Leica in da house!

As you can see, I do still know how to use my digital camera! The right tool for the job, I say. Well, the Leica has landed and I’m being taught patience.

Tom shipped it to me on Thursday, paid for overnight, insured, signature required. I should have received it on Friday. I had all sorts of plans to use it for the weekend. But, alas, that didn’t happen. UPS screwed up and sent it Ground, not quite sure if it was insured, and without signature required! As i was tracking the package on Friday, I saw that it stopped in Greensboro, NC. I knew that it was finished for weekend and I had to wait until Monday.

Again, I tracked the package and it showed delivered about 12:30 this afternoon. Great! When I left work, I made a beeline for the apartment office and asked for my package. They said: What package? We’ve not even seen the UPS man today! Uh oh! They asked: Have you checked your door? We have a new UPS guy and he’s pretty lazy sometimes. Great! I thought! So, beeline for the door. No package, but a UPS sticker. He left the package with a neighbor! WTF? Fortunately, he left it with the only neighbor that I know, Nick. I knocked on Nick’s door, asked about the package, he smiled and gave it to me. I thanked him and went into my apartment opening the box along the way.

It was well packed. I found a Leica M6 and 50mm f/2 Summicron lens. I figured out how to put the lens on and then set about learning how to load the film, which is quite odd, but it seems to work. It took me about 2 minutes to get the film loaded, but after I figured out the trick, it was pretty easy actually. Next time it will take me about 30 seconds to do. Eventually, it will become second nature, but only after quite a few rolls.

After I finished holding it, practicing focusing, and generally playing, I dashed off to Wal-mart to pick up some sketching paper, tracing paper, glue, and tape. I had been promising myself that I’d make a light box for macro/product photography but I just never got around to it. So, even though this evening I didn’t feel like doing it, I did. I used it to take this picture. I could have used a bit more fill, but who cares.

in the coming weeks I hope to go through a few rolls of film. I cannot say how fast I’ll go through them because it took me a while to shoot rolls of 15, now I have rolls of 36. We’ll see.

My initial impressions are that it feels a bit small and boxy in my hands. I’m used to the Nikon ergonomics. I love the way my Nikon feels. I feel like I’ll drop this camera, which is why I’ve already attached the strap. I’ve just got to get a feel for it. My hands feel like they are too big for the camera. However, I love the simplicity of the camera. There’s nothing that you don’t need. Nothing at all. Actually, I can see why some people like the Leicas without the light meters. For some reason, a light meter seems odd to be in this camera. Everything is so precise and mechanical that it seems like an electronic light meter is an anachronism. Go figure.

Oh, and a final bit of patience being taught … big time thunderstorms in the area, today and tomorrow. No street shooting today at least! Loaded with Ilford FP4 … all dressed up and nowhere to go!

Anyway, more to come.