Leica Iiif

[Pete Askew]

Looks like I'm late again. Lovely camera but the older ones take some getting used to. What you would probably find easier is an M3 or later where the rangefinder and viewfinder are combined.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks, guys. Busy...will get back to you.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Its yours noo? Ye've inherited it so tae speak? Jammy bastard!

Don't forget to nicht weiter herausziehen!

Sadly it is not mine, Brian. Looks like Susan will use it, but I am not allowed to...Who needs a Leica anyway. I can't even see through it!

Don't know what the rest of your message refers to

 

[Rob MacKillop]

@Lesley Jones - many thanks, Lesley. I'll pass them on to Susan.

 

[Brian Moore]

Sadly it is not mine, Brian. Looks like Susan will use it, but I am not allowed to...Who needs a Leica anyway. I can't even see through it!

Don't know what the rest of your message refers to

Yeah,...who needs a Leica anyway! I'm with you on that Rob!

 

[Hamish Gill]

ME!
That's who...
(And @Pete Askew ... And a few other people)

 

[Pete Askew]

Exactly!

While in Vienna I went in a Leica Store for the first time ever. I'd been in dealers before, especially in Berlin, but never an actual Leica Store. What a great experience it was. They had a nice display of both the latest equipment plus a large selection of older models going back to some of the earliest ones. Most were for sale but there were some 'display only' ones as well. They also had a good selection of books and an exhibition in a gallery above the store. The current one is the touring African Kings images by Alfred Weidinger. I'd seen some of the images in magazine but seeing the prints was far more impressive, both the smaller 16" x 12" ones and the huge 1m ones. Not only are the images stunning but the prints are beautifully done as well and the whole lot is even more impressive when you realise that they were taken using the Monochrome and a 50mm f/0.95, often at maximum aperture. The guys running the store were great and we all (including Ina) had a fabulous discussion about the exhibition and images in general. We didn't discuss cameras except when he expressed the opinion that the older f/1 had, he felt, a nice way of rendering images than the newer, and more technically 'correct' f/0.95. A great experience. And now I'm looking forward to the publication of the African Kings book and the 'making of' DVD which was playing in the store.

http://www.leicastore-wien.at/store-wien/alfred-weidinger-konige.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/a-weidinger/

 

[Pete Askew]

And you don't need a Leica to go in but I can't guarantee that you won't when you come out!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

@Hamish Gill @Pete Askew @Brian Moore and @AnyoneElse

Been looking at a few Konica Hexar RF fixed-lens 35mm, f2 cameras on eBay, and reading really impressive reviews. Getting interested. I miss the fixed lens of the Fuji X100, and the Hexar is the genuine article, and by most accounts as good as (some even say better) than an M6. The lens is said to be superb, as good as the summarit. I guess with a second-hand, fixed lens, the state of the lens is paramount...

Any views on it?

 

[Pete Askew]

I have been tempted by these many times and by all accounts it is a superb camera. We had links to a street photographer (also from Vienna) here at one point and he used one. I can imaging you'd enjoy it very much.

 

[Pete Askew]

Just remembered him - http://severinkoller.tumblr.com/

 

[Hamish Gill]

Yeah, I have also been very tempted! It is supposed to be one of the quietest cameras going ... I shall be buying one to write about on my blog sometime

 

[Pete Askew]

http://www.severinkoller.com/

http://severinkoller.at/blog/

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks for quick replies and links. I'm a bit confused between the Konica Hexar AF and the RF - the AF seems to be the fixed lens one, and the RF is interchangeable, but both are RF cameras...

 

[Hamish Gill]

The AF has a fixed lens and is autofocus and like the fuji x100 isn't a true rangefinder.... It just looks a bit like one.

The RF is a leica M-mount rangefinder

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thanks. Hence the confusion. Still interested in the AF. Might suit me well.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Ha! Just bought a Konica Hexar AF! Ex+ condition - cost me £220 - more than I've ever spent on a 35mm film camera, but hopefully worth it. Destined to arrive around 5th December. Influenced heavily by this write up Link: http://photo.net/equipment/point-and-shoot/konica-hexar and online reviews. Hardly anyone has a bad word to say about it. Apparently it doesn't like very hot weather - that makes two of us! Review to follow in December.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Nice! First dibs if you sell it on?

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Those vultures look hungry...

Might sell some other things, though...T90, perhaps, a couple of Zeiss Nettars...

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Mmmm Leica Porn