Does this lense make my camera look small?

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Marc - Thanks, yes, I'm shooting mostly mf lenses on my Nex-7 now. I'll take a look at mflenses.com for sure.

[jcuknz]

Leicas were small cameras unlike what even MFT GH2 is today.

The camera body brings back memories of using similar back in the 50's. Flash had arrived and these trusty work horses did not have flash contacts so a small lump of brass was braised/soldered onto the speed wheel [ next to accessory shoe] which rotated as the shutter openned. Then another contact was slid into the accessory shoe. Contact was made with the first shutter blind fully open. Sync speed depending on model was 1/20 or 1/30 ... with the slower horizontal shutters instead of later vertical shutters permitting 1/60 and faster.

On one occasion my old boss returned to the darkroom saying his camera would not work and looking at it I immediately spotted the contact the wrong way around in the accessory shoe .... on reflection I am sure he was having me on ... though with youthful superiority I was sure the old guy had made a mistake

At another firm which had a workroom above the darkroom I hacked into the body just under and below the speed wheel and fitted a sync contact and socket ... previously I had to unscrew my flash to remove the camera base to change films and with the contact I was able to mount my 'modern' flash unit on the accessory shoe. I had one of the innitial Mecablitz flash units. The plastic case quickly broke and subsequently I had cases to hold camera, flash and room for twenty rolls of film with cards.

The flash had a pair of large capacitors and I discovered that with a double-pole double-throw switch I could cut one out and halve my recharge time to the confusion and consternation of my competitors who wondered what 'new' fast flash I had which otherwise looked exactly like what they had been using

[doomed forever]

Marc - Thanks, yes, I'm shooting mostly mf lenses on my Nex-7 now. I'll take a look at mflenses.com for sure.

I do the same with my NEX-6, Alpha 3000 & A7.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

You're right John, Leica's are small, well this one is anyways. So small that I find it hard to hold comfortably. There is something to be said for today's big ergonomic grips like on my D7000. I've found a happy medium in my Nex-7, but then I made the mistake of going to a store and handling an A7ii. It fit me even better than the Nex-7.

As you likely spotted, this little IIIa has been 'hot rodded' at some time in its life with the addition of the flash syncs on the front. I'm a car guy at heart so 'not stock' is OK by me.

[jcuknz]

Alan ... No I didn't recognize the flash sockets which indicates a more sophisticated job than the cameras I used and my mod which disturbed my boss considerably when he found what I had done to his camera Looks like they fitted both X and M which would be a pro job. I did get to use the post-war 1a or something without a rangefinder at one stage as the r/f was largely not needed for work and one set focus for the shot 5', 7.5',10ft or 15ft for groups ... dead simple Normally they came with the f/3.5 Elmar sometimes the f/2 Summicron [ or something] .... sixty plus years since I touched one.
I sold mine to raise money to buy a Japanese Topcon 35S which had a leaf shutter to do syncro-sunlight work when the idea first arrived in my area. I remember I paid NZP60 for a s/h IIIc so I could earn 30% commission on sales rather than 25% using the firms gear. [NZ$120] but back when money as worth something. c1956
Never used a meter ... B&W could cope with my guestimates, though one needed to be fairly close when fourty shots were printed on one foolscap proof sheet .. otherwise sales suffered.

[jcuknz]

another double post

[AlwaysOnAuto]

John, did you see this thread?

B/W shot of a b/w shooter

[Dave Humphries]

another double post

You can delete this John (save me a job).

There are several ways to avoid it happening ...

If, when writing a post, instead of clicking on 'Post Quick Reply', you click 'Go Advanced' (then 'Submit Reply'), it avoids the problem altogether.

Or, when viewing a thread you intend to reply to - if you double click 'Reply', you'll go straight to the Advanced window, from which you click 'Submit Reply', this also avoids the problem completely.


If you forget either of the above, post and immediately get a message that asks if you want to 'Leave the Page' or 'Stay on Page', choose 'Stay on Page', then click 'Cancel' (trust me), the thread will reappear without your post, but if you refresh (F5), your post will appear.

Unfortunately, sometimes you don't get the choice and then you get the two identical posts - at which point, if you edit the first one (not the second), then Delete it, it keeps the forums tidier and saves me a job.

I know it shouldn't happen, but it does (sigh) - with practice, you'll get used to the 'new' way of posting (it took me a couple of weeks), avoiding frustration.

TIA, Dave