2.17.2024
I think it's important to test the gear you want to end up using. The Voigtlander 75mm tests showed me that the focus calibration of my newest rangefinder camera could be better. It's a demanding lens....
2.16.2024
So much of the stuff we write and discuss about photography just doesn't matter. At all. It's immaterial to making fun photographs.
Back in 2019 B and I took a little vacation trip to Montreal, Canada. Like most photographers who I know I hemmed and hawed about which camera or cameras and which lenses to take along with me. In the end I opted to grab the latest one to come through the office. It was a "retro-esque" choice but one that worked for me. I shot hundreds and hundreds of "holiday snaps" with a traditional DSLR camera and, mostly, with a 50mm f1.4 lens. The images look a little different to me than more recent photos I took in Montreal late last Fall. On the later trip I was using the Leica M240 and the Leica Q2. But really, the quality of the images is more or less interchangeable because the reason to create these photos was to capture a feeling of the time and the space, not to participate in a contest aimed at showing off the incremental improvements in camera technology.
The camera I chose to take with me in 2019 was the Pentax K1. It's a 36 megapixel, full frame camera. It's actually newer, in camera years, than the Leica M240 that I used three years later. But the 50mm f1.4 Pentax lens I mostly used was probably ten or so years older than the camera itself. All of them; everything I took on both trips, worked well. If the threshold for success was set at an arbitrary number like 75% then both gaggles of gear delivered results at 90%. And neither set was feature competitive with any number of current cameras. But that lack of inspirational newness was hardly an impediment to the enjoyment of real world picture taking.
As photographers we have an odd relationship with our gear. There is a big percentage of photographers over 50 who've largely given up on actually taking photographs on a regular or routine basis and now occupy their time going through the "compost heap" of photo gear history bemoaning the passing of "the good old days." The idea being that so much of the legendary gear from the film days, and the now disappearing darkrooms, the fiber based, black and white prints, etc. represents some golden age of photography which is passing and must be memorialized or mourned. The pride of having mastered lots of processes and techniques that are now mostly irrelevant is palpable. And the mourners can be seen writing about magic black and white film developer recipes and reciprocity failure charts or the stability of 1950's Linhof tripods.
This is offset by an opposite group who seem to worship at the altar of The Absolute Latest Technology in Cameras. While they would have salivated if they'd gotten their hands on a camera that could deliver what a Pentax K1 or a Leica M240 does back at the turn of the century, or even more recently, they dismiss anything which has been at all superseded by a newer model or a new trend in camera and lens design. Their metrics are: highest sharpness, lowest noise, highest ISO, fastest frame rate and most megapixels. And they'll gladly trade-in or mothball any camera that doesn't measure up. No matter how much they loved the camera being replaced --- at least when it first arrived. Dangle a Nikon Z9 in front of them and they'll look for a scalpel with which disgorge and sell their own kidney in order to purchase. Tell a Sony fan that an A9iii is overkill and get ready for an aggressive debate. And the Mark Two version of that 85mm lens? It's a MUST HAVE. Just gotta ditch the Mark One first...
I suggest that there is a middle ground. And that might be to have cameras that exceed your most stringent use case while being practical to own and shoot with. Cameras that match tech value with pleasurable handling and competent files. For some that might mean returning to and re-appreciating a whole geological strata of cameras that date back to the introduction of the first good, full frame CMOS sensors. Say, around 2010. Some might even develop an appreciation for the family of full frame cameras which featured (for a very short span) actual full frame CCD sensors. How retro!
I was asked recently why I was buying "old technology" like the Leica M240 cameras or the older generation Leica SL cameras. I stand by the premise that there is a parabola for all manufacturing. In the early days of digital engineers labored hard to make the cameras as good as they could be. At some point the quality of the camera build and the features, in combination, hit the top of the parabolic curve. The zenith. Then the game becomes figuring out how to keep the prices as high as possible while eliminating both features and build quality until the camera makers come up with a sellable product that might be less....robust....or personable....but still sellable, through the miracle of incremental performance increases (via faster chips) and enhanced marketing.
For my taste the sensor performance, battery endurance and general robustness of the Leicas I've chosen are at what I perceive as the zenith of the combination of given the targets I want to hit. Spending more buys me less. Why spend $9000 on a camera when a used camera at $2500 gives me more joy? And having used the 47 megapixel SL2 and Q2 cameras for years now I have to ask: does anyone really need more than 24 megapixels? Really?
I love the cameras we were offered by makers ten years ago ( or more ). There are iconic camera models in each manufacturer's recent histories. The Nikon D700 (and by extension, the Nikon D750 and 780). The Canon 5Dmk3. The Fuji X-Pro2 and 3. The Sony a850 and a900. And the Panasonic S1. And, of course, the Pentax K-1. All are good cameras and most will provide files that are so close to the quality provided by the latest gear that the differences are invisible to most.
I guess the best way to approach most advances in technology is to wait until you have an absolute need for some sort of performance enhancement before dropping the cash. Shaky hands? Yes, you need some sort of image stabilization. Gotta 24 megapixel sensor but now crave a 32 megapixel sensor? Hmmmm. No sure about that. Just as I can't imagine that Leica Q2 users, for example, will really benefit materially by upgrading to the new Q3. A bit more resolution, sure. But a big jump up in quality? Not very likely. Same with moving from a Sony A7R3 to an A7R4. Minimal benefits accrue. Post purchase disappointment awaits.
Buy whatever camera you like. But let's use them occasionally instead of just writing or reading about them. I like it best when writers and vloggers show examples of what they are discussing... Real examples, not marketing collateral.
I don't want to read rumors of what might be coming down the pike. Really don't need ten stops of image stabilization. Don't need automatic hue bracketing. And from the nostalgia camp I don't want to read yet another article about the radioactive glass elements used in some historically "great" lens. Don't need to know about what kind of flashbulbs Weegee used. No more sad stories about the loss of one's favorite black and white printing paper. Spare me emotional remembrances of natty print washers from the golden years. Or gushing paeans to the sensual glow of sodium vapor safelights. Save me having to hear about what features you'd change in the next generation of spiffy camera bodies. And why you think they are critical.
I'm fresh off a deep dive through the archives from the past 40 years. All the stuff works great. It's all in how you use it. That's the secret sauce. Some of my favorite shots are from a Canonet camera from 48 years ago. The technology is less important than we ever expected.
2.15.2024
Yes. I can still handhold a non-stabilized camera steady at 1/15th of a second. Can you?
2.13.2024
One of the most beautiful cameras I've seen. The Leica M240 M-E.
2.12.2024
The Rangefinder camera is different. Feels different. "Sees" different. Composes different. Today is my day off. My boss suggested I take walk with my camera and...
...maybe take out the recycling. And while I'm out walking could I drop by the bank and beg for money deposit a check (yes, I know I can do that with my phone...). while I'm at it could I also write a couple of invoices? And maybe start getting the bookkeeping in shape for tax season. And drop by Trader Joe's for a few things my boss forgot. And, if I don't run out of time how about washing the boss's car? That studio floor could benefit from a good mopping as well. Hmmm.
WTF did I get out of bed?
Oh yeah, because I really did want to go out into the sunshine and play with my camera... Leica M240 (an ancient Leica digital camera that's still, in my opinion, relevant) and the Carl Zeiss Biogon 35mm f2.0.
I put leather half cases on both of my M240s. Sadly, you have to take the cases off to change batteries (not a frequent chore with the M240s...) or to extract the memory card but the cases act as insulators between my fingers and the frigid metal parts. In just a few months the leather half cases will provide insulation between my hands and the flaming/nova-esque heat of a sun-drenched camera chassis. Did I buy the $5,000 Leica cases? Not on your life. I bought the less than $50 ones that were all over Amazon.com. Are they perfect? Sure, why not. But then I'm not the kind of guy who demands leather seats and a heated steering wheel in my cars... So I'm probably not a good point of reference for the difference between luxury goods and pedestrian products.
Each of the Leica M240s in my care also have aftermarket thumbgrips attached onto the cameras via the hotshoes. This makes holding the cameras much surer and more comfortable. One thumb grip came with a used camera and it is the Match Technical brand which, at $149 sits halfway between the Leica version at $230 and the cheaper versions scattered across Amazon.com for about $50. The Match Technical is black paint over brass which I like a lot. Its black finish deteriorates luxuriously into black with golden edges over time. The other camera is outfitted with one of the budget thumbgrips that I sourced online and, even though it is made of aluminum and won't age in the same way as the Match Technical, if my eyes are closed it does its job as well as the luxe version. And I saved enough in the process to pay for ten or fifteen cups of really nice coffee. So.... there it is.
I really enjoyed the walk and the photography today. It's been gray and glum here lately and we got cheated out of promised sunshine all day yesterday. Today was glorious. The temperature was in the high 40s when I left the house in a t-shirt covered with an old, ratty green sweatshirt and a pair of utility pants. It was breezy so still a bit chilly but so refreshing to be walking in full sun without the real need for a coat or jacket. Photographing in gray weather is inevitable but it makes the high drama of collimated, contrasty and color saturated from the sun so much more exciting. And fun to shoot in.
The one camera in the studio that is sadly neglected these days is the medium format Fuji GFX. I really wanted to try one. Now I have. And it's really, really good but it's not nearly as much fun to photograph with as the 35mm style rangefinders. I'm pretty sure the Fuji GFX will be the first camera in the collection to exit and find a new home this year. Replaced in short order, I am sure, with a few more Leica M lenses. I already have a couple in mind.
I've been hearing a lot of "influencers", and actual photographers with YouTube channels, that specs and resolution and frame rates and such no longer matter and that they are directing their attention to "how much fun" a camera is to use. "How much joy a camera gives when you use it and have it in your hands." The through line for many is that all the big improvements that we thought we wanted have already been delivered. Across most product lines. Now users are looking for that elusive magic which is a camera that "just feels right." Well, welcome to the club. It sure took a while for them to figure it out.
An amateur photographer I met before Christmas when we both happened to be walking around downtown taking photographs sent me a note today. He was going to upgrade from camera X to camera X+1 and went into a camera store to check on an upgrade path in his current (non-Leica) system. He was writing to me because while in the camera store he handled a Leica Q3. He wants to get together and pick my brain about Leicas. But here's the deal, even though I know he can afford one and not blink I have no way of knowing if the camera is right for him. I only know which cameras I like. I'll meet with the guy but other than showing him how stuff works I'm not sure I'd ever be a good camera guru. I think my tastes are both too eclectic and at the same time too idiosyncratic. And I can't make up my own mind...
Here are today's snaps. Some with captions. Tomorrow? Something different.