[Leica] RE: Leica Camera-Handling

[Jeremy Kime <jeremy.kime@bbc.co.uk>]

I've stolen a few shots at concerts where photography was banned and there
you have to be quite surreptitious in your camera handling.
Apart from recommending a second row seat, rather than a front row, there's
also a better chance of getting what you want during the encore, as the
bother of having someone ejected with only one more number to go isn't worth
the hassle.

But about Leica handling. I decided rather than raise the camera
conspicuously to my eye, I'd shoot from chest height, this I achieved with a
Visoflex 3 removing the eye level prism but looking down to focus and
compose on the ground glass screen. With the bright spotlights on the
artists the focusing wasn't a problem, I was using a 180/2.8 lens. Although
the eventual equipment combination was bulky it had the benefit of being
able to be dismantled into several bits for transport in pockets.

Remembering the Gibson/Frank story which is about being able to count a time
period in one's head before knowing when the decisive moment will occur, I
have an anecdote.
A TV producer friend had been telling of his work with a certain presenter
who we then saw presenting a horse racing programme live on location. My
friend said that he would 'count us in' to the next videotape insert.
Listening to the live extempore commentary he noticed a word which seemed
strange but perfectly in context with what was being talked about
('pineapple') and then started to count down from 10 seconds, and then as if
by magic the videotape insert appeared on the screen at zero! Incredible,
one out of the ordinary cue word delivered and then 10" later the exact
pictures were on screen as required. There was certainly more of an art
required 15 years ago to the 'instant start' machines these days.

best regards,
Jem

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Mike Johnston [SMTP:michaeljohnston@ameritech.net]
> 
> In response to C.E. Workman Jr.'s question and Stephen's followup, I'd
> like to propose a topic. I'm of the opinion that Leica M camera-handling
> is one of the things that really distinguishes it from other cameras.
> Because it's inherently so responsive, you can use it more or less any
> way you are capable of using it--slowly and ponderously, fast and slick,
> or anywhere in between.
> 
> I've heard many stories over the years of Leica shooters improving their
> camera-handling skills over a period of many years. We've all heard some
> of the most famous stories, such as how Capa got his famous picture of
> Leon Trotsky, or Henri Cartier-Bresson hurling his camera at an
> attacker's face only to yank it back at the last second using a long
> wrist-strap. I'm personally convinced that daily PRACTICE with the
> camera--I often do it in my living room at night with no film in the
> camera--is essential to good skills.
> 
> For instance, right now, with a (borrowed) M4, I'm experimenting with
> trying to minimize the time the camera is up to my eye--set the focus
> and exposure with the camera at belly-level on its strap, then raise,
> look, shoot, and return the camera to the down position as quickly and
> smoothly as possible (although I haven't tried it yet, I think an
> unmetered Leica with an add-on Cosina meter may be ideal for this,
> because it makes it easier to meter with the camera at waist-level). For
> all my experience shooting Leicas, this particular skill is new to me.
> So I'm finding I still have lots to learn about Leica camera-handling.
> 
> (One thing that's pretty amazing about this is that people expect you
> have to look through the camera for a certain amount of time to take a
> picture. If you quickly but casually raise the camera, fire it, and
> lower it again, they assume you've decided not to take a picture.)
> 
> [[[name-dropping alert--apologies]]]
> 
> I interviewed Ralph Gibson for a magazine article in the early '90s and
> he told me perhaps the best Leica camera-handling story I've ever heard.
> He had travelled way up to Nova Scotia to visit Robert Frank, and the
> two of them were swapping Leica-handling stories. Frank said, "I'll show
> you a trick." He took Gibson's Leica, set the focus, set the exposure,
> then set the self-timer--then clicked the shutter release and tossed the
> camera gently into the air. According to Ralph, the camera reached its
> apex, hung in the air briefly, pointing down, and went "click." Ralph
> didn't show it to me, but he swears he has a frame on his contact sheets
> somewhere, well enough exposed, well enough focused, and adequately
> framed, showing himself and Robert Frank standing side-by-side on the
> ground looking intently up into the air.
> 
> Anybody else have any good M-handling stories, either their own, or ones
> they've heard? Or the opposite, examples of when your skills have let
> you down?
> 
> --Mike
> 
> _PHOTO Techniques_ magazine
> www.phototechmag.com