Tasting Film With The Leica M6

Leica M6

Last time I shot film was somewhere in the 80’s, and when I hopped on the photography wagon again, it was with the digital cameras (~2001/2002). The advantages of going digital; No hassle of developing the film, and spending hours in a dark room. Digital was ‘easy’.

Since the last couple of years, the idea of shooting film emerged again. Not sure why exactly. Perhaps because stuff of the previous century is coming back (LP’s, audio cassettes, etc.). Retro is hip (or so they say).
The thing that kept me back was the investment in a film body (damn, I’m already talking in the past tense), and because I already have some excellent Leica M lenses, a Leica M film body is on the top of the list (if it comes to buying a film camera).

Since a Leica M6 (TTL) still costs ~3000 euro, the idea of stepping into film is still a (distant) idea, but the wall around the idea is crumbling. Especially since a photography meeting we had earlier this month.
One of the attendees asked if anyone was interesting in shooting film, since he had some film camera's with him. One being a Leica M6…
So I put my M10 in the bag and used the M6 (with black and white film) for the day.

It’s funny that operating the M6 is identical to using the digital M cameras. Main difference is there’s no Auto setting on the shutter dial, so you have to adjust the shutter (or the aperture) for a proper exposure, and the ISO is fixed.
Another difference is that you cannot ‘chimp’ (checking the photo on the LCD), and I noticed that I looked quite a few times at the back of the camera after taking a shot (only seeing the ISO dial).

Nikon Coolscan IV

When the day was over I dropped the film of for processing and the waiting started (another great thing of digital; no waiting. Instant gratification (or disappointment).

I used a borrowed Nikon Coolscan IV to digitize the negatives, and used ‘A Better Finder Attributes’ to populate the EXIF information.

The following scans were the results of shooting film after 30+ years. It must be like riding a bike; a bit rusty in the beginning, but the feeling returns after a couple of photos.

This experience didn’t really help. At some point I was hoping that it was a disaster, but it wasn’t. It was nice. It was different. But not so nice and different that I would part from my digital cameras…

Leica M10 with Zeiss Distagon 4/18 ZM and Infrared

Yesterday, I picked up a second-hand Zeiss Distagon 4/18mm ZM for some landscape and general wide-angle photos. Since the Zeiss 18mm has a 58mm filter size, and my Lee filter kit contained a 58mm adapter, I wanted to see if that would work.

While browsing my filter set I found found my IR filter, and decided to give that a try. It turns out that the M10 sensor is able to record infrared, but you need relative long exposures (just like my Fuji X-T1), since it's not specially prepared/adapted for IR.

While doing some test shot (out of hand) outside in the full sun I noticed that the Zeiss Distagon has some internal reflection issues while shooting infrared. Can you spot those issues?

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Answer: It's bokeh-balls where you don't expect them.

Off-topic: Did Zeiss stop producing the Distagon 4/18mm ZM? It's no longer listed on their website.

The Distagon 4/18mm is missing from their ZM lens line-up

Goodbye My Old Friend

Ever since the introduction of the Leica M10, I got this itch. One I didn't get when Leica introduced every other type 2xx version of the M-camera. But the new M10 doesn't come cheap, and what's a 6/7 year old M9 worth nowadays? An upgrade is only an option if I get a certain amount for my M9.

'Fortunately', my M9 suffered from sensor corrosion and got a free sensor replacement including some minor service which made the camera more valuable, so this was a perfect time to try to sell the camera and get a bit more money for it.

Since the Leica M9 was relatively old I didn't expect to sell the camera that quickly, but I was wrong. Within two weeks the camera was sold. People were actually getting in line. So there's still demand for that camera.

And now, we wait. wait till the new M10 (black) is available again. Which could be a couple of weeks. Well... #FirstWorldProblems

Leica M9 Sensor Corrosion

Last week, the proverbial shit hit the fan. Going over some landscape photos I shot the week before I noticed that the sensor was getting dirty again, since several specs showed up on photos shot with a smaller aperture.

After adjusting the zoom level in Adobe Lightroom I started to repair the damage with the clone/heal tool. Al went well, until I ran into some weird looking specs of dirt.

Specs with halo-like rings on the Leica M9 @ 400% zoom

Not having seen images of sensor corrosion, I kew instinctively that this was not caused by dirt on the sensor. A simple Google image search on 'Leice M9 sensor corrosion' gave me several samples of what it might look like.

Thankfully, Leica will replace the sensor free of charge (some handling fees might apply). And replacing the sensor would mean that the entire camera needs to be disassembled. And that means that I get a completely serviced M9 camera back (in about 5 weeks).

I can only say: sure, a Leica camera costs more, but you also get more customer service in return. My M9 is over 6 years old. 4 to 5 years out of warranty (pending on the country you live in), and they fix it for free. Try that with your average 6 year old (DSLR) camera.

Two Thumbs Up.

UPDATE: Found another example. This time corrosion (left) and dirt (right) next to each other.

Leica Released The Leica M10

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Leica M10

I got the Leica M9 a couple of years ago, and in the meantime they released several Leica M Type 24x and 26x versions with, and without video etc. I still like the M9, eventhough it lacks video, high ISO, etc.. I like it because it digital photography without any overhead. No fancy auto-focus, 4k video with 10-axis stabilization. It's digital photography in its purest form.

Today, they released the Leica M10. A new M camera which (thankfully) doesn't shoot video and has no Electronic View-Finder (EVF). No gimmicks. Nothing (well it does have Live View, and you can buy an overprices EVF for it.....)
It is thinner, has better ISO performance, it's faster, it's... well... it's like an M9 on steroids, and it's on my wish-list, because I want it. Is that wrong?