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Gear / General — 2 Comments
20
Jan 12

Leica M3 Shutter Problem

I’ve been shooting a lot with my 1957 Leica M3 lately, but I’ve recently started noticing an underexposed area at the very edge of my negatives. After some research, this is most likely due to an issue called ‘shutter capping’, which is where the tension of the horizontal cloth shutter needs adjusting.

So, although I hate to be without it, I shipped it off yesterday to Youxin Ye, a renowned Leica repairman, in Canton, Massachusetts. I’ve used him before and have been very pleased with the work. Hopefully I’ll get it back soon!

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Gear — No Comments
5
Jan 12

1954 Rolleiflex Price List

When I bought my Rolleiflex MX, it came with the original box and, inside, I found a 1954 dated price list from Burleigh Brooks Co, Ltd. of New York, listing Rolleiflex and Rolleicord cameras and accessories. I just scanned it to a PDF and thought I’d share it. You can download it from the following link:

1954 Rolleiflex Price List

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23
Aug 11

Nikon FM

The seventies saw a major fundamental change in camera design, heralded by the launch of the Olympus OM1 in 1972. Prior to this groundbreaking model, the majority of 35m SLRs were big and heavy, with lenses and accessories to match. In contrast, the OM1 was tiny, and within a few years all the other manufacturers were also designing their own compact SLR. Nikon’s answer to this trend was the FM.

Nikon FM with Nikkor 50mm F/1.8 AI lens

Hasselblad Proxar Close Up Filter

I found a Proxar diopter tucked in a side pocket of a bag I got when I bought a used Hasseblad and thought I’d try it out on this Swiffer victim. Proxars are glass filters which you mount to the front of a lens to allow it to focus closer than with the lens alone. This is the 2m Proxar which I believe was designed to be used with a 250mm lens but here I tried it on the 80mm Planar.

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14
Aug 11

Nikon F2 Photomic

Launched by Nikon in 1971, the F2 replaced the original F model as the premier professional 35mm SLR camera of it’s time. Boasting many improvements over it’s popular predecessor, it was clear that Nikon had taken to heart the feedback on the F from the pros and had produced a tool that many people believe is the finest mechanical SLR ever built.

It was the mid-seventies when I started to become seriously interested in photography and the F2 was at the peak of it’s popularity. I had started to harbour a dream of becoming a press photographer by then, and would read any photography magazine I could get my hands on, and watch the news every night to catch a glimpse of the pros at work. In doing so, one thing became clear: if one wanted to be a professional photographer at that time, you simply had to use a Nikon F2!

Hasselblad 500C/M

Hand-built in Sweden, the Hasselblad 500 series of cameras is one of the most popular medium format systems of all time. The brainchild of Victor Hasselblad, the original 500C model, launched in 1957, was also one of the first true system cameras, embodying a modular design that allows components to be mixed and matched with ease to create the perfect camera for any specific assignment.

Deardorff V8 8×10

Deardorff V8 (iPhone shown for scale)

Sometimes, size does matter. With film photography, the larger the negative area, the higher the quality (resolution) of the resulting image. There are also other benefits, such as a smoother gradation of tones and finer grain. Unfortunately large format film cameras are big and heavy, the film is expensive, and they are slow to use. However, once you see your first negative or transparency, these issues seem minor; the detail and overall rendering of the image is just phenomenal!

Leica M3

Early in March this year I received a breathless call from a friend who knew I had been looking for a Leica M series camera saying he had just been speaking to a retiring photographer from a nearby town who had an M3 outfit for sale. He had seen and handled the outfit and said that it all looked in pretty good condition for it’s age.

Leica M3 with Summicron (mounted) and Elmarit

Leitz Summaron 35mm F/3.5

Launched as a screw-mount lens in 1949, and in M bayonet mount in 1956, the 35mm F/3.5 Summaron is a beautifully made lens and, although it can’t compete in performance with later Leitz 35s, it is still capable of producing very pleasing results.

Leitz Summaron 35mm F/3.5

My 1958 copy is in pretty nice condition cosmetically, and is the M3 version with ‘goggles’. The viewfinder on the Leica M3 only has frame lines for 50mm, 90mm and 135mm lenses, so this viewfinder attachment corrects the field of view to match that of the lens and allow accurate framing.

Read more on Leitz Summaron 35mm F/3.5…

Gear — 3 Comments
26
Jun 11

Rollei 35

This week I shall mostly be shooting with – a 1973 Rollei 35!

One fateful night in the early sixties, a slightly mad camera engineer named Heinz Waaske drank a little too much schnapps to ward off the bitter cold of the German winter and came up with the design for what is still the smallest fully mechanical 35mm camera ever produced: the Rollei 35!

Rollei 35

DJCPHOTO.COMThe art and science of photography by Knoxville Photographer Dave Carroll

Gear

Leica M3 Shutter Problem

1954 Rolleiflex Price List

Nikon FM

Hasselblad Proxar Close Up Filter

Nikon F2 Photomic

Hasselblad 500C/M

Deardorff V8 8×10

Leica M3

Leitz Summaron 35mm F/3.5

Rollei 35

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