[Leica] Re: ALPA

[Simon Stevens <simon@camera-craftsman.com>]

>The 24 mm f3.5 black (later model) Angenieux has been a really great
>lens

Bill:

I'd love to play with your Alpas some day, but didn't you tell me that
the 24mm flares really easily?

I have never used an Alpa but a few months ago I was at a camera show
and they had the model with the 45 degree slr viewfinder and built in
direct viewfinder (9C, is that right?). Anyway, was it just that sample,
or do all of them have screens that bright and large looking? It was
almost SL-like and much better than most contemporary viewfinders. I
really don't understand why the big SLR makers have never been able to
do what Leica could do with the early Leicaflexes (and later R8) and
quirky Alpa could do with a camera that was contemporary with the dim
and dark Nikon F.

Of course the other lovely thing about Alpas was the spare-no-expense
build quality. I loved the depth of field indicators on the Macro Switar
- - only the ones on my Hasselblad C lenses are cooler! It's also a shame
there is no 35mm maker left whose products are more expensive and
idiosyncratic than Leica. While Alpa was around it was great cover.

Simon Stevens