I thought I'd already posted all of the brochures in my wee Leica literature collection but it seems not. Whilst looking for something in the darkroom the other day, I came across this filter brochure and one for the Leica CL.
The filter leaflet might be of limited interest unless you're a Leica enthusiast but I thought I may as well post it here anyway as it's a nice little bit of nostalgia. It's also a good introduction to colour or "contrast" filters as used with black and white film.
As with all the other Leica brochures I've posted (you can find them here) the image files are big enough to be printed out at a decent quality. Apologies if this means that they take some time to load on your computer.
I'll scan the CL brochure when I get a chance and post it in the next week or so. It's likely to be of wider interest, especially since prices for the CL have been climbing over the last few years and it now seems to be on its way to becoming collectible. Or to put it another way, it'll soon become another Leica you can't afford.
How times and attitudes change. Today on Leica camera forums we see posts saying 'I only use JPEG and never do post processing', or 'I never use filters, why would you stick a filter on a $4000 lens?', as if it's homage to some imagined perfection in the equipment. But in 1960 Leica were encouraging people to stick a filter on the lens to be creative and make the image their own. Something intellectually important was left behind during the digital revolution for many younger Leica photographers who have never experienced anything else, and this brochure exemplifies what it was.
ReplyDeleteWonderful brochure. Need to find the paper version.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the interest in using filters waned when SLR's dominated film photography.I use many different cameras for mono work and find I use or consider using a filter more when shooting with a rangefinder or TLR camera.I often left a yellow filter permanently mounted on my Bessa R which had through the lens metering avoiding exposure compensation errors. I also use a cokin system on my 5x4 monorail quite often but taking a few moments during this slow process of shooting is negligible.
ReplyDeletethank you for posting this. always interesting to read another write up on the use of filters :)
ReplyDelete