I submitted a pic a while ago of a motorbike jumping out of a stairwell and thought it’s about time to share something else, also a bit of a life change from the loving Leica M9 to film! After reading about your review on the Leica MP and the gorgeous photos you get from film I thought I’d give it a crack. I grew up in a era where digital was the norm so missed out on the joys of film, the smells, the feel, you can almost taste the emulsion. Seeing my photos appear almost magically onto a piece of film as it dries in the bathroom really makes me feel….accomplished… I can actually finally say, I’m a photographer. I made the switch from canon to Leica this year and since have come to love the rangefinder way of shooting. It certainly has slowed me down. But not enough…..

I knew after my first few rolls of film through an M6 that I needed the pace only film brings. The technical approach needed to nailing exposure and framing as each shot cost money really makes it feel special. Since then my gorgeous M9 has sat in it’s bag for almost 3 months…. criminal! The love of film has taken hold and I’ve made my M6, and newly acquired Hasselblad H1 the new “old” babies in my camera bag. Who says film is dead……

The following shots in order are

Leica M9 35mm ND1.2

Leica M9, lens unknown only a 35 or 50.

Hasselblad H1 Kodak T-max

Hasselblad H1 Kodak T-max 2.8

By Robert Boyer

The first thing to get out of the way is although I am writing this with the Leica M series in mind it applies pretty much to any camera. I do want to apologize up front if I sound at all like a zealot on some of my recommendations and things to think about. Please treat everything you read here as things to think about, not single minded magic answers for a one size fits all world of the 21st century. There goes the first zealot sounding thing – Yes I believe that way way too much consumer demand for the magic press button that fits all things and the marketing that goes with it creates a ridiculous expectation that you can set it and forget it. You know that magic secret setting that you deal up and you are done for the rest of your life, never needing to every thing about it again. Heck that setting will even point the camera and decide when to take the photograph, you can just go to sleep. You want to argue about this? Take the “easy button” advertisements from that big box office store as my one and only exhibit as proof.

Okay – now expect to seriously practice what I am going to suggest here. Yep, every single thing I recommend is going to take some considered effort and more than one try to even get close to helping you shoot fast. If that is not your bag just get a Nikon D3, set up the AF to continuous all area predictive and continuous hight and pray. If you shoot with shorter lenses and close up distances this won’t even work. Trust me I have a D3, it’s amazing but there is not an AF system on the planet that deals well with <50mm wide apertures and close up in terms of nailing shots without a lot of practice. In a whole lot of cases it’s better to turn AF off. If you shoot 300mm+ lenses from 50ft+ this is where AF shines. So here we go in not any order – you have to decide what will work in any give situation with in the parameters I have laid out.

One more thing before I launch into some simple things you probably already knew but haven’t tried in a long time. My definition of shooting quick is not having your camera in the bag, turned off, having no idea what the light is like, exposure is, or that you are even going to take a picture – then all of a sudden something pops out of the word work that presents it self for one and only one image and that image has to be perfect. If this is how you think fantastic photographs are made you are in fantasy land. In reality you have to be prepared, your camera has to be prepared, and you have to watch the situation develop. You actually have to spend time on that subject before the image presents itself. This is how great images are made. You might even have to spend a lot of time with the subject. Stumbling around half asleep with your camera dangling by your side, stumbling on that “great image” and expecting to nail by raising your camera to your eye and pressing the button once is not going to cut it. On with the show.

1) Get exposure out of the way long before you have to take the image. Very very rarely does this mean exposure automation. Even with great exposure systems this is very rarely the answer. Getting it out of your mind and your camera set to go is step one. In the vast majority of circumstances there is only one exposure that you need – you do not need to make 1/3 stop adjustments continuously while shooting the same subject in the same light. Sure auto will make all those adjustments – who needs or wants that because your subject turned one way or the other or there is 2% more sky than there was before. No need – set your exposure and be done thinking about it. What about changing light? Well to be blunt there are only two or three different exposure setting you need to know in just about any shooting situation. Figure out what they are and know them. As soon as your subject is in lighting scenario one go to that setting, scenario 2 go to that setting. etc. I can get away with two in almost every environment on at a given time of day. Those would be stuff that I care about exposing is in shadows and stuff that I care about is in the light. if you don’t quite understand what I just explained then stick with just the one you happen to be in right now. Only think about it again when your subject changes or you move into different light. Fiddling with this or have auto do it for you so you can “compensate” is a giant distraction – or a bunch of maybe it was okay exposures.

2) Know your lenses, your apertures, and your camera. Once you do you will know when to really really focus on focusing or just shoot. Here is what I mean by way of example. If you have a .72 or higher magnification body and it is not goofed up, the RF precision is such that you can easily focus a 50mm f0.95 for a 90mm f2.0 close up and be in absolutely perfect focus. This kind of precision is required close up for those lenses at their closest focusing distances. As your subject gets farther away than closest focusing distance, as your lens gets wider, as your aperture gets smaller, this kind of precision and care are not required at all. So what does that mean to you, well if you are a regular person like me that shoots a 50mm Summicron and a 35 Summicron and you shoot at slightly longer distances, or with slightly smaller apertures than those beasts… learn to relax a bit.

Don’t waste time focusing back and forth and back and forth to make absolutely sure that the rangfinder image is absolutely as perfect as it can possibly be for every single lens/aperture/distance. Only do it when you need to, otherwise take it easy. Turn the ring quickly until it looks right with not too too much time examining that center spot and shoot the damn picture. Once you get over the need to be absolutely sure the RF spot is absolutely perfect as it can possibly get you will be astounded how much faster you are. How do you “know” when you need way more care vs less? A reasonable amount of practice.

3)Use zone focusing a lot, especially with 35mm and wider. Practice guessing distances of things you will be surprised out how good you can get really quick at common things like 3 feet, 5 feet, 8 feet, 10 feet. If you can guess within a reasonable tolerance for those distances which are important to you photographically, you have it made in the shade. Just take a look at your handy dandy DOF scale and really really get to know how the plane of focus falls compared to those guess distances. Even with a 50 this works great.

See a subject, set the guess distance and shoot. Alternatively set a distance and aperture on the lens that will cover everything from say 4 to 8 feet and shoot away without doing anything with focus. With a 35 or 50 this is where you want to be anyway in terms of distance. Remember when I said know the exposure and set it. If you shoot like this with the focus preset to a zone I cannot imagine shooting faster. There is nothing faster. NOTHING. If you can press the button ypu can nail the image.

4)Prefocus - anticipate the direction and the action. Pick something where you want to snap the image and focus on it. Now follow your subject and when what you want is in focus gets to that point nail it. This works better than you think it does in a lot of circumstances you figure out which ones. It does take some practice.

5)A variation on the theme just mentioned – use your frame line menagerie to measure stuff. In other words focus exactly on a plane you want – say an eye,  and take note of where your frame line cuts across the subject. Now move back and forth – or you subject is already doing that and when the time is right nail it. I occasionally do this when I am doing a really tight subject at a really wide Aperture and they have some towards/away movement because they are animated. It works, but this one takes more practice and care than any of the others. I only do this with RF cameras and AF SLR’s – AF systems in this context are useless based on my experience – either they lack the right focus points to use or even confirm AF or they are not accurate enough/fast enough at f 2.0 and wider with 50mm and longer lenses. The only sure fire way to deal with this situation and an animated subject is with good ground glass where you can SEE the focus everywhere. Take this suggestion as a specialize one that is sort of a stand in for a good ground glass SLR focusing screen, Like on my Hasselblads and my Nikon F2/F3.

There you have it! RB’s 5 quick and easy steps to fast shooting bliss (no refunds, no returns, special conditions apply, does require practice – practice not include with post)

Feel free to share what works for you I am always interested in creative ways others have found to shoot fast in various circumstances where I live (shorter lenses close up). One can never have too many things in his bag of tricks.

From Steve: Thanks Robert! You can read and see more of Robert Boyer at his web site/blog HERE.

Lots of requests over the last 2 months asking me if I would accept advertising, and how much it would be. Well, I just released Advertising info so if anyone is interested, click on over to my advertising info page to read about it and to see what is available. Traffic is growing and averages 20K page views daily for September with July and August coming in at 516,000 page views for the month! Since mid November 2009, this site has dished out almost 3.8 million views! Exciting times!

Steve

DISCLAIMER: Not all links posted in the “Fun Friday Links” section will always be about photography. We all come here to talk about and read about photography but we all have other interests, so these links are meant to be fun, informative, silly and sometimes AMAZING! Enjoy…

THE LINKS!

So, how about the new Voigtlander NOKTON 25 f/0.95 lens for the Micro 4/3 mount. Here is a site that has plenty of samples and guess what? It looks like it is giving similar quality (with better color and sharpness) as the NOKTOR I reviewed a while back…in any case, this would be a 50 on a M4/3 camera, and that would be sweet. I hope to review this lens as soon as I can get my hands on one! HERE ARE THE SAMPLES…

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Received this email which may interest some of you…

Message:

Hey steve, just wanted to make any of your readers aware that live in

northern cali that a once a year swap meet is coming up at action

camera in roseville, on september 19th… there contact is 1000

Sunrise Ave. Suite 4B, Roseville, CA 95661

(916) 786-2288

Ive gone for the last few years and i highly recommend it to your

readers… free to attend and no cost to buy or sell gear.

thanks!

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Guy proposes to his girlfriend using a lensbaby…

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Have an Iphone 4? Check out the “Rolling Shutter Effect”

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Artist creates portraits with his Ipad and the “Brushes” app..pretty cool!

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HISTORY TIME! See the Statue of Liberty being built in these old photos…

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Sorry I’m Late – Very cool stop animation video… This is so cool and at the end they show how they did it.

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The Iphone Camera Project! Photos taken only with an Iphone 4

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Not sure if I linked to this one before…it may have been, but if not check out the Holga Digital…

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and…thought this video was funny. Not photo related but got a laugh out of me Its a video that caught a peeping tom…

In stock and used deals..

B&H has the Sony NEX 5 two lens kit in stock with a $150 instant rebate! Check it out HERE.

Ken Hansen has some X1′s and M9′s in stock…well, he did as of a couple days ago. Also I hear he has every lens except the 50 summilux and noctilux.Email him HERE with questions and tell him I sent you!

Here is A Leica 90 Summicron Pre-ASPH in “9″ condition for $1199 at B&H

No one has snagged this gorgeous Leica 50 Elmar yet?

LEICA 21 SUPER ANGULON – Rare!

There is a used M9 on this site which used to belong to ME..the guy who bought it from me is selling it at a STEAL of a price – $6300 and its mint and like new. The guy is also trustworthy so no fears. Want a black M9 like new in box for $6300? Click here to check it out.

Today I bring you a killer Daily Inspiration all shot with the wonderful Leica X1. This is the kind of submission I like to see, so if you have some photos you shot that you want to see here, and even get a link back to your website or blog, then send them along to me with the details and even a story to go along with them. Enjoy! – Steve

Hi Steve,

Your site seems to be getting better and better all the time. Also the guest articles and daily inspirations have been top draw!

Robert Boyer’s article about his rangefinder philosophy really inspired my and everything he was saying resonated with me about my X1. The idea that Leica’s don’t do somethings well or at all but excel in “Human Distances… Distances that we all know and live everyday with our fellow normal sized human beings and objects.” This sums up the X1′s attributes and capabilities too. As I’ve now been bitten by the Leica bug, I’ve been inspired by your site to try my hand at street photography, one of the most interesting and fundamental Leica genres in photography. I am historically a fashion and portrait photographer and in my down time shoot landscapes, urban and architecture. The X1 can photograph all of these things extremely well. However everyone knows the Leica X1′s limitations and I wanted to see how it would compare to a rangefinder in spontaneous situations.

As I was heading to Bruges, I thought this would be the perfect training ground and give my X1 a good opportunity to capture some interesting candids. The first thing I realized about the X1 on the street was how subtle and un-intruisive it was, I almost felt invisible. Henri Cartier-Bresson had always insisted this about Leica’s but I’d never experienced this sensation!

I reveled in the location and shot over 400 candids, I would estimate 95% came out as I had hoped for. The 5% that did not was because either I’d spotted the subject too late for the X1 to react or I’d estimated my manual focus distance incorrectly. People complain the X1 has a slow auto focus, but in the right hands this is not an issue at all. I used a combination of: auto focusing where possible, pre-focusing on areas and waiting for subjects to pass through and finally estimating distances and pre-setting the manual focus. These three techniques worked a charm and I became intuitive and knew which to use in different situations. Thanks to the X1′s minimalist menus, swapping between the three was easy and fast.

I found it difficult to narrow down my favorite shots, but here is five that give a good cross section of my results:

No 1: “Reflection For Directions”

ISO: 100, F4, 250th Sec

The first photo was taken in a reflection in a window. Whilst taking a break from shooting, enjoying one of the fine Beer’s Belgium has to offer, I noticed this reflection and the composition of the Belfry framed with the map reading couple. I had ample time to get out the X1 and auto focus and capture it.

No 2: “The Kid’s Are Alright”

ISO: 400, F4, 500th Sec

Whilst photographing in one of the squares, I noticed these young chaps fooling around in some kind of fancy dress. To highlight my ignorance, I unfortunately have no clue as to the relevance or meaning of the dress. These guys did not speak English so if any one out there does know the meaning I’d love to find out! As I tried to sneak over and get a shot, they spotted me and offered to pose, which was great cos I could get right up and make the most of the 35mm lens.

No 3: “Time To Relax”

ISO 800, F4.5, 250th Sec.

This is of a couple relaxing at one of the great establishments in Bruges. This was one of my first experiments with manual focus. I felt a little intrusive trying to hold up the camera and manually focus on someone, so I played around with gaging how far away some one was, setting the distance into the manual focus, allowing me to lift the camera and shot instantaneously. This allowed me to be very quick, subtle and document much more intimate moments.

No 4: “The Marching Band”

ISO 800, F3.2, 250th Sec

Serendipity raised it head with this one. Whilst the rain clouds came over and everyone had ran for cover, out of no where a marching band came my way. It was a street parade for the Ladies Circle International. This was my favorite shot of the parade, but an interesting note was as all the ladies were marching past organized into their separate countries, the lovely ladies from India spotted me with my X1 and actually stopped in the middle of the street and held up the parade to pose for a photograph. They must have also been fans of the red spot because the was a lot of people with SLR’s and they did not stop for any one else.

With the X1 I had no problem upping the ISO to 800 to allow me to keep the shutter speeds high to capture action. Even at 1600 and 3200 the results are very good and even have lovely almost film grain quality to them with no noise!

No. 5: “The Potter”

ISO 100, F4, 80th Sec

This guy was amazing. So fast and so talented. I love the detail this lens can capture, down to the clay fingerprints on the cigar.

I had a great time shooting candid street photography in Bruges. The X1 coped admirably and as long as you know its limitations you can over come them achieve the results you want with this camera in any genre. At the end of the day, its just a tool and it is the hands and eyes of the photographer that will capture the moment.

Thanks for looking, if you want to see more X1 experimentation check out my Flikr

www.flikr.com/photos/djdelavega

By Kurt Kamka

Photography either as a profession or as a hobby is one of those avocations that frequently end up being all about the buying, selling and trying out of gear. It’s the endless pursuit of the perfect lens, feature set or upgrade that is just one purchase away.

Like modern Sisyphus’, for many, the trying out of gear becomes the obsession. And, with a steady stream of new products to feed the addiction, the next new product introduction becomes a highly anticipated, hallowed event.

Raise your hand if the gear acquisition bug has ever bitten you. I know it’s bitten me, so I’ll raise both of my hands.

With so many systems and options available, a trend in recent years that, depending on your point of view, either adds to the addiction (or is the perfect antidote) is the introduction of lens mount adapters. Lens mount adapters allow you to mount alternative lenses (other manufacturer’s lenses) on a variety of camera mounts.

If you like manual focus and can work with stop-down metering, lens mount adapters can open up a whole treasure trove of classic, beautiful and even bizarre lens signatures for you to work with as you explore different looks for your images.

I first started experimenting with lens mount adapters when I was using a Canon 1DS and discovered that a Leica to Canon EOS mount adapter was available for the 1DS. I had to cut the mirror on my camera to prevent the mirror from getting hung up on the lenses I wanted to use, but it allowed me to mount Leica R lenses on a Canon body.

Over the years, I’ve used a wide variety of Leica, Zeiss, Voigtlander, Hasselblad on Canon, Nikon and Leica bodies.

So when I recently heard that a Hasselblad to Leica S2 adapter was available for the LeicaS2, I knew I had to give it a go. Mostly, because it would allow me to mount one of my all-time favorite lenses, the 110mm f2 Carl Zeiss Planar, on the S2.

Leica S2 with the Hasselblad  110 f/2 lens attached via an adapter

I like the image characteristics a larger medium format sensor like the S2 provides with a narrower depth of field … especially with faster lenses. So I found a dealer friend who happened to have an adapter and was willing to lend it to me during an S2 test drive.

As an f2 lens, the Zeiss 110/2 lens is wonderful for available light photography. I was pleasantly pleased to find that as a relatively small lens (manual focus lens design) when compared to the larger AF lenses in the S2 line-up, the Zeiss 110/2 was easy to handhold on the S2.

The Zeiss 110/2 has a distinctive lens signature that provides rich, high-contrast images and smooth bokeh. It is a match well-made for larger medium format digital sensors including the S2′s.

Leica S2 with the Hasselblad  110 f/2 lens attached via an adapter

I was also delighted to discover that the S2′s large viewfinder makes manually focusing the 110/2 no more difficult than manually focusing any other fast lens on a Leica M body.

As a result … I had a blast during my S2 test run. The accompanying shots are from a walk around the Wisconsin State Fair on a Saturday. I wandered around the fair for a little over three hours with just the S2, the Zeiss 110/2 lens and a hand strap.

The upside to this adapter madness? The realization that there a few more lenses (like those in the Hasselblad V line-up) that are “available” for use with the S2 … at a more reasonable price and with a distinctly different look than the growing set of optical marvels designed for the S2.

It might be another reason to choose an S2 or reconsider what you are currently using on your camera system of choice. Especially should you find that you find that you already have a few leftover lenses sitting around collecting dust.

Kurt Kamka

www.kurtkamka.com

First of all, congratulations on doing such an amazing job with your website. It’s been my no. 1 Leica site for ages and I visit at least once a day! Please find attached 3 images I selected from a recent Holiday trip I made to New York. It was my first time visiting the city and as a matter of fact, I met up there with two flickr buddies of mine, Stephen (Banzai) Terry and Justin (tsxer) Leveritt. We spent a week shooting like crazy, talking camera gear (such fun to tell people about Leica cameras when they see a lunch table full of gear!) and generally having a blast. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a productive and cool photo trip, NY sure is an amazing place for street photography.

Some info on these shots; they’ve all been taken on a Leica M6 classic, 35mm f/1.2 Nokton lens and Tri-X film. I used an ND-9 (3 stops) filter for some of the shallow dof daytime photos. First photo is on Broadway if I remember correctly, a candid shot where I got noticed in the last second. I think it works even better than if he hadn’t seen me  Second photo is near Wall Street, I was amazed by how clean and white all those buildings were, it made the light there even more amazing. And the third shot is from a subway station, she looked at me not entirely sure if I was shooting her or something else, I’m glad I didn’t back down!

Well, I have more of the trip in this flickr set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/renzsu/sets/72157624338717448/

Thanks for all your effort Steve and all the best!

Kind Regards,

Renze Rispens

I have not had any serious shooting time with the camera yet but have shot a few silly snapshots so as usual with me, I decided to post them! This site is all about the passion, the excitement, the fun in photography so why not?

Yes, I may be back again with an M9 but my only lens so far is the old 1940′s 50 Summitar as I could not afford a lens just yet. I am saving for one and I decided to go with ONE lens and ONE lens only. Not sure yet if that will be a 35 or 50 but for now I am having fun with the old Summitar. Still looking for an M9? Try Ken Hansen in NYC or Collectible Camera in AZ or B&H Online…

Also, a couple weeks back I posted a series of M8 photos as I bought a used M8 thinking it would be 9 months before I could purchase an M9 again…but I was lucky enough to get one much sooner. In any case, many have asked me what I thought about the M8 vs M9…I’ll write an article on that one soon that will tell the moan differences I found and what I feel about those differences.

Anyway, here are some shots from the past few days with the $300 50 Summitar lens and the M9. Lens is Uncoded and most shots were at f/2!

UPDATE SEP 2nd 2010 – 8:42 am – NOW SOLD OUT AGAIN!

SOLD OUT!

Yes, the Steel Grey Leica M9 is in stock RIGHT NOW at B&H PHOTO!!! Get it QUICK while you can! CLICK HERE!!!