Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/10/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 5:54 PM -0400 10/7/09, Doug Herr wrote:
>Richard Man
>
>>How did it get from superiority of Leica glass to superiority of
>>medium format vs. 35mm film format? :-)
>>
>>Of course medium format film > 35mm film. That's without dispute.
>
>A 30x40 print made with Nikon lenses on film looks great until you
>compare it with something else. Compare Galen Rowell's prints with
>prints made using better equipment and you'll see that from a
>technical POV Rowell's photos were not particularly good, so his
>prints by themselves don't illustrate the relative merits of the
>lenses he used.
>
>Doug Herr
>Birdman of Sacramento
>http://www.wildlightphoto.com
>
I concur with Doug.
I've also seen a number of Galen Rowell's prints and while a number
are interesting and/or pleasing, his technical quality was very often
not that good. In his defence, he took a lot of his pictures on long,
difficult treks and climbs, and his reliance on light and small
equipment was understandable to a degree. Unfortunately he wanted
great versatility and a big stack of ND and effect filters, so a
light (in Nikon terms, inexpensive) camera and zoom lens were often
used.
You use a lightweight 'kit' zoom with multiple acrylic filters and
resolution and contrast take a holiday.
--
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com
|[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com