Retro Is As Retro Does...Are We There Yet, Leica?

I have long struggled with the word "retro" in modern culture - in particular when it is applied to photography. I think I am expected to know what it means, but at my age I can't remember...

Actually, I can remember far too much. The clothing styles of the 1950's and 1960's exist in my wardrobe and are regularly worn - to the horror of the family. Whenever I see "retro" clothing styles I compare them to the actual garments and laugh - modern versions are nothing but cartoon sketches.

Likewise with lots of images that crop up in magazines and on the net. Unless you replicate the lighting and add a great deal of digital overlay, you can't quite get it - Instagram is not enough. You might get close with Alien Skin Exposure, but you're still going to have to have to know what the original looked like to know how far to go.

But.

If you really want the retro experience, the Leica company are your friends. They have been making cameras for 101 years. They have been at the forefront of the 35mm market for 101 years. They have pulled so far away from the rest of the trade with 35mm rangefinder cameras that they are the only ones out there.

They still make the Leica MP. 35mm rangefinder camera. Classic M mount. Classic lever winder and rewind knob. Aperture ring, shutter speed dial. Flash shoe. Tripod screw socket. And you have to know what you are doing every inch* of the way. When you do, you are rewarded with the best retro photography experience available yet in this century.

It will cost you. If you are a Leica enthusiast you know that this will be the case, no matter what the gear is. What you have to realise is that it will cost you time, study, and social skill to succeed:

1. You need time to purchase the film, load it, figure out the exposure, focusing, and framing. You need time to take the film for processing or ...gasp...process it yourself. You need time to decide what to do with the negatives or transparencies and then to do it. it is time well spent.

2. You Need To Know. There is enough Leica literature to fill a library and you need to read it. You also need to talk to other enthusiasts. It ain't on television - you've got to read.

3. You need to develop a deep and meaningful relationship with your processor and printer. If they don't know what you want, you won't get it, and if you don't know what you need to give them to get that result you won't get it. See no.2. above.

What do you get by going retro? Bragging rights, in some circumstances. A haunted look at other times. When you get really into it you'll need to explore the question of dressing the part.

Come to my house. I got this wardrobe...

*Inch. retro.

Leica Trip - The Travellers Report

Monday night at Shoot Workshops was a fun time for the Leica Club WA. As you'll see from the images they had plenty to eat and drink - always a good idea of an evening - and a chance to get a first-hand report about the opening of the new Leica Manufacturing Centre in Germany.

This is a pretty important year for Leica - a 100th year anniversary of the first of the Leica cameras. Saul and Howard travelled to Wetzlar as guests of Leica to participate in the opening of the industrial park. They were able to meet the heads of the firm and a number of other representatives from other countries as well as see the new facilities. There was ribbon-cutting, and I believe Howard got a bit of it...and there were prestigious presentations of the newest of the Leica products. of course, we've had our own view of the Leica T system here in the shop, and undoubtedly more of this stock will be coming.

Saul and Howard presented images they had taken on the trip - one taken at the spot where Oskar Barnack took his first picture with the first Leica. I'd be willing to bet a lot of the attendees took that same view...

As well, they had an opportunity to speak with a number of world-famous photographers who have used Leica in the past. I believe the conversation with Henri Cartier-Bresson was cut short when the ouija board fell off the table, but up until that decisive moment things went well.

Leica as a brand has the good sense to promote itself well. The unveiling of a new camera or lens is always a special time. and I am sure the various internet rumour forums follow every twist and turn of the story...then twist tighter. It is hard to better the best, however, so the enthusiasts who go to the Leica Club WA do get a chance to experience the new gear as fast as can be practicable. We always look forward with bated breath to what will issue from Wetzlar.

Postnote: In one of the next plog boasts we will be showing some of the photos taken on that trip.

Photokina Is Coming - Start the Rumour Mills

Photokina is coming in September. Köln will be preparing now, making sure that the fire lanes are free of interference and the barricades that filter the tourists into the selling zones are properly braced. Water cisterns will be filled and the field hospital attendants will be laying out dressings.

It is not too early to rev up the rumour mills and engage the clutches. We want to make sure that the level of despair is high enough amongst the camera enthusiasts to ensure a lively trade. Some may peak early and have to be confined to a low diet and a canvas waistcoat but that happens whenever the European summer comes on any way.

Rumour 1.  Sony Will Make A Medium Format Camera based On A Minolta Autocord TLR. This is a beauty if only for the mental picture of someone peering down into a waist-level finder. Actually, that would be cool - at least with a plain old folding WL finder you got a bit of shading from side light.

Rumour 2.  Lomo will send hit squads of special troops to seize the nearest camera manufacturer on the grounds that several of the employees can speak Russian. No-one will do a darn thing about it.

Rumour 3. Krupp will issue a 100-year commemorative shell for their 420mm howitzer. It will be available in chrome or black and will have " Siege of Liege and Namur" engraved on the nose. Buyers are cautioned not to drop it on the fuse as this voids the warranty and about three city blocks...

Rumour 4. The French photographers will mount an exhibition of the decisive moment as soon as they decide when it is.

Rumour 5.  Unsatisfied still with cameras that have micro-projectors, two LCD screens, pet smile detection, and built-in schoolgirl photo-bombers, the Japanese Photographic industry will introduce a new class of camera that contains internal memory of every scene in the world. When you point it at your subject it compares what you are about to do with what a trained professional has already done and if your framing and composition is identical it allows you to press the button. If not, a spike shoots up out of the hand grip and pokes you. Photographers get better quickly.

Rumour 6.  All production of new lenses will cease until you buy all the old ones. This means you, slacker. Get out your money.

Rumour 7. Nikon will take over all Canon factories. Canon will take over all Pentax factories. Pentax will take over all Sony factories. Sony will take over all Nikon factories. Then the music will stop and we'll all have cake. Lots and lots of cake.

 I hope this will enable you to get into the mood of the summer. Those of you who plan to travel to Sarajevo looking for Austrian royalty will already be on beam. These 100-year anniversaries can really go with a bang.

Whole Lotta Leica Goin' On

No post from me yesterday because we were busy preparing the shop for and important event - the official opening of our new Leica boutique shop-within-a-shop.

In case that sounds complicated, it really means that we have a dedicated Leica section here at the front of the shop that has been designed and manufactured by Leica to showcase their product. Now we have a lot more of their products here with us right now and can service the needs of the Leica enthusiast and professional with real style.

Style is a lot of it - we saw the new 100th-year anniversary camera introduced here last night and a wonderful range of colour-coordinated Leica cameras and binocular sets. The former has a special logo engraved onto the Leica D-Lux 6 and a silver lens assembly while the latter are yellow, blue, beige, red...you name it and if Leica can catch it and skin it they can likely cover your camera with it.

The other fashion device is the G-Star Raw camera - again derived from the Leica D-Lux 6 body but with an entirely different covering and body colour. It has a very cool bag included as part of the assemblage.

There was German sausage and beer, German sparkling wine, German cider, and a very pretty blonde model for the photographers to test the cameras out on. There were speeches from the Camera Electronic and Leica managers. The new 100-yeqr camera was announced and shown, and the national manager for Leica was able to remind us of some of the most iconic images of the twentieth century that were taken with Leicas.

Side note: If you once thought that Leica was sort of a staid old-guy's toy sold by staid old guys, you can put that thought firmly out of your mind. The company here in Australia and in Germany is running young and thinking young. Big things coming. When they come, they'll come here to our red and black boutique!