Macfilos author William Fagan is set to deliver a fascinating Zoom presentation on old Leicas on August 19. The talk is available to members of the LHSA, the International Leica Society.
The presentation is aimed primarily at those with smaller collections and photographers who want to have one or two old or vintage Leica cameras to use. However, William says that it will also be of interest to more experienced collectors and users.
‘Old Leicas’ will include LTM and M models from 1925 up to and including the M6. William will present Leicas from different generations in groups of three and will indicate his own personal favourites, which should give rise to varied opinions in the discussion afterwards.
William will indicate some of his favourite films. He will also give tips about using older Leica cameras, in particular about the question of loading LTM models and film trimming in advance of loading.
He will describe various accessories for Leica cameras and their uses – such as viewfinders, lens hoods, cases, close-up equipment and filters.
William is looking forward to sharing his knowledge of older Leicas with enthusiasts in different parts of the world. He has noted a recent increase in the number of photographers of different generations who are using film with older cameras, some of them for the very first time and he feels that the timing of this event is very appropriate.
William’s LHSA Zoom presentation will take place at 7.30 pm, British Summer Time (GMT+1), on August 19, 2020. A link to register for the talk, which is for LHSA members only, is here.
It would be nice if this were made available to those of us who are Leica fans, but not members of the LHSA. You would reach a larger audience.
The LHSA has asked me to do this as part of a series which has been going on for some months now. The content has been varied and has included a lot of material about digital processing (eg Lightroom etc) and also travel photography, social media and other themes. My presentation is the first one to address vintage film Leicas and I was glad to have the opportunity to do that. From my perspective this has a wide potential audience as the LHSA, of which I am a member, has a membership of 2,400 all around the world. From the perspective of the LHSA my talk and others in the series are perceived as a benefit of membership of the society.
William
I’m sure your talks are of great benefit to the LHSA members. My observation was that they would reach an even wider audience of Leica fans if they were made more widely available.
Having said that, is your series archived on their website for members to see when they can?
Regards, Doug
Firstly, the channel for my talk is LHSA. They asked me to do this and I did not approach them. The talk will be available later to members on the LHSA website and I will supplement this with a data sheet describing the models and the accessories shown in the talk. As you may be aware Leica produced a bewildering number of models and accessories, each with its own code name, over many years and even to cover some of them in a 45 minute talk will be quite difficult. As I indicated to Don below, I would be happy to provide something similar to other societies of which I am a member. They are all been made aware that I am doing the LHSA Zoom presentation, but I have received no requests so far.
William
How I agree. I am a very keen member of The Leica Fellowship and The Leica Society, How about it William? Best wishes, Don
Thanks Don. I’d be happy to do one (not necessarily the same one) for The Leica Society, where I am also a member, but I am not aware that they have organised a Zoom series. The LHSA has a series organised for the last 3 or 4 months and I have ‘attended’ most of them. With the restrictions on travel caused by Covid likely to be a long term feature of all our lives I believe that most societies will have to resort to ‘online meetings’ sooner or later. I have been on quite a few photography related Zoom meetings during the Summer, including events organised by the Gallery of Photography here in Dublin, an event with Paul Henry van Hasbroeck talking about collectible Leicas which was organised by Leica UK, a Zoom meeting organised by our esteemed editor at Macfilos and one about Fox Talbot and Lacock organised by the Photographic Collectors Club of Great Britain (PCCGB), where I am also a member.
William
Good point learning to load M Leicas! My last roll stuck last Saturday as it never did. Once the bottom closed there’s always a big incognita whether the roll will turn properly or you will need to open it again. You get so confident in perfection, but
If it’s any consolation, I have exactly the same problem.
It is. Thanks Mike.
Last time was really disappointing and mysterious; left bolt didn’t turn and even so film was loading. Later big stuck till the end. Frames mixed. Lovely. I adore casualty!
I am covering some of these points. It is sometimes a question of practice makes perfect, but I will give some tips that will help with such issues. The talk will be available to LHSA members later on the society website. I am also planning to do a summary of what is on the slides with a glossary of some of the weird and wonderful code names used by Leica. Many people might guess that a FILCA is a film cassette, but how many would know what a NOOKY is for?
William
What a super idea! Would a digest for Macfilos readers be thinkable, possible, permissible?