I just finished having a large coffee with my photographer friend, Paul. Afterwards I
walked around photographing various things at various distances to see if I'd done
the focus calibration on my new camera correctly. In the process of testing I shot this image at ISO
800 with a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second. Since neither the lens nor the
camera body feature stabilization I thought I did a decent job of holding it all still....
I was months behind on whatever... but I couldn't resist actually picking up a camera and going out to make photographs. I mean, that's the whole point of being here; to talk about making photographs. And how to use the tools we choose with which to make them. So I figured I should get to work...
I bought a new camera last Friday and it arrived this week on Tuesday. I should have rushed out yesterday to make photographs but I tested the camera in studio and realized that it back focused just a bit. So, instead of milling around downtown with my new toy I spent an hour or so reacquainting myself with the process of calibrating my Leica M rangefinder. It needed horizontal calibration and for that I am thankful because the vertical calibration is more difficult and time consuming.
I knew I had things zero'd in when I got sharp images, with the lens wide open, at both the closest focusing distance (0.70 meters) and also at infinity. It's not hard to do the calibration if you have time and a 2mm allen wrench. At least that's what you'll need on a type 240 camera.
Here are some more examples of images from the new Leica M240 M-E camera joined with the Voigtlander 50mm f2.0 APO lens. A very, very nice combination:
18 comments:
At 79 the answer is 'it depends'. I have essential tremor which comes and goes. So, sometimes yes, sometimes no.
The answer is yes. Camera and lens combo looks like a winner! Now get out of Dodge and head somewhere European. Maybe even Turkiye! One of my all time favourite photographic destinations. Wonderful people too.
Eric
Eric Rose, I agree wholeheartedly about Turkey. Autocratic Erdogan is a big problem, but the people are wonderful (just don't openly criticize the government).Photographically rich.
How about 1/8, 1/4, or even 1/2 second? I spent some time a few months ago walking around and taking handheld photos at those speeds at night, using both stabilized and unstabilized lenses. The stabilized lenses produced consistently sharper photos than the unstabilized ones. I will gladly use stabilized lenses (or cameras with stabilized sensors) whenever possible.
interested to know if they made a dedicated mono sensor for this or used the same one as M240, because having custom sensors designed then made in Leica quantities can't be cheap...
I’m still pretty good holding non-stabilized cameras. Even with exposures as slow as 1/4-second. Meanwhile, what’s the best article or video tutorial on adjusting the M240 rangefinder that you can recommend, Kirk? I don’t know that I need to right now but I’m sure I will at some point down the line.
I was initiated into slow shutter speeds when I worked nights for a daily newspaper. "Real" news events mostly took place in near darkness and I hated the look of direct flash with a black background. I was really pretty good at it--I could shoot at 1/2 to one full second handheld for the background and fill flash the foreground. Today? I turn 76 this month and I wouldn't wanna try to repeat my past performance. But 1/15? Yeah, I can usually do that. Concentration is necessary along with the steady hand.
Hi KIRK,
I just wanted to thank you for your tireless effort to provide photographers with an
actual photo site that takes photographs ,that still loves cameras ,dosent waste time
reviewing things that have nothing to do with photography.The majority of photo sites
have gone way off course.You have demonstrated over and over again that ultimately its possible with talent and love for the art practically any camera will suffice.
and its good to see that even as we mature in age we dont have to lose the passion.
Hi Kirk, I see that you press your Leica M shutter release with the top of your index finger. When I had an analog Leica, which was the last 30 years ending 10 years ago, I always pressed the release by straightening the last portion of my index finger. I told myself that's this helped avoid unsharp pictures.
I now have a Sony A7R5 and I still use the same method. I now also use a similar metod with my thumb when doing waist level shots (shots that were not practical with a Leica rangefinder).
BTW #1: Knowing what it costs to recalibrate a Leica M rangefinder I'm pleased to learn that you yourself can recalibrate.
BTW #2: Do you type all the articles or do you use a voice recognition system like Apple dictate?
Hi christer3805, Thanks! I think I'll create a short video showing how to do horizontal calibration of Leica M240 rangefinders in the next few weeks. The videos that exist are long and tortured, for the most part. No need for all the fluff.
Re: My process:
I sit down and type on a flat, Apple keyboard. The one that came years ago with my iMac Pro computer. I did not skip typing in high school and so have had an enormous advantage over writers who thought themselves too something to learn the correct way to type, and to type quickly. I have never used a voice recognition system. I type 60-80 WPM depending on the quality and quantity of caffeine ingested before sitting down to work.
I moderate comments. It takes a few minutes every day. It should be a binary process. In or out. I don't re-write or edit comments from readers.
I enjoy writing and have a good track record. I wrote five books between 2008-2012 and rarely missed also writing a daily blog as well as working full time as a commercial photographer. I owe a lot of the efficiency to having learned to touch type in 1973. My mother and father were also very fast writers. My older brother is a Latin and Greek scholar who has spent the vast majority of his professional career writing. My other sibling, my sister, is also a professional writer. I guess it's in the genes.
I am always amazed at how torturous and Sisyphusian some people try to make writing sound. It's only hard if you make it so. As my coach would say, "Stop whining and get busy."
Danny, A very sincere and heartfelt "Thank You."
Craig, I can hand hold a camera for dozens of seconds --- as long as it's attached to a tripod.
My point was that I am happy to be able to hold a camera without IBIS and a lens without IS for 1/15th of a second and still get critical sharpness.
Most of us can readily hold a camera with state of the art vibration reduction technology still for a fair amount of time. Take off the "crutches" and let me know how you fare.
Adam, I'm sorry if I didn't make it clear but the Leica M240 M-E is has a color sensor. It's a typical, color Bayer pattern sensor. I chose to shoot black and white yesterday and switched the camera to shoot in the black and white film profile instead of the typical color profile.
Induced earworm: when I saw the 4th photo from the top, mannequin holding out hand in "Stop" gesture, the Supremes tune "Stop in the Name of Love" started playing in my head. I can tell it's going to be stuck there for a while.
Is shooting handheld at 1/15 easier with a camera that has no mirror slapping around? I've only owned one rangefinder, an Olympus 35 RC, but I only had it for one year 30 years ago and don't remember much about using it.
I take medications that make my hands, especially my left hand, a little shaky. So IBIS has been a real help. Without IBIS, I need to keep my shutter speed at least up at the classic recommendations, which I think is 2 x focal length.
John Krumm, a perfect reason to use IBIS. There are times when it really helps me too. At 68 if I climb a big hill there's no way I'll be holding my camera still at 1/15th of second without some help when I get to the top. And I'm not thrilled with the idea of carrying a tripod everywhere.
oh, no need to apologise, I obviously jumped the gun by assuming it was M for monochrome not M for M mount :)
Ironically, sometime between me posting my comment and you posting your response, I was out taking photos with a long-tele zoom to see if taking photos with lens image stabilization off would improve focusing accuracy and reduce artifacts, as some long-tele photographers claim. The results for me were decidedly mixed. Because of the focal lengths used, and subjects being photographed (birds), 1/500 second and faster was needed. 1/15 second would definitely not have worked. That said I was quite happy with many of the photos I had taken with image stabilization turned off.
For me image stabilization is a desirable feature rather than a "crutch". Over the past year I have taken many photos when light is low, and carrying a tripod around is not an option. (Tripping hazard in many of the locations I take photos from.) When light is abundant, that feature isn't really needed by me. But when I have to take photos at shutter speeds at 1/8, 1/4, or 1/2 second it sure is a nice feature to have.
Thank you for once again stating some thought-provoking ideas. Your posts are always a good way to encourage us to re-think how we take our photos.
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