Vintage Leica ID

[Basil]

Nice! Looks sharp, colours look great too. Looks like you got yourself real winner.

 

[Legion]

Good stuff. Now you know it works, get out there and practice, and expect lots of camera nerds to give you a knowing tilt of the cap.

 

[trashcanmagic]

ok, so the dual range summicron that came with your camera is one of the greatest lenses ever made, and the m3 itself is a SPECTACULAR camera.

I dont know what you paid, but these really deserve being looked at by someone good. I would not, under any circumstances, trust such a camera with a non-Leica specialist. these are not brute force machines like old Nikons.

I had my DR summicron serviced by Youxin Ye a couple of years ago. He has a stirling reputation for working on Leicas. You WILL get your money back for a CLA on the camera and lens should you ever part with it. I used to collect Leicas and the first words out of anyone's mouth about old cameras/lenses is who did the last service and when it was. also just to make sure you ensure another 60 years of flawless operation, it's best that everything inside be properly lubricated.

 

[trashcanmagic]

btw while it lacks a bit in global contrast the DR summicron can outresolve many modern primes at the finest contrast levels. it is absolutely one of the all time greatest lenses ever made.

even if you sell the M3, Id consider keeping the summicron

 

[Mick]

Luna pro is one of the best meters made, along with the Honeywell spot meter.

You should have an opaque dome that slides over the meter reading opening. Slide it over and you have a direct reading averaging meter (point it at the camera lens. Un-matched for portraits). Open up the sensor and you have a 30° reflictive light meter. You can get a 7.5° spot meter attachment to read highlights and shadows like a Honeywell spot meter.

It is a very useful tool once you master it.

Tell me it is a Luna Pro F and I'll tell you more about it.

I still use mine when I feel that I want to get better digital exposures by shooting in manual mode.

 

[troy]

Nice! Looks sharp, colours look great too. Looks like you got yourself real winner.

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with how they came out, but when I start pixel peeping I feel my Panasonic is so much better. I do wonder if I would get higher res files from someone other than Walmart. They did say that they send them to Fuji though.

Good stuff. Now you know it works, get out there and practice, and expect lots of camera nerds to give you a knowing tilt of the cap.

Thanks it was fun to use, so different than what I'm used to. Lining up the images is a fun way to focus. I just wish the eyepiece worked better with my glasses. I really feel like I have to smash it up to my face.

ok, so the dual range summicron that came with your camera is one of the greatest lenses ever made, and the m3 itself is a SPECTACULAR camera.

I dont know what you paid, but these really deserve being looked at by someone good. I would not, under any circumstances, trust such a camera with a non-Leica specialist. these are not brute force machines like old Nikons.

I had my DR summicron serviced by Youxin Ye a couple of years ago. He has a stirling reputation for working on Leicas. You WILL get your money back for a CLA on the camera and lens should you ever part with it. I used to collect Leicas and the first words out of anyone's mouth about old cameras/lenses is who did the last service and when it was. also just to make sure you ensure another 60 years of flawless operation, it's best that everything inside be prrly lubricated.

Thanks a lot for this info. I just googled him and his price sheet seems much more reasonable than I though it would be. I think I may shoot him an email.

Luna pro is one of the best meters made, along with the Honeywell spot meter.

You should have an opaque dome that slides over the meter reading opening. Slide it over and you have a direct reading averaging meter (point it at the camera lens. Un-matched for portraits). Open up the sensor and you have a 30° reflictive light meter. You can get a 7.5° spot meter attachment to read highlights and shadows like a Honeywell spot meter.

It is a very useful tool once you master it.

Tell me it is a Luna Pro F and I'll tell you more about it.

I still use mine when I feel that I want to get better digital exposures by shooting in manual mode.

Thanks! I'll have to get it out and play around with it.

 

[trashcanmagic]

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with how they came out, but when I start pixel peeping I feel my Panasonic is so much better. I do wonder if I would get higher res files from someone other than Walmart. They did say that they send them to Fuji though.

Just keep the negatives for later.

The truth is really high quality film scans are pricey. Drum scans are the way to go but probably only when you have already printed a negative and know it's good enough and important to justify.

You will find scanning your own in a basic 135 or 120 capable scanner is going to give you the best results for the money. Failing that, there are development houses out there that can give you some OK scans, but you will need a bunch of rolls of film to send over at once otherwise the shipping will kill you.

Im going to be honest though, 135 was never a high quality format. It was a convenience format until digital and the grainieness is definitely part of the aesthetic. I'd suggest grabbing some b&w (proper, not b&w c41) and embracing that side of it.

Or take the lens and put it on a mirrorless. It will keep up.

 

[troy]

Just keep the negatives for later.

The truth is really high quality film scans are pricey. Drum scans are the way to go but probably only when you have already printed a negative and know it's good enough and important to justify.

You will find scanning your own in a basic 135 or 120 capable scanner is going to give you the best results for the money. Failing that, there are development houses out there that can give you some OK scans, but you will need a bunch of rolls of film to send over at once otherwise the shipping will kill you.

Im going to be honest though, 135 was never a high quality format. It was a convenience format until digital and the grainieness is definitely part of the aesthetic. I'd suggest grabbing some b&w (proper, not b&w c41) and embracing that side of it.

Or take the lens and put it on a mirrorless. It will keep up.

Unfortunately Walmart, and from what I've read CVS no longer give you the negatives back. I guess they only ship one direction everything is sent back over wires. CDs and prints are made in your local store. I've thought about adapting it to my GX-85, I've tried that with a few other lenses and with the crop factor it's just not a very useful focal length for me.

 

[trashcanmagic]

Unfortunately Walmart, and from what I've read CVS no longer give you the negatives back. I guess they only ship one direction everything is sent back over wires. CDs and prints are made in your local store. I've thought about adapting it to my GX-85, I've tried that with a few other lenses and with the crop factor it's just not a very useful focal length for me.

yeah if it were me, and I didnt want to invest in a scanner, I'd wait until I had 5 rolls or something and send them to Richard or somethign similar and just pony up the 20 bucks / roll for process + scan.

 

[troy]

Luna pro is one of the best meters made, along with the Honeywell spot meter.

You should have an opaque dome that slides over the meter reading opening. Slide it over and you have a direct reading averaging meter (point it at the camera lens. Un-matched for portraits). Open up the sensor and you have a 30° reflictive light meter. You can get a 7.5° spot meter attachment to read highlights and shadows like a Honeywell spot meter.

It is a very useful tool once you master it.

Tell me it is a Luna Pro F and I'll tell you more about it.

I still use mine when I feel that I want to get better digital exposures by shooting in manual mode.

Playing around with meter comparing to my GX-85 seem to be measuring about 2 stops under exposed. Battery test says it's OK. I found a PDF of the manual. Looks like there's an adjustment screw on the back. I'll have to do some more reading and testing to see if I want to try adjusting.

 

[Legion]

Playing around with meter comparing to my GX-85 seem to be measuring about 2 stops under exposed. Battery test says it's OK. I found a PDF of the manual. Looks like there's an adjustment screw on the back. I'll have to do some more reading and testing to see if I want to try adjusting.

Are you comparing both in reflected mode using a grey card? Before you go adjusting anything, it might be worth testing it against a known accurate meter, rather than a camera.

 

[Mick]

Get a black, 18% grey, and pure white set.

VelloWhite Balance Card Set (Medium)

This has nothing to do with the meter, digital, or film. It's an exposure setting thing.

 

[troy]

Thanks guys! I'm just pointing at random stuff in the house walking from room to room. I'll get a gray card and do much more testing before adjusting anything.

 

[MarkM10431]

Yeah, it came with everything in that pic. the meter says Gossen Luna Pro, it has good batteries and seems to work. I have no clue how to use it, but the needle moves when I push the button and changes if I point toward shadow vs light. I've been thinking of trying to load and see what happens Especially since it came with some, 8 rolls of the Fuji and 1 of the Kodak, no Idea of age or how it was stored though. But didn't know if it should be serviced first, and feel clueless of settings. I can shoot full manual on my Panny, but it has a built in meter to show me where I should be.

look at the panny meter, look at the new meter held at where you are focusing on they should be the same or close. the thing about film is, for exposure puropese, aperture shutter speed and ISO of the film are or should be the same regardless of camera. if it's F8 and 1/350 with your panny with the iso @ 400 the leica should have identical settings (assuming the focal length isof the lens are similar.

 

[trashcanmagic]

look at the panny meter, look at the new meter held at where you are focusing on they should be the same or close. the thing about film is, for exposure puropese, aperture shutter speed and ISO of the film are or should be the same regardless of camera. if it's F8 and 1/350 with your panny with the iso @ 400 the leica should have identical settings (assuming the focal length isof the lens are similar.

the difference between theory and practice...

if you're shooting very forgiving film this should be ok but the overall sentiment is incorrect when talking about real world shooting conditions.

a few things that could throw it off (far from exhaustive):

• difference in shutter timing (esp for old film cameras which can run slow)
• actual light transmission of lens (esp. when comparing through lens meters to offboard meters)
• the difference in sensitivity between the digital sensor in the panasonic which is returning its real exposure versus the probably overly optimistic ISO rating of the film
• tendency to accept underexposure in digital to avoid clipping, but the opposite in film because you can exhaust the developer with the right technique plus the transition to white is not as abrupt/sudden/jarring

also Im curious why the focal length would matter here as the OP has a 50mm summicron (not a lens known for much transmission falloff) and nearly all digital era lenses are either telephoto or inverted telephoto designs and not subject to the sort of significant edge darkening old biogon style lenses had.

 

[troy]

Well, it's time to update this thread. The Leica is off to be cleaned and gone through by a specialist and then to find a happy new home. I thought about keeping it, but decided I'm not a film guy it was to valuable for all the more love I would give it. I'm going to get a new lens for my GX-85, some new tires for my wife's van, and some money back in my pocket in case I ever see another. I did keep the film in case I want to try playing with it sometime. I do have a Minolta XG1 with 3 lenses if I do get the itch.