{"id":37975,"date":"2023-05-04T08:14:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T07:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=37975"},"modified":"2023-06-20T11:16:33","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T10:16:33","slug":"analogue-adventures-part-18-choosing-a-secondary-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/analogue-adventures-part-18-choosing-a-secondary-camera\/","title":{"rendered":"Analogue Adventures – Part 18: Choosing a secondary Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

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If you followed my Analogue Adventures<\/a> over the past year you probably noticed I have been shooting quite a bit of 35mm film lately. Doing that, I discovered things I like as well as things I don’t like. Either way, I decided to continue with these Analogue Adventures as I think there is still a lot to be learned for me, but I also decided to get a second analogue camera with M-mount for doing that.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Why a second analogue body?<\/h2>\n

As I mainly use prime lenses I am already used to going out with two cameras at the same time, I have been doing the same with digital for years. It is simply faster just grabbing a different camera from the bag than constantly changing lenses and some of my M-mount lenses are also a bit “delicate”, which makes changing them somewhat more bothersome.<\/p>\n

\"analogue
Leica M6 | Voigtl\u00e4nder VM 35mm 1.2 III | f\/1.2 | 500T +1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then there was another issue: with just one analogue camera you only have one ISO available at any given time. This is clearly something that bothered me, so with two cameras I will most likely load one camera with a slower film and the other with a faster film, giving me some added flexibility.<\/p>\n

Requirements for the second camera<\/h2>\n

My Leica M6 was expensive to begin with, in addition to that it needed an expensive initial repair<\/a> – the warranty it came with was useless, as the shop’s repair guy only went to Youtube-University – and the next repair is already around the corner (possible light leak when changing lenses I discovered on my Istanbul trip).
\nLong story short: I set myself a limit of 1000\u20ac this time, which already ruled out all the Leica M-series cameras (with exposure meter) as well as the Zeiss Ikon ZM.<\/p>\n

I was also looking for a lighter and possibly smaller camera. The Leica Ms feel nice in the hand, but they are not exactly lightweight.<\/p>\n

The options<\/h2>\n

Already the first time I was looking for an analogue camera with M-mount<\/a> I had a look at all the possible options, or at least I thought so, as I did in fact discover another camera I didn’t have on the list before: the Zeiss Ikon SW (SW = SuperWide). At first sight this looks like a Ikon rangefinder camera, but it comes without an actual rangefinder. It has the Ikon ZM electronics and technology (aperture priority, exposure meter, electronic shutter curtain) and build quality, but it lacks a rangefinder window, so you need to resort to zone focusing. It is also available for a third of what a normal Ikon ZM is going for.<\/p>\n

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Zeiss Ikon SW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I almost bought one. I like wide angle photography so I considered using it with my 15-24mm M-mount lenses, but then it wouldn’t really be usable with any lenses longer than that, so in the end I didn’t. But what other options were left?<\/p>\n