Month: March 2024

–Tried the M-P 240 Safari again. It just did not seem to want to meter correctly, and (I was reminded) it shows these flashing clipped highlights in Play mode. I could probably get rid of them, but. So brought back the Hodinkee. It takes some pretty spiffy pictures. Might be the lens, I don’t know. [edit] Found out how to fix Play on the Safari. Did a showdown between Safari 240 and Hodinkee. Hodinkee wins. Incredible lens, 3 buttons on the back (as opposed to 5-6), LCD screen more modern, can use Visoflex 2, no Advanced vs. Classic metering,  etc. [edit 2] Another showdown between the Hodinkee and the M11, both using the 35mm f1.4 FLE lens. Photos were close, but again, Hodinkee rules. Can’t hardly understand it. Hodinkee did 1/30 ISO 800, while M11 did 1/320 ISO 3200. Why does M11 run the ISO up so high? And the house number was almost readable on the Hodinkee, while you could hardly tell there was a number with the M11. Strange, and I guess I’ll just have to get used to the gray paint.

–Got a (small) start on reorganizing/cleaning up the garage. Exhausted.

–Pizza for dinner.

–Sharpened the new CKF on the Wicked Edge. Pretty good.

–Yet another cool, dark, drizzly day.

–Set up auto-pay for state and federal taxes.

–Played with cameras. Still don’t know what I want.

–Another gray and misty day.

–Bought fruit and cheese at Koreana Plaza.

–Discovered (to my glee) that the vertical rangefinder alignment was off on the Reporter. So I requested a refund, using that and the scratch in the top plate as excuses. The seller offered me a $100 refund. I said no thanks, just get me your address. Meanwhile, Progear Cameras in New Zealand has a new Hodinkee M10-P available, and I’m in touch with them regarding shipped price.

–Re-routed drip hoses in the side yard so we don’t keep tripping over (and breaking) the one that crossed the path. As I’ve said before: feeling every inch of 77.

–I have slight evidence (in the form of sleepers) that Restasis might be working. Fingers crossed.

–Leica M10-P Reporter finally came in. Mostly my fault: DHL thought Seward was a company, and that complicated the customs process. Also cost me $62 in duty. Crap. Camera is nice, but has a small mark on the top plate and ~2,450 clicks. Looks like I might be keeping it, as a query to Hodinkee hasn’t been resolved yet (“we’re looking into it,” which likely means “they sold out a while back and we neglected to update the listing”). Listing has been updated now: sold out. I doubt I’m going to get the last one.

–Took a shot at painting the Leica Black Paint bottom cover, after sanding it smooth. It might work.

–Well, so much for M9’s. Took out the M-E for a couple of patio pics at twilight. DNG looked like it was shot through a red filter, jpg through green. Tried the black M9, thinking the M-E had acted up before–got exactly the same results. I really don’t understand the hype behind M9’s.

–Used the 1-ton press and a feeler gauge to improve the action on a Sham by pushing down the detent ball. It worked!

–A dark and drizzly day.

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–Did a bagel run.

–And not much else.

–Finished and submitted 2023 taxes via TurboTax. They had a state underpayment penalty (Block did not). I think Block may have been accurate, but didn’t feel like getting into a showdown with the state.

–Walked to UPS to pick up Dremel polish. Surprised to see the order did not include buffs. Ordered the buffs (again?) from Widget Supply. Very strange. Stopped at Bel Air for dessert and cheese. Wanted milk, but you cannot buy one quart of milk at Bel Air. Second time I’ve seen this. Inexplicable and very annoying.

–Never satisfied with my Leicas, I looked again at eBay. Noticed (not for the first time) a used M10-P Hodinkee Ghost Edition for $19,000. Nice-looking camera. Searched the web to get a feel for it, found that Hodinkee is selling this new for $15,000. Bought it. Hoping that’s the end. Removable bottom cover, three buttons, 24 megapixels, cool ghost colors. Given its age (2019) and scarcity (250 units) I’m surprised to see it still available new. It better be new…

–Picked up Leica M-P 240 Safari at UPS. Not what I thought it was going to be. Was expecting a sort of M10 (like the one I have with rub marks), but instead it’s a 10-year old camera, just like an M9 with 24MB sensor. It has weird Classic or Advanced Exposure (with Live View), which seems more of a kluge than an advance. It’s flawless cosmetically, but really is just the most advanced M9 (Live View) in green. I can’t see a real niche for it. SL2 and M11 are the only real candidates for “master camera,” and M9 has a spot as a classic with CCD sensor. It’s possible the M10-R BP could be the master, but then M9 would be superfluous, I go back and forth on the BP as user vs. work of art. And then there’s the Reporter coming some day……

–Had a horrible night of diarrhea, after Motor City pizza and a Howard’s Donuts cinnamon roll.

–Slept much of the afternoon.

–Did Federal taxes; owe $828.

–Took the Beemer to Howard’s Donuts (no bagels) and UPS.

–Picked up the “softest” Dremel buff. Looked harsh to me, and shed like crazy for a long time. HOWEVER, with some Crystal Brite polish, it really did seem to get rid of very shallow scratches in the M10-R BP. It left a fair haze, but Meguiar’s Swirl Remover brought everything back to perfect. This might actually work; I’m holding my breath. Also conflicted now on which M to keep: the BP, or the incoming Safari. Tests are in order.

–Tried to finish taxes using the IRS online app. Too many limitations–they can’t do IRA distributions, for example. Bought H&R Block Tax Cut (cheaper than, and works with Turbo Tax) and we’re moving along.

–Took a shower and shave. Used a new Gillette Spoiler blade, after using one for 4-6 shaves. Really nice blade.

–Played with cameras. Will keep only (1) SL2–like the Sony before it, it will take any lens (with adapter) and focus it better than an M with Visoflex 2; (2) M10-P Safari–using the scratched one now, with an “unused” one coming soon. Nice color, last M with the bottom plate, will utilize the Visoflex 2 in a pinch; (3) TL–best design ever, takes fine pictures; (4) C-Lux–huge zoom with incredible sharpness at the far end.

No M9’s for now. Will decide how to use the CL Paul Smith (which kind of overlaps the TL) when it comes back from Leica.

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–Turned on sprinklers, after fixing issues front back and side.

–Pizza for dinner.

–Lumitime clock came in. Flawless, quiet, not as bright as the one from shermtyv on eBay. Don’t know how he did it.

–Black Leica TL came in. Mint condition, still feeling it out. Not sure it will replace a CL.

–Second Leica D-Lux 7 007 came in. Ultra new. Made the mistake of comparing it (again) to the C-Lux. The C, with its vastly longer zoom and smaller sensor, blew the D out of the water. Oh well…

–Got an appointment (via Firoz referral) at Sacramento Spine and Physical Therapy. For May 1. Oh well…

–Dr. Firoz’s office called with a referral to Sacramento Spine & Physical Therapy.

–Played with cameras and abrasives. Tiny bit of progress, maybe.

–Went to UPS for Rolex crystal (had marks, I tried to polish out, ruined it), rubbing compound (promising), rubber-coated tweezers (nice).

–Red Baron for dinner.

–Daylight Saving started. Stupid.

–Played with cameras. Noticed the M-E is nice-looking. On the other hand, twilight shots between it and the M11 were pretty dramatic: an abutilon bulb on the M-E was a blob, while on the M11 it had decent definition. Do I really need to keep an M9? The bottom plate is retro cool and all, but the camera leaves much to be desired. AND the M10-R has a bottom plate. I’ll probably never decide.

–Played with cameras. Don’t know what I’ll keep. The M10 Black Paint is a beauty, but maybe more of an art object. The Safari is cool, but has a noticeable scratch that the finish won’t allow e to take out. The M11 is lick, but has that spring-loaded battery. First-world problems…

–Made pizza for dinner. Forgot to cut the dough in half. That was one thick pizza. Good though.

–Took the Beemer to Green Acres in Folsom and got an Owari Satsuma semi-dwarf tree. Hoping it produces fruit in less than five years.

–Cleaned up the plants a bit on the back patio.

–Put the meteorite in the electrolysis bucket for several hours. Didn’t seem to do a whole lot. Will continue.

–Leica M10-R came in. Some evidence it had been used as a store demo: it had an old battery and SD card in it. Further, the Leica Sync app showed > 400 shutter actuations. (Same app showed around 620 actuations on the Black Paint M10-R–a keeper for sure.)

–Back started out good, got bad as the day progressed. Neck hurts now too. Crap. Sent a message to Dr. Firoz asking for a referral.

–Picked up yet another Leica M9 at UPS. Very nice, with intact sticker on the bottom (I took it off) and just over 1,000 shutter activations. Each of the black M9s has tiny marks, but I’ll likely stay with today’s; serial number is much higher for one thing. Still don’t know about M9 vs. M10-R.

–I successfully set up an electrolysis rig and ran the Erie Spider skillet through it. Seemed to work fine (there wasn’t much rust on the skillet). Meteorite next.

–Lunch at Jersey Mike’s.

–Picked up Leica M10-R Black Paint at UPS. Marks on top and bottom, not bad but easy to see. Tried to polish some out on top, added some bad scratches (just did that with another camera, can’t remember which). Don’t know if it’s diamond abrasives in the vicinity getting rags or not–actually trying to polish the paint with .5 and 6 micron diamonds didn’t do much of anything. I think I really need to restrict my rag use to the yellow microfibers–or maybe the green shaving towel. Tried some Meguiar’s Swirl Remover, and it may have helped. Ordered another Meguiar’s polish that’s one step coarser, and a soft Dremel buff. There are lots of cameras that could use some polish, the problem being all the knobs and buttons that get in the way.

–Another relapse on my back. This is getting old.

–Picked up the Rolex 931250 at UPS. Not only is it the wrong year (looked like VB on eBay, actually VE), it’s super worn/over-polished, and the clasp doesn’t work well. I gave up, put a strap on the 1680 for now.

–Back pain considerably better on day 12.

–Took a shower and shave. This could be the 4th shave on the Gillette Spoiler blade, and it felt good.

–Day 11 of back pain. A new record (last one, two years ago, resolved in 8 or 9 days).

–Red baron pizza for dinner.

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–And dot’s about it.

–Went to Smart & Final for ($17) banana muffins; Bel Air for milk, cream cheese, pizza.

–Heard from Tom Elken, who wants to start riding again March 11. We’ll see.