Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/04/23

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: WG: Here is Part 1 again! Best, Tom A--- part 1 b)
From: TTAbrahams@aol.com
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 15:00:50 EDT

In a message dated 4/23/00 11:30:45 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
jbcollier@home.com writes:
<< Tom could you please post part 1 in two parts so it gets through? If I may 
be so bold, how about 1a  and 1b. 
 John Collier >>
John,
Here goes:
Part 1b)

Subj:    Bessa-R to Bilbao     (Part 1 - Long)  
Date:   4/21/00 8:02:17 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From:   TTAbrahams@aol.com
Reply-to:   leica@topica.com
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
CC: leica@topica.com

On Saturday it was typical NHS/LHSA convention stuff, orchestrated by Robert 
Rotoloni, Peter Lownds and Toni Hurst (who could teach LHSA a lot about 
slide-projection and presentation! I wonder if he could be bribed to switch 
allegiance!). The NHS is far less formal in their presentation, primarily 
because it is a smaller group so you get to meet everybody and have a chance 
to exchange useful information and equally useful gossip. The hot topic was 
the freshly announced "replica" Nikon S-3 and there was a lot of speculation 
if this is the precursor to a new and updated Nikon SP rangefinder. Sunday 
morning dawned and we all took off to the huge Swap meet in Houten (close to 
Utrecht). The NHS had their own tables and had arranged for the members 
attending the NHS-Com to bypass the long line-up and gain free entry. Very 
nicely done by Peter and Robert. Of course once inside, all semblances of 
civil behaviour disappear and "Swap-Meet Mania" grips everybody. You cruise 
aisles after aisles looking for elusive objects, sighing over prices and 
wishing you had not sold that object so cheap, at least when the guy who has 
one is quoting a price 3-4 times higher than you got! As usual I was looking 
for M2's, not many there and way too pricey. Best deal I found was a very 
late 21/3,4 Super-Angulon in good user condition (serial number over 2 917 
000) with hood, back-cap and finder for US$800. Glass is mint and barrel 
slightly scuffed, but it is so nice and sharp. I have always liked the 21/3,4 
and the 21/2,8 Asph, is sharper in the corners and probably a better lens 
overall, but the 21/3,4 is smaller and it has a wonderful quality for 
black/white shooting. Well, the deal was good, so I bought it!
In the afternoon we were picked up by Erwin Puts and continued on to Utrecht 
where we spent 2 days with Erwin, Els (his wife), and Ishy and Wooster. Ishy 
is a white, silky-haired terrier and Wooster is Erwin's cat. Dutch houses are 
mostly built in several levels, the Puts household is no exception, but 
according to Wooster, there is no house built big enough to house him and 
Ishy! As long as Ishy never attempts to ascend the stairs he is OK, but 
anything above step 3-4 going up will result in a very sore nose. Wooster is 
a cat who knows that the papers he is sitting on are documents any LUGger 
would dearly like to get their hands on and he is convinced that Ishy is not 
smart enough to appreciate these documents. I saw some of the galleys from 
Erwin's book on the Leica lenses and it will become a required reading for 
any LUGger once it is out.
  We went out and ate the first night in Utrecht, an African restaurant, in 
the old loading bay along a canal, and it was most likely one of the best 
meals we had during the whole trip. This is the New Europe, all the borders 
are erased and the countries seem to be accepting ideas and tastes from not 
only the other EU countries, but also they are also opening up to areas 
outside Europe. So the transition from a multitude of smaller countries to a 
large, powerful economic entity might not be entirely smooth, but there is 
vitality there and I think it will be a driving force in the coming century.
 Erwin and I went to Odin N/Y, the Dutch Leica distributor where Erwin has 
access to the testing equipment and we did run some test on the 35/2,5 
Color-Heliar from Voigtlander, the 90/2,8 from Konica in the M-mount and we 
used my 90/2 APO-Asph as reference. The 35/2,5 was, according to Erwin "not 
spectacular", but for its price it is more than adequate, the Hexar 90/2,8 is 
extremely good, as good as the 90/2,8 Elmarit-M. (to be continued in part 2)
Tom A