the new rulers took over. A story all its own, this. I still think fondlyof that 'blitz, and reckon it's still in use, having been built by Germans and weighing like a small Sherman tank.

My flash bulb photos always looked like people were being assaulted. The expressions in their eyes were amazing to behold. I did have a (thankfully very brief0 period of using one of those massive 4x5" (ah, the good old days) Speed Graphic flash guns, the bulbs, which were humongous and surely blinded my subjects for at least five minutes...

For all this I doubt I will be bidding on flash bulbs/cubes as after eventually figuring out how initially camera filters and latterly K-temp ratings worked in, respectively, film and digital cameras, I've not used anything other than regular indoor light since the '80s.