by johanniels.com
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”
Konica has always been a company with its own master plan on photography. The release of the Konica Hexar in 1993 came as a surprise to the photography community. The Konica Hexar film camera was shockingly good, despite its quirky button use to set the cameras functions with. It was hailed as the viable alternative for a Leica M6, and AutoFocus too!
In this digital day and era, I feel safe to say the Hexar is the best compact film camera ever produced. Full stop. What, you don’t believe me?
Continue reading “The Konica Hexar AF: the ultimate compact film camera”