January | 2023 | Steve Schwarz Photography

One of the youngest trucks in my fleet – Only 31 years old !.

It is a US truck, in miles – slightly confusing when the speed limits in Canada are in Km. Compared to most trucks of its age (e.g. old battered Ford pickups), there is no rust and a few small dents and scratches. It does have a crack in the windshield, though where I live that is considered normal. The combination of extreme cold and gravel roads makes cracked windshields inevitable.

It has a ARB front bumper, Warn Zeon 12 winch, ARB airlocker on rear differential, 2.5″ Old Man Emu heavy lift, rocker guards and a 23Zero rooftop tent on a DIY roof rack with Smittybuilt + 8020 rails.

Needs minor things like a new windshield, mudflaps, and flares. Mechanically very solid.

Maintained properly for the past 4 years for sure, can’t speak past that as no records.

I count the emission delete as an upgrade lol.

For winter use, the is a liner for the 23Zero tent and a Propex2000 heater.

Really tempted to have a Campteq poptop tent installed for additional headroom.

Got any questions or comments – Drop me a line.

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It has been ages since I’ve posted –

It has been ages since I’ve had a vacation and

It has been ages since I’ve actually used a camera.

January 2023.

Yes – I am one of those people that still use a real camera instead of taking pictures with a cell phone. This vacation I brought 3 cameras; GoPro, Fuji X-T1 and a Leica M240. Add chargers, extra lenses (14mm Fuji, 8mm Samyang, and 24mm Leica and 19mm Leica)…it all adds up to a ton of gear. Wait, Leica M240 and Leica 19mm ??. Leica M240 is a rangefinder camera and the 19mm Leica lens is for SLR-type cameras !. Who does that ?. The Leica 19mm has a Leitax adapter (to Nikon – and compatible with my D700 and D850) and with a Nikon – Leica L/M adapter. This was supposed to be the final voyage for that Leica lens. It was dropped years ago and bent. No broken glass. Sent to Leica for repair and re-built – sort of. The ring with the serial number was lost when it was dropped, so Leica gave it a new serial number. A unicorn lens !. Since then, fungus has developed in the lens showing up as lens flare on the top of photo. My work-around is to hold the camera upside down. A bit weird – though works !.

Zion National Park

So, on this trip I had 3 cameras. Each night the task of copying the images to a computer and then to an external hard drive for backup. In contrast, my travelling partner had her photos on her phone. With WiFi at the hotel her images were backed up to Google. Her posts to social media were quick and easy. Ugh. For me, copying the photos to the computer took ages and them more time to back them up. I also shoot in RAW format and the images are at least 25Mb. And – with the Leica, it is manual focus too….More delays during the hikes.

All that complaining aside, I really enjoy using the old Leica camera and lenses. There is something very different with those lenses. My Nikon lenses are crystal clear and sharp, auto focus, and light weight (carbon fibre instead of brass). The Leicas, designed in the 1970’s are…Not. That said, the Leica lenses have a certain character, the pictures have a look that is quite distinctive than modern state of the art lenses, and I like the feel of using them. Similarly to a woodworker using hand tools instead of power tools, or a gardener using a shovel instead of a power tiller.

All the photos are in Black & White. Why ?. Although the colours are spectacular, the tone and patterns in B&W are more obvious. And, B&W is more old school, back when everyone had manual focus lenses. ;>

Zion National Park

Virgin River, Zion National Park, Leica M240 + Leica -R 19mm