News - Members' Articles

Bletchley Park - Ken Davis

Ken describes the incredible story of Bletchley Park, the British centre for intelligence gathering and distribution in World War II that helped win the war and laid the foundations for modern intelligence services as well as being the place where the first digital computer was installed using the principles laid down by the genius, Alan Turing - Colossus. This was designed by Tommy Flowers of the GPO and built by the GPO teams.
John Tiltman and Bill Tutte cracked an encyphering system that no one understood, working on a machine no one had seen, giving an ‘impossible’ number of combinations – 1.6 million, billion of them. That was why we needed an electronic machine to search for the keys and settings used by the Germans
Bletchley developed into a place where all sources of intelligence were pulled together to give Allied commanders the best information ever provided to war leaders.
The article is longer than usual but we hope you find it well worth reading.



Bletchley Park Mansion




An Enigma Encyphering Machine




A Bombe Machine




Sculpture of Alan Turing




Some Key Code Breakers




Hut 6 Corridor




Senior Code Breaker's Office




Collosus - The World's First Programmable Electronic Computer with The Heath Robinson Predecessor




The Exhibition About Carrier Pigeons
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Can you remember the first time you used a digital camera? It was probably alongside your Film Leicas. Did you have an inkling about where this technology would develop and what sort of digital camera you'd be using today? Well, Alan shares his story with us.




Great Crested Grebe




Double Ender - Alnmouth




Which Way To See Exmouth Gardens




Fish Boxes




Ship Shape




Smokey Joe




Yolan
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This week Keith describes in words and pictures how to spend a pleasant time with friends capturing photographs, renewing the friendships and also learning more.
Keith's article suddenly reminded the webmaster of the number of long time friends he has made through photography and, of course, that includes our Fellowship friendships.

















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Dennis tells us about the Freemen of York and provides a great example of how to photograph interesting folk - talk to them first about what they are part of and what they represent.



A Cobbler Freeman of York




A Lady Freeman of York




A Freeman of York
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The Leica M9 was an important development in the history of Leica M cameras and may well have helped Leica continue in business.
In this article a number of members look at their work with this camera and we provide a short history of it. We also link you to an article on the excellent MACFILOS website about the camera:

https://www.macfilos.com/2024/05/24/leica-m9-looking-back-to-a-turning-point-in-camera-history/

Here are a new set of photos taken with the M9 making up part 2 of our experiences with this fine camera.



Keith Walker - New Forest


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Keith Walker - Barrier



Keith Walker - Artist at Work




Ken Davis - Chesterfield Market 2025




Ken Davis - The Seville Mushroom




Dennis Steel - Mount Cook - New Zealand




Dennis Steel - Kaikoura - New Zealand




Dennis Steel - Grasses - New Zealand




David Askham - You Have Been Warned!




David Askham - Traction




David Askham - Scooter




Cled Lewis - Market Baby




Cled Lewis - Clothed In Red




Cled Lewis - Taking A Break
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The Leica M9 was an important development in the history of Leica M cameras and may well have helped Leica continue in business.
In this article a number of members look at their work with this camera and we provide a short history of it. We also link you to an article on the excellent MACFILOS website about the camera:

https://www.macfilos.com/2024/05/24/leica-m9-looking-back-to-a-turning-point-in-camera-history/

Here are a number of photos taken with the M9, we have more so we will make this a 2-part article with more photos next week.



Keith Walker - Sun & Shade




Keith Walker - Mudeford Nr Christchurch




Ken Davis - Chesterfield Shops - February 2025




Ken Davis - Church - Reykjavik




David Askham - Illusion




David Askham - Fins




David Askham - Blue Eyes




Keith Walker - Contemplation




Cled Lewis - Market




Cled Lewis - Portrait




Cled Lewis - Harvesting The Crop




Ken Davis - Anti-theft Protection




Ken Davis - Cafe - Seville
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Keith has bought the desirable new 50mm Summilux-M lens the mechanics of which are based on the 1950's design. He gives a good description and set of reasons for having the lens and the pictures show the performance at f1.4.




Alfie




Daffodils




Kingston Lacy Lion




Snowdrops




The Colour of Rust




Walnut Tree
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Cled has more than a soft spot for 21mm lenses and has now plunged for the 21mm Summilux. He shows us how he has used these different lenses in his article. His images show how you can use this focal length for all sorts of subjects.



Man at Prayer - Wide Angle Tri-Elmar - 21mm




Ewenny Priory Cemetery - M11 - 21mm f1,4




Ewenny Priory Chancel - M11 - 21mm Elmarit




Derelict Dram - M6 and 21mm Super-Angulon on Tech Pan




21mm Summilux - f5.6




21mm Summilux - f1.4 1/16000
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The first of our biographies is by Keith Walker who also shows us photographs of a fascinating event in London. Here are thumbnails and you can read more by opening the biography.











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This week Alan tells us about returning the Leica cameras and the rocky road he had to travel before he was happy with the camera.

Now I have an appeal. New members are joining the Fellowship and to let them meet some existing members we would like to publish a short 'bio' of existing members. We would want you to send us a photo of your handsome or beautiful face as well as a couple of Leica pictures of yours that typify your work.

In the meantime - back to Alan's photos with the Q.



Zuiderhaven, Harlingen




Willemshaven, Harlingen




Old Timer




Eleven Cities - Cycle Tour




Canal Junction, Harlingen




Charter Ships
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Gareth shows us that simply loading up a film in a favourite camera and going out to photograph whatever takes the eye provided a very fulfilling adventure.

This article will also appear in the issue of The Newsletter that you should receive soon.

A REMINDER TO EVERYONE. SUBSCRIPTIONS HAVE RISEN TO £24 FOR SINGLE MEMBERS AND £36 FOR JOINT MEMBERSHIP. PLEASE ALTER YOUR STANDING ORDER THAT WILL BE PAYABLE SOON. THANK YOU.



Gareth Lewis - Thistle




Gareth Lewis - Street Furniture




Gareth Lewis - Seed Heads




Gareth Lewis - The Rope Ladder




Gareth Lewis - Nailsea Colonnade




Gareth Lewis - Churchyard




Gareth Lewis - London Plane - Bark
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This Week Alan Humphries takes us to familiar places that he has shown us before but shows us how a Leica Minilux has provided him with the tool to record the fascinating subjects.

















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David Askham's lucky dip into his long-forgotten collection of digital pictures



Every January I set time aside for revisiting old images hidden out of sight on my computer. This year I chose to filter pictures taken with my oldest Leica digital camera. There were thousands. So I concentrated on unflagged files and was amazed by what I found. Follow the link and tell me what you think.


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On 6th December we gave a glimpse of Pam & Cled Lewis's Indian Safari.
This week we add some more photographs and not just of the wildlife.
We reiterate their travels and add Cled's views on the equipment he used.



Pam Lewis


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Samba Deer - Pam Lewis




Pam Lewis




Cled Lewis




Cled Lewis




Cled Lewis
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Alan tells us about this small port and how it has been rejuvenated. Alan's maritime connections have given us some fascinating articles.




Watchet Revival




Watchet




Watchet




Watchet




Watchet




Watchet




Watchet




Watchet Revival
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We wish you a good New Year and we hope you can come to Sketchley Grange in the Spring.


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The Leica Fellowship would like to send good wishes to all members and visitors to our site both for Christmas and the New Year.
We have posted a few topical photographs. You can read more if you visit our news page.












All I Want For Christmas Is A New Leica




Christmas Greetings
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David Askham - 'Colour Perception and the Photographer'

How do you perceive colours, throughout the spectrum? Most non-photographers don't know or don't care, unless colour perception has impacted their careers in some detrimental way. Yet a surprising three millions of the UK population are affected by Colour Vision Deficiency or CVD. If you do the arithmetic, we probably have five or more members with CVD issues, within the Leica Fellowship.

Member David Askham has written a thought-provoking article about this subject, based on his recent experiences with operations on his own eyes. After the lens had been replaced on his left eye, (his preference), he discovered that certain colours were not what they seemed. Read more of his article here.


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Pam & Cled have recently returned from a safari in India and the photos of wild tigers show the highlight of the mammoth journey.






Pam & Cled Lewis
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Keith Walker shows us how to use a Leica M with a CMOS sensor to get close ups and tells us about the beautiful and fascinating bee orchids.



Keith Walker - Leica M Close Ups




Keith Walker - Bee Orchids



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