Transition Period.

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

For the first time in five years, I am without a digital Leica M (my Leica M9 is gone, and so are my Leica lenses).

I don’t see myself purchasing another digital Leica M again, unless:

–

  • The sensor is state of the art.  Leica seems intent on never going back to CCD (despite my best efforts), but the CMOS sensor in the M240 was a disappointment.  There are better CMOS sensors out there.
  • Leica regains its focus on still image photography.   With the M240 and its already-obsolete-at-launch EVF, they produced a product with “me too” add-on gimmickry at a premium price.  Thank goodness they weren’t silly enough to drop the rangefinder focusing mechanism, or else all would have been lost.
  • Leica improves its quality control, and the reliability of its products.

 

The Leica M3 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm are still with me.

The Mamiya RZ67 is with me.

My deep connection to rangefinders will remain with my M3, and I will continue to develop my portrait photography with the formidable RZ67.  Both of these are, of course, film cameras.

I’ll therefore be exploring another digital system.

In fact, it’s already in my hands.

—Peter.

Brushing Honey.

2014, Favourite, Film, Inspiration, Kodak Tri-X 400, Life's Little Moments, Mamiya RZ 110mm F/2.8, Mamiya RZ67 Professional Pro II, Portrait, Scanner - Plustek 120, Teaching point

This was shot wide open @ f/2.8, but required a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/30 sec to expose the foreground figures correctly.  The camera was braced on the floor to reduce vibration and also to obtain the perspective I was seeking.

I was lucky to hit the shutter at just the right moment — the eye contact was brief.

I wasn’t sure how the 110/2.8 would deal with shooting into the light, but the lens has once again impressed me.

And, I am really enjoying the Mamiya RZ67… more so than I thought I would.  Yes, it’s a large and heavy camera, but the system is so well thought out that it prevents you from “screwing up” while delivering exceptional results.

When I purchased my Mamiya equipment, the 180/4.5 lens was also included, but I haven’t yet photographed with it.

—Peter.

Brushing Honey

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

C and H.

Favourite, Film, Inspiration, Kodak Tri-X 400, Life's Little Moments, Portrait, Scanner - Plustek 120, Teaching point, Voigtländer 40mm f/1.4 Nokton

(About a girl and her dog)

This was taken at bedtime, under very dim light.  The film was therefore pushed quite a bit during post processing to lighten things (I should have instead “pushed” it during development).

I’m actually amazed that I ended up with an image that I like, given my previous attempts to capture such scenes in my kitchen without the aid of daylight have never produced satisfactory results, with digital cameras (M9, M8, D3S, D3, D700, etc.) anyway.  Although film doesn’t make up for poor lighting, it certainly is more forgiving.

—Peter.

C and H

↑Leica M3, Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4, and Kodak Tri-X 400.

Work Station.

Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Print, Teaching point

1/25 sec, ISO 640, f/1.4.

Despite this being a hand-held image at a reasonably slow shutter speed, the in-focus areas readily display the “crisp” rendering we get from CCD sensors.

The colours are remarkable too, considering this was photographed under incandescent light.

(DNG file converted to JPG with no post-processing)

—Peter.

Work Station

↑Leica M9 and Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH @ f/1.4.