O.T. Tribute to Kodachrome

[Ridgerunner]

Started poking around and found these film reel spools. If anyone is still processing and wants these, let me know and you can have them.

[A.K. Boomer]

Make that two tributes;

https://youtu.be/zs6qHxeZR3Q


https://youtu.be/18ya0-OZ58s


She was one day shy of making it to 2022 and only a couple weeks shy of 100...

[sarge41]

Not to try to derail the original gist of this thread, but I was looking at my collection of 35mm Leica's the other day. Do they have any value? Since we are ruminating on these subjects , I thought i would ask. My wife would like for me to thin the herd a bit.

Sarge41

[Jim Stewart]

Not to try to derail the original gist of this thread, but I was looking at my collection of 35mm Leica's the other day. Do they have any value? Since we are ruminating on these subjects , I thought i would ask. My wife would like for me to thin the herd a bit.

Sarge41

Dunno what you have, but a quick check of ebay shows Leica M4s offered for prices ranging upwards from $2000.

But yours are probably worthless. You can ship them to me for proper disposal.

-js

[Glug]

I was looking at my collection of 35mm Leica's the other day. Do they have any value?

Check ebay. They could be worth a lot, especially rangefinders.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sac...p2045573.m1684

[brian Rupnow]

I never was a camera buff, but Damn, I like that song!!---Brian

[aostling]

Not to try to derail the original gist of this thread, but I was looking at my collection of 35mm Leica's the other day. Do they have any value?

Many Leicas command premium prices. Do you have a IIIg or M5 in your collection? A red-dot 50mm Elmar lens?

[aostling]

Check ebay. They could be worth a lot, especially rangefinders.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sac...p2045573.m1684

Your link is to asking prices. To get a realistic sense of worth, apply filters in any eBay search to show only "sold items."

[old_dave]

Not sure but I think what Glug posted does in fact show prices for which the cameras sold. In any case it is easy to see "sold items."

If you do this you'll see Leicas do in fact have value, sometimes a lot. Fair to say there is no finer 35 mm film camera and they are still made. So there is the demand from those who like to use such a system. It's sort of like the demand for high end manual machine tools, think Hardinge HLV-H. Prices for Leicas are further influenced by a collectors' market. Of course collectors are driven by nuances that have more to do with rarity than utility.

You'll see the "M series" (M-2, M-3, M-4, M-5, M-6 etc., currently made iterations are the M-A and the MP) go for more than earlier models which were designated by roman numerals, I, II and III followed by a letter. These earlier models are often referred to as "Barnacks" by aficionados for Oscar Barnack, the German mechanician who designed the original Leicas for Ernst Leitz early in the 20th century.

Of the Barnacks the IIIg was the last of the series. It had an improved viewfinder and I think not so many were made; its production overlapped the first years the M-3 was produced. As a result it commands a higher price.

The M-3 preceded the M-2, don't ask me why. The difference between these two models was in the viewfinder system; they were made concurrently. There was also an M-1 which was a body without a viewfinder.

Be careful what you sell sarge41, some years ago I sold a late model IIIf which I really wasn't using and have since regretted giving up a package of such fine mechanics.

Correction: The M-1 had a viewfinder but not a range finder. The MD was the body with neither.

David

[aostling]

Not sure but I think what Glug posted does in fact show prices for which the cameras sold. In any case it is easy to see "sold items."

Indeed, those are sold items. I must have subconsciously assumed that so many thousands of dollars must be a seller's wish.

I have owned a Leica I, II, III, IIIc, IIIf, M2, M3, and M4. The IIIf was my first, bought in 1975 when I was living in Wellington, NZ. The seller lived in Palmerston North, and had it in a Evening Post newspaper ad for $65, including a red-dot 50mm Elmar f/3.5. He drove down to Wellington to deliver it. I had a darkroom in my Hobson St flat, with a Leica Focomat 1c enlarger. I have digitized all the negatives from my New Zealand days (1971-78), and printing them is now my Covid project.

Now my only Leica equipment is a 90mm Elmarit f/2.8 lens, mounted on a Minolta CLE. My current fascination centers around an Olympus OM-1N I found at an estate sale in mint condition.

[Glug]

Indeed, those are sold items. I must have subconsciously assumed that so many thousands of dollars must be a seller's wish.

Oh how I wish this was still my first rodeo!

There is a lot of interesting photography gear that comes out of Japan. Recently stumbled upon this canon rangefinder with an f/0.95 lens. A few searches later and I was looking at 'fastest lenses ever'.. Nikon recently introduced an $8000 sub f/1.0 lens.

I had some fun in my youth shooting in natural light at night, and parties and bars with f/1.4 and 3200-6400 b&w. I wish I had done a lot more of that. The images were great, and so much better than years of lame digital tech. A more compact quiet rangefinder would be have been nice, except the DoF is so limited, and focus becomes more critical.

I also need to consider that my years of practice with digital - and the constant and free feedback on image quality - have tremendously improved my ability to smoothly release a shutter, to take pictures with the camera held in positions other than the traditional position on your face, manually choosing exposure, having a feel for what will/won't work, etc. But also, experience shooting medium format film, where the cost per shot is more than a buck, helps.

Now the software processing in phones is doing amazing things to improve image quality. Even with "junky" little lenses. It's obsoleting a lot of dslr's. Canon just recently announced that their production of DSLR's will be ending, in favor of mirrorless. All of that mechanical stuff is more of a liability, even if an optical viewfinder has so many advantages.

Canon 50mm f/0.95 Dream Lens on 7 Camera Body From JAPAN

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373809071926?hash=item5708c1c736:g:qoAAAOSw6NVhpL0 6

[old_dave]

Oh how I wish this was still my first rodeo!

There is a lot of interesting photography gear that comes out of Japan. Recently stumbled upon this canon rangefinder with an f/0.95 lens. A few searches later and I was looking at 'fastest lenses ever'.. Nikon recently introduced an $8000 sub f/1.0 lens.

I had some fun in my youth shooting in natural light at night, and parties and bars with f/1.4 and 3200-6400 b&w. I wish I had done a lot more of that. The images were great, and so much better than years of lame digital tech. A more compact quiet rangefinder would be have been nice, except the DoF is so limited, and focus becomes more critical.

I also need to consider that my years of practice with digital - and the constant and free feedback on image quality - have tremendously improved my ability to smoothly release a shutter, to take pictures with the camera held in positions other than the traditional position on your face, manually choosing exposure, having a feel for what will/won't work, etc. But also, experience shooting medium format film, where the cost per shot is more than a buck, helps.

Now the software processing in phones is doing amazing things to improve image quality. Even with "junky" little lenses. It's obsoleting a lot of dslr's. Canon just recently announced that their production of DSLR's will be ending, in favor of mirrorless. All of that mechanical stuff is more of a liability, even if an optical viewfinder has so many advantages.

Canon 50mm f/0.95 Dream Lens on 7 Camera Body From JAPAN

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373809071926?hash=item5708c1c736:g:qoAAAOSw6NVhpL0 6

I remember when Canon introduced the 50 mm f/0.95 for their rangefinder. Back then Nikkon made a 50 mm f/1.1 lens for their rangefinder line. Today you can buy a new 50 mm f/0.95 Noctilux from Leica, cost would be in the low five figures.

Google Carl Zeiss f/0.7 to read about the fastest lens made for photographic use. Zeiss made 10 of these for NASA. I think f/0.7 is the theoretical maximum speed possible, the refractive index of available glass being the limiting factor (this is probably a bit of an over simplification.)

David