Re: [Leica] perspective control lens

["JeffS" <segawa@netone.com>]

That sounds like a fun shoot; and with some bright, directional lighting to
emphasize surface texture and illuminate those white painted surfaces, you
ought to be seeing some really great, rich skies! Dunno about needing a
really good lens; at f/11, and with this kind of lighting, even a so-so one
can look awfully good, but yeah, internal flare ("ghost imagees")  can be a
problem with some lenses (zooms or other lenses with a lot of elements),
particularly with sunlit, white objects.

Okay, I find architectural photography to be frankly, tricky in 35mm and
medium format; thank goodness the M viewfinder is relatively free from
optical distortions, so catching those unwanted convergences isn't
difficult. I'd say, put a wide angle lens on the M, and level it carefully.
The best type of shoe-mounted bubble level is a clear one, which can be
viewed from all angles. I've handheld such shots, too, but make quite a few
duplicate images, since I can't remain absolutely still. If you own a medium
format camera with 40 or 50mm lens, use it: While the perfectly levelled MF
camera will probably include some extraneous junk in the composition, you
can often crop it out and still end up with a larger-than-35 negative.

I'd hesitate to recommend the purchase of an R with PC lens for this
purpose, as you are entering view camera territory, and some view camera
outfits are very portable; more so than some mega 35mm SLR outfits I've
carried. My first 4x5 was a beautiful cherrywood Wista DX, purchased for
$550 from Az-Tec Camera. To this, I added a 90mm Schneider Angulon in #00
shutter (getting a lensboard to suit it was a problem) for $100. A 150mm
lens maybe would've been better with this camera, but what the heck.

Jeff
- -----Original Message-----
From: John S Doherty <dohertyj@eudoramail.com>
> Could someone give me some pointers on using a perspective control lens ?
I want to do a project this Spring of shooting old New England churches.
Many of these buildings are now in fairly densely developed areas and it's
often not possible to find a vantage point which avoids converging
verticals.  The churches are invariably steepled structures of white
clapboard with little color contract. Past attempts have shown me that
directional lighting and a lens with good resolution are important for good
results.