Wheeee My M3 came today, sorry long post

[MichaelHarris]

I can't really do street where I live, we have more cows than corners. There is a little town up the road, called Palouse that has a gallery I hope to show in someday and I took the M3 for a test run.

Really sorry for the multi-picture post but I was kind of excited. I shot these on that Kodak 400UC and a VC 40mm 1.4 along with a Leica 90mm CL lens. I love this M3 so much I may sell the CL.

Here we go, small town America:

Bridge coming into the town.

Palouse River

Street art.

Most of the stores are boarded up.

Old architecture

The proper use of a bowling ball in architecture.

The town is becoming a mecca for artists. Halloween is also very big in the town of Palouse, they open up for a huge street party. I hope to shoot that this year.

It wasn't all fun and games, I had work to do also. Still shooting for my Palouse book:

Thanks a ton nick for the great camera!!

 

[nobbylon]

Michael,
hate to dampen your excitement for your M3 but in shots 2 and 3 it looks like you have a small light leak coming through the rear door. It can be seen quite clearly by the red patches in the pics. It's an easy fix though.
regards john

 

[MichaelHarris]

really? I don't see it. I'll look at the prints again

 

[MichaelHarris]

the red thing in the right corner of picture 2? I think that's from the lab they kinda suck sometimes.

 

[MichaelHarris]

I went back and looked at the prints and that red flare is only in one of the pictures. Half the prints are scratched though. I used to love that place but they've been really messing up lately. I should really start doing my own 35mm color again.

I have a Jobo and do my MF and LF color. I only have one lab in this town but the next town over has 2 or 3 places.

 

[nobbylon]

Michael,
picture 2, bottom right corner, picture 3, next to the nose of the statue, will send you some examples of a leak I had later. Sorry, I just saw those two pics and immediately recognised what I think is a leak coming in from the back door, just trying to be helpfull.
Try another roll in sunny conditions and put tape over the back door edges and check again. The red marks on color film show the light hitting film on the non emulsion side.

 

[MichaelHarris]

OK, thanks. If it is a leak I'm sure I can fix it. I've done that before on other cameras.

 

[MichaelHarris]

will it always be red? I've looked on the prints and it only shows up on those two.

 

[nobbylon]

As far as I know ,yes with color film and when I had mine it only showed up on 2-3 frames per film and only when I shot in sunny conditions.
this is how mine was fixed
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87456154@N00/

 

[MichaelHarris]

Two more, in the window behind the statue there is something red hanging, could that be it:

 

[MichaelHarris]

cool, reading it now thanks. Weird that it's only on 1 or 2 frames. Maybe it's just the way you held the camera at that time I guess.

 

[MichaelHarris]

Cool, I went back and re-read what you wrote about the tape on the door and I'll try that tomorrow, thanks. I think I'll also try to hold the back towards the light on a couple of frames and see if I can recreate it.

 

[Never Satisfied]

Cool looking town! I have an M3 and love it. It's easy to see why after nearly 60 years they are still bringing such high sale prices. Out of all of my cameras, it's the one I'd never part with. Andrew.

 

[laptoprob]

If there is a leak you will find it if the back is exposed to the sun for some time. The flare it creates is always red with colour film.
The added foam or felt behind the door as shown in the flickr page does the job well.

 

[TJV]

Maybe someone said this, but if the light is coming in from the back the fog will always be red / orange because it has to pass through the coloured film base plastic before hitting the light sensitive chem film. Light leaking through the shutter will always be white / blue.

Appologies if this is said above.

Both my M3's developed leaks from the front, ie through the shutter. They were really hard to fix because it was more an issue of the shutter curtains being stretched.

 

[rui]

With or without leaks, great pics and a great camera! Congratulations! 😉

 

[KM-25]

I can't really do street where I live, we have more cows than corners.

Actually, you can.

"Street" is more a state of mind of style rather than a location. Street photography is really just documentary photography that gained it's name from HCB's prevalence in the City...but he made great "Street" images everywhere, even among the cows.

Great documentary photography is possible right where you are at, you just have to go after it and get past the social hurdles....

 

[shadowfox]

Michael, beautiful shots, you don't need to shoot "street", shoot landscape instead!!

I mean c'mon, how beautiful is that last shot 🙂 (just a suggestion, try to tone down the blown out cloud a bit, that picture is really a keeper).

 

[alternatve]

How do you manage to get such vivid colour pictures?

All my colour shots come out washed out and flat. In comparision, my B&W shots are much better. I use Fuji ISO400 colour neg film, maybe that's why?

Samuel

 

[vrgard]

Very nice shots, Michael! Enjoy your M3, it's a great camera.

John, I have a question for you (and sorry, Michael, I don't mean to hijack your thread). Does the attached image look to you like I, too, am getting a light leak through the rear door?

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Randy