After going through an LF frenzy in the last couple of years, I was confronted with a beautiful little gem in the shape of a used Leica M6 and a 35mm f2 (Summicron) lens.

Now my staple, before my fall into LF, was MF (Mamiya 7 II), so looking at the results of scanned B&W 35mm negs is somewhat disappointing.

The scans are done at my lab on their photofinishing machine.

I want to understand why the scans look so average ?

- am I caught in the mystique of a Leitz glass ?

- are todays modern develop/scan/print photofinishing machines incapable of scanning B&W accurately ?

- is 35mm absolutely incapable of producing good sharp images ?

- my rangefinder needs adjustment ?

- have I been spoilt by big negs ?

Please don't get me wrong, the handling, convenience (and mystique) of the Leica make it a joy to use. It's so light compared to the Mamiya 7 not to mention the Wisner !!

btw, when I look at the trannies I've shot with the Leica they're pretty good, it's just the scans that leave me disappointed.

So my query is to all the LF'ers out there: once you are hooked on LF do smaller formats ever look the same ???