Bosk
Make photos, not war.
Today I snagged my first rangefinder camera, a used M4-2 from Camera Exchange in Melbourne, to go with the 50/2 Summicron I won on eBay a few weeks back.
My first 'Leica Experience' wasn't a great one, I managed to screw up loading the film and ended up being handed back a blank strip from the lab!
Realising my mistake though, I then loaded the next one correctly (must make sure the film is threaded through the spool on the right hand side!) and quickly burned a roll of 24x Superia 100 at the Observation Deck of the Rialto Towers and had them processed- success this time! Resulting shots look a little on the soft side (no scanner yet so can't post them unfortunately) but it could be that I'm used to viewing my shots on screen instead of on paper. I'm looking forward to snapping a roll tomorrow at larger apertures to test out the bokeh of this lens.
It sure is difficult focusing with a rangefinder at first, but I'm already starting to get the hang of it I think. Guesstimating my exposures was also an adventure since I don't own a lightmeter, but I carried a copy of a table of exposure values (found on the web somewhere) to use as a guide, and surprisingly all shots (taken in bright sunlight) looked within a stop of being spot on. I have a Black Cat exposure guide coming in the post which should alleviate the need of spending $200+ on a light meter.
Regarding ergonomics, it's a quirky little design when you're used to chunky Nikon SLRs as I am. Suffice to say it feels DAMN NICE to have solid metal against your skin instead of synthetic plastic. It reminds me of the D1H I used to own, but of course in a much smaller package - a real little solid brick of a camera.
The shutter's slightly noisier than I was expecting (maybe I should get a CLA done ?) and surprisingly was about the same volume as the R2M they had in stock. Speaking of the Bessa, it looks like a GREAT little camera (I get the feeling I'd be 100% satisfied using one) but..... it ain't a Leica and never will be. 😉
Anyway, so far I'm very satisfied with this this camera. Tomorrow it will undergo more 'stress testing' so we'll see how it holds up. (and how I hold up trying to focus, guess exposure and frame composition at the same time!)
I also wanted to say thanks to Stephen from CameraQuest who was very pleasant about allowing me to cancel the order I made for an R3M last week, when I decided I wanted a Leica instead. Those Bessas are really impressive and I could easily imagine myself buying one as a second body sometime after Christmas.
My first 'Leica Experience' wasn't a great one, I managed to screw up loading the film and ended up being handed back a blank strip from the lab!
Realising my mistake though, I then loaded the next one correctly (must make sure the film is threaded through the spool on the right hand side!) and quickly burned a roll of 24x Superia 100 at the Observation Deck of the Rialto Towers and had them processed- success this time! Resulting shots look a little on the soft side (no scanner yet so can't post them unfortunately) but it could be that I'm used to viewing my shots on screen instead of on paper. I'm looking forward to snapping a roll tomorrow at larger apertures to test out the bokeh of this lens.
It sure is difficult focusing with a rangefinder at first, but I'm already starting to get the hang of it I think. Guesstimating my exposures was also an adventure since I don't own a lightmeter, but I carried a copy of a table of exposure values (found on the web somewhere) to use as a guide, and surprisingly all shots (taken in bright sunlight) looked within a stop of being spot on. I have a Black Cat exposure guide coming in the post which should alleviate the need of spending $200+ on a light meter.
Regarding ergonomics, it's a quirky little design when you're used to chunky Nikon SLRs as I am. Suffice to say it feels DAMN NICE to have solid metal against your skin instead of synthetic plastic. It reminds me of the D1H I used to own, but of course in a much smaller package - a real little solid brick of a camera.
The shutter's slightly noisier than I was expecting (maybe I should get a CLA done ?) and surprisingly was about the same volume as the R2M they had in stock. Speaking of the Bessa, it looks like a GREAT little camera (I get the feeling I'd be 100% satisfied using one) but..... it ain't a Leica and never will be. 😉
Anyway, so far I'm very satisfied with this this camera. Tomorrow it will undergo more 'stress testing' so we'll see how it holds up. (and how I hold up trying to focus, guess exposure and frame composition at the same time!)
I also wanted to say thanks to Stephen from CameraQuest who was very pleasant about allowing me to cancel the order I made for an R3M last week, when I decided I wanted a Leica instead. Those Bessas are really impressive and I could easily imagine myself buying one as a second body sometime after Christmas.
