At 04:45 2/14/00 , John Hudson wrote:
>I visited your gallery at
>
>http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/johnlind/galleryframe.html
>
>and was drawn to Autumnal Serenity I and II in the Contax II section. These
>are just fabulous photos ...... they have that Leica like aura of presence,
>life, feeling, call it what you will, which makes one feel that you are
>right there in front of the landscape. Again, what wonderful photographs.
>Obviously, Oscar Barnark's descendents found fair competition over at Contax
Thanks John, they're among my favorites. Yes, Leitz certainly did! The
Carl Zeiss Foundation created Zeiss Ikon in 1926 to compete with Ernst
Leitz' Leica. The original 35mm Holy War was between the Leica and Zeiss
Ikon's Contax; it raged for over 20 years. They both excelled in slightly
different ways uncontested by anyone else. Emphasis on specific design
goals differed which fueled the feud. The Contax IIIa is my "1930's -
1950's RF appreciation camera" and feel very lucky to have one in superb
condition. I've gotten 8x10's with it that have very high contrast and
better resolution than most people's 4x6's. Its Carl Zeiss 50/1.5 Sonnar
more than rivals the Zuiko 50/1.2 MC.
I like the newly acquired OM-1n for many of the same reasons as the Contax;
completely manual and totally mechanical except for the meter. There's a
feel to it that is hard to describe. Cuts right to the basics and the rest
is up to the photographer. Leica III[?] and M2/M3 users would probably say
much the same.
The Contax Royal Gold 100 negatives were used for a photo class I was
taking. Had the OM-10 and Zuiko 50/1.8 (SC) with me and shot matching
pairs using Elitechrome 100 for the ADITL 2 submission. Should have used
the Zuiko at f/11 instead of f/16 and they might have been sharper.
If you have one of the old Leica RF's I hope you are able to use it even if
it is occasionally. Keeps legends alive.
Thanks,
-- John
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