Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/08/25

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Subject: Re: [Leica] newbie
From: Eric Welch <ewelch@ponyexpress.net>
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 18:14:30 -0500

At 09:54 AM 8/25/98 -0300, you wrote:

>	I basicaly (and exclusively) take pictures of people so a 28mm would
>distord (right word for distortion?) things. I am a SLR user and my only

It depends on how close you want to get. My homeless guy was shot with a 90
Summicron. Very nice lens. As for SLR vs. Rangefinder, I think there are a
lot of tradeoffs (see earlier note to group). In environmental portraits,
I'd not hesitate to use a 28. Heck, I use a 19 and get awesome stuff. Just
keep their heads away from the edge and corners especially! :-)

If you do lots of portraiture, I think an SLR is a better choice. Why?
Because you see the exact relationships between near and far things. You
see what kinds of things are sticking out from what appears their ear. You
see a white spot that sort of seems to come out of their jaw. Whatever.
With a rangefinder, the guessing in this is a lot more difficult. With an
SLR you see exact near/far relationships.

This is for carefully composed portraits. For snapshot quality portraits,
and fast moving subjects, often the rangefinder is the better choice.

I could never live without an SLR, but I can live without a rangefinder.
But that's me.

Have fun making your choice! (Like I said, you can't really go wrong).


>experience with a rangefinder camera was my very first Kodak Instamatic
>155-X that I won when I was 11 year old (now I'm 38), but I guess it is
>only a matter of getting used to the format. Regarding the weight I would
>have to carry, this is not too much if you compare to the Pentax 67 that I
>use on location one in a while. I guess that would be helpful if I can have
>a Leica in my hands to "feel" both models so I guess that I need to meet
>some Leica users here in Sao Paulo. But your advices "close my range" of
>options. Today I am using Canon with type L lenses and I have 28, 28, 100,
>a 35-70 and a 80-200, but I really use the 37-70 for documentary and the
>100 for portraiture. But I don't like zoom lenses.
>> 
>
>Then you wrote: 
>> Either way, you can't lose. Superb cameras and lenses all. I made the
>truly
>> obsessive choice, I went with both! :-)
>
>	Hehe! Buying both would be my option too, but I am not a tycoon  :)))
>	BTW, I am visiting your page and I loved your picture of that homeless
>man. It is the kind of light that I love. Congratulations.
>
>
>
>My best
>
>Becker
>bss@uol.com.br
>
>
>> -- 
>> 
>> Eric Welch
>> St. Joseph, MO
>> http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch
>> 
>> Your e-mail has been returned due to insufficient voltage
> 
- -- 

Eric Welch
St. Joseph, MO
http://www.ponyexpress.net/~ewelch

Honk if you love peace and quiet.