Re: Cartier-Bresson's Contax

[Edward Meyers <aghalide@panix.com>]

On Thu, 6 Mar 1997, Thomas Knoles wrote:

> 
> Beaumont Newhall's _Photography: Essays and Images_ (1980) includes an
> article on Henri Cartier-Bresson by Newhall which originally appeared in
> _Popular Photography_ in 1947.  I thought the following paragraph was 
> particularly interesting:
> 
> "He has a Contax, a Leica, and a battery of lenses. His favorite rig at 
> the moment is a hybrid: a Contax f1.5 lens mounted on a Leica body.  He 
> prefers the 35mm camera to the miniature reflex type because the optical 
> eye-level finder is a more direct way of approaching the subject than the 
> mirror ground glass image.  His way of working demands that he be able to 
> see the subject right up to the very instant of the exposure.  When he 
> finds a subject which arouses in him the emotion to take a photograph, he 
> seeks a view point, dancing about like a boxer on tiptoe.  When the 
> proper combination of lighting, form, organization and emotion all work 
> together, he makes the exposure.  Cartier [sic] likes to speak of his way 
> of working in metaphors: this split second peak of emotional tension 
> culminating in the release of the shutter is 'like a fencer making a 
> lunge.'" 
> 
> Newhall's book _Focus_, which I had out of the public library a few months
> ago, tells the story of HCB offering a fast new lens (Summarex?  Xenon?, I
> don't remember now) to Newhall to try.  If I remember correctly, Newhall
> put it on his Leica and made a portrait of HCB with it. 
> 
> 
> Tom Knoles
> tgk@mwa.org
> 
I have this british-made adapter that lets me use my Zeiss Contax
(rangefinder) lenses and Nikkor rangefinder lenses on my Leicas.
So I can shoot with my 50mm Summicron, or 50mm f/2 Sonnar, 
or 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor on either my IIIf or M3 Leica (with bayonet
adapter). I guess Hank had the same option I have. Lenses are
fully coupled to the rangefinders. Ed Meyers