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Ilford Delta 100
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Leica MDa
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Home developed using Ilford Perceptol.
Ah, the Leica MDa, my old friend! It’s so basic and so good.
Not long after I got into film photography I desperately wanted a Leica. I also didn’t want to pay thousands of pounds for one. The MDa was the compromise. Leica build, quality, weighty, beautiful but no viewfinder and no exposure metering. Yes you read that right, no viewfinder. And so like that I entered the world of zone focusing aka ‘how far do I think I am from the subject?’
These cameras were available from 1967 and were mainly for industrial, scientific and medical use with microscopy and copying in mind, where you don't need a viewfinder, the D standing for documentation. I absolutely LOVE that something once intended for scientific use can be used for street photography these days.
Leica MDa, no viewfinder, no problem!
It’s actually super fun to shoot without a viewfinder, because you inevitably end up shooting from more of a waistlevel finder height and because you are never looking through the viewfinder it never looks like you are taking a photo - perfect if you are trying out street photography.
For this roll I mainly focused to infinity and shot away. As one would expect, it really is a different experience than a camera with a viewfinder but that’s no bad thing. I really want to take this camera into the city and shoot some street scenes - I think it could produce some really special, candid images.
This was the first time using Ilford Perceptual developer, which gives super fine grain, and I really love the results - I’ll be ordering more of this shortly. So good!
