Re: [Leica] GG focusing.

[telyt560@cswebmail.com]

On Thu, 31 August 2000, Bryant wrote:

> 
> Hi Luggers,
> 
>     Once you've got your tripod all set up, the camera bolted to it's top,
> have metered the highlights and shadows of the scene, locked the DOF preview
> lever and checked DOF (on a straight GG screen, without bothersome RF prism
> wedges), locked up the mirror, set the self timer, a question comes to mind:
> 
>     Why are you using a Leica?  For only a *little* bit more weight, you could
> be using a 4x5 view.  With it's attendant swings and tilts, it offers far more
> control of the plane of focus and perspective than our fixed lens small
> format Leica.  A good big negative beats a good little negative any day.  
> 
>     We're missing the point here.  The big deal is that the Leica, especially
> the M, is a portable, "miniature" camera.  For much of the 20th century, that's
> what they were called. 
> 
>     A Leica has 36 tries at a good picture.  The View, 1.  It's much easier to
> move around with the hand held Leica.  It's a system for dynamic subjects.
> It's much easier to take with you.  I drop a body in one pocket, a lens in
> another, a meter and extra roll of film in a third, and I've got a camera.
> You can't do this with 4x5!  My favorite tripod for the M, FWIW, is the Leitz
> table top tripod.  I tend to use it as a chest pod, it allows me to halve
> my shutter speed and get equivalent sharpness compared to straight hand
> holding.  Still, most of my pictures are hand held snaps.  If I get 1
> shot per roll I like, I'm happy.  The view camera guys can't afford such
> a low success rate.  Moral: Don't treat your Leica like a view camera.
> Make the equipment fit the subject.
> 
>     Granted, my Olympus stylus does all this in a single pocket, but it suffers
> from "A computer programmer sitting in a cubicle in Japan" making my
> decisions, a terminal condition.  I don't use it any more. 
> 
>     Tom

Tom,

I agree with you in priciple.  IMHO the optimal use of a Leica is as a hand-held camera, and in fact I've also asked the question: "if you're going through all that trouble and hauling that monster tripod around, why not use a larger format?"

I often find myself in sub-optimal conditions.  The vast majority of my photographs are of wildlife using a hand-held Leica with a really long lens.  I've expounded enough on why I don't use a tripod so if you want to know why, search the archives.  It's gotta be there somewhere.  I also want to be prepared for photographs of mountain scenery so a tripod-mounted camera comes in real handy, too.  Trouble is, when hauling 2-3 Telyts and a couple SL bodies plus the obligatory macro lens and tripod up & down 10,000 ft+ peaks, a large-format camera isn't just a little extra weight.  It's A LOT of extra weight 'cuz it doesn't replace hand-held Telyts.  I find it much more practical to bring a wide-angle R lens or two than to bring a 4x5 outfit (assuming I had a 4x5 outfit).

Fortunately the Leica glass can be used with hand-held cameras, and where tilts & shifts aren't critical, can also be used with excellent results on a tripod-mounted camera.  It sure beats missing the photo entirely because the optimal kit was too much weight to carry.


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telyt
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