[Leica] shooting with long lenses

[Doug Herr <71247.3542@compuserve.com>]

On Sun, 29 Mar 1998 Gerd Hechtfischer wrote:

>I am trying to find the maximum focal length one can shoot
>reasonable pictures. Some time ago I had a 500 mm f/8. =

>It was a very cheap lens (equiv. $99) but the design was so
>primitive and it had extremely good results in a lens test (I
>think BAS). I found this lens near to useless, because even
>with a tripod, I could not avoid the whole thing to shake when
>the shutter was released (I used Canon SLR then). A little
>bit of wind or touching the release and you could see the
>image in the viewfinder shake.
>I think it is a mistake to believe what is written in teaching
>books about photography: You CAN use a shutter speed
>up to one over the focal length in mm. I noticed that pictures
>taken at shorter speeds are considerably more sharp.
>Most people that complain about the quality of their lenses
>only need a better tripod (or even just a tripod) than
>another lens.
>To improve my own pictures, I aquired a monopod recently.
>This weekend, I tried shooting a Meyer-Goerlitz 300mm f/4
>lens mounted to my Canon SLR with the monopod. If the
>results are convincing, I will go for converting the lens for
>Visoflex use.
>What is your experience with long teles? What focal length
>do you use for handheld shooting? Experiences with
>monopods? Are those gun- or pistol-grip gadgets of any use? =

>What tripod to use for extreme teles? I can't imagine
>shooting a 800mm Telyt even with a good tripod!
>
>Gerd

I agree that a good tripod will improve the technical quality of your
pictures however when I use a tripod my photos look more static and much
less interesting to me.  I used a Nikkor 500mm f/8 for a few months and
was disappointed with the way any camera shake was magnified by the =

lens, either hand-held or on a tripod.

I've been using the Leica 400 and 560 f/6.8 Telyts for many years with =

the Leica shoulder stock and have found that on most occasions I can get =

sharp images at 1/125 sec with the 400, and often 1/60 sec works as well.=

With the 560 the corresponding shutter speeds are 1/250 sec and 1/125 sec=
=2E

The vast majority of my long-lens work is with wildlife, particularly =

the smaller, more active birds where a tripod is a nuisiance at best.

The shoulder stock can be used with nearly any other lens with a tripod
socket and IMHO is essential for hand-holding a long lens.

The reason it is difficult to get good results with the 500mm mirror lens=
 =

is because of mirror lens' compact design which results in a much smaller=

moment of inertia than a non-reflex lens.

- -Doug Herr