[Leica] Shooting Leica wide open

["ctkhor" <ctkhor@pc.jaring.my>]

Jim Brick was saying that a picture shot at f1.4 with a Summilux has a
special look and feel that only a f1.4 lens has. He also said only someone
who has owned and used a Summilux would understand it.

I do not have Summiluxes for the lenses I own. I would not have been able to
own 4 lenses if I had bought all with f1.4 aperture. However, I do not doubt
that pictures shot at a wide f1.4 aperture has a special look and attraction
to it. I am not against Summilux; I would buy one if I can afford it. What I
meant was I cannot understand certain people (like my friend) who buy extra
fast lenses but then always shoot 1 to 2 stops down, no matter the light
intensity.

My friend argued that all lenses perform best at least 2 stops down. Now, if
the lens was a slow one like an Elmar (f4), 2 stops down would mean shooting
a f8. At f8 it will be difficult to blur the background enough for selective
focus especially in portraiture. However, if you buy a f1.4 or f2 lens two
stops down would mean f2.8 and f4 respectively - still enough to blur the
background effectively and at top optical performance.

When I first returned to photography in late 1996 (with very little
photographic knowledge) I actually believed his argument. It was only after
I read the LUG digest (yes, thank you guys), exchanged knowledge with Leica
using friends and later bought my Leicas, that I began to shoot more often
at wide open apertures. I used to think that performance wide open is only
slightly better than horrible, and afraid of getting bad pictures I never
thought of shooting wide open to test his reasoning.
Nowadays, I shoot wide open quite often. I mostly shoot handheld and with my
RE the best I can handle without shaking is 1/60s. To compensate for not
having a f1.4 aperture I use fast film like Superia 800 in low light
situation.

James Khor
http://members.tripod.com/sattha29/index.html