RE: [Leica] caps

["Stewart, Alistair" <AStewart@gigaweb.com>]

Mark,

your RAM is faulty, or there was no commit to the disk...we met briefly in
the lobby of the Scumberg Marriott last month.

And I'm curious, really, what's strange about anticipating subject lighting
and setting your camera up ready, which what I'm saying? I often do the same
for focusing with 35 and wider, if a dynamic situation demands it. I see so
many folks twiddling the settings, when the light hasn't changed
significantly, and wonder how they ever make the image that they saw when
they went into the situation. The flashing LED's suck you into chasing them
as the moment decisif passes by. That's all I'm saying.

I came to this realisation when I was at the Meiji Shrine in a January snow
storm, and my only body was an M6 with a dead battery - it was too hard to
get a replacement and get back to shoot the local public holiday stuff
there. In the couple of days prior to the battery fading out, I was going
crazy chasing the LED's (Tough lighting  - snow, needed detail in light and
dark clothes, faces beneath snow-umbrellas, etc). When it died, I used my
brain for a change, the lightbulb went on a little later, and the contact
sheets never looked back. 

And of course, I put the batteries in when it is appropriate, which is not
infrequent. All my still shots (30+) that were shown in the "Connections for
the Homeless" video at Richard W's prior to the LUG meeting were taken with
battery less M's. Ditto my shots that made into publication for "Chicago
Cares". The stuff for the local rags that I do usually needs color print
film and sometimes I use batteried-up M6's. Almost all 'chrome shooting
absolutely is made easier with the built in meter 'cause of the low
tolerance of the medium for exposure errors, and you can't do anything
post-exposure. But I rarely use 'chrome. Haven't mastered B&W yet.

Or maybe it was the thing about lens caps? Like my friend George said, and
like John H White beat into me (literally, he chased me around and hit me
with a lens cap...and you think I'm wierd! He is a wonderful guy, btw),
"Never took a picture worth a damn with a lens cap on. Wonder if anyone else
did?"

wierdly,

Alistair



- -----Original Message-----
From: Mark Rabiner [mailto:mrabiner@concentric.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 1999 8:00 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] caps


"Stewart, Alistair" wrote:
> 
> Jonathon,
> 
> First of all, apologies to several LUGers for an on-topic post.
> 
> The best general purpose upgrade I made to my M6's was to convert them to
> M4-P's by removing the batteries. For street use you go crazy chasing the
> LED's, and spontaneity is gone. Plus, you only need to learn a few
settings
> for a specific film and then think about the light your subject is in. e.g
> in summery Chicago, it's f16/f11 @ 1/500 in the sunlight, and 1/250 @ 5.6
in
> the shadows, (rated at 800 and souped in Acufine) maybe 1/2 stop more if
the
> streets are like canyons, and super-shaded. Anticipation, as Warren
Beatty's
> cast-off once said.
> 
Alistair I am looking forward to meeting you someday because you are one
weird
guy and coming from me that is saying a lot!
May I be the first you wish you and everyone here the happiest of holidays!
Mark Rabiner