Leica II classic rangefinder -Tips and thoughts

rhody

rhody

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I have just bought a super condition Leica II rangefinder from Andy in the Classified Ads.

80+ years old and still going strong and it is clear Andy cared for it very well during his spell of ownership.

It is my first Leica and I have had it now for nearly 48 hours.

The love affair has already started.

However, I won't be winning any speed loading competitions in the foreseeable future ................. :lol:

Practice makes perfect has never been truer.
 
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It's not a simple process for sure.

Another thing to be careful of is to not wind on too far at the end of the film. I did and snapped off the other end in the cassette, fortunately I was with Rob Hooley in the dark room so had a changing bag to hand.

Andy
 
Thanks for the "not winding on too far" tip Andy - much appreciated.

A steep learning curve at the moment.

I've got a 24 exp roll of HP5 in at the moment so I'll remember what you say.

Loving the camera and lens though.

Also dusting off the "Sunny 16 Rule" and other variations at the moment - I'm not good enough to judge the exposure by eye, yet :)

No wonder it was considered to be such a marvelous and groundbreaking camera at the time.
 
I've got a Leica III and an M2, and yes they are beautiful cameras.

I assume you know to trim the end of the film before loading it. I found a lttle metal template on ebay (a copy not a Leica original) that is useful to trim the film.

If you dont fancy the sunny 16 rule, there are loads of cheap little hand held analogue light meters about. I managed to find a small one to fit in the cold shoe attachment of my III. There are some lovely chrome period ones too, but not cheap.
 
Many thanks for the tips Steve.

Andy kindly pointed out the need to trim the leader as well as this was news to me 48 hours ago - but it is very much appreciated - cheers.

Hunting for light meter at the moment.
 
rhody said:
Many thanks for the tips Steve.

Andy kindly pointed out the need to trim the leader as well as this was news to me 48 hours ago - but it is very much appreciated - cheers.

Hunting for light meter at the moment.
Click to expand...

There are a number of iphone apps available which work. I used one last week to test my new Rolleicord, and it seemed fairly accurate. I knew I was probably underexposing on some as I didnt want to lower shutter any more, but the ones that matched the app came out well.
 
You'll have to experiment a bit to find the exposures that work for you, if you're not using a meter, but it's not difficult and most film - other than slide film - has a fair amount of latitude. Sunny 16 is just a guideline, and I believe it it was developed in California, where the sunlight is stronger than it is in this country. I normally use it in South Africa, but change to Sunny 11 in the UK, with good results.

Enjoy the Leica. I fancy an M3, and I might buy one eventually, but there are more pressing demands on my finances right now!
 
I have a thing for film rangefinders, (I was sorely tempted by that camera), they are amazing things once you get into the zone. Can't wait to see what you get out of it.

The iphone lightmeter apps are easily good enough for daily use.
 
I am a Leica virgin and on the basis that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask - please bear with me.

My "new" Leica has a Leitz Elmar f3.5 50mm lens fitted as standard.

The lens probably dates from 1934 and has been described by some as "the lens that started 35mm photography"

http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/50mm-f35.htm

However, interestingly, by today's standards, the aperture values are not as we would recognize them and are as follows

f3.5 / 4.5 / 6.3 / 9 / 12.5 / 18 - which appear to be variations of 1/3rd stop values

Is anyone aware of why this was please or of the reason behind it.

After the Second World War Leica adopted the values we would recognize today for this lens - f4 / 5.6 / 8 / 11 / 16

However with this 80 year old lens, it makes calculating the exposures really interesting unless I think of the Sunny 16 + a third stop rule = Sunny 18 rule.
 
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Thanks for all the tips and feedback so far everyone - much appreciated.
 
Leitz used the 'European' scale until after WWII when they started using the 'international' scale. Yours being earlier than the war is still marked in the 'European' way. I don't really know why they used the old scale, I presume that they just inherited the system.

Andy
 
Or an android, presumably ms and BlackBerry have them too.
 
They don't have a decent one for windows phones yet or the massive dev chart. Love the phone, hate the lack of apps.
 
Well the love affair continues and becomes ever stronger.

The Elmar apertures are 3.5 4.5 6.3 9 12.5 18

Leica Shutter speeds are 20 30 40 60 100 200 500 and "Z"

The "Z" stands for "Zeit", "T" for "Time" or "Bulb" as we would know it today.

I started to use a digital Sekonic light meter (talk about a clash of cultures) with the camera but am currently going with a variation of the "Sunny 16" rule and HP5 Plus in the camera.

This is a beautiful camera to behold and it is part of photographic history still working today after 80 years of use (he says eyeing his original Canon D60 which is still in use but much younger)
 
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Glad you are still enjoying the Leica...they are truly beautiful.

And great it is being used rather than sitting in a glass cabinet.
 
Cheers Steve - I can't believe how many people stop and want to talk about this camera.

It still stops people in their tracks after all these years.

A restaurant owner came over during the week, asked to hold it and spent the next 20 minutes sat at our table with us, just talking about film and Leica.

Amazing camera and magnetism. It is a thing of beauty.
 
  1. It makes you think about every frame
  2. It makes you concentrate on what you see and what you want the viewer to see
  3. It makes you think about composition
  4. It slows you down
  5. It makes you think about aperture and shutter speed
  6. It makes you think about the "Decisive Moment"
  7. It makes you think about hyperfocal settings
  8. It almost asks you to shoot from the hip every now and then
  9. It is how 35mm photography started and you feel that every time you pick up the camera

It makes you realise how far DSLR's have evolved when we can change ISO settings to suit the light; meter accurately through the viewfinder; take 5+ frames a second and get instant feedback via histograms and review just taken shots all in your hand and mostly without having to take your eye from the viewfinder.

The 80 year old Leica just slows you down and make you think about the whole image making process.

It is a fascinating comparison to modern DSLR technology.

If I pick up my 7D, I know I can get a usable image 90% of the time by rapidly changing the ISO, focus point, shutter speed or aperture setting without taking my eye from the viewfinder

With the Leica you don't have any of those luxuries and it is going back to the slower pace of photography that is fascinating me at the moment.
 
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Just a quick thought please.

Is it OK to always leave the Leica wound on and ready for use or is it best to leave the springs and mechanism untensioned and simply cock the shutter just before use?

Not sure which is best for the camera internally - cocked or uncocked?
 
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rhody said:
Also dusting off the "Sunny 16 Rule" and other variations at the moment - I'm not good enough to judge the exposure by eye, yet
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I'm sure you are. You don't judge exposure by eye by the actual amount of light but by how distinct shadows are.

The sun is a constant light source and the only variable is the amount of cloud cover diffusing it.

Do a Google search for sunny 16 and you should find a page somewhere which translates it to shadows.

Only bother yourself with light conditions you are likely to encounter during the day. This will probably be the f16, f11, f8 and f5.6 conditions.


EDIT: try this - http://dgrin.smugmug.com/Tutorials/Shooting-Tech-and-Tips/Sunny-16-Rule-Estimating/3762805_XLfcRt


Steve.
 
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rhody said:
Just a quick thought please.

Is it OK to always leave the Leica wound on and ready for use or is it best to leave the springs and mechanism untensioned and simply cock the shutter just before use?

Not sure which is best for the camera internally - cocked or uncocked?
Click to expand...

I'd always opt for untensioned myself. Just seems to make sense.
 
I always leave my Leica uncocked. Not sure what is best but I've always done it that way and it's never caused any problems.
 
Cocked or un-cocked doesn't really matter.

Many people think it's best to leave shutters un-cocked as the tension in the spring is released but that's a myth as the spring will still have about 80% of the cocked tension when un-cocked.

Also, most medium format SLRs with shutters in their lenses need the lens to be cocked before removing and replacing on the body. They are designed to stay cocked.

Personally, I wind on as soon as I have pressed the shutter as it minimises that annoying pressing the shutter with nothing happening moment which occurs occasionally!


Steve.
 
i do find 35mm film camera's really tactile, guess itll be from your era camera, till 75 80's?
ones with manual winding leveler :D
really should try to repair my two rangefinders, bought off ebay as broken :\
 
Very many thanks everyone for your thoughts on the "cocked" or "uncocked" issue - much appreciated.

Also, many thanks Steve for the "Sunny 16" info - simply brilliant.
Seeing the actual comparisons side by side is simply amazing and very helpful in coming to terms with throwing away the light meter.

A very important consideration is that although I am using technology which is "going backwards" by today's standards where everything on the camera is 100% manual I feel that my photographic knowledge is "going forwards" as I have to think about every aspect of what I want before I press the shutter button and can't rely on a histogram or 7fps when required

The hardest part of all this - Waiting for the film to come back..................
 
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rhody said:
Very many thanks everyone for your thoughts on the "cocked" or "uncocked" issue - much appreciated.

Also, many thanks Steve for the "Sunny 16" info - simply brilliant.
Seeing the actual comparisons side by side is simply amazing and very helpful in coming to terms with throwing away the light meter.

A very important consideration is that although I am using technology which is "going backwards" by today's standards where everything on the camera is 100% manual I feel that my photographic knowledge is "going forwards" as I have to think about every aspect of what I want before I press the shutter button and can't rely on a histogram or 7fps when required

The hardest part of all this - Waiting for the film to come back..................
Click to expand...

Be careful....it's addictive...very soon you will be looking at film processing kit :)
 
Steve said:
Be careful....it's addictive...very soon you will be looking at film processing kit :)
Click to expand...

Only if I want to become a batchelor....................... :lol:

I've been out today using the "Sunny 16" rule.

ISO 400 / f11 / 1/125sec with weak shadows - near the end of the roll though...................
 
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