[Leica] which medium format?

[glehrer at san.rr.com (Jerry Lehrer)]

Marc,

I have been around Super Ikonta B cameras since before you were born, 
but I never heard of one with a Schneider
Xenar lens.  I  have seen a Super Ikonta A with a Xenar lens.

Jerry


Marc James Small wrote:
>
> I see what you are saying and you make some good points.  I would 
> recommend either a Rolleiflex TLR or a Hasselblad 2000 series but for 
> someone deeply wedded to miniature format, a Super Ikonta B might be a 
> good transition.  This is a folder rangefinder, takes 11 6cm square 
> negatives on a roll of 120 film, and comes with a fine four-element 
> lens, generally a Zeiss Tessar or a JSK Xenar.  It is a most 
> user-friendly camera and a late Prewar model can be had relatively 
> cheaply as these are not deemed to be collectibles other than by the 
> likes of Simon Worsley, the Guru of the breed.
>
> I spent my first six years in photography doing medium format on a 
> 1931 Voigtl?nder Bessa before picking up a 35mm SLR, and then spent 20 
> years doing miniature-format SLR work before buying my first 
> rangefinder.  A year later, I got my first Rolleflex, and I was 
> equally hooked by Leica and Contax RF systems and by Franke & Heidecke 
> TLR's.  I got into Hasselblad later.
>
> In today's market, a Super Ikonta or a Postwar Rolleiflex Automat 3 
> with a coated lens can be had for under $200, perhaps far under (I 
> paid $30 for one of my Super Ikontas, and nothing for the other).  A 
> Hasselblad 500 body with a couple of C lenses will set you back $350 
> or so.  And if you move over to the 2000/200 series, you can get some 
> f/2 lenses.
>
> I admire Mark Rabiner as a fine photographer and excellent scholar of 
> photography in general and of Leica and Rollei in particular but I 
> must disagree with him on the best way to use MF gear.  I almost never 
> use a tripod for anything other than extreme telephotography or 
> extreme macro work.  My Super Ikonta B's and my 2.8F 12/24 and 2.8GX 
> are VERY handy cameras.  Those who shoot rifles know the trick for 
> using the strap to steady the aim.  Well, a Rolleiflex strap does the 
> same:  just hold the camera at waist level and push up on the strap 
> with your neck to form a steady sight picture, and Bob's your uncle.  
> Most of my MF work is done with relatively slow films and without a 
> tripod, and I take pictures generally deficient in content due to my 
> own lack of an artistic sense <he grins> but technically quite nice.
>
> I suspect that the major medium format systems have bottomed out.  
> Only a few companies are still making these today, but there are a 
> gazillion MF cameras out there.
>
> Marc
>