[Leica] Denver happenings

[Jeff S <4season@boulder.net>]

Another Denver-Area LUG get-together has come and gone and the mood was
on the giddy side: Who needs alcohol when surrounded by a whole lot of
great toys and have only fellow addicts for company?

The grand opening of Denver Pro Photo was well worth the visit. It seems
a little sparsely filled, but that's mostly an illusion: It's located in
a studio large enough to drive a few cars through! There was a bit of a
trade-show atmosphere what with all of the manufacturer's reps onhand.
Curiously, I think it was Leica who brought the least expensive camera
in sight: The C1 point-and-shoot.

The C1 felt kind of lightweight and didn't seem especially lavishly
built, but it's an attractive (and distinctive) little critter with
cult-item potential. It's homage to the silver finish and rounded sides
of the M cameras is clever and makes for a comfy grip too.

I hadn't seen the 90 aspherical macro for the R-cameras before and had
to borrow Bill Nelsch's R8 for a look-see. Impression: Oh yeah, I could
use one of these! I have this sort of macro capability in larger
formats, but nothing so handy. I had spent a fair amount of time using
the 55 Micro-Nikkor previously, but I somehow find the Leica's longer
focal length more appealing, particularly in light of it's compact
dimensions.

I had read of Lee Filter's system of filter holders and rail-less
compendium lens shades but had my first actual look at the system on
Saturday: Forget the Hasselblad compendium--the Lee looks much better.
Like the Cokin system, you fit each lens with an adaptor ring. Unlike
the Cokin, you can fit the ring with a 100mm lenscap and buy it in
custom sizes, like Series VIII--ideal for the older Hasselblad 50
Distagon. I don't know what bellows material of the Lee hood is made of,
but it didn't seem to sag. I've previously gone through Lee to have
custom view camera bellows made for my Toko field camera and have been
really happy with the results.

A good deal of DPP is devoted to the black and white darkroom and though
I really wanted to take a 4x5 Durst enlarger home, I settled for a
bottle of Neutol Plus paper developer, missed out on free Ilford samples
and grabbed a box of Tetenal Spectra Jet acid-free inkjet paper. At
$33.58 for 250 sheets, Spectra Jet seems like something of a bargain.
Initial tests look promising, and regardless of the image's actual
resolution, I seem to get best overall results with the Epson Stylus
Photo 1200 set to the maximum 1440 DPI--smoother, less granular
appearance. Much pleased to find that the paper is a true brilliant
white and that maximum black is terrific. Using stock Epson inks and
leaving these PhotoCD scans as RGB I see faint pastel hints of false
color and most of the noticeable dithering seems to be in zones III-IV.
It's still definitely digital, but really very attractive in it's own
right. I'll be experimenting with generating digital contact printing
negatives and defocusing the remaining dot patterns a bit later. Minor
disappointment: Taking the PhotoCD scan and scaling it to produce a true
720 DPI results in an image only a bit larger than a playing card and
while attractive, it's no match for a 4x5 contact print--6 picoliter
drops can only render detail so fine.

Two things probably saved my wallet this time around:

(1) Leica had no sample of the M6 Millenium. I was told that for the
5-state region which includes Colorado, only 4 were allocated and that
Mike's Camera alone had at least 6 people vying for one! The rep hinted
that we'll be seeing more along these lines, though probably not with
the M3-style rewind knob. Looks as if Leica's got a hit on their hands
with the extra deluxe models selling for a (relatively) modest premium.

(2) John Van Stelton was there with my CLA'd 50 Distagon. My wallet may
be lighter, but the shutter sounds much healthier now! He's also doing a
big overhaul of my Leica IIIf RD and after that, there's the matter of
my backup Hasselblad 500c which could stand a better viewscreen and
maybe a new mirror (it's a bit loose in the frame). Ahh, nothing like
the sobering reality of equipment maintenance costs!
- -- 

Jeff Segawa
Somewhere in Boulder, Colorado