Dear David, There are however non-classic Leicas (digital) and even new film Leicas, and the company is doing rather well. Is this solely down to geriatrics or might there be some younger customers too? Cheers, R.
Hello Roger, One would hope that there are younger users (does that make us sound like junkies?) becoming interested in film and mechanical cameras. Encouragement, education and tutoring. Here's a snifter to the future. a.t.b. D.Lox
Having "stabilised my Leica camera kit I am now looking for the perfect bag! Normally I carry two m bodies, a meter, a couple of rolls of film and a couple of filters. I need something easy to open, easy to carry and does not shout "expensive: steal me!" I think a messenger type case or CSC bag might be the thing: any opinions, experiences out there?
Not fair. My Retina 1B had a superb viewfinder and a damned good lens. Just 'cause someone stuck a Kodak badge on it didn't make it any less a Nagel.
Before it was Kodak AG the company that made Retinas and Retina Reflexes was Nagel-Stuttgart. Herr Doktor Nagel was the guy who invented the preloaded 35mm film cassette.
I knew that (I have an art deco Kodak made at the Nagel werke, ironically bought second-hand by a trainee bomber pilot in Canada), it's why Roger's bought them up in the Leica thread that I don't get. Adrian
Rule 43 states that random interjections must be added to any thread which keeps to the point for more than 12 posts.
Putting a Leica lens on something does not make it a Leica. The Nagel Pupille (c. 1931) used the 50/3.5 Elmar (on a 3x4 cm 127 format), and several larger Nagels used 12 cm and 13.5 cm Elmars. Search engines will produce quite a lot of results. I'm surprised no-one else is familiar with this. Cheers, R.
Continuing with the current digression into the realm of certain oddities, if you carry out at search on Th'Ebay using the term 'witness rangefinder' you'll see that the British Heart Foundation currently has an Ilford Witness for sale! The camera's a bit of a mess - the leatherette's missing, there's corrosion, it's covered in muck and the shutter curtain has come off its rails. At the time of writing the 'buy it now' price is a measly £8,000. Cheers, Jeff
This is all fascinating stuff: I was not fully aware of the Nagel story, but I do sometimes pick a Kodak 66 into my bag along with the Leica kit, so perhaps there is a subconscious connection! Certainly there is room for it in my Hadley camera bag for it along with the other stuff I tend to tote about, but I must get something smaller as my shoulder is beginning to droop1
Ah, that explains it. News to me! I did google the pupille and came up with this page, with a hilarious photo at the bottom: http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Pupille Adrian
Now I am (was) confused. My mother used the word naging (long 'a') to describe something boring and irritating. I thought that a nagel was a bagel with an uncooked inside. After Roger's #26 I now wonder what Frozen and Chilled food has to do with this topic. Although my pupils are a little out of focus. (see also #31 D.Lox
Years of using "modern" film and digital cameras makes life too easy. Without zoom lenses auto exposure and focussing one tends to forget the essentials of framing and the"decisive moment". Using an older and simpler camera makes one think rather more about getting the picture rather than snapping a record. However there is a price to pay. How much kit should you carry? Old photo books and magazines are full of advice on filling gadget bags with bodies and lenses and I notice the many shops now sell backpacks which you'll with digital goodies in order to go out on photo safari. taking a simple film body ( an m2 or something similar) how many extra lenses do you take? One of the useful disciplines is to think, before setting out what kind of picture you want to capture and consider the type of result the lens will give. Soon the ubiquity of the 50mm lens will reveal itself. It does get you close to the action, but of course you often need just a little more space round your subject which is why the 35mm lens became so popular but does anyone worry about wide angle distortion these days? Perhaps we should consider the use of the 90mm lens with its usefully small depth of field and good drawing. Oh dear my bag now has to accommodate three lenses and a body! Not only that even a quick change Leica bayonet can be too slow at times! Just take one lens out and about at one time and enjoy the limitations and challenges: it's good for you!
It may be good for some people but not for others. I have been known to stick a prime on a digital body and go out with that but I always have my HX90 in my pocket for when that "unprimeworthy" picture shows up. As our American cousins say "different strokes for different folks".
