Thursday, September 30, 2010

Visiting Gallup NM with a Leica M9

Leica M9 Elmarit 35mm f/2.8

We're on the road headed towards Jackson Hole WY having left Tucson on Tuesday.  We added another day and another stop along the way and went into Albuquerque NM to pick up a little used Leica 135mm f/3.4 lens that Don brought off of E-bay.  We arrived in Gallup late yesterday afternoon and spent today visiting Gallup and the many Trading Posts that are located here.  The top two Trading Post we've visited are Perry Null Trading Company and the Richardson Trading Company. We visited Perry Null first and had the great pleasure of meeting Jason & Lauren and by the time we left we felt we were long friends; the Richardson Trading Company belonged to Jason's grandfather.  Both places allowed Don to take as many photographs as he wanted while Sandy shopped for bargains; needless say both of us were very pleased.


Inside Perry Null Trading Company


 The following was shot hand held using a Leica 135mm f/3.4


Downtown Gallup NM


Navajo Code Talkers one of the most secret weapons we had during WWII.  These great people are dying and should be thanked and remembered for the brave deeds they performed.


 Sample images taken with the 135mm f/3.4. 


Don has been wanting to capture a train for some time and this just happened to come at the right time. Captured with the Leica 135mm f/3.4


 More street images of Gallup on historic Route 66. (all captured with the 24mm)


 Inside the Richardson Trading Co.  (Eddie came running to Don to see if he wanted to pawn the M9 - you really don't want to know what Don's reply was other than "NO!"  We did have a great conversation with both Eddie and Mark.  The following were all captured with the 24mm. 


We hope you enjoy a brief visit to Gallup and should you find yourself in town you owe it to yourself to visit Perry Null Trading Co at 1710 South Second St (505-863-5249) and the Richardson Trading Co at 222 West 66 Ave (505-722-4762).


As always thanks for letting us share our experiences and remember we welcome your comments or questions. Next stop is Ouray CO.

Sandy & Don

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Cambo WRS and Lee RF75 Filter System


I've had various success rates using filters with the Cambo WRS1000 and Phase One P45+; some good and some I wish I had never tried. I stumbled on the Lee RF75 system by accident as I was doing research on my Leica M9 and liked what I saw. Lee designed this system primarily for use on rangefinder and high end compact cameras. The filter holder is small as is the filters themselves; the holder attaches to the lens using adapter rings as small as 39mm to as large as 67mm. With the help of a step ring this system is perfect for the 72mm and 120mm Schneider lenses I use.

I ordered the "RF75 Deluxe Set" consisting of the filter holder, clip-on Polarizer and three RF75 neutral density hard graduated filters (0.3ND, 0.6ND & 0.9ND). I also ordered 4 adapter rings (39,46,49 and 55) for my Leica lenses knowing one would also fit my Schneider 72 and 120mm lenses.

I took the Cambo out this morning to try the filter system for the first time. I shot 3-images using the 72mm lens, first without a filter, the second is with the 0.6ND and the third is with the Polarizer. Don't expect much as the sky was very flat and no clouds (in photographic terms the sky sucked). The same shot was taken for all three images using f/8 1/250 and ISO 50. While this might not be an award winning set of images it does show the benefits of using the system. The images have not been processed other than opening and cropping and some dust removal.


I dislike these images so much I almost didn't post them.  I plan on reshooting the test using the filter as soon as the conditions get better.

The other images included here show the Lee RF75 attached using first the neutral density filter then the Polarizer.  I took these images using the M9 and Leica 50mm.


I haven't yet used this system on the M9 but plan to very shortly so let me know if you'd like to hear the results.

I plan on using this system next month in Jackson Hole on both camera systems and will give more details then.



Don