Spotlight: Leica M3

A couple weeks ago, I went with my friend, David, to a camera show/sale. Beforehand, I had decided that I was going to buy a Leica if I found one for the right price. And I did. I bought my Leica M3 with a 50mm 1:2 collapsible lens for around $750, which is a good deal, since the body alone usually sells for a little over a grand online.

The M3 is the definition of build quality. There's not a flake of plastic to be found on this beautiful all metal beast. Though it's not a large camera, it has a nice heft to it, and sitting in your hands, it just feels right. Like it was meant to be there all along. I remember I picked up my Olympus OM-2n after holding the M3, and it just felt... well, cheap.

So how does this beautiful camera perform? Well, that's to be determined. I've put two rolls through my M3 so far, and neither roll turned out too great. Whenever I used apertures wider than about f8, the right side of the frame would be out of focus, while the left side would be nice and sharp.
I took a close look at my lens after developing my second roll, and discovered that the lens barrel (when extended) is crooked! GAH! So now, unfortunately,  I have to buy a new lens for the M3, because I don't think this one can be fixed. I think I'll make it a Christmas present to myself once I have a little more spare dough. So until then, sadly enough, I'm gonna stick this guy on the shelf. :(

Here are some shots from the two rolls I have put through my M3; one is fuji color 200, and the other is Tri-X black and white 400.

Service truck behind a local gas station

Triple Exposure of three different windows

The Office (Part 2). Notice the difference in focus on the left vs. the right side of the table.

Truck Butt (Part 2)

Town & Country

Ace Hardware

Government Building

Condemned House

Thanks for looking! I'll make a new M3 post once I get a new lens. Bye!

Print: Neighborhood

Here is my final darkroom print from my trip to the Northfield trailer park. This kid's toy was flipped over in an empty trailer lot. I used an aperture of f2.8 to somewhat isolate the subject from the background, but not enough so that you can't tell it's in a trailer park. The clouds even showed up without me using a yellow filter! I left the composition un-cropped for this print, and even showed a little bit of the sprocket holes for sex appeal. Once again, I used my Exakta VX with a 58mm lens on Ilford HP5+ film. The original print is roughly 7x10 inches.

Thanks for looking!

Print: Yard

Another print from the Northfield trailer park. I really liked this guy's yard. He has his Saturn with flat tires parked on his lawn, with a empty box of booze laying behind it. I don't know what was in the bag. Once again, this was done with my Exakta VX and a 58mm lens on Ilford HP5+ film. The original print is 7" x 10".

Print: The Religious Type.

Here's another print I made from my trip to the trailer park in Northfield. This one trailer we saw had some creepy religious sculptures in the front window. There was a lot of fog and moisture on the inside of the glass (gross), and it turned out looking pretty cool in the finished print. Those baby things are creepy! I wish it wasn't crooked... I think it's because as I was taking a photo of the window, someone started to come out of the house, and that caused me to tilt the camera a little bit, out of fear. oh well, nothing's perfect.

Shot on my Exakta VX with a 58mm lens and HP5+ film.

Thanks for looking!

Print: The Condemed Trailer

A couple days ago, my brother and I explored a trailer park in Northfield, Illinois. The park is sandwiched between a Jewel Osco and an Enterprise Car Rental. The park is made up of around ten blocks of trailers, although about half of the place is unoccupied. Many of the lots are empty, and there are a fair number of trailers that have been vacated. This is one of those trailers. I used my Exakta VX with a 58mm Zeiss Biotar lens, on Ilford HP5+ film. The actual print is 7" x 10".

Thanks for looking!

Roll: Michigan City

 Michigan City is a weird place. It's not even in Michigan! Here are some photos I took there, as well as some I took in the actual state of Michigan, and some shots I took back home. I used my Olympus Pen FT with Ilford HP5+ film. 

 Thanks for looking!

Spotlight: Pentacon Six TL

I have always wanted a Pentacon Six. I've been warned against it by multiple people, who have said that it's poorly built and unreliable. But there was just something about it that fascinated me. Maybe it was the 6x6 square format, or the waist level finder, or the fact that it looks like my Exakta VX on steroids. This week, I finally bought one.

 Turns out, I was right to be warned. The Pentacon Six is... well, it's kind of a clunky piece of crap. But, a very loveable clunky piece of crap.

First, I'll talk about the good things:

It looks f**king cool- The Pentacon Six has a really sweet design, in that it looks just like a large 35mm SLR. Sure, the Pentax 6x7 has that same kind of aesthetic, but the Pentacon Six was made long before the 6x7 (1950's vs. late 1960's). I love the how the silver body contrasts with the black leatherette.

It's small (for what it is)- As far as medium format SLR's go, the Pentacon Six is pretty light and compact. It's much smaller and lighter than a Mamiya RB67 or my Pentax 6x7. Even with the moving mirror inside of it, it's really not that much bulkier than my beloved Mamiya C330.

It's fully mechanical- I love fully mechanical cameras, mainly for the fact that you don't need to worry about your batteries running out of juice (or going out of production).  So the Pentacon Six gets a point for not requiring batteries to operate (angry glare at my Pentax 6x7).

And now the bad:

Dim and Dull Focus Screen- The stock focus screen that came standard with the Pentacon Six (And the one that is in my camera) is quite possibly the worst screen I have ever tried to focus with. It's not bright in the slightest, and it's nearly impossible to tell when something's in exact focus. It doesn't help that the screen is completely matte, with no aids at all. Before you call me a wuss, I've used matte screens in other cameras, like my Exakta, Yashica 635, and Mamiya C330. With the screens in those cameras, subjects really POP when they come into focus. It's not like that with the Pentacon Six's screen. Everything just looks... mushy.

The standard lens isn't very sharp- My Pentacon Six came with a Zeiss Jena 80mm 1:2.8 lens. I think pretty much all Pentacon Six's were sold with this lens back in the 50's. Aside from having an annoyingly long focus throw, the lens just doesn't seem to be very sharp, even when stopped down to f8 or f11. My photos look okay on a monitor, but through a loupe on a light table, my Pentacon Six negatives look soft as hell compared to negatives from my C330 or 6x7. I was fairly shocked by this, since my Zeiss Jena lens on my Exakta is pretty great, as I've said in earlier posts.

Katie with the Pentacon Six for size reference

Here are some shots I took today and yesterday with the Pentacon Six:

My Pentacon Six could definitely use some work. There seems to be some light leaks, as well as shutter curtain problems. I could use a brighter, custom focus screen, which are available if you know where to look. But in the end, it just wouldn't be worth it. My Mamiya C330 and Pentax 6x7 are just way better cameras. I sadly most likely wont use this Pentacon Six again for a long time, if ever. It's just too... unreliable. But hey, at least I have a sweet looking camera for my shelf, and now I know I'm not missing out on anything special by not using one.

Thanks for looking!