Leica LTM Why do you use such a fidgety camera?

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Solinar

Solinar

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Rather than hijack a thread on a nice IIIc stepper to answer question posed by litewriter in the Leica screw mount forum - I'm starting a new thread.

You know the comparative ease of a Barnack versus an M mount or modern Bessa with AE doesn't add up in the screw mounts favor. Yet , yesterday on short notice I was asked to shoot some photos of a meeting for a student orgainzation and what did I grab? Well a IIIf, 75 Heliar and finder, plus two light meters.

How did I do? Well I burned through a roll of film in 40 minutes and never felt unduly burdened by the relative of busyness of the IIIf's operation, although I did miss two decisive moments while fidgeting with the camera controls.

literiter said:
Can anyone tell me what they are like to use? I know they have an interesting loading procedure. But once that is taken care of, what are they really like to use?

Any recommendations?? Lenses, accessories, cases etc.etc.
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First, let me mention lenses - compact is the best way to go.

The IIIc through IIIg share the same lower body shell. The advantage is they are lighter and smaller than the Leica M series and nearly all of the post 1958 era RF cameras that can use interchangeable lenses.

For me, the old-Barnack inspired screw mounts fit the hand really well. The size is just right. Unlike the Leica M - which is bulkier and noticeably heavier - I feel more comfortable using one with a wrist strap on the winder side of the camera. On the M mount, I generally use a neck strap.

I do use separate finders alot with my IIIf. All of which, except my 28 finder, are 1:1 finders.

After seeing the prices of M mount Leicas drop in recent years - I must say that the IIIc and IIIf can get to be as expensive or even more so than an M mount - if you figure in the cost of the separate finders. 1:1 finders are the lap of luxury to compose with - but makes an already "fiddly" camera even more so - cause now you are manually changing finders with each lens.

Other examples of "fiddly-ness" include - Separate eye pieces for focus and composition. You have a diopter lever that needs to be fine tuned for close-in subjects versus infinity. Slow speeds require a separate adjustment of a front dial. Your finger on the shutter release must be clear of the spinning shutter speed dial when making an exposure and the shutter speed dial must be set after the film has been advanced. Last but not least, it's a bottom loader.

With so much more to pay attention to than with Leica M mount - why do you use such a "fiddly" camera?
 
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Maybe fidgety initially, but after using them for a while, all that comes as second nature. Perhaps the design lends itself to an intuitive approach. Any more I rarely miss a photo opportunity because I was fussing with this or that. I really enjoy them, and find that when using a modern AF film or digital model, I ask myself what I'm forgetting to do!

Jo
 
For me at least they are no longer fidgety after using them for 40+ years. I can unload-reload and be back shooting in short order..

I don't need to lug around a large heavy bag when out shooting with my screw Leicas which make shooting that much easier..
 
I use them because they are more awkward: generally, anything that slows my photography down tends to improve it.

Partly this is because when using faster cameras with "better" ergonomics I'm tempted to shoot a lot more, resulting in a large number of poor pictures, a much smaller percentage of good ones, and a feeling of deep dissatisfaction.

I also find the thread mount Leicas more tactile and intimate in the hand than the M series. They are indeed a pleasure to use!

D.
 
Part of me want to use these cameras because I saw what they are capable of producing. If those gents and ladies in the 40's-50's can produce nice pictures while handicapped by worse film quality than what we have now, so can I :p

To me, fidgety (or fiddly) is better than boring ;)
 
For those of us who started with mechanical cameras, it is easy. For those of you who started with auto or program. Well, it can be difficult. But then, I never managed to go beyond auto or program with my digicam. Recently i have learnt how to set ISO. The flash in my digicam can only be used by manually popping it out, so I need not learn how to disable it!.
 
Windscale said:
For those of us who started with mechanical cameras, it is easy.
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I never thought about that aspect. I began back when I don't want to say with a Yashica D TLR - which was still considered technically advanced at the time. So, this may be the key.

When asked this question by an inlaw at my father's 80th birthday, my response was that I like being able to choose my viewfinder - which was meaningless to him - but I feel that I do get a better idea what the image will look like as a print when using a 1:1 bright-line finder.

PS - Dad had a Contax for many years and the Yashica was a high school graduation present - that I should have kept.
 
johnastovall said:
Because, it is my pleasure.
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Well said.

I started with a semi automatic Canon AE-1. Since then I've used everything from a 4x5 speed graphic down to minox, several RF's and many SLR's. In fact, I recently acquired a canon 5D after over a year of saving up.

The camera that goes out the door most often though, is my IIIf. I have more screw mount lenses than any other system I own, and I enjoy using it more than any of my other cameras. Even more than my M3 (a close second)

It's not a "fast" camera. It lacks certain abilities that seem to be important these days (No AF, no AE, maybe 1fps if I even needed to shoot quickly) And it is very fiddly. Still, I use it more than any other camera, and I still have a list of lenses I would like to get for it.
I'm not sure why I like it more, but I do. The camera you like, is the camera you use. The more you use it, the better you will be at photography. (At least, I hope it works that way!)

It is a handsome camera though, people always are fascinated when I'm out shooting with it.

P.S.
SM lenses:
VC 15/4.5, Nikkor 35/2.5, Summarit 50/1.5, Summitar 50/2, Serenar(canon) 85/2, Canon 135/3.5
 
For literiter

Recommendation......

Buy a pre #410xxx Leica IIIC "Stepped Rewind Platform" or "Flat Top" camera (any of them but a Red Curtain camera due to the shutter fabric on them is mostly bad and they are collectors items) get the camera CLA`d then...........buy a LTM Leica Thread Mount Nikkor HC f2/50mm lens and a 1/4 thread "long nose" Summarit IIIF case with a thread reduction ring on it and you have the LTM Leica kit
"ready for anything"........ if you don`t find the Nikkor lens, buy a Summarit f1.5/50mm ohh and don`t forget to add a 1950`s Canon "POP UP" spool to the Leica body (so you can load faster) and you will be rolling along just as fast as anyone using a M2 or M3 :D

Enjoy!

Tom

PS: And if funds allow buy a OKARO Rangefinder Enhancement Filter....it makes focusing go alot faster with a LTM camera ;)
 
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I managed well enough with SM Leicas back in the early 1960s, but for over three decades after that I used SLRs and an M3. It was no longer so easy to handle the IIIc that came my way three years ago, so I have "gone back" to an M2. One crucial factor was that I had the option; and the other, perhaps, was that I did not persevere.
 
My IIIa is probably the _least_ easy to use RF that I have... I think only the Moskva's and the SG's are more cumbersome. I also have a Bessa R and M3.

Do I still like to use it? Yes, just because it's a classic and it feels/looks good in the hand. It's like a functioning work of art.

I've got nothing against modern cameras either. My main workhorse is an EOS 1Dm2 + 50-500 or 300/2.8. I often will have the dslr balanced on my shoulder, pull the RF w/ B&W film out of the pocket and take a shot.
 
Well.....I was using Barnacks when they were still being manufactured. I'm giving away my age a bit and they are IMHO the most beautiful little machines ever made. So I guess having grown up (old) using these type of cameras they feel pure to me not fidgety.

Its fairly humorous that of all my 35's (and I have over 20 in that caliber) I usually grab one of the Barnacks whenever I want to shoot for fun. And lately they have provided the ice breaker at more than one social gathering.

Ray
 
2 Questions:

1) Solinar, what kind of 1:1 finders do you use?

2) LeicaTom, what Canon camera do you need to get a Pop Spool?
 
Sometimes I just enjoy a challenge and when you get a good result from using a Barnack it seems all the more rewarding.

Bob
 
Why do I bother with old cameras? Because they still work and it's a shame to see them put out to pasture.

I love anything old and weird. One of my favorite RF cameras is my Graflex Graphic 35. I've made some great photos with it.

The Argus C-four was my first camera, so that shows you what I initially put up with in terms of fidgety. The Leica M is strangely 'modern' feeling to me though in that the viewfinder is bight and clean and the action is smooth. So using it doesn't really feel like anything else I own from 1959.

I just like being able to tell people I made images with old cameras that had been long forgotten by previous owners. I have all the time in the world to dink around with today's latest digital cameras someday in the future when they're cheap and I'm handicapped or blinding in my old age.

For now, I fully accept the challenge of all camera-related handicaps ;)
 
I collect and use mainly cameras from the 1940s period (and earlier) buying anything else doesn't quite fit in my collection.

After using my Speed Graphic and Argus C-3 for a while I found an LTM Leica to be rather refreshing, in workload mainly. They are simply my favorite cameras.

johnastovall managed to put it into words
 
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