Leica Haunts Me in the Wee Small Hours

Well, it's not that bad, but this is becoming a pre-occupation.

(Non camera nerds: the back button is at the top left-hand corner of your browser - you should click on it now).

Here's what I thought about it back in January '07, but searching for "Leica" on this blog shows that it was on my mind as long ago as October '05; (the link on that page is broken - from memory the "Leica" I had in mind was a glorified point and shoot with the Leica name but little else: I knew feck-all about cameras back then). The subject popped up again in October 2006 (when I wrote that this was one of the "subjects that make your wife's eyes glaze over, or even cause her to leave the room", and as such a good example of the utility of blogging), and again in November that year.

I still haven't won the lottery but I have come to the realisation that photography should be fun. Which in turn means that I needn't worry about taking brilliant photos, just enjoying taking and looking at the ones I have taken. And that in turn means that I probably won't ever need a really expensive camera like an M8, or the top of the range SLRs that photojournalists use.

And it was that chain of reasoning that led me to dust off the Kodak 66 and the Chinon CS. , and to buy a developing tank and contemplate getting a film scanner.

The next step was obvious. Get an old Leica. Lots of them on eBay. I can get an M2 body (say) for a couple of hundred quid. A lens, ditto. This will require detailed research. The flickr Leica groups are as good a place as any to begin.

As Ray Liotta almost said in Goodfellas, "As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to own a Leica."

Comments

  1. AnonymousSun Feb 17, 11:04:00 am GMT

    I had the same dream many years ago Gary, but alas the Leica remained unobtainable.

    I'm not sure that I'd care to go back to 35mm and 120mm film cameras again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. StefSun Feb 24, 12:51:00 am GMT

    You've probably heard this from someone else already but have you thought about picking up a fixed lens 1970s rangefinder - something like a Canon QL17 / Olympus RC / Olympus RD...

    http://www.cameraquest.com/classics.htm

    No, they're not Leicas and you can't change the lenses but they handle in a similar way and many Leica users leave a 35mm or 50mm stuck on their camera most of the time anyway

    I own a couple, though I haven't used them much lately, and a mate went off and bought an M6 after using my RC for a while - to be honest the M6 wasn't/ isn't that much more enjoyable to use than the old Olympus

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LTPTP XXV: We Shall Overcome

Image
We shall indeed.  It's a lovely wee tune to learn.  I've almost memorized it this morning, the idea being, when I encounter a piano, I want something to sit down and play on the bugger.  I've a feeling that my keyboard's keys are lighter than a proper piano's, and there'll be a bit of effort transferring the skills I've gotten so far.  Probably, at some point this year, I'll be in workplace with a piano.  I'll print off some simple music and scales, and work at it, but it's likely to be in a public place so I want something to avoid making a twat of myself initially. It feels right that this should be the first tune I learn by heart.
Read more

Leech or flatworm? Ants and Swiss Chard

Image
For the 2nd time in a week or so, (1st time regarding dwarf beans ), I'm following Alys Fowler's advice, this time with regard to Swiss chard .  Long story short, after midsummer plants which often bolt if planted in spring will resist the impulse to do so, probably because of shortening days; (I say shortening, but in Glasgow, in July, we're still getting 18 hours of daylight).   I got a packet of Bright Lights , at a good price, (another reason to wait until July before sowing, lots of bargains, I've noticed). But where to sow them? Most of the 2nd bed is under a tarpaulin, but it wasn't quite big enough to cover the whole bed, so the last 5ft or so went under a sheet of plastic, (in the background of the photo in this post, here .) Transparent plastic was a foolish idea, weeds were growing underneath it, so I covered most of it with sheets of metal from the old shed. I decided to leave the tarp, but use the area beneath the plastic for the chard. Who-ah there
Read more

VINEGAR!

That wine I started a while back has turned to vinegar. Well, that answered questions I was asking myself back then, viz., 'Do we get vinegar flies around here?' And, 'Are all these little flies vinegar flies?' The fuckers. I thought I was being a clever recycler, not buying proper air-locks and using the old plastic-and-lacky-band method. Ah well, another step up another learning curve. Anybody need three gallons of white wine vinegar and two gallons of the impossibly exotic strawberry wine vinegar? It's been a 'business day', dealing with officials and filling out forms. Don't get me started! Alex came over tonight. He gave me the Aphonic CD (he's been in touch with them and they sent him several copies). I thoroughly approve of this new trend of bands getting their work known over the internet, by-passing (initially at least) the poisonous attentions of the music industry. Come to think of it, some of the people in that business are rat
Read more