On Tuesday this week a cardboard box turned up from Leica in London. Within it was a Leica M-A packaged in rather a lot of bubble wrap. Unfortunately this particular M-A wasn’t for me to keep, it is just on loan whilst I cobble together a review.
The review is well under way, though for various reasons, it might not surface for a good few weeks yet… I have actually pretty much come to my final conclusions about the camera, though I shall be keeping them under my hat for the time being.
In the meanwhile I shall be sharing a few photos, this being from the first roll with the Leica M-A, shot with a and 50/2.5 Summarit-M and Portra 400.
Ben, who I mentioned in my last post as being the owner of the M2 I am currently also borrowing, visited near by Malvern with his wife on yesterday. Since we don’t see them too often, I took the opportunity to take an afternoon off and spend the afternoon mooching around the town, gardens and priory. It made for quite a nice afternoon, but also gave me a good opportunity to give the M-A a bit of a run. Here is a selection of the results:
I’ll tell you one thing for free, I’m not used to such modern glass… That Summarit-M is an impressive lens it seems.
More soon!
Cheers for reading
Hamish
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I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for the last decade I've been a professional photographer.
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8 Comments
Ned
April 12, 2015 at 12:06 pmHi Hamish,
Notwithstanding my slow drift to wider angle lenses, I do love the subject isolation that you get with a 50mm lens.
In capable hands like yours, this does seem to be a very good lens and cheap too by Leica standards.
I can see me foregoing an M-A for a cheaper M body to pair with this lens.
Cheers
Ned
Hamish Gill
April 13, 2015 at 10:51 amHi Ned,
I’ve actually drifted steadily today 50mm over the course of the last year or so. If you had asked me about 2 years back what my idea focal length was, the answer would have definitely been 28mm. I struggle to frame with a 28mm now. Though I expect to drift back at some point … For now, I am enjoying a bit of subject isolation, and as you say this Summarit-M does a fine job. Its definitely a modern rendering lens though, and I think I slightly prefer my slightly older Summicron
Have you a cheaper body in mind?
Hamish
Ned
April 13, 2015 at 7:33 pmHi Hamish,
I will try to cut a long story short.
I sold my CL + 40mm cron after seeing what a TC-1 was capable of.
I didn’t buy the TC-1 though, I dithered for too long.
So in a last minute panic for a long holiday in March, I bought a Fuji X100s.
With hindsight, I would have been happier with an M6 with a 35 or 50mm lens
Cheers
Ned
Hamish Gill
April 15, 2015 at 3:58 pmThat’s a shame …
Sticking to digital for the time being then?
Ned
April 15, 2015 at 7:19 pmNot really, I have picked up a nice Rollei 35T to keep me going.
I have had a B35, 35T and 35S over the decades, I know them well.
I will get another Leica, minimising spend on the body to allow me to get the best lens I can afford.
I will take my time in deciding on the lens.
Ned.
Hamish Gill
April 16, 2015 at 9:32 amSounds like a sensible course of action!
Good luck with the search!
The Rollei should see you proud – I love me SE!!
Bjarte Bjørkum
January 21, 2019 at 9:36 amWonderful. Just seems like you have some red channel clipping in the scanning process. Which produces that cyan cast.
Hamish Gill
January 21, 2019 at 9:22 pmIndeed. I brought my scanning home soon after this