A few years ago, we had a family reunion of sorts in Jackson, WY. It was the time it snowed in May. Wild stuff. It was also the time I made the stupidest mistake ever with my photo gear.
I decided to bring the Leica R6 as my main rig with the pocketable Rollei 35 as a sweet back-up. I was armed with the well respected 35 mm Summicron as well as the cheapish 28-70 mm Leica zoom. The latter is likely a rebranded Tokina or Sigma, but it seemed like a good, relatively compact walking around lens.
For today's images, I was using Kodak Ektachrome 100 which I had every intention of processing in normal E-6 chemistry. I usually wait until I have 8-10 exposed rolls and then process them all at once so that the chemicals don't rot on the shelf. But I just wasn't shooting much E-6 at the time, so I made the decision to cross process in C-41 color chemistry. I know that the X-pro look can be over done, but I do really like the way these images came out. You'll note that the lens has a little geometric distortion. :) But the image does capture the mood I experienced on this walk.
Here is another image taken with the same combo. I really do enjoy shooting into the sun. Not quite what I would call contre-jour, but I do like the lens flares. And once again, the color palette of the cross processed Ektachrome just works here.
I was packing up for the trip home and I thought I would save a little space by tucking the 28-70 into a shoe. To keep it from getting jostled, I wrapped it inside a pair of socks. I think you can see where this story is going. Yes, I was fatigued after the long trip home and I tossed the sock-wrapped lens into the washing machine with the rest of my laundry (it went through the drier cycle, too). I was dismayed to find a very misty lens inside my socks when I was putting them away.
The story has a happy ending, though. I put the laundered lens into a plastic bag with a bunch of rice and let it desiccate for a couple of months. When I finally got up the nerve, I took the whole thing apart and cleaned each lens element by hand. After reassembly, I mounted it to a digital camera and ran a bunch of tests. Everything appears to be working just fine now.
There's just one little metal ring left over. I couldn't figure out where it belonged, so I just moved on. But as I said, everything works a treat. Thank goodness for over-engineering!
