About a month ago, I went to the SF Leica store and bought a used but new-to-me 35mm lens for the M3, the kind that comes with “goggles” because 35mm is too wide for the M3’s viewfinder.
I tried it on my camera in the store and was so excited, but when I looked through it again at home, I was heartbroken to realize that the goggles were slightly mis-aligned so the rangefinder patch was offset. Having an off rangefinder patch makes the lens almost unusable, so I took the lens back to the store to see about a refund. Luckily it was under warranty and the store would pay to ship it off and get it fixed. It turns out they also use DAG Camera for repairs, who I’ve used before a few times for the M3 itself.
I had a hard time waiting for the lens to come back, but almost exactly a month later, I got a call from the store. I eagerly picked up the lens and shot a roll of Ilford HP5 Plus 400 as fast as I could. I’m thrilled with how these shots turned out. Just as I had hoped, the 35mm lens makes it easier to get closer to people to take photos than the 50mm that I had. I’m also thrilled with how fast this lens has been for indoor photos.
Photos
I stopped by my parents’ and showed them the lens. The M3 is my dad’s but he never bought other lenses for it, so I was really excited to show him.
Mom and dad
Dad took a photo of me too
Later in the week, I had some time before dinner on the Embarcadero so I took a walk and grabbed a few photos.
Friday on the way to dinner with Ed
I visited the Ruth Asawa Retrospective at SFMOMA with some friends (I think this is my 4th visit to that exhibit?). I love Ruth Asawa’s work so much and should probably make an entire post about it with all the other photos I’ve taken.
And a few more portraits to finish up the roll
