[Leica] Leica love fest... from Luminous Landscape!

[firkin at ncable.net.au (Alastair Firkin)]

On 26/07/2005, at 4:16 PM, R. Clayton McKee wrote:

> On 26 Jul 2005 at 7:05, Nathan Wajsman wrote:
>
>> While nobody will dispute the excellence of Leica glass and the beauty
>> of the Leica M concept (that is after all why most of us are here), I
>> don't think the article is particularly good, and the photos used to
>> illustrate it are mediocre at best (actually I think they are pretty 
>> awful).
>
> Something about this doesn't ring true.  If the quality of his images
> is the be-all and end-all of his existence, then why is he working
> with miniature-format cameras at all?  Certainly Leica lenses are top
> rank, but the kind of stuff he's shooting is more naturally suited so
> a larger negative, and 35mm Efke25 behind a `cron, as lovely as it
> is, is going to be simply blown away by 4x5 Efke25 behind a
> SuperAngulon or any of  half-dozen other high-end optics.  Can't beat
> square inches for the kinds of subjects he's shooting.

In general this is true, but there are "problems" with larger format 
cameras. The real issue is how large do you wish to make a print. At 
some size, the half frame will look as good as the 4 x 5. Once you have 
decided on the size you need, go back to your printing chain, work 
backwards and choose the smallest format which makes the "grade". A 
smaller format camera has: greater DOF, faster lenes ( and therefore 
faster shutter speeds), is held more easily on a tripod, can take many 
images at a faster rate etc. So SIZE does matter ;-)




Alastair