The Coffee House

[smoke665]

Gary had a nice day. Gary wrapped up work early and a little after noon he put the top down, the volume up and headed down to Orange County Camera. Gary hasn't been there in a long while. They called him the other day and asked him to come on down, his presence was missed. Gary had a nice time and some of his OC Camera buds showed up. The owner handed Gary a Leica M4 black paint. It was very clean, not a scratch on it with a bit of brassing. After messing with it a bit, Gary asked how much? "$20,000", said the owner. Why? Because only 500 of those were made ... Gary gently put it down. It was 72F when Gary headed back north. The freeway was backing up and was getting congested. Gary dialed up some old Rock 'n Roll stuff ... Beatles, Beach Boys, even Buffalo Springfield. It was a good drive home.

It was cool talking gear with that guy. He definitely knew his stuff. He told me something that never occurred to me...."your better off buying a Voightlander body and putting Leica glass on it". I was in the mindset of saving the money on glass, buying a Leica body and putting Voightlander glass on it. More research. Lol. I got the bug picking up and holding a Leica M3 at a local camera store, it was like 10 grand for body only. The feel and precision of it was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Moral of the story? Don't pick up and fondle a Leica or you may get the fever.

I guess we all have our want list, but I'm clueless as to the value placed on this camera body. I can understand the high dollar for optics, and the value of digital bodies, but why so much for a mechanical body. Is it supply/demand and why is the model you viewed 10 grand, when you see them advertised for a thousand or less? Was it some sort of limited edition? Educate me please.

 

[jcdeboever]

Gary had a nice day. Gary wrapped up work early and a little after noon he put the top down, the volume up and headed down to Orange County Camera. Gary hasn't been there in a long while. They called him the other day and asked him to come on down, his presence was missed. Gary had a nice time and some of his OC Camera buds showed up. The owner handed Gary a Leica M4 black paint. It was very clean, not a scratch on it with a bit of brassing. After messing with it a bit, Gary asked how much? "$20,000", said the owner. Why? Because only 500 of those were made ... Gary gently put it down. It was 72F when Gary headed back north. The freeway was backing up and was getting congested. Gary dialed up some old Rock 'n Roll stuff ... Beatles, Beach Boys, even Buffalo Springfield. It was a good drive home.

It was cool talking gear with that guy. He definitely knew his stuff. He told me something that never occurred to me...."your better off buying a Voightlander body and putting Leica glass on it". I was in the mindset of saving the money on glass, buying a Leica body and putting Voightlander glass on it. More research. Lol. I got the bug picking up and holding a Leica M3 at a local camera store, it was like 10 grand for body only. The feel and precision of it was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Moral of the story? Don't pick up and fondle a Leica or you may get the fever.

I guess we all have our want list, but I'm clueless as to the value placed on this camera body. I can understand the high dollar for optics, and the value of digital bodies, but why so much for a mechanical body. Is it supply/demand and why is the model you viewed 10 grand, when you see them advertised for a thousand or less? Was it some sort of limited edition? Educate me please.

From my limited understanding... It is rarity, condition, and collectible demand. These older Leica cameras are precision, hand built, mechanical marvels. They were built with the highest standards, material, and craftsmanship. They really are beautiful to look at and hold. Don't cock the shutter and press the shutter unless you want to fall in love. Hard to explain, it's more of an experience. At least for me, that is. I don't get all crazy with their digital bodies. I would not buy a collectible because I want a shooter. $800 for an M2 or M4/P not including glass. The glass is what drains the wallet, providing you go for the Summicron, which is the gold standard for rendering.

 

[smoke665]

@jcdeboever different strokes for different folks I guess. Think if I was going to spend that much on a film camera I'd move to a medium format, or a 4x5, but that's just me. I was reminded again how much difference there is in a larger format negative, when I found some old 620 negatives. Despite being well over 65 years old, they were surprisingly sharp. I finally remembered the camera my parents had, it was an inexpensive twin lens Argus 75. Their's had the leather case.

 

[waday]

I've had my snow fill. This is from yesterday afternoon. Can't remember how many shots, but it's 11070 x 6427.

I'm ready for 90F weather.

Snow by Wade, on Flickr

**EDIT to the edit: Hmm, the image won't show up on my work computer, but will on my phone? Weird. It shows up in the edit screen on my computer, but not the post?

 

[jcdeboever]

@jcdeboever different strokes for different folks I guess. Think if I was going to spend that much on a film camera I'd move to a medium format, or a 4x5, but that's just me. I was reminded again how much difference there is in a larger format negative, when I found some old 620 negatives. Despite being well over 65 years old, they were surprisingly sharp. I finally remembered the camera my parents had, it was an inexpensive twin lens Argus 75. Their's had the leather case.

View attachment 155376

Every single antique store in Michigan has one of those, usually $20. If I recall correctly, you can sand the spools on a roll of 120 and use them. Don't quote me on that but I seem to recall a video on it using that camera.

 

[smoke665]

Every single antique store in Michigan has one of those, usually $20. If I recall correctly, you can sand the spools on a roll of 120 and use them. Don't quote me on that but I seem to recall a video on it using that camera

I think it's easier to re-roll to a 620 spool.

The point I was getting at was despite the fact that they were taken by an inexperienced person (my mother/father), there were no fancy sensors, (pretty much point/shoot) the quality of the image they produced was surprisingly good.

 

[jcdeboever]

Every single antique store in Michigan has one of those, usually $20. If I recall correctly, you can sand the spools on a roll of 120 and use them. Don't quote me on that but I seem to recall a video on it using that camera

I think it's easier to re-roll to a 620 spool

Well maybe. The video I seen, the guy had some medium sandpaper on a table and just quickly edged it to fit. Didn't take long. Just saying.

 

[smoke665]

Well maybe. The video I seen, the guy had some medium sandpaper on a table and just quickly edged it to fit. Didn't take long. Just saying.

Hadn't seen that one, the other didn't take long either. I'm really thinking hard about a medium format again. The biggest hangup for me is the "wait", between taking the shot and seeing the result, even if I process the film myself. My wife constantly reminds me of how impatient I am.

 

[jcdeboever]

Well maybe. The video I seen, the guy had some medium sandpaper on a table and just quickly edged it to fit. Didn't take long. Just saying.

Hadn't seen that one, the other didn't take long either. I'm really thinking hard about a medium format again. The biggest hangup for me is the "wait", between taking the shot and seeing the result, even if I process the film myself. My wife constantly reminds me of how impatient I am.

Well, there always is the medium format Fujifilm GFX. [emoji12]

 

[SquarePeg1]

Ugh migraine. Talk to you all much later.

 

[Gary A.]

Well maybe. The video I seen, the guy had some medium sandpaper on a table and just quickly edged it to fit. Didn't take long. Just saying.

Hadn't seen that one, the other didn't take long either. I'm really thinking hard about a medium format again. The biggest hangup for me is the "wait", between taking the shot and seeing the result, even if I process the film myself. My wife constantly reminds me of how impatient I am.

Well, there always is the medium format Fujifilm GFX. [emoji12]

The other day in the camera shop, Gary was chatting with some old friends who have dived into large format film. Kevin, new guy Gary hadn't met before was complaining about the price of film holders. We chatted a bit when he whips out his GFX. This was a first for Gary ... what a sweet camera. If the GFX didn't require an entire set of new lenses ... Gary thinks he would be shooting medium format digital.

 

[Gary A.]

Buenos Dias Coffee Hosers. It is almost raining today. Yesterday was a bit of a bust for rain. Nothing in the rain barrels. Presently, there is a heavy mist. The debate is to walk Miss Maggie or not to walk Miss Maggie.

 

[smoke665]

The other day in the camera shop, Gary was chatting with some old friends who have dived into large format film. Kevin, new guy Gary hadn't met before was complaining about the price of film holders. We chatted a bit when he whips out his GFX. This was a first for Gary ... what a sweet camera. If the GFX didn't require an entire set of new lenses ... Gary thinks he would be shooting medium format digital.

Well duh, if I wanted to drop 10k I'd have a Pentax 645 and glass on order.

 

[Gary A.]

Ugh migraine. Talk to you all much later.

Sorry.

 

[Gary A.]

Okay, broad brim hat, umbrella, waterproof shoes ... that should work.