Oxford: first roll through Leica M2

Written by Nasir Hamid on October 27th, 2014

Never say never! That’s probably the best way to describe this post because there was a time when I swore I would never own a Leica. That was when time and time again I would notice people carrying them around as some sort of display of wealth when clearly they had no idea about how to best use it. But not all Leica’s are the same and while the digital models can set you back more than a Rolex watch, there are plenty of old film models that are cheaper than a lot of DSLR’s and built to last much longer too. After I started to enjoy using my Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder camera more and more I began to look for something that would give me more options such as interchangeable lenses and full manual control and when it comes to rangefinders it’s hard to ignore the king of the hill. I ended up getting an M2 from 1964 which seems to have been looked after and is a pleasure to use. This is a 100% mechanical camera – no batteries required. This set of pictures are from the first roll I put through it in my lunch break last week. It started to rain on my way into town so I spent most of my time in the Ashmolean Museum.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, 50/2 Summicron rigid, Ilford FP4 (expired Dec/1999), processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

 

4 Comments so far ↓

  1. Jason Howe says:

    Hey Nas,

    Well you didn’t waste any time putting that classic combination to good use!!

    Enjoy.

  2. shooter says:

    Nasir these are a nice collection of shots, there is something infintely lovely about using older kit and producing such lovely set of images.

    • Nasir Hamid says:

      Thank you. I would add that I find using film incredibly enjoyable, satisfying and real. Using plugins and filters to make digital images look like film is a bit like hearing pops and crackles on a CD that’s trying to mimic listening to vinyl. What’s the point?

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