Two weeks ago or so I received a request from a follower of this site who lives in Florida concerning the Heiland Split Grade printing system. I couldn’t offer much but I knew at least one person who could, my friend Gary in the UK.  I contacted him straight away and he agreed to lend a hand. Gary is a great guy and a terrific photographer, and I’m sure he’ll provide more useful information than bargained for on the ins and outs of the Heiland!

A few days later I had lunch with my good friend and photographer extraordinaire Paula Chamlee. I needed some help and advice regarding Monalog’s Visions of America project. I wanted to remunerate her for some curatorial help and we quickly agreed to at an extremely fair price for her time.  But Paula also offered to be available to provide other assistance as needed, as one photographer to another. Why? Because that is what good people do.  Thank you Paula as always! What goes around comes around!

The above having been said, I’ve met my fair share of absolute creeps in photography … either with egos the size of Texas or insecure needs to protect their “proprietary” methods … or sometimes both!  Maybe you have too. Perhaps what goes around comes around for them too.

All I can say is many thanks to all the truly caring, supportive and unselfish artists I’ve met on my photographic life journey. You have given without expectations for anything in return and the difference you’ve made is profound. I wish you all the best, with my sincere hope that what goes around will always come around for you.

Stay well,

Michael

That’s the headline of a story that appeared on the British website Kismo Foto on January 4th. The story was based on a September interview of Leica CEO Andreas Kaufmann by the French website Phototrend. Turns out that Leica sold almost 5,000 film rangefinders in 2023 compared to the 500 they sold in 2015 and film cameras accounted for 30% of their rangefinder camera sales!!!

This exciting news follows last year’s announcement by Pentax that it is seriously exploring production of a new film camera that most certainly will be a less expensive alternative to Leica’s current offerings.

Of course there are tons of perfectly wonderful used cameras around looking for good homes, including original Lecia M3s and M6s, and they can be had for much less than the cost of current production MPs, MAs and M6s. But that’s not the point.  Look, it’s great that these beauties are available and people are buying all that can be made. And the more sold the better. But the other good news is that more and more of the used ones are being sold too, and in the case of Leica’s the prices are heading north.

What does all this mean? Film photography is growing!! That’s right baby!!! Recently, I talked to several owners of expensive digital cameras that are ditching them for real thing. And that’s not all. No they’re using black and white film … Tri-X to be exact.

So there you have it. Now, what are you waiting for?

Get yourself a film camera, new or used … and some Tri-X.

It’s the way it was meant to be.

Stay well,

Michael

Well I never thought I would do it … and I even said I never would do it … but I did it.

A while back I wrote about my acquisition of what many consider the King and at a minimum, the Crown Prince of enlargers. What other than the Leitz Focomat 2C and 1C … the Leica’s of enlargers!  And I mentioned that my mighty Devere 504 with its diffusion color head wasn’t going to be going anywhere. More recently I penned a somewhat detailed user comparison with points to be considered when thinking about these noble machines.

I finally realized I had a difficult and complicated dilemma on my hands with three world class enlargers sitting on my work bench.  While there certainly was enough room for all of them, I felt cramped when printing. On the other hand, the Devere was like an old friend. I knew and understood it and didn’t have to think much about it when in use, except that it was my able helper. Always there when I needed it … always dependable. It also allowed me to use my Zone VI Compensating Enlarger timer with the color head, making everything so damn easy!  It really was the bee’s knees!  But here’s the thing … the bee’s knees was standing in the way of me using the Focomats, and if it remained in place I would probably only use them sparingly at best, and maybe hardly at all.

The easy solution would be to remove it from the darkroom and store it elsewhere. I tried that before and it didn’t last very long. I just couldn’t bare knowing it was sitting by itself, maybe even gathering dust. I couldn’t do it to myself or to my old friend! There was only one answer. Sell it. But not just to anyone. Only to someone I knew and respected … someone who would give it a good home and use it as it was meant to be used.

And that’s what I did. Turns out a colleague in Monalog that had purchased my Focomat V35 was interested. So I offered him a fair price with all the accessories and two extra enlarging heads I never used. I know I could have got more, but it didn’t matter. The price was agreed to and a couple of weeks ago we carried the Devere up the stairs, out the front door, and loaded it into his car.

I hope I did the right thing. Now I don’t have a choice but to use what many consider the King and Crown Prince of enlargers. I even located what may be one of the only surviving glass negative carriers for the 1C from Glennview in Chicago, and it should arrive sometime this week.

It’s like moving from the old neighborhood. You make knew friends. You never forget the old ones and maybe even get together and see them again. My Monalog colleague has offered to sell me back the Devere if I ever want and I can always come over for a visit. But now it is time to make new memories.

Stay well,

Michael

I recently saw a YouTube video pertaining to my lifelong stereo hobby/obsession. The person was discussing his audio system and pointed out his very expensive speakers. When he heard them the first time he simply had to have them and subsequently pulled the necessary cash out of his retirement account to fund the purchase. He’s in his late seventies and the point was life is short … if it will make you happy and you can do it … do it. He did and has never looked back. Would he get similar enjoyment with lesser speakers? Sure, but that wasn’t the point.

It’s the same thing with cameras, lenses, and enlargers. If you’re convinced you need a current production Leica M camera with a 50mm Apo Summicron and can afford it, then why not?  Especially if having it will motivate you to make pictures and give you pleasure in ownership. Will it make you a better photographer? No. Will it allow you to make a better picture than a cheap and cheerful old 35mm Pentax, Minolta, Yashica, Canon, etc.? No, but that’s not the point either.

The point is … especially if you’re of a certain age … and in the words of Miles in the classic American movie Risky Business … “Sometimes you gotta say “WTF” (Author’s note: this is a family website!), make your move.” I’ve mentioned this seminal concept before and can’t recommend it highly enough … in photography … and life.

Just make sure you use whatever you get; don’t be a fondler.

Stay well,

Michael

According to Wikipedia, “Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of “friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also known as the six handshakes rule.”

A couple of weeks ago I was reading a thread on one of the forums and reached out to a fellow traveler with a technical question about the Focomat 2C. He quickly got back to me and after a few private messages we shared email addresses and subsequently agreed to a Zoom. What a wonderful time I had! My new friend lives in the UK … and how about this … he happens to know my other photo buddy I recently met who also lives in the UK … and they live near each other and hang out together!!!  I had a follow up Zoom with my other friend in the UK and we’ve decided to all get together virtually in the near future. Sometimes the Internet can be a force for good!

My new friend invited me to attend a Zoom meeting of an informal group of photographers known as Zen. Very deep for sure. Actually, they’re named after a café in Vancouver, British Columbia where a few of them started to get together every week to kibbitz. They expanded to the US, UK and elsewhere, so now they meet weekly online!  On Friday I attended their meeting. Turns out I knew one of the members, Tom Abrahamsson’s wife Tuulikke of Rapidwinder and Softie fame, through phone calls, emails, and back and forth communications through this site. And how about this for a second time … another Canadian member of Zen had sold his Focomat IC enlarger to a broker in the US, who in turn sold it to me. Based on a few introductory remarks I made, he somehow guessed I was the one who bought it!! Damn!!

So, go figure … what’s the likelihood of all this? Six degrees of separation for sure!! As the song says it’s a small, small world after all, but I think it’s a small, small photographic world after all!! At least it seems to be for me these days. I’ve met some great people I would have never found and  have broadened my photographic horizons. I couldn’t be happier!!

Happy Holidays and my best wishes to you and yours.

Stay well,

Michael