Vintage Watches are great, but let’s see some Vintage Cameras

Dsloan · Dec 19, 2022

JayBe
I believe that the R models don't have such a fantastic following as the M models, so we don't have to be too careful. I've never considered a mirrorless, as I have almost exclusively manual focus lenses and I'm afraid that it would be a hassle without a real viewfinder.
In this regard, the Leica SL2 would be a great candidate, but then, given its size, there's not saving compared to a DSLR.
The Leica bodies are all great and even though they are expensive, this have never been the main issue. It's the lenses that would put a too big of a hole in my bank account to justify.

Digital is more of a substitute for me, so I have been using an A900 Sony (great viewfinder) for the last 12 years and a friend offers me a A7 iii to try it out. Maybe I will give the Sony a go, despite its subpar viewfinder screen.

I'm a big fan of the A7 series (we sometimes use an A7R IV at work). Not as cool as a Leica M or R... But they get the job done - lots of lens options, and incredibly accurate and fast autofocus in my experience.

Dsloan · Dec 19, 2022

Well, it finally happened: I did the math on how much I was spending annually on 120mm film and drum scanning... And realized I'd save a good bit by just going back to digital for hobby photography. Picked up a Fuji x100v for everyday fun and a GFX 50R for when I really want a workout lugging around a heavy camera.

JwRosenthal · Dec 19, 2022

Dsloan
Well, it finally happened: I did the math on how much I was spending annually on 120mm film and drum scanning... And realized I'd save a good bit by just going back to digital for hobby photography. Picked up a Fuji x100v for everyday fun and a GFX 50R for when I really want a workout lugging around a heavy camera.

Stop drum scanning and put your digital camera to good work

https://www.negative.supply/shop

Dsloan · Dec 19, 2022

JwRosenthal
Stop drum scanning and put your digital camera to good work

https://www.negative.supply/shop

*Updating my holiday wishlist*

JwRosenthal · Dec 19, 2022

Dsloan
*Updating my holiday wishlist*

I worked with them to build a kit to do 35mm-8x10 using a Hassy X2D (100mp) or 907x (50mp )on their stand- also will try out the Leica SL2. Great people and clever designs.

sxl2004 · Dec 19, 2022

IMNSHO the M cameras have a mythical standing in the community, but are not very versatile. And the super sharpness of the new Leica lenses is wasted if not using a tripod.
The vintage lenses do the job and have character to boot. Particularly the Zeiss lenses old and new.
I love the M cameras period but particularly for my walks and vacations.
Took me a long time to get the simple complexity of the R7. Fills all my reflex needs. Have up Nikon and Contax SLRs.

Best

JwRosenthal · Dec 19, 2022

sxl2004
IMNSHO the M cameras have a mythical standing in the community, but are not very versatile. And the super sharpness of the new Leica lenses is wasted if not using a tripod.
The vintage lenses do the job and have character to boot. Particularly the Zeiss lenses old and new.
I love the M cameras period but particularly for my walks and vacations.
Took me a long time to get the simple complexity of the R7. Fills all my reflex needs. Have up Nikon and Contax SLRs.

Best

I can’t entirely agree with you here. The new glass is insane- truly, not just just for sharpness but tonal range, character, color- just insane. They are now designed for their 60mp sensors on the M11 and the high iso capabilities of that sensor is a game changer.
I was shooting a fast moving project, indoors at night and wasn’t able to bring lighting. I had my SL2-S with Leica SL glass and my M11 with Summilux’s. The SL2-s performed admirably up to 3200iso and lenses wide open at 2.8- with IBIS- but I couldn’t push it beyond that and things were moving fast.

The M11 at 6400iso and lenses wide open at 1.4 were tack sharp and stopped action- I could never do that with any of my Nikon D’s and have usable images (by my standards). Some of the action bled to outside where hard spots were used to light the action against pitch night skies. SL2s was able to hold the highlights but lost the shadows. The M11 however, with that insane tonal range- I was able to hold highlights and retrieve textures in my night skies!

I had become uninspired by digital with Nikon in the last decade (D4 was their last great camera and it’s been downhill since from a UI perspective) and the Sony stuff just leaves me totally flaccid (the worst user interface on the planet and images are just crispy with not much else going for them). The new Leica digital gear is awesome- just totally- fυcking-awesome.

sxl2004 · Dec 19, 2022

You are probably right. I was not very eloquently referring to my experience with film cameras.
The M11 is something else.

Best

JwRosenthal · Dec 19, 2022

sxl2004
You are probably right. I was not very eloquently referring to my experience with film cameras.
The M11 is something else.

Best

The Zeiss lenses are awesome, the Voightlanders are amazing (the 10mm is insane- a rectilinear 10mm lens!!) the Sigma’s and Panasonic lenses are amazing on the SL2 system (and some actually better than the Leica equivalent). You’re not wrong about the availability of great glass- and yes, the vintage glass is wonderful.
I think we are incredibly fortunate to have so many options for great imaging ( the gear we have gotten just since 2019 is amazing) and the ability to combine our heritage film kits with modern digital (at least with Leica or Nikon) is awesome.
It’s also one of the reason I love the current Leica mindset- I can carry an M11 an M6 and an SL2 and actually just have a single lens mount and use it on all 3….that’s awesome.

Oh- and don’t forget about the Hassy 907x if you are a Hasssy V system lover, can carry one body and swap digital and film backs!

sxl2004 · Dec 19, 2022

JwRosenthal
The Zeiss lenses are awesome, the Voightlanders are amazing (the 10mm is insane- a rectilinear 10mm lens!!) the Sigma’s and Panasonic lenses are amazing on the SL2 system (and some actually better than the Leica equivalent). You’re not wrong about the availability of great glass- and yes, the vintage glass is wonderful.
I think we are incredibly fortunate to have so many options for great imaging ( the gear we have gotten just since 2019 is amazing) and the ability to combine our heritage film kits with modern digital (at least with Leica or Nikon) is awesome.
It’s also one of the reason I love the current Leica mindset- I can carry an M11 an M6 and an SL2 and actually just have a single lens mount and use it on all 3….that’s awesome.

Oh- and don’t forget about the Hassy 907x if you are a Hasssy V system lover, can carry one body and swap digital and film backs!

Sont remind me of the Hassy. I have a whole backpack of lenses
Can I send you the bill? 😉

JwRosenthal · Dec 19, 2022

sxl2004
Sont remind me of the Hassy. I have a whole backpack of lenses
Can I send you the bill? 😉

50c-II back on 503cx I used as part of my wedding rig 20 years ago.

Dsloan · Dec 20, 2022

JwRosenthal
I worked with them to build a kit to do 35mm-8x10 using a Hassy X2D (100mp) or 907x (50mp )on their stand- also will try out the Leica SL2. Great people and clever designs.

You feel like the results hold up compared to a more traditional scanner? I had been going over to Full Circle in Baltimore and using their Flextight, which is 16-bit. The best I could do at home is 14-bit. But, worrying about that is probably silly of me... I'm mostly just scanning 120mm family photos and printing up to 11x14 max. Perhaps that extra latitude isn't worth $50 an hour to rent the Hasselblad.

JwRosenthal · Dec 20, 2022

Dsloan
You feel like the results hold up compared to a more traditional scanner? I had been going over to Full Circle in Baltimore and using their Flextight, which is 16-bit. The best I could do at home is 14-bit. But, worrying about that is probably silly of me... I'm mostly just scanning 120mm family photos and printing up to 11x14 max. Perhaps that extra latitude isn't worth $50 an hour to rent the Hasselblad.

You don’t need a Hassy- the files we are getting off mirrorless cameras these days are awesome and far surpass what we were getting off drum scanning 10 years ago. But like any workflow you need to find your process including keeping the dust away. This feels much more like enlarging than it does scanning (just in reverse) so it’s more engaging in the process than sitting at a V850 for 20 minutes while it gurgles away.

Dsloan · Dec 20, 2022

JwRosenthal
You don’t need a Hassy- the files we are getting off mirrorless cameras these days are awesome and far surpass what we were getting off drum scanning 10 years ago. But like any workflow you need to find your process including keeping the dust away. This feels much more like enlarging than it does scanning (just in reverse) so it’s more engaging in the process than sitting at a V850 for 20 minutes while it gurgles away.

Cool, I appreciate the information. I've got probably 400+ negatives I'd like to scan. I figure best case scenario, that's 5 minutes x 400 = 33.3 hours x $50 = $1,600+... so the math indicates that I simply have no choice but to buy such a system. Now, I just need to convince my wife to let me build a clean room in our basement. I'm pretty sure she'll talk me down to just getting a case of canned air.

JayBe · Dec 20, 2022

Now, you've confused me. Someone is selling a Minolta DiMAGE Scan Multi Pro locally for 1.500 USD, which I was thinking about. Next alternative was a Plustek for 35mm only...
Now, I'll be thinking about building a rig for my DSLR as option 3.🙄

JwRosenthal · Dec 20, 2022

JayBe
Now, you've confused me. Someone is selling a Minolta DiMAGE Scan Multi Pro locally for 1.500 USD, which I was thinking about. Next alternative was a Plustek for 35mm only...
Now, I'll be thinking about building a rig for my DSLR as option 3.🙄

I had the Nikon Coolscan 5000 which was a sensational machine. But it was glacial at scanning, only software to drive it was with Viewscan and I usually ended up doing a “contact sheet” on my Epson V750 to proof before I would commit to the time for the Nikon.
About 15 years ago I worked with the Library of Congress on scanning protocols- we were still shooting film at my organization (all large format) and they were using a Hasselblad H system mounted to a custom copy stand with light box underneath- very much like the system Negative Supply offers now. I can bet though their that contraption was about the cost of a Porsche.

Interstatetime · Dec 27, 2022

Two antique tropical safari cameras. ICA Dresden on the left and a Contessa Netal on the right. My dad bought the Contessa when I was a little kid at a pawn shop while we were out looking for watches. This was probably in the mid '60s. I recently bought the ICA at a local camera store. Both have their original cases with film holders.