by johanniels.com
This particular Leica M2 started out it’s life in 1963 and was used by German press photographer Herbert Ahrens until his death. When I bought it, the sticker from his ‘Pressedienst’ was still on the bottom plate. It looked very beat up but was still working flawlessly.
Continue reading “Leica M2, the all-round press photographers camera”
What’s up, Doc?
The Leica M3 was a revolutionary design. It had a combined rangefinder and viewfinder, with parallax corrected frames that matched the focal length of the mounted lens automatically. The viewfinder was the brightest ever made. The M3 was the first camera with an advance lever, instead of a knob. It had a rear door that swings up, to make film loading easier. It featured a new and patented bayonet mount.
Eindelijk eens een dag zonder regen vandaag, de weerman voorspelt droger en kouder weer vanaf het weekend. Voor de middag staat een sessie portretfoto’s met politici op het programma, in Utrecht. Voor de ochtend heb ik de hond meegenomen naar het bos, in Assen. Het Asserbos is het mooiste bos van Noord-Nederland, het loopt tot aan de rand van het stadscentrum en je kan er drie uur lopen zonder twee keer hetzelfde pad te hoeven nemen. Bijna gedachtenloos verstuur ik een tweet over de portretsessies, wanneer ik een bericht zie dat zegt: “Skelet bij Gieten blijkt mens uit de IJzertijd”. Dat zet me aan het denken.
Featured in this article is a Leica M4 that went through its paces. I always imagine it served in Vietnam, since many photo-journalists who worked there and used Leica’s, chose the M4.
Continue reading “Leica: The incredible M4 can take a beating”
After I discovered online that the 1940’s American Perfex Deluxe rangefinder was also available in a version with a Wollensak lens in a 38mm screw mount, I decided to buy one and find out if it would fit a Leica.
Only when it arrived I found out that the focussing unit of the Perfex is on the body, not on the lens. A bit like a really unsophisticated Contax focusing system. So much for easily adapting the lens for Leica, I thought. The camera sat on a shelf for quite some time. It wasn’t a feat of engineering either, using it was like photographing with a brick, both in ergonomics and in results. I didn’t even try, it was too obvious.
Continue reading “DIY: hack a Perfex Wollensack lens into Leica LTM mount”
Thinking about buying a Leica body but you are uncertain which model will fit your photography needs best?
This little page conveniently lists the specifications of all ‘regular’ Leica film models, made from 1955 to 2003.
Continue reading “Leica M, complete specifications overview”
The Rolleiflex Standard, built from 1932 to 1935, was the mother of all Rolleiflex cameras. The Rolleiflex is part of a family of cameras called Twin Lens Reflex, or TLR in short. Simply means the camera has two lenses: the upper lens is used to frame the image, the lower lens is actually a shuttered lens and takes the picture. Continue reading “Rolleiflex TLRs, the bigger picture”
Every now and then you see them surface, those expensive and rare Leicas. The Leica Luxus, for instance. Only three of those gold plated Leicas were ever made, and only one of those is known to be in existence today. Or the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffen or Kriegsmarine engraved Leicas of the second World War. But most of the time these ‘rare’ cameras are fakes. How can you tell the true Leicas from the fake ones? A small guide.
Continue reading “Barnack Leica: true or fake? A comprehensive guide”
The history of the Komura brand lenses is little-known. Information on the company and the lenses it produced is difficult to find online. But, many of the Komura lenses are very good, both in build quality and in optical results! This page lists the Komura lenses for Leica cameras, to facilitate finding those lenses online so you can shoot them on your Leica screw mount camera.
The company started out with making lenses for Large Format cameras. But in the 1950s they also started manufacturing rangefinder lenses for Leica thread mount cameras, and switched over to making lenses for Nikon rangefinders in the 1960s. Later, they also manufactured enlarging lenses, lenses for various medium format systems and also briefly produced lenses for various models of SLRs. Komura probably was the first brand to build a 1.4/85mm lens in Nikon F mount!
Continue reading “Komura lenses for Leica cameras, overview”
On the net you can find all kinds of stories on this lens. Most say its very soft wide open, prone to flare and what else. But most of the time this is merely a side effect from shooting a 50+ year old lens that has gotten hazy inside. Most of these lenses have scratches in the front element coating, which cannot be remedied with this pictorial, but image quality still can be improved a lot by cleaning the lens up.
Wanna see how to get the most out of this lens again? Read on!
Continue reading “DIY: Cleaning a Canon 1.2/50mm rangefinder lens”