35mm Black & White Film Photography

35mm Black & White Film Photography
Leica Photographer

Good news! I am back shooting 35mm film photography after my recent purchase of a 1958 Leica M2 film camera. I already had a Voigtlander Bessa R3A but the shutter has jammed so I decided to treat myself to a Leica film camera. I love my Leica digital cameras (M8 and Leica M9) but the older Leica M2 has exceeded all expectations.
As the Voigtlander Bessa had jammed mid roll of film I decided to rewind the film in camera then load it into my Leica M2. I then fired off 15 shots with the lens cap on to advance the film (the Leica M2 film advance lever motion is to die for!). I then fired off some shots around the house to finish the film and to check the M2 was operating aswell as it felt in my hand.
As I still had a roll of undeveloped film from last year in the fridge, I decided to develop both rolls of film at the same time. Both film spools were 35mm Kodak T-Max 100 exposed at ISO200. I developed my black and white film in a Paterson tank using semi-stand development and Rodinal + water. My thermometer was not working so I just used a temperature that was warm to the touch. Luckily film is very forgiving! I stood the film for 35mins and then checked the results after fixing. All good. Both rolls of film were exposed correctly. Phew!
Here are a few samples of the negatives I have scanned so far

Voigtlander Bessa R3A + CV Nokton 40mm f1.4 – Monika

Leica M2 Test Shots (Please excuse the subjects!)
M2 + CV Nokton 35mm f1.2 ASPH ii


I will try to add more photos to this post as I scan them.
There will be plenty of new Leica M2 film photography example images coming soon. It really is a beautiful camera and my new favourite to operate of all my cameras. (Examples will include me using the Leica Summicron 50mm f2 v5 lens on the Bessa R3A in London that can be compared to the Leica M9 B&W images).
(The header image was shot in Edinburgh in 2013 with model Emma using the Bessa R3A + CV Nokton 40mm f1.4)
MatthewOsbornePhotography.co.uk – UK Leica Photographer