Apparitions in the Apparatus.

Inspiration, Leica 75mm Summarit f/2.5, Portrait, Print, Street

Apparitions in the Apparatus

↑Leica M9 and Leica 75mm Summarit @ f/2.5.

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If you haven’t already done so, please consider signing my open letter to Leica.

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Prosophos Open Letter to Leica

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Related posts:

Top 5 Images that I liked – but you didn’t :)

Favourite, Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

When you create things (like photographs) you become emotionally attached to them.  Consequently, you are often not in the best position to judge whether your creations are any good.

Having said that, I’m normally pretty accurate at predicting which of my images will be favourably received.

However, I still get fooled.  Sometimes, what I thought was good, you think is, well…

Here are 5 images I posted over the last few years that received minimal or no comments.  They were figuratively sucked into a vacuum and left for dead.

I realize that perhaps you may have been away when I first posted them.  Or, perhaps you were too pressed for time, and couldn’t leave a friendly comment.

But I am instead going to assume that you disliked these images.

How could you? 🙂

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Top 5 Images that I liked — but you didn’t.

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1. Bajan Tapestry.

This was photographed last month, so I admit I may be biased by the recency of my creation.  Yet, I believe this may be one of the best images I’ve ever created.

bajan-tapestry

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2. The Kick.

The proverbial decisive moment.  Caught on film, no less.  Whimsical, and perfectly composed with a dash of symmetry.  Tell me otherwise.

The Kick (film)

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3. The Kiss.

It’s all about Love.  You would have to be heartless to ignore this one.  And you did.

The Kiss

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4. The Window, Part 2.

Reflections, connections, and longing gazes.  Life as a dream.  Works for me.

The window, Part 2.

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5. Portrait of an enigmatic young man.

So enigmatic, it confused you.  I guess.

portrait-of-an-enigmatic-young-man

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There are other examples, but I won’t berate you any more.

Thanks,

—Peter.

Plustek 120 and Silverfast: Mark’s settings for dust removal.

Film, Guest Post, Q&A, Scanner - Plustek 120, Teaching point

I recently reported on the Plustek 120 scanner for scanning B&W film.

After reading about my positive experience with the Plustek 120, my friend Mark purchased one.  Mark, being a Master in film processing, develops both B&W and colour film.  While using the colour film dust removal feature of the Silverfast sofware, he initially found things weren’t working.   However, a few quick changes in Silverfast solved the problem.

Mark writes:

“I appear to have a fix for the problem… It seems that there is a setting under [Silverfast’s] “Preferences > Special > Maximum Offset for iSRD alignment” that is “Maxed Out” by default. I have decreased my value to 50 (from a default of 70) and decreased the detection threshold to 2 (in the iSRD Dialogue) and the resulting correction is PERFECT, with no alterations in the underlying grain structure of the resulting scan…I hereby declare this to be a FINE scanner…“

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Thank you for this information Mark.

—Peter.

Keeping it real.

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

I thought it might be a good time to link to an old post of mine, from over two years ago.

What prompted this?

Looking at some images from a popular website, where a guest photographer was sharing his experience with one of the latest cameras.  The images were beautiful, but the processing was over the top.  Too plastic.

When processing, my friends, you have to keep it real.

–Peter.

1963 M3 – Test Shot.

Film, Inspiration, Kodak Tri-X 400, Leica M3, Q&A, Scanner - Plustek 120, Teaching point

Completing my move back into shooting film is my acquisition of a Leica M3.

I’m revisiting an old friend, in that I’ve owned two of these previously (a couple of examples of my previous output with the M3 can be seen here and here) .

This one is from 1963, and it still has the “L” seal intact — which means it has never been opened to be serviced since leaving the factory in 1963.

How well does this 50+ year old camera fare?

Here is a test shot from today (focus is on the angels):

1963 M3 Test Shot

↑Leica M3, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH @ f/1.4, and Kodak Tri-X 400.

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The focus is spot-on, and most of the shutter speeds are working perfectly.

Now, do I get it serviced to get the last ounce of performance out of it, or do I leave it untouched (with the L seal intact)?

Hmmm…

—Peter.

For some reason…

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

For some reason, my open letter to Leica has been getting a lot of traffic today.

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Who should sign it?

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Anyone who wants an updated CCD sensor in a future Leica M model.  Anyone who places emphasis on rangefinder simplicity and also values high image quality at low-to-moderate ISO values.

Yes, Leica, incorporate the ergonomic improvements of the M240, but help differentiate the brand from the mediocre CMOS landscape by bringing back an updated CCD sensor.

Please bring back a superior, simple, and reliable still-photography camera worthy of the Leica brand.

(If you’re reading this and are in agreement, please click on the Dear Leica dot below and sign your name in the comments section.)

Thanks,

—Peter.

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Prosophos Open Letter to Leica

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Related posts:

Hockey Girl.

2014, Favourite, Film, Hockey, Inspiration, Kodak Tri-X 400, Mamiya RZ 110mm F/2.8, Mamiya RZ67 Professional Pro II, Portrait, Scanner - Plustek 120

It’s February 9th, 2014.

That’s today.

My wife and I are rushing to get Hockey Girl ready for her early game, and we’re running late.

I notice it’s snowing outside and the light looks magical.

I turn to my wife, and she immediately understands.

She says, “5 minutes”.

I run upstairs to grab the Mamiya, which is already loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400.

Hockey Girl and I go outside, and I shoot a few frames.

This is one of them.

As it turns out…

Hockey Girl goes on to score her first ice hockey goal, ever.

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Hockey Girl

↑Mamiya RZ67, Mamiya 110mm @ f/2.8, and Kodak Tri-X 400.

Epson V700 vs. Plustek 120.

Film, Inspiration, Q&A, Scanner - Plustek 120

Here is a high magnification crop from each scanner, from yesterday’s Smile image.

Qualifiers:

  1. Default values in SilverFast 8 (identical settings for both scanners).
  2. Each manufacturer’s stock film holders were used (the Epson ones are flimsy, the Plustek ones are impressive).
  3. I’m only examining sharpness (though I already have an opinion about dynamic range that I’ll keep to myself for now).
  4. This is a B&W comparison only (no colour comparisons are forthcoming – sorry!).
  5. This is not scientific.*

*This was done for my own evaluation purposes.  I have other crops I’ve compared but I’m only posting one because it is representative of the overall results.

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The Epson V700 is on the left, the Plustek 120 is on the right:

epson-v700-vs-plustek-120-photographs-by-peter

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My verdict?

The Plustek 120 wins.

However, the Epson V700 was hampered by its substandard film holders.  Those of you who are using the BetterScanning substitutes are likely coaxing better performance out of the Epson.

Please note that we are splitting hairs with these crops.  The overall image quality is excellent for both.

In actuality, I was happy with the Epson — until I saw what I can get from the Plustek.  And my goal was to get something at least as good as the Epson in a smaller package.  The fact that I’m getting better image quality (in the context of my workflow) is a bonus.

The second big bonus with the Plustek is that there is no large, smudge-prone, glass panel present from which I have to keep wiping away fingerprints.

The third big bonus with the Plustek is that the film holders can accommodate 3 frames of 6 x 7 film (the Epson ones hold 2.5… which is very inconvenient).

Finally…

I’d like to congratulate Plustek for keeping film scanners alive.   I’m no longer plagued by crazy notions of purchasing a used (and discontinued, and unsupported) Nikon Coolscan 9000 for an inflated price in the second-hand market.

The Plustek 120 appears to be a quality product that is well-conceived and is well-executed.  And thank you Plustek, for finally including well-engineered film holders!

Hopefully, it’s built to last.

—Peter.