Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/08/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Just recently returned from a photo workshop taught by fellow LUGGER David Medley. David was trying to get all the students back to basics, and had instructed us to bring one fast fixed focal length lens. I decided to try an exercise in minimalism, and shot most of the workshop with an M3 and a dual-range Summicron. To balance this old hardware I also brought along a spanking new Sekonic L-408 light meter, a nearly new M6 body as a backup, a Canon 50/1.4 lens in LTM for available darkness shots and my 35/2 ASPH for wider angle interior shots. Some observations: Most of the 17 students actually had fast fixed focal length lenses. David only had to tape two zooms down: one of the those zooms was an f2.8. Since I don't shop frequently for cameras I was appalled at the disappearance of DOF scales on many of the students lenses. It is now becoming impossible to teach some techniques like zone focussing. I learned a great deal about exposure by primarily shooting with the M3 and using the L-408, which combines incident light metering and a 4 deg spot. (I was shooting ASA 100 color slide film mostly, plus two rolls of Ilford XP-2.) Incident metering worked great for interior shots without excess brightness range: I got really natural looking colors. Incident metering was not too good for exterior shots where subjects were in both light and shade. Here the spot meter allowed me to actually measure the scene brightness range, and to decide whether to expose for the highlights (and let the shadow details go), or the reverse. In these situations the incident reading is very sensitive to the exact placement of the lumisphere (all in sunlight, half in sunlight, etc.) I am beginning to believe that it is very important to know both the strengths and the limitations of each metering method, so you know which one to apply in a given situation. When you are shooting candid people shots, searching for the decisive moment, there is no chance to bracket, so you need to meter in advance and anticipate the light your subjects will be in. The DR Summicron held up perfectly well compared to the more modern lenses! Of course student hand-held shots are not a great system test for optical quality, but the color contrast in the Summicron shots was very pleasing. One fellow student, upon seeing an interior shot that I had done with the 35/2 ASPH asked "how do you get such clear shots?". This is the first time I had seen someone react to a Leica slide in this fashion completely unprompted. This student is an obvious candidate for Leica conversion, but I wish there was a lower cost modern M compatible body that you could suggest to people so they could get started on rangefinders without the tremendous cost of even used Leica equipment. (I think this would expand the market for Leica lenses, and eventually improve the demand for Leica bodies, since people could move up.) Surprisingly, there was another gentleman at the workshop with a Leica--a CL. So including David, there were 3 LUGNUTs at the workshop. All in all a most enjoyable Leica weekend. Cheers, Mark Davison Seattle WA