Bill Smith's Photography

 And this is the photo walk I was two weeks early for. Still ran with a Leica, only this time my M5 along with Kodak Gold 200, a nice combination.  The route took us from Roncesvalles to Parkdale cutting through residential areas, the sort of neighbourhoods people want to live in. I looked at the top end of Roncesvalles Village but couldn't find a condo I liked within my budget. Still a nice neighbourhood to visit, though.  Camera: Leica M5, Light Lens Lab 50 F2 Rigid Lens.  Film: Kodak Gold 200, processed at Graination. 

 Light Lens Lab is a dangerous web site for me. They specialize in in recreating classic Leica thread mount and M mount lenses, mostly from the Leica back catalogue, but the more unique and earlier lenses from the M mount era like the 9 element 28 F2.8 Elmarit and 8 element 35 F2 Summicron from the early 1960s along with the rare, and I mean rare made in Midland Ontario Elcan 50 F2.  So why by a note for note recreation of a Leica 50 F2 Rigid Summicron from the cusp of the 1960s? There's plenty of used examples out there for, just a bit more than the Light Lab 50 Rigid. In human years, the OG Leica glass will be ready to quality for the Canada Pension Plan/Old Age Security, and sadly the original front elements and lens coatings are about as durable as chalk, and finding a perfect 50 F2 Rigid Summicron from say 1959 is getting harder each year.  Shooting with the 50 F2 Rigid on my Leica M5 seems to be a perfect marriage. Having shot with the Dual Range and Collapsible Sum...