Lisbon - City of Light, City of Pain (II - 2012)

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Technical Data:

Camera - Nikon FM

Lens - Nikkor - S Auto 2.8/35mm

Film - Agfa APX 100

Developer - R09 (Dilution 1+50)

Scanner - Epson 4990 Photo

Date - July 2012

Location - Lisbon, Portugal

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Film Cameras For Lovers - Leica M4 (Photo Gear 15)

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The Leica M4 was introduced in 1967.

It combined some of the features of previous models, the Leica M3 and M2: the viewfinder - magnification 0,72 - was the most complete of them all, having the frames for the 35, 50, 90 and 135mm lenses (M3 = 50, 90 and 135mm; M2 = 35, 50 and 90mm).

On the Leica M4, the 35mm and the 135mm brightlines appear together. They appear automatically when you insert a certain lens, or you can preview the field of view of a given lens with the preview lever.

Leica M4 + Summicron 50mm

Other novelties of the Leica M4 included a new rewind lever instead of the old extendable knob (much slower to operate) and an improved loading system, without the separate take-up spool.

You only have to insert the end of the film into the slots of a fixed take-up spool.

These new features obviouslly contribute for a much faster and easier change of film.

Leica M4 + Super-Angulon 21mm + external finder

Most other (minor) changes were of cosmetic nature - at least from the outside - but I should maybe still point out the new shape of the angled advance lever with its hinged plastic tip. I find it more confortable and more reassuring to use.

Somehow it feels better to me, but that's just my opinion... I know that other people prefer the old-style lever. 

Leica M4 + Elmarit 28mm + external finder

Production of the Leica M4 officially stopped in 1971, although some small batches have been manufactured at a later time.

Some special models were made for use with motor-drives - marked M4 MOT or just M4M - and some models were produced for the American Army - known as KE-7A, made by Ernst Leitz Canada, in Midland.

You can find the Leica M4 manufactured in standard chrome finish or black enamelled, later cameras were also produced in black chrome. Both plants in Wetzlar, Germany, and Midland, Canada, produced the M4.

I could be tempted to think, that the Leica M4 represents the last classic production M camera, the pinnacle of the german camera industry, the cherry on top of the cake!

But then again maybe no, that place must be reserved - at least chronologically speaking - for a (maybe) less appealing - not meaning less innovative! - camera, the Leica M5.

Let's leave that story for another day...

Greetings to you all!

Leica M4 + Summicron 50mm

Fátima - Portugal, May 13th, 2011

(Agfa APX 100, Kodak X-tol 1+1)

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Film Cameras For Lovers - Leica M3 (Photo Gear 14)

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It seems to be fashionable these days to make things look retro.

Now you better not get fooled by the looks, the Leica M3 doesn’t look retro...

The Leica M3 is "The Real Thing"!

Leica M3+Versenkbar Summicron 5cm+Leicameter MC

(Camera and lens from the same vintage: 1955)

Introduced in April, 1954 – yes, that is 58 long years ago!!! - the Leica M3 was the first Leica to have a bayonet mount - the Leica M mount – permitting that lenses are changed faster and easier.

Previous Leicas were screw mount (The Leica Thread Mount - or M39 - was used on all previous Leica models with interchangeable lenses. The Leica IIIg released in 1957 - three years after the introduction of the M3 - was actually the last screw-mount Leica).

Comparing to former Leicas, the finder on the M3 – the first Leica finder to combine rangefinder and viewfinder into one window - is much improved, being of larger diameter and exceptionally bright.

The base length of the M3 rangefinder has been increased to 68,5mm for greater accuracy and the M3 finder has a high magnification factor of 0,92x. That together with framelines for 50, 90 and 135mm, make the M3 the rangefinder camera of choice for the normal and longer lenses.

The 50mm framelines are permanently visible in the finder, while the 90 and 135mm are shown when such a lens is inserted in the camera, or when you activate the finder frame preselector located on the front of the body  (the first M3s didn’t have the preselector lever!).

The parallax error is compensated in the Leica M3 by moving the framelines diagonally  through the field during focusing.

For wide-angle shooting use a separate viewfinder slid into the accessory shoe, or use a 35mm lens having the “goggles” that correct the frame of view attached.



Leica M3 + Visoflex III + Telyt 4/200mm

Leica M3 + Visoflex III + Telyt 4.8/280mm

Some other important features of the then new Leica M3 can be resumed as follow:

- Easier film loading with the opening backdoor (previous Leicas had only bottom loading);

- The transport lever used to tension the focal plane shutter and advance the film by one frame (former screw-mount Leicas had a winding knob);

The first M3s had the so called double-stroke, as in the case shown in this post: you have to wind with two short strokes. Later on, Leitz changed the film winding of the Leica M3 - and all subsequent models - to single-stroke film advancement.

- A single non-rotating shutter speed dial to control the exposure times (LTM Leicas had a second dial for slow shutter speeds). Shutter speeds set before or after winding.

- The film counter automatically returns to its starting  position when the take-up spool is withdrawn.

- Built-in self-timer.



Some thoughts about the year of 1955?

Elvis Presley made is 1^st TV appearance, Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl” is considered obscene, Winston Churchill resigns as British PM, Gaullists lose elections in France, West Germany joins NATO, Warsaw Pact is signed, Bill Halley hits nr.1 with “Rock Around the Clock”, Carl Perkins records “Blue Suede Shoes”, and so on, and so on…

It was still a long time coming for the world to know and hear about The Beatles, men landing on the moon was still a dream waiting some 14 years to become true, Portugal still had longer to wait to be a country free of dictatorship…

And all this time the Leica M3 was shooting and shooting and shooting…



Fátima, 13th of May 2011

(Leica M3 + Elmarit-M 28mm)

1955 was also the year of my birth...

...and the Leica M3 keeps on shooting... keeps on shooting... keeps on shooting...

Long live the Leica M3!

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Two of Us

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Évora, Portugal - September 2010

(Leica M2 + Summicron 50mm)

“Two of Us” – Lennon / McCartney

Two of us riding nowhere
Spending someone's
Hard earned pay
You and me Sunday driving
Not arriving
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home

Two of us sending postcards
Writing letters
On my wall
You and me burning matches
Lifting latches
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home

You and I have memories
Longer than the road that stretches out ahead

Two of us wearing raincoats
Standing solo
In the sun
You and me chasing paper
Getting nowhere
On our way back home
We're on our way home
We're on our way home
We're going home

You and I have memories
Longer than the road that stretches out ahead

From the album “Let it Be” by The Beatles (1970)

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Porto Brandão, Portugal - August 2011

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Technical data:
Camera - Leica M4
Lenses - Leitz Summicron 35mm + Tele-Elmarit 90mm
Film - Agfa APX 100
Developer - Kodak D-76, 1+1
Location - Porto Brandão, Portugal
Date - August 2011
Scanner - Epson Perfection 4990 Photo


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Meu tempo é quando

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Tomar, Abril de 2011

Leica M4 + Summicron 35mm

"Poética" - Vinicius de Moraes


De manhã escureço
De dia tardo
De tarde anoiteço
De noite ardo.


A oeste a morte
Contra quem vivo
Do sul cativo
O este é meu norte.

Outros que contem
Passo por passo;
Eu morro ontem


Nasço amanhã
Ando onde há espaço;
- Meu tempo é quando.


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Sofia and Ricardo Got Married - September 10, 2011

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My nephew Ricardo and Sofia got married last September.

I decided to take the chance and use the occasion to make some classical Leica photography: unobtrusive and intimate. The kind of stuff Leicas are good at and got famous for!

In black and white film, of course!

I chose two Leica M bodies (a M3 from 1955, - yes, that’s the year of my birth! and a M4 from 1968/69 respectively, - yes, that’s the year the first men landed on the moon!) and a couple of lenses:
 Super-Angulon 21mm f/3.4  (a really true non-retrofocus classic, designed and built by Schneider and resold by Leitz), Summicron 35mm f/2.0  (the often called “king of Bokeh, whatever people mean by that…), and the very enjoyable and small Tele-Elmarit 90mm f/2.8 (sadly in the meantime vanished from the Leica catalogue, I will forever treasure it!).

As film material, I picked up Agfa APX 100 (another true classic) and the new Kodak T-Max 400 (my concession to modern technology…).

I stuffed it all, together with a Gossen Variosix F lightmeter, in a small Leitz Kombitasche M.

 I was ready to go!

Wishing this nice couple all the best in the world, a wonderful song as food for thought:

“Congratulations” – Paul Simon

Congratulations
Oh, seems like you’ve done it again
And I ain’t had such misery since
Since I don’t know when,
Oh, and I don’t know when


I notice so many people
Slippin’ away
And many more waiting in the lines
In the courtrooms today
Oh, in the courtrooms today

Love is not a game
Love is not a toy
Love’s no romance
Love will do you in
And love will wash you out
And needless to say
You won’t stand a chance, and you won’t stand a chance.

I’m hungry for learning
Won’t you answer me, please?
Can a man and a woman
Live together in peace?
Oh, live together in peace

(From the album Paul Simon - 1971)

Technical Data:

Cameras - Leica M3 + Leica M4

Lenses - Super Angulon 21mm + Summicron 35mm + Tele Elmarit 90mm

Films - Agfa APX 100 + Kodak T-Max 400

Developer - Kodak D-76, diluted 1+1

Location - Setúbal, Portugal

Date - 10th of September 2011

Scanner - Epson 4990 Photo

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