[Leica] Salgado S2

[kanner at acm.org (Herbert Kanner)]

As someone who was once a physicist before I went really wrong and 
became an incompetent computer programmer (Physics Ph.D. 1951, U. of 
Chicago) I want to comment on what could make a "low contrast lens". 
A lens per se cannot manipulate contrast, it merely refracts what is 
there. But miscellaneous scattered light not coming from the image 
will reduce contrast as if the film (or sensor) had been exposed to a 
low level of miscellaneous distributed light before or after the 
actual taking of the picture. It is the same phenomenon that we try 
to avoid by using a lens hood: scattered light inside the lens. So, 
in my opinion, a "low contrast lens" is just a poorly implemented 
lens: failure to coat internal elements, shiny internal structural 
parts, whatever.

Herb



>If Salgato is looking for a  "low contrast lens" then it would have been
>better he took some photo courses instead of economic courses As that's
>photo dumb stuff 101. He's thinking a "low contrast lens" will give him more
>latitude he's wrong. Presumptuous of me to say? Well you do hear some real
>misconceptions about basic photo craft coming from some top level people old
>timers or young timers.  People who go to school to methodically study
>something but when they switch to photography when they get out they decide
>they're just going to be self taught deal. With photography being mainly an
>avocation  or self taught vocation there's going to be lots of wrong stuff
>floating around. And now we have the internet.
>
>--------------------
>Mark William Rabiner
>Photography
>mark at rabinergroup.com
>
>
>  > From: Richard Man <richard at imagecraft.com>
>  > Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>  > Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 22:23:01 -0700
>  > To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>  > Subject: Re: [Leica] Salgado S2
>  >
>  > Heh, my summary of the talk I attended by Mr. Salgado a couple years 
> which
>  > has pretty much the exact information is still my most popular blog 
> post.
>  > People still find it and link to it...
>  >
>  > There is no evidence that he has switch to the S2... yet. He said he is
>  > looking for "low contrast" lens so I'm not sure whether the S2 lens 
> would
>  > do...
>  >
>  > On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 10:15 PM, Mark Rabiner
><mark at rabinergroup.com>wrote:
>  >
>  >> " On a more technical front, Sebastiao Salgado spoke about film vs.
>  >> digital.
>  >> He no longer shoots with film as the reasons to go digital mounted 
> up.?The
>  >> silver in current medium format films, are currently at levels that 
> 35mm
>  >> was
>  >> 25 years ago.?The 600 rolls of 220 he carried on shoots weighed about 
> 60
>  >> lbs.?After 9/11 the security checkpoint that he goes through with 
> exposed
>  >> film (he told us 7 on the last trip) has affected the grain and
>contrast of
>  >> the exposed film.?Plus there was the inevitable fight at each
>checkpoint to
>  >> hand check the film. His assistant almost quit on his last trip from 
> the
>  >> constant battles.?So now it's a Canon DSLR for him. 21 megapixels 
> strong.
>  >> But he is also looking at that new LeicaS2 with 37 megapixels.?And his
>  >> "film"? about 1.5 lbs of cards."
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>http://www.examiner.com/photography-in-national/sebastiao-salgado-the-genesi
>  >>
>s-project<http://www.examiner.com/photography-in-national/sebastiao-salgado-t
>  >> he-genesi%0As-project>
>  >> Or
>  >> http://tinyurl.com/365nozf
>  >>
>  >>
>  >>
>  > --
>  > // richard <http://www.imagecraft.com/>
>  > // icc blog: <http://imagecraft.wordpress.com>
>  > // photo blog: <http://www.5pmlight.com>
>  > [ For technical support on ImageCraft products, please include all 
> previous
>  > replies in your msgs. ]
>  >
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>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
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-- 
Herbert Kanner
kanner at acm.org
650-326-8204

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