Old School meets older school

 For a change, decided to go old school today. Fired up the Leica M9 complete with corrosion ridden sensor. It was a low contrast day with lots of mist and fog everywhere. So Chose to go with the even older school Leica 5cm Summar.

Nice to get back to basics. Manual everything. Slowed down and just enjoyed the moment.

Old school digital cam. Leica M9

 

 Even older school Leica Lens. Leica Summar 5cm

 

Misty

 

Not bad for a 1936 lens

Low contrast day. Low contrast lens.

50mm Bokeh shootout

From a post on a car forum I visit, someone asked if I had direct comparrison shots of the different look, feel, taste and texture, or Bokeh  of the various lenses I had mentioned. No. was the answer, But quite intigued myself. So whilst out n about stopped off and took some pics. Set tripod up to maintain perspective and angle. Light was very flat. Whilst may not have helped. (not sure)

So the lenses in question are the Summar (1936), Summitar, Summicron (collapsible) Elmer-M (collapsible), Canon F1.4 in LTM and a 7Artisans F1.1. DOH! forgot to bring the Taylor Hobson Anastigmat.
I mention the age of the Summar as it just tickles me that an 83 year old lens still works in itself and mounted to a modern digital camera. Marvellous.

(note to self, how on earth did I end up with 6, 50mm lenses) make that 7.

Apologies for the iffy exposures. Not paying attention. And straight off the chip as normal.

Summar

Summitar

Summicron

Elmar-M

Canon

7Artisans

Summar

Summitar

Summicron

Elmar-M

Canon

7Artisans

Leica M-P Pick n mix

Like a pin ball, this post is likely to bounce from one thing to another and back again in no particular order.

So lets open the post with the camera in use. All the images presented here have been taken with the
Leica M-P type 240. And very nice it is to. Slimmed down menus from the M9. More back to basics. Having wanted the M-P since I found out about it. The big thing is the 2mb buffer, as small an increase as it is, it makes such a difference in real world shooting. I do like the minimalist front, no red dot. But lets face it, a Leica M with no red dot, is as invisible, as a Mercedes without a  Tri Star. Yeah right. But, nice non the less. So having wanted the M-P over the M9 for the buffer benefits, I am already looking to the M10.

Is that because the M-P is no good? No. Far far from it. I thought going to CMOS from CCD would be an issue, it's not. The M9 CCD produced beautiful images. The M-P CMOS produces beautiful images.

So why the desire for the M10? Human nature I guess. The biggie here, is the slimness of the body harking back to the M3 (my first Leica) and no video. Have I used the video option on the M-P? Yes.
More just to see how it works and how well. All quite acceptable and novel. But the likelihood is I would whip out the mobile and use that.

 Where the CMOS really scores is the live view mode. Realy like that. Just brilliant for those critical focus shots.

One thing I would like to see is the option for a second type of live view focus as found in the Ricoh GXR.
You really can pin down the focus and the depth of field. (dear Leica firmware upgrade?)

Unlike a lot (most/all) Youtube reviews of Leica cameras. I'm putting my own hard earned cash on the counter. No freebies or test pieces here. (yes, I'm open to offers. but not holding my breath)

So as happy as I am with the M-P, as I was (and still am with the M9) I'm working my way towards an M10.

So what have I been shooting with it? Nowt special. All very boring with little technical skill, but I'm shooting for me, not commercially.

As ever, no fiddling about, all straight off the chip. No cropping, curves, contrast, sharpness, brightness or owt else.

Testing out the 90mm 2.8 in table lamp lighting. iso 2500 @1/8

Grain. Grain what am I talking about. Noise. Not bad for a handheld shot.

Brook side path (Elmar 50 f2.8)

Parallel lines (Elmar 50 f2.8)

More parallel lines (Elmar 50 f2.8)

Happens (Elmar 50 f2.8)

Bench (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 Berries (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 Tree (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 Delicate (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 Bowl

 Black and white (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 Or, Colour (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 

 2 front (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 2 rear (Elmar 50 f2.8)

 

Voight 15mm Selection

 Skyscape

New member of the team

Hello.
Have not long added another 50mm lens to my collection. Did I NEED another fifity? No, course not.
So what does this one bring to the party? F1:1.4 that's what.. And, to top it all, its a Canon. What the chuff!

I am weak and could not resist the lure of a fast fifty. I have fifties that convey various flavours of Bokeh and others of contrast and sharpness. But this one brings that extra something in terms of low lightness.

It's an imposing beast on the M9 compared to the other 50s. But looks right.

For reasons I cannot quite explain, other than just pure luck, this particular sample seems to match the focusing of the M9 extremely well. I have heard of people sending lenses/cameras off for calibration, but this just seems to be so well matched. Mildly puzzling/frustrating that it matches better than some of my Leica lenses. Go figure.

Anyway, here's a few shots from a recent outing, Think shot at either 2.8 or 4.

 Shot of the day for me.

 Not bad for a manual focus camera on the fly.

All sorts

Bit of a mixed bag today. Some, shot from the hip, some not. No big wordy thoughts on the todays subjects just pics from the chip. As always no fiddling just straight off the chip.

In no particular order.

Open all hours?

 Baskets, the lot of 'em

 Have bag, will travel. One from the hip..

 Music on the go.

 Lucky 7

 Object of desire.

 Smallest washing line?

 From the hip 2.

 Just nice.

 Man in the mirror

 Anyone would think it's December and just above freezing. Oh hang on..........

 Nice light

 Industrial strength door handle.