M39 - the 2013 Easter Lecture...

M39 - the famous screw-Leica, and all those Russian clones, early Zenits and other cameras. Interchangable lenses, wòw!

"Well, that's not entirely accurate,mr. president..." (Independence Day)

Looking for some WA for my фед, I bought that "widely available" индустар-69 and discovered that it's half-frame, ànd (I had a hell of a time finding a naked чайка) the film-plane distance is also different: the Elmar's don't fit the чайка either.

Then I bought the мир-1 "Grand Prix Brussels 1958", only to discover that this lens is nòt for CRF's. Sigh! So I ordered a 39/42 ring in Scotland and almost wrecked my Praktica. Ordered one in China but that hasn't arrived yet and then I could not wait any longer, I hàd to test it so wrapped that plumber-stuff around it (for concentricity) and glued it to the poor old LTL 3! Looks very posh!

"Are you serious...?"
Yes, I'm a daredevil. No respect for cameras whatsoever. But because even glue has some "thickness", infinite still came a lot nearer, so it is not the sharpest 37mm ever (and AgfaOrtho never gives that suggestion of sharpness).

Legendary M39 - too small, slow, nòt universal. But when I'm using my wartime Elmar on the Frankenstein it feels very, very right.

Sinterklaas en Pieterbaas

Cute-ismo, as in "machismo", only better.

A Russian tutorial

I decided to go all the way, today. Wow. Although I have to say that composing this tutorial, with the "help" of Blogger was the hardest part.


So I put my Industar 28mm on the FED, innocent like a child. You can see what came out, do I have to name it? Vignetting, coma, everything that's in the book. My fault: it's for the half-frame Chaika...

So beware: they are on Ebay "for Leica etc." but don't do that! And in July, at last, I got my Чаика: perfect! Very nice lens for half frame.

But what did I know. Took a modern Uсrainian Svema and remembered that double-Ilford, it was sooo thin and floppy. And I was right: the FED tore it to pieces.

The Russian standard-drum. I practised a bit, it's an inside-out half-spiral, a bit weird but not bad once you mastered the technique.

The (also Ucrainian) Reaktiv was a bit cloudy, but I used it as prescribed on the film, 7 mins and the negatives were okay, almost as I expected...

After two days the Fixage was grey/brown - never saw that, but it made the film very clear, so no problem here.







Conclusion: the fresh Svema is dangerously thin, the Industar 28mm is very "LOMO"...
Oh, and the Leningrad worked fine, indicating nicely what I expected.

Weihnachtsmarkt (5)

Ich bin sicher: dieser Schlittschuhknirps wird den Kampf gewinnen, denn er hat Ausdauer und gute Laune (und Knie aus Stahl).
Drei Reibekuchen sind mir zuviel, aber der Wandersmann nimmt mir gerne Einen ab - danke, Freund!
Und nachher steige ich früher aus, denn der Spaziergang durch gaslichtbeleuchtetes Oberkassel ist ein Genuss.
Bald ist Weihnachten.

Technical info for the grumpies: 1/25 in the dark, no flash because I don't have a cable any more, no CRF and the 1938 Elmar at ± 4. But a lot of fun.

Weihnachtsmarkt (4)

Es regnet! Naja - zwei Minuten, reicht um das Pflaster schön nass zu machen für Reflektionen und so. Heute ohne Stativ, 'n bisschen primitiv, also. Aber mit Mörchenkäse und Wildschweinwürstchen.

Same place and time as 30 Nov to compare the RolleiRockhard to that King's Royal. Quod erat expectandum, but nevertheless...

Cuijk Spectaculair

Nooo - not the picture, the event was called that way. Great weather, super retro scooters but the 1985 TACMA in the 1957 FED did not perform well, alas. Look for the gruesome details on my Flickr photostream.

Russian CRF's

I really love Russian cameras (and photography!) but the CRF's I have simply never work. The FED doesn't take neither Elmar 50 nor 90, so I have to guess the distances. Doesn't matter, even at F 3,5 as you can see...