Re: Phillistines who own Leicas

[Jack Campin <jack@purr.demon.co.uk>]

CMonck@aol.com wrote:
> (a) I have little photographic experience - a Bolsey "B", a few cheap point
> n' shoots, and a Canon AE-1.(b) I recently inherited a pair of Leica M2
> bodies and 35/2.8, 50/2 and 90/4 lenses, circa 1958. All are in great shape,
> recently serviced by Leica.  (c) I thought I'd "learn" to use and appreciate
> these cameras by shooting B/W film. (d) My pictures look pale - no contrast,
> no sharp definition. (e) I realize it's NOT the cameras. HELP! I'd appreciate
> your suggestions - suggested reading material? shoot color film?  Or should
> I just hang it up and give the M2's to Goodwill?

What you don't say is how much of an itch to take pictures you've got, or
can see yourself getting... without that, there isn't a lot of point in
holding on to these.  If you *have* got it, these cameras will do as well
as anything to help you satisfy it.

I'll me-too the advice to get an incident light meter (I use a Gossen
Lunasix 3S, because it's about the best for dim light) and to use slide
film - not so much because of what you'll learn from it technically, but
because it lets you forget about the complications of processing for a
while, and gives you something in your hand that you know is all your own
work - getting a really knockout picture this way will do a lot to encourage
you.  (B&W is an awful choice unless you're doing all the work yourself;
cheap labs have no idea how to process and print it right, and pro labs that
do are *seriously* expensive.  This is most likely why your pictures don't
have much contrast).  Also, slide works out cheaper as a learning medium
than prints, where you need big enlargements to see how you're really doing.

Since this technology dates back to the 1950s, you don't have anything
to learn from recent technophile photo books.  I'd look round the art
books section of your library to see what *images* have been produced
with similar gear; Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Eve Arnold and
Helmut Newton all used equipment like yours for most of their work, and
there aren't a large proportion of truly memorable photos, whatever they
were actually shot with, that needed facilities beyond what your cameras
provide.  The technical stuff you need to know is minimal, and is covered
in lots of sources.  Michael Freeman's books are widely available and do
the job, but don't expect inspiration from them.

So, experiment for a while and see what other folks have done; if you find
after a few weeks that you're seeing the whole world round you as a series
of potential pictures, then hang on to the cameras, buy lots more film, show
your pictures to people, and see how it develops.  If not: well, not every-
body has to be a photographer, and Goodwill could always use more resources.



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jack@purr.demon.co.uk  -  Jack Campin, 2 Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 4AE