The camera nerd.

My current Leica Collection 

Leica M8 Voigtlander 40mm ƒ/1.4

Leica M2 Elmar 5cm ƒ/3.5

Leica CL Voigtlander 21mm ƒ/4

Leica Minizoom 

If you havent heard that Kodak 500t is being sold and rebranded as "Cinestill" Where have you been? The main difference between kodak 500t and Cinestill is kodak 500t comes with a layer called REM Jet which is a black layer over the film making the negatives impossible to see. Cinestill remove the rem jet using their special process before selling.

However its really expensive coming in at an average of £9 per roll... I mean i dont think thats over expensive for a film but there is a cheaper option. 

Kodak 500t it's easy enough to find online and reasonably priced for the amount you get, I bought a 200ft roll i'm pretty sure i spent £50 and in 200ft you can get roughly 36 rolls... I got my roll pretty cheap so it pays to shop around...

So as previously mentioned Kodak 500t Has the special REM Jet layer if you are getting into using 500t your pretty much gonna have to develop it yourself however the film can be easily processed in C-41 chemistry kits to remove the rem jet there is one key ingredient...

Thats right Soda Crystals just like in my caffenol tutorial soda has yet another amazing and practical photography use!

1 tsp of soda to 300ml heat to 38 degrees the same tempreture as your c-41 chemistry on constant agitation for 5 mins after fix before stabiliser will make the rem jet simply wash off of the film ran under hot water.

This step also works for processing Kodachrome as a B&W film.

So i finally went for it, this lump of joy is now mine!! 

So a while back i posted about purchasing a Leica CL I'm going to post a quick review with my usual first impressions and the story of myself buying the camera and problems encountered.

Price Paid? In total on this set up i have spent  about £467 (Jeez it all adds up when you look at it that way. The price breaks down quite simply, I spent £118 on the camera, £299 on the Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 noktor classic sc. I shot a test roll and the film kept jamming and i kept having to rewind the film in a changing back and start again... hense all the light leaks in the image above after removing the shot film from the camera it completely locked up so i sent it off to camerattiks in edinburgh and the eBay seller agree'd to meet me half way on the cost of repair £96 so I spent just under £50 on the repair bill.

After a nail biting week of waiting on the shop calling me to tell me if i'd ruined such a fantastic feeling camera they eventually called took payment and returned my camera the next morning via post.  Saying that i was keen to test my new camera properly would be an understatement, With the Leica CL it is a common problem that the meter does not work, i was aware the one i had bought didn't work and i had made my peace with it... so i was gobsmacked when the camera shop had repaired it. I loaded a quick test film and shot around the house and i must say erganomically I can now see why people rave on about the Leica system. No bells no whistles no fuss. In my opinion the size of this camera is what sets it appart from all the other leica's in my opinion... I held an M8 once and although that is a digital camera I just felt it was a little to big and clumbsy for me to work with all the time. For example before i bought this camera for size and simplicity I had been shooting on either A Lomo LC-A, a Yashica T4 or an Olympus OM - 10 with manual adaptor. The Leica CL is just a little to big to go in your pocket but put a comfertable strap on it and you wouldn't even know it was there it is really light. 

Another thing i really like is the shutter speed Dial is placed perfectly to slide your finger off the shutter button to change speeds, there is an indicator inside the viewfinder that shows you what speed you are on and a meter arrow so in theory you'd never really have to put the camera down. Changing aperture and focusing are incredibly easy also as with your other hand it can all be done by feel the aperture ring on the lens has a little tab on either side which is easily located by the finger and the focusing ring has a different tab making it easy to tell them apart.

As for the lens i can't find a single way to fault it, the images are sharp crisp and the contrast/tones are always beautiful unless human error is involved. I'd heard some seriously mixed reviews on this lens and I personally think the haters are just being stuck up as the lens is designed for one of leicas more modestly priced cameras...

Although i'd say this camera is by far my favourite camera I own I'd be lying if i said it was perfect, i feel loading the film is needlessly complicated the first time i loaded this camera i had to resort to a YouTube Video to load the camera correctly but now I'm used to it i can live with it. 

What attracted you to this camera: I had recently saw the Bring Me The Horizon - Shadow moses music video and wanted to find a way to make the technique.

How much?: I got this camera brand new on eBay for £20. The seller included free postage.

Testing this camera was certainly a unique experience, When loading the camera it goes against your intuitions as the camera shoots over two frames it feels like you are winding on forever. The manual recommends either 100 or 400 speed film, i loaded it with agfa vista 200 as i didn't have any of the correct film. As i expected in the light conditions it didn't do me any harm. The camera itself is easy enough to use a simple point and shoot unlike the N8000 it has no manual control at all.

Problems that arose: When i dropped the film of at the lab they hadn't ever had experiences with half frame and cut through certain shots, so like the shots featured here i only had three shots to use to make my stereogram. It leaves a somewhat even look.

The only other problem i had was that i had no idea how to make a gif on photoshop so i used this video: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUvQN_ytqY

Sorry there wasn't alot of content in this review im slowly getting back into it and have quite a few cameras to come