Gear

This post catalogues the history of my photography gear. My first memory of being interested in photography, was when I found myself jealous of a digtal Canon compact camera that my sister got for her birthday. It took AA batteries and drained them in a matter of minutes. My own first camera was a  Fuji FinePix F30. My first "serious" camera, which at the time I thought of as a synonym for a DSLR, was a  Pentax K-m. Wanting cheap led me to old manual focus Pentax K-mount lenses, and those in turn led me to the  Pentax MX 35mm film SLR. Everything else follows from there.

My First Camera

My first camera was a  Fuji FinePix F30.

I'd done lots of online research, reading reviews. I learned the basics of ISO, aperture and shutter speed from the reading I did at that time.

The camera took nice pictures for what it was, but technology has come a long way - the pictures don't compete with a phone from 10 years later.

From Clifton Suspension Bridge
I've taken this exact same shot from Clifton Suspension Bridge many times, but this was the first time. Fuji FinePix F30.

Photos tagged with  Fuji FinePix F30

The Pentax Era

I wanted to get a "proper camera". At the time this meant a DSLR. From the very beginning I was interested in the idea of a camera being small, something that would stick with me, bar a few mistakes here and there. The  Pentax K-m was one of the smallest DSLRs available at the time, and I remember in-body image stablization being the other big selling point. I'm not sure I've had a camera with any type of image stablization since.

Photos tagged with  Pentax K-m

I had a couple of not-great kit lenses that came as part of the set.

I gained some understanding, somewhere along the line, that prime lenses would be sharper than zoom lenses. I know this is less true with modern lenses today, but at the time this was as true as anything. I didn't have much money to spend, but there were tons of quick prime lenses for Pentax K mount on eBay for < £30. I bought a  smc Pentax-M 50mm f1.7 for somewhere around that figure, and I took 95% of my photos from then on using that lens. I wasn't bothered by the lack of auto-focus, despite me missing focus quite a lot. With the crop factor, it was the equivilant of 75mm, which I'd now find akward for an everyday lens. But the pictures were sharper, and taking pictures was infinitely more fun.

Photos tagged with  smc Pentax-M 50mm f1.7

RAGfest 2010
Having a fast prime brought on a lot of gig photography. Pentax K-m / Pentax 50mm f1.7

I bought some other lenses. They got used, but not exactly a lot in comparison to the nifty-fifty.

Alice and falling leaves.
Photo with the Sigma 28mm from Westonbirt Arboretum.

Just before the end of the year, I bought a film SLR for K mount, the  Pentax MX. This is the camera that took my interest in photography another level. Playing around with film in 2009 had become a pretty niche interest. I shot my first roll of film visiting a friend studying a year abroad in Gratz alongside another friend.

Me, Tilly and J (on film)
A picture of me and my friends from that first roll. Pentax MX / Pentax 50mm f1.7.

Photos tagged with  Pentax MX

Pentax MX
My first film camera.

[My favorite photos from the ]

My favorite Pentax photos from my "Pentax Era"

Pentax Continued

After hearing about my ventures into film, my Uncle passed his old film SLR onto me, which just so happened to be another Pentax, a  Pentax K1000 with a  smc Pentax-M 50mm f2. I barely touched the lens given I had the f1.7 version, and I'm pretty sure I ended up giving it to my sister at some point.

Photos tagged with  Pentax K1000

I didn't stop at 2 film SLRs. I added a  Pentax ME Super to the collection as it had aperture priority, which appealed to me over the fully manual process of shooting with the MX or K1000.

My philosophy on automation in photography is that I want control over everything required to take the picture I want to take, and to be able to ignore everything else. Most of the time, that means to me that aperture priority, with some method for exposure compensation, trumps fully manual. When shutter speed is important for my photo, I'm still generally happy to give the camera control of ISO to get me the exposure I want.

Photos tagged with  Pentax ME Super

I added a couple more lenses as well. First ultra-wide  Cosina 20mm f3.8 MC, which I appear to have barely touched. By most accounts I've found, it's not a great lens. Second, and more interestingly, the  smc Pentax-M 40mm f2.8 which is a tiny pancake lens.

From the top of St. Peter&#39;s Basilica.
I used the Pentax ME Super + 40mm Pancake combination on a trip to Rome. The slides still look great to me now.
Niall
My friend Niall with Pentaxes. Pentax MX / 50mm f1.7

Week of Dark

In March 2010 I learned how to use a darkroom for the first time with a group of like-minded, but similarly inexperienced, friends at the University of Bristol darkroom. Later on I would be the darkroom manager at these darkrooms.

Mirror/2
Self portrait from one of my first self-developed films.

Canon Digital

While I continued on the Pentax front for film cameras, I'd fallen out with the  Pentax K-m. In many respects it just wasn't very good, and I didn't have the right lenses given the crop factor! I remember bidding on this big batch load of Canon lenses alongside a  Canon 40D on ebay in the middle of a Computer Science lab at University of Bristol. My student maintainace loan had come through, and I blew most of it on this knowing I could sell most of the lenses and make a profit even when keeping the 40D.

According to the EXIF data on the photos, I'd bought the camera off a guy called "Robert Olejnik" — apparently I never did a factory reset.

I sold all the lenses that came with the body with the exception of a  Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II. Shortly afterwards I added a  Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM. I have really fond memories of the Sigma; 30mm is finally a sensible normal focal length on a body with a 1.5 crop factor.

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
The Sigma 30mm with its hood as a hat

Continuing to explore film cameras

I'm on eBay daily by this point. Over the remainder of the year I bought a number of other film cameras that I proceeded to barely use. My "one-roll-wonders" so to speak.

The  Olympus Trip 35 put me off zone-focusing. Mostly, it just didn't do anything that my other film cameras didn't already do better for me.

In the Mendips
The Olympus Trip 35 was a pretty fun camera to take on a walk through the Mendips.

The  Olympus 35 ECR put me off rangefinders. I struggled a bit with the focusing, not that I would miss the focus, but it took me too long with the small and indistinct rangefinder patch.

I also bought an  Action Sampler (or so it was called), which was a mildly distracting toy. It takes four photos on each frame, each one a short amount of time after the other. I never took a compelling photo that actually used the feature, instead I just got four poor quality pictures on each frame.

Photos tagged with  Action Sampler

I also shot a single roll on a  Kodak Pop. I think this camera maybe cost me a £2.

Photos tagged with  Kodak Pop

I had a brief excursion into Canon film cameras with the  Canon EOS 300. Wierdly, the only photos I have lying around from it were ones taken with the  Sigma 30mm f1.4 EX DC HSM, which is only designed to cover the Canon digital crop sensors.

Alice and Tea.
Alice. Crazy vignetting from the Sigma 30mm on the Canon EOS 300.

Photos tagged with  Canon EOS 300

Instax

I also started playing around with instant photography for the first time with the  Fuji Instax Wide. My instax however developed a light leak after a while and then the motor that moved the lens jammed up. Gone before its time.

Carousel
Light leak on my Fuji Instax Wide.

Photos tagged with  Fuji Instax Wide

First Medium Format

My first dip into medium format was a borrowed  Yashicamat 124G.

Taken from the Baguette Queue, No. 2
I was quickly addicted to that "medium format" look.

I don't really remember the sequence of events, but I think there was the borrowed  Yashicamat 124G, then a  Yashicamat 124 which I owned, and finally a  Yashicamat EM. Both of the ones I owned had issues. The  Yashicamat EM had a broken lightmeter, and so I removed the whole front-plate given that it had no other purpose.

J with TLR, Edinburgh.
J with my faceless Yashicamat EM. Minolta CLE / Voigtlander 40mm f1.4

Photos tagged with  Yashicamat

Medium Format Upgrades

In 2011 I got really stuck into Medium format. This started with attempting to upgrade my TLR from a Yashica to a Rollei. I bought a  Rolleiflex 3.5E. Unfortunately, no Rolleiflex I have owned has lasted very long, I have not found them to be reliable cameras.

Lizzie.
I absolutely loved the images I got from using a Rolleiflex. My friend Lizzie on Rolleiflex 3.5E.

Photos tagged with  Rolleiflex 3.5E

If Rolleiflexes are not realiable, I've found Bronicas to be quite the opposite. I tried out a  Bronica ETRSi that I borrowed from University of Bristol Photosoc, and then bought a  Bronica SQA with 3 lenses. It was purchased before a trip to Iceland and I still have the whole set to this day.

Skógafoss, Iceland.
I got the Bronica completely soaked to take photos Skógafoss. After giving it a little while to dry out it continued just fine.
Diptych, Skaftafellsjökull, Iceland.
Amongst my favorite photos is this dyptich taken after hours of walking in Skaftafell.

I also bought a  Mamiya 645E so that I could use a  Mamiya Sekor 80mm f1.9. The lens is legendary, and I took a couple of pictures that hinted at how great it could be, but I just hated the camera. The size made it impossible to take anywhere, and it was unpleasant to use with the heaviest feeling shutter I've experienced. In hindsight I probably should have kept the lens, and tried a different body before selling the lot.

Growing, Clifton.
Not very interesting, but shows the shallow depth-of-field of the Mamiya 80mm f1.9.

Photos tagged with  Mamiya 645E and  Mamiya Sekor 80mm f1.9

Return to Digital

Planning my big trip to Iceland, I didn't want to take the risk of going 100% film. I wasn't sure what it would be like, and I was brand new to the Bronica at the time. Without it, I wouldn't have had any lightmetering capability on the trip.

The  Panasonic Lumix GF-1 appealed based on its size, especially when coupled with the not-too-expensive  Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f1.7 providing a fast, pancake sized, normal lens. Despite really enjoying this camera, I just wasn't really interested in digital at the time. It ended up being nothing more than an expensive lightmeter in Iceland and I sold it not much later. At some point I bought a strange eBay-wonder "CCTV" lens for it. It had absolutely no sharpness anywhere but the center of the frame, which was rather unique.

On her own on Chesil beach.
This photo was taken with the GF-1 + 14mm. This photo however did represent the peak of my editing skills at the time with a couple of people cloned out of the shot to leave a lone figure.

Polaroid Land Camera

Having messed around with Pentax in previous years, I tried instant photography more seriously by aquiring a  Polaroid Land Camera 340 from a friend. The photos, shot mostly on Fuji FP100c film (as the only one available at the time), are really wonderful to hold. I think this camera would have been a permanent keeper had the battery compartment not corroded everywhere.

Jon, Cactus, Old Polaroid.
When I think of this camera, I always think of this picture of Jon with a cactus. Polaroid Land Camera 340 / Fuji FP3000b film.

Photos tagged with  Polaroid Land Camera 340

Fujifilm X100

I remember when the  Fujifilm X100 was first announced, I instantly lusted after one. Compact body, amazing design, fast fixed lens, manual controls, digital. I left it a while though, considering them to expensive, but when my friend picked one up for a good price off eBay I couldn't resist following. I remember the feeling that the camera could basically shoot in darkness, it was a huge step forwards in low-light situations.

Man with Dog, Cambridge.
Shoots in the dark. X100.
Niall, Darkness, Dawlish.
Niall with his X100. Bessa R3M / Zeiss 35mm f2.

Photos tagged with  Fujifilm X100

Rangefinder awakening

Up to this point, my entire experience with rangefinders were older, cheaper, cameras with dim small rangefinder patches that made focusing very hard. A friend though had invested in Voigtlanders Leica M-mount equipment. I was able to borrow a  Voigtlander Bessa R3M and  Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2. It was an entirely different experience. I would go on to turn almost my entire photography attention over to rangefinders, and would even buy my own  Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2 within a couple of years. It's one of my most used lenses to this day.

After a lot of research, I decided to start my rangefinder collection with a  Minolta CLE and a  Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4 SC. I was attracted to the Minolta due to it being a small, M-mount rangefinder with aperture priority. I wasn't so keen on it only having 40mm framelines (as opposed to 35mm and 50mm), but the Nokton lens was available at a good price, and it was fast.

Sleeping, Grandfather, Southwold.
My late grandfather. Minolta CLE / Voigtlander 40mm f1.4.
Me and Alice Photographing, Bristol.
Me with the Minolta CLE + Voigtlander 40mm combo.

I definitely regret selling this kit. It's unsurpassed for me in 35mm.

Medium format misfires

Another one-roll-wonder in the form of a 1930s  Wirgin 6x9 folding camera. It was kind of fun, but had absolutely no sharpness about it whatsoever.

Mill Road Cemetery.
About as sharp as I got it with the Wirgin 6x9.

Photos tagged with  Wirgin 6x9

I had another shot at buying a Rolleiflex. This time a  Rolleiflex 2.8C with a Xenotar lens. I really wanted the Planar lens, but so does everybody else, meaning it costs dramatically more money. As with the last Rolleiflex, it died after only a handful of rolls. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the 3.5E.

The Picasso, Chicago.
The Rollei had a partially successful trip to Chicago before the shutter stopped consistently firing

Photos tagged with  Rolleiflex 2.8C

Super-wide

My second lens for the Leica M system, and the first that I still have today. The  Voigtlander Super-wide Heliar 15mm f4.5 has stuck with me for years, and has been on countless journeys, and on many many bodies at this point. It is very very wide. Stupidly so. It has some bad properties, but mostly, it just gets a lot of stuff in the frame.

Boston Tea Party, Bristol.
Inside a Boston Tea Party circa 2014. Minolta CLE / Voigtlander 15mm.

Committing to M-mount

In 2014 I moved to Seattle, and found myself at a camera shop in my first weekend out there. I bought a  Sony Alpha 7 with the intention of only ever using M-mount lenses on it. I paid for it with a cheque. The camera was full-frame and compact, it made total sense with M-mount lenses to me.

Felix fans, Safeco Field.
My first and only baseball game. Sony Alpha 7 / Voigtlander 40mm.

With the 40mm and the 15mm I had decent normal and wide-angle options. I added an old  Leica Elmar-C 90mm f4, which gave me a telephoto option. It was alright, a lot of the time I wanted to shoot things far away at infinity with this lens, and it just didn't do that particularly well. It was very cheap though.

Mountain Goat, Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park.
Mountain goat. Sony Alpha 7 / Leica Elmar-C 90mm.

Another massive Mamiya

I bought a  Mamiya Universal Press with the idea that it would take amazing Polaroids. I never even put a normal roll of 120 through it. Yet again though, size was its downfall. This thing wouldn't even fit in my backpack. It was completely useless to me for shooting anywhere more than about 5 minutes walk from my home.

Ashlyn, Apartment Rooftop, Seattle.
Ashlyn on Mamiya Universal Press / Fuji FP100C.

Medium format rangefinder

My purchase of a  Fujifilm GF670 on the other hand was a success, and it was a success precisely because its compact, and therefore, easy to use for any number of things. This one, alongside the Bronica is a keeper, I can't see why I'd ever get rid of it. It can shoot both 6x6 and 6x7 frames (though not interchangably within the same role). I thought I'd use this a lot, but in reality, I shoot mostly with 6x7. I can always crop to square, and the extra 2 shots per roll isn't worth it much of the time.

#2, Rattlesnake Lake.
Rattlesnake Lake. Fujifilm GF670.
Shoes, Pike, Capitol Hill.
An example square shot. Fujifilm GF670.

Tiny Rangefinder

All the way back when I was buying the  Olympus ECR and  Olympus Trip 35 what I really wanted was an  Olympus XA. I snagged one off eBay on a whim, and put a couple of rolls through it. I liked almost none of the pictures though, so I moved it on.

#1, Drive to Walla Walla.
Drive to Walla Walla. One I did like from the Olympus XA.

Photos tagged with  Olympus XA

Zeiss

By this point I wanted to upgrade from the  Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f1.4 SC. I wanted something a bit more technically good, something with a bit more edge-to-edge sharpness at wider apertures. I actually knew exactly what I wanted, because I'd had (borrowed) it before. I purchased a  Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2. That led me to beleive that I should move on from the  Minolta CLE as well, as it doesn't have 35mm framelines. I bought a  Zeiss Ikon as a cheaper, though still massively expensive, alternative to a Leica. For some reason, I never really got on with it. I suspect maybe there was some rangefinder misalignment, mixed in with me not having a very good film scanner at the time.

Half Dome, from Glacier Point, Yosemite.
The Zeiss Ikon came with me on a massive roadtrip including Yosemite.

Digital Leica

At some point in 2016, I realized that an older digital Leica camera was within my grasp. I rented a  Leica M-E (the original 2012 version) to see how I liked it. I instantly loved it, the shooting experience was almost perfect. Noisier smaller files than the Sony Alpha 7, technology moves forwards after all, but I would choose the files from the Leica CCD sensor every time. Shortly after returning the rental, I bought a  Leica M9 and assumed it would be a camera I would have for a very long time.

Man, Bryant Park, NYC.
The wonderous colours of the M9 in NYC.

In 2017, my  Leica M9 developed the sensor corrosion issue that plagues that camera. I had to send it off to Leica, and the waiting times at that point were rediculous. The communication of how long you'd have to wait was non existent. I bought a  Fujifilm X100T to tide me over.

Steam Vents, Volcano National Park.
Volcano National Park. I bought the X100T so that I wouldn't have to go on a trip to Hawaii without a digital camera.
Grandparents, Ely.
The X100T was the camera that took the last picture I have of my grandparents together.

Photos tagged  Fujifilm X100T

Leica Upgrade

In 2018 I gave up waiting and headed to the Leica store. I dropped a big pile of money and bought a brand new  Leica M10. The  Leica M10 is the sensible choice for me. For some reason, I have never quite felt the passion for it that I felt for the M9 (probably that CCD magic again), but the M10 does absolutely everything I want, and is flawless to work with removing all of the little annoyances that were present with the M9.

Dad, Getting Ready, Cambridge.
My Dad getting ready. Leica M10/ Zeiss 35mm f2.

Photos tagged with  Leica M10

50mm

I got really back into the idea of shooting 50mm again. My move to rangefinders had moved me to 40mm and then 35mm, with my 50mm days all the way back with my Pentax film SLRs.

First I bought a  7artisans 50mm f1.1 which is a frankly silly lens. It can achieve a super-shallow depth of field, but it doesn't really tick any other boxes for me. It's big, it's heavy, and it doesn't take the pictures I wanted. It took me years to get around to selling it, but its gone now.

Cleo, Downs.
Cleo. Shallow depth of field. Leica M Monochrom / 7artisans 50mm f1.1

So in the end, I spent a bunch more money. A used but mint boxed  Leica Summicron 50mm f2 (V) appeared at my local Leica store. I traded in my M9 on the day it was returned to me to buy the lens. It quickly became my standard go-to lens, taking the majority of my pictures since. Another one I expect to keep forever.

Cat, Rhodes.
Cat. Leica M10 / Summicron 50mm.

NOTHING! I didn't buy a single camera or lens. 2019 was a pretty difficult year to say the least, so I guess it wasn't top of my mind.

Lens Upgrades

2020: Lots of walking around Bristol taking photos of the same things over and over, but I did it with some upgraded equipment.

I bought some Leica lenses to replace the non-Leica lenses in my 3 lens setup. The  Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 was an improvement in wide-angle. The  Leica Elmarit-M 90mm f2.8 was an improvement in telephoto. In the case of the Elmarit-M I learned how to add Leica 6-bit encoding to the lens myself such that my M10 could correctly detect which lens was on the body.

Hills, Devon.
Wide angle. Super-Elmar-M 21mm.
R&amp;J, Sunrise, Rhodes.
Telephoto. Elmarit-M 90mm.

Monochrom

In May I bought a dream camera of mine. A  Leica Monochrom (M9M). This camera is exciting to use, and the detail contained in every file picture is absolutely mind blowing. The pictures consistently look great, even when you look at them at 100%. This has also really allowed me to see which lenses are better than others.

Front Door, My Flat.
My front door. I also bought a flat this year. Leica M Monochrom / Zeiss 35mm f2.

Photos tagged with  Leica M Monochrom

35mm lenses

2021 I was able to buy another dream lens, the  Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH. This gives me a fully Leica 21/35/50/90 kit. However, I still haven't been able to bring myself to sell the  Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2. I've had phases of preferring the photos taken with the Zeiss, though most likely I can't actually tell much between them. The Leica most definitely wins on size and handling, the Zeiss wins on price.

Sheep, Bath.
Sheep. Leica M Monochrom / Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH.

Photos tagged with  Leica Summicron 35mm f2

Trying to shoot Polaroids

My  Polaroid Land Camera 340 was busted, but there's still a handfull of packs of film in my fridge. First I tried getting a Polaroid back for my  Bronica SQA, which wasn't super satisfying because of the small coverage area. Then I bought a  Polaroid Land Camera 355 hoping for a direct replacement, unfortunately the cameras in poor condition, with some mechanical issues that means the lens isn't necessarily in line with the focus plane. Still I managed to take a couple of nice photos with some fancy "chocolate" Polaroid film I loaded into it.

Cleo.
Cleo on Polaroid. Shot with the Bronica SQA.
Me, Chocolate Polaroid.
A bearded self portrait. Polaroid Land Camera 355.

Photos tagged with  Polaroid Land Camera 355

A friend introduced me to Ricoh compact cameras and their GR III inspired me to buy the  Ricoh GR. I love the output it produces, and it's tiny size makes it the first legitimately pocketable camera that I've owned since the  Olympus XA. I don't really like the looks and the controls, but there's nothing else as small with such a large sensor, so I accept what it is.

Seagull, St Ives.
St Ives on the Ricoh GR.

Photos tagged with  Ricoh GR

35mm lenses (again)

I continued to be unsure about my 35mm lenses, particularly frustrating given that I consider it my preferred focal length these days. I made a decision to sell both the  Zeiss 35mm Biogon f2 and the  Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH and splash the cash on a  Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 ASPH FLE. Then I changed my mind, chickening out based on the price and size of the Summilux.

In the meantime I tried out a friends  Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f2, and fell in love with it. Missing 40mm framelines from my rangefinders bothered me less than I thought it would, and the lens is so tiny that it can fill a niche for me as a good lens to carry when I want to travel light.

Walls, Bristol.
Wall, Banksy. Leica M10 / Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f2.

Photos tagged with  Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f2

I still felt the need for an actual 35mm that brought up correct framelines. I ended up buying the emminently sensible  Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2. I bought the earlier version with the kinda-odd styling. I don't mind it.

Vauxhall Bridge, Bristol.
Vauxhall Bridge. Leica M Monochrom / Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2.

Photos tagged with  Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2

21mm trade

Having enjoyed the truly tiny size of the  Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2 and the  Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f2 I increasingly focused on getting the smallest lenses possible. While the  Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 is a beautiful lens, Voigtlander offered a less perfect, but much smaller and cheaper option. I traded it for a  Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f3.5.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Leica M10 / Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f3.5.

Photos tagged with  Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f3.5

Another Ricoh

Having sold the expensive  Leica Summicron 35mm f2 ASPH and  Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f3.4 I impluse bought a  Ricoh GR IIIx. There's something I haven't quite gotten to grips with yet about it, and instinctively I still prefer the output of the original GR.

Rooftops, Southville.
Rooftops. Ricoh GR IIIx

Photos tagged with  Ricoh GR IIIx

90mm trade

I jumped on another opportunity to trade a larger lens for a smaller lens. This time it was the  Leica Elmarit-M 90mm f2.8 for the  Leica Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f4. The size of this lens is really spectacular; a 90mm that (collapsed) is smaller than the  Leica Summicron 50mm f2!

Cranes, Bristol.
Cranes. Leica M Monochrom / Leica Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f4.

Photos tagged with  Leica Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f4

Tempting trial

I recieved an email from Leica about borrowing a Leica M10 Monochrom for 24 hours from their Mayfair store. We were able to line up some other things for the weekend, so I booked it up along with a full day off work to shoot with it.

Cutting Flowers, Spitalfields Market.
Spitalfields. Leica M10 Monochrom / Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f2.

I had a really great time with the camera. Good enough that I had a few months of carefully watching used prices and planning my path to buy one. I sold my M9 Monochrom on the basis that, even if I wasn't going to get an M10 Monochrom, I would prefer to use an M10 era camera. The prices kept going up and up, so I've given up for now.

Photos tagged with  Leica M10 Monochrom

35mm Solution

I purchased yet another 35mm lens, and I finally feel like I've got it right this time. The  Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5 has the size and similar handling to the  Leica Summicron 35mm f2, with the same 39mm filter size (that I've standardised on), but the option of an extra stop of light. A fast, small 35mm lens with modern corrections and the option of narrow depth of field is exactly what I wanted.

Duck, Volunteer Park.
Duck. Leica M10 / Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5.

Photos tagged with  Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5

Rediscovering Film

On a whim I put a roll through the old K1000 that originally belonged to my Uncle (see 2010). I didn't have a battery to put in it, so I shot the roll using Sunny 16 and had a great time. The scans I got back from Photographique in Bristol were really nice, and I was reminded that I can enjoy 35mm again.

Me, Pentax K1000.
Me, reflected. Pentax K1000 / Pentax 50mm f1.7.

Having rediscovered 35mm I of course turned my attention to buying something new. I bought a Contax T, and have rapidly put 10 rolls through it. I even ended up writing a 5 frames post for 35mmc about it (local copy).

Sheep, Yorkshire Dales.
Yorkshire Dales. Contax T.

I've been enjoying 35mm that I've invested in a 35mm "scanning" setup. It makes a huge difference verses a flatbed scanner, so it's been a really good investment so far.

Film M

I finally bought a film Leica! I chose the Leica M2 as it's the oldest Leica, with the most legendary build quality that I could get that would work well for 35mm. In fact, as someone that shoots 35mm, 50mm and 90mm, but not 28mm, 75mm or 135mm it has the perfect framelines for me.

Murray.
Murray the trainee guide dog. Leica M2 / Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.5.

Smaller 50mm

TODO: Voigtlander Color-Skopar 50mm f2.2

A list of things to do to improve this history.