Do I still like and use the Leica 24-90mm lens? Yep.

When shooting outdoors for clients on hot, Texas, Summer days one can have the best of intentions to bring out the "big guns." To pack the camera bags full of various, glorious prime lenses, a brace of big camera bodies and zoom lenses galore. But the heat and the weight will soon suck out all of your creative energy and leave your best intentions dehydrated and half fried. Better to simplify anywhere you can... The less you carry the further (and faster) you can go.

Two weeks ago we were on a shoot at a real estate development in far Southeast Austin. No cloud cover and, since the development is still in early days the shade trees weren't fully grown yet. I brought too much gear but left most of it in the trunk of the car for some unintended, spa-like, heat treatments. What I ended up doing as my heat management/image management strategy was to pick one great camera body and one flexible and magnificent zoom lens, leaving everything else behind. It was a good solution.

The camera and lens fit just right in a white canvas camera bag I wore cross body. Mostly in front of me. I could reach down and grab the camera/lens combination when I was ready to photograph and drop it back into the white bag as soon as I was ready to move on to the next shot or the next location. 

The entire shoot was outdoors. By 2pm you could see the tar bubbling on the side of the roads. We were drinking water continuously. You could feel the radiant heat bouncing up from the roads, trails and sidewalks in the same way I used to feel the heat off the griddle when I worked my way into the profession by supplementing my income as a short order fry cook in a diner. Fun times. Sweaty times. Never thought I'd do a heat bath for work at 69 years of age... But the miraculous thing is that it was still fun. And the pared down kit make the day manageable. 

The camera of choice was a Leica SL2. I have a pair so I always have an identical back-up when I use one of the them. The camera has 47.5 megapixels of resolution and a very wide dynamic range when used at its native ISO. The EVF is glorious. And I've accrued a bucket of batteries for these cameras which means I never have battery anxiety which is like range anxiety with electric powered cars. 

But the star of the show is usually the lens and that was certainly the case in this instance. While the Leica 24-90mm lens is hefty and big it's also a tour de force of optical engineering. Here is what Leica writes about it: 

"Construction Details:

Of the 18 elements in six moving groups, four are aspherical lens elements and 11 are elements made from glasses with anomalous partial dispersion for the correction of chromatic aberrations. Only one very light element is moved for focusing.  Very fast, almost-silent, precise focusing is enabled by a specially developed drive concept comprising a stepping motor and linear positioning. This means that the overall length of the lens does not change during focusing.”

Essentially it's a near flawless zoom lens that covers the full range of focal lengths I would normally use on just about any job. The lens also has built-in image stabilization which is great on bodies like the first generation of Leica SL cameras and my little Sigma fp, both of which are bereft of in-body image stabilization. The lens adds its own. It's also highly weather resistant as is the Leica SL2 body.
It was the perfect combination of tools for a challenging environment. Those, and a really good hat.

Dang sharp...even wide open.... although the chances of using it outdoors at f2.8 were ... limited. As in "none." 

Do I still like and use the Leica 24-90mm f2.8-4.0 Aspheric? On just about every commercial job I've undertaken since I bought the lens five years ago. It's big and heavy but it makes up for those drawbacks by being the best performing zoom, optically, that I have ever used. And that's cool. 

The lens is still in the current line up from Leica. When I bought mine, new, it was just over $4800 USD. The current price for a new one is a little over $6300. Amazing. 

 

No copy and no captions. Just images. Taking a break from typing to make more coffee...

 

Last week's photo job was fun. Here's a sample...

Scott Bader-Saye, dean and president of Seminary of the Southwest.

 

I know. I know. I should just retire and get it over with... But I'm still having fun working with nice people and doing jobs like the one we did last week. I did 15 portrait sessions last Thursday and when I get back all the selections I'll spend the better part of a day retouching and melding the portraits into various backgrounds to see what works. 

I like photographing happy people. 

medical note: Had my follow up visit with the Mohs surgeon/dermatologist this morning. Everything looks great. No stressful revelations. No waiting in the "waiting room" and no budget surprises. In fact, the business side of this whole procedure has been pretty much flawless. And that's a stress reducer in and of itself. 

She did such a good job on my face that.... I know this sounds unbelievable.... I'm even more handsome than before! (For the linear thinkers in the audience: I was kidding. It's a joke...).

Changing of the guard for in house coffee.... Something new and very much off topic. At least it's OT if you were looking for imaging content...

 

When I last visited Montreal I stayed in a wonderful hotel in the middle of the old town. It is called, the Hotel Gault. There were many things I liked about this small and out of the way hotel. The proximity to a lot of interesting areas of Montreal in which to photograph. The modern finish out and amenities of the rooms. The fact that a Leica store is within easy walking distance. But for this post I have to call out that there was a Nespresso coffee machine in my room. While I have always been enamored of pour overs and drip coffee my week of solo photographing there, and the close proximity to a wide range of espresso based coffees which could be brewed in minutes, caused me to at least appreciate the dark roast culture that so many Europeans swear by. A good espresso shot can be quite a nice thing upon waking and prepping for a day of walking around with a camera and a couple of lenses. 

I forgot about my good experiences with the hotel's Nespresso machine and the little coffee capsules until this past week when I was suddenly and unexpectedly gifted my very own Nespresso Vertuo machine and an assortment of different types of coffee capsules for the same. Now I'm having a sea change about espresso-based coffees and am currently having as much fun experimenting with different types, roasts, sizes and flavors as I would have on taking delivery of Leica lenses. The machine is simple to use and so far, quite reliable. 

Today I took delivery of 20 "Double Espresso Dolce" Vertuo capsules directly from Nespresso. The capsules are constructed of aluminum which the company claims keeps the coffee fresher. The capsules are edge coded and tell the machine exactly what they are and how they need to be brewed. They also sent along several pre-labeled and pre-paid bags that I can put the used capsules into and send them back to the company. According to the website all I have to do is drop off the sealed bags at any UPS store and they'll take care of the rest. The company will recycle the aluminum and compost the spent coffee grounds. That means there is no cost to me on the backend. And hopefully some relief for the landfills.

Right now I'm in the honeymoon stage with the new machine and the new universe of coffees. Who knows when or if the thrill will wear off?

At first I thought the capsules were expensive at around $1.25 to $1.50 per but I started thinking about how much I currently pay for a basic cup of coffee or cappuccino at a local shop. The "base" cost is about $4.50 to $5.00 per cup but I have to add to that the expected tip for the barista which is usually a dollar on top of the base price. So, averaging it out I've been paying about $5.50 for a cup of coffee. And the quality can be a bit variable. So each time I brew via the machine at home I'm "saving" about four dollars. Seems like a good thing. 

But frankly, since I was already paying for coffee and didn't mind doing so it's not the dollar savings that appeals to me the most; it's really the combination of a good quality cup of coffee and the three minute convenience of the machine. Add to that is the charm of being able to select exactly what kind of coffee you want in the moment. 

None of this is earthshaking news. Not relevant to most people's lives. But I had that fun, close-up image of a hand holding a coffee cup and I thought it would be nice to use it here. 

That's all I know about my new Vertuo machine. I don't intend to learn anything else about the machines, the company or the nuts and bolts of it all. I'm happy when machines work and I'm even happier when coffee tastes good. I've already discovered a breakfast coffee capsule I like that brews a 7.7 ounce coffee as well as the aforementioned Double Espresso Dolce that's a fun booster of energy in the afternoons. 

thanks. 

One of the best ways to find and take fun photographs. And get good exercise. And lose weight. And see stuff.....

 

A brief romance with the Panasonic GH6. 

Blogger's Lament.

After so many years of writing a blog I've come to realize that on the days I don't post something I feel a bit let down. A bit lazy. So there's almost always a certain feeling of duty to come up with a subject that's photographically relevant and still fun for me to write. As an adjunct to that, any time I post something about a lighting or photographic technique and don't accompany the copy with a photograph illustrating what I've written about, I feel like a fraud or a poseur. Sure, I could say that this post or that post is really about the writing but in truth it always seems to me that the photograph(s) and the written content should exist together as a symbiotic pairing.

I often read stuff written by others in which the writer trots out his or her qualifications or personal history, delivers some re-warmed stories about their prowess in the good old days and recounts his or her zealous hard work at the time, but comes up short on the photography which would have given credibility to the range of their experience and their expertise. The text is there. The bravado is in attendance. But the images which would constitute the proof have gone walkabout. At that point the copy requires many leaps of faith. And one wonders if each leap is worth the time and energy.

This is an image of Fadya. I like it because, a. I like Fadya. b. I like the way I got Fadya to look straight into the camera, which equals straight out to the viewer. c. The image works well in the square format. d. The skin tone in the black and white rendering looks exactly what I think the black and white should look like. And e. When I first posted it the image helped to visually explain a lighting technique that I wrote about in the same blog. The image was the proof of concept. The proof that we'd taken a step past theoretical to practical. To practice. 

Nearly every blogger I read suggests strongly that what they really care about is the art. The final photograph. The artful interpretation. But in many cases the only evidence of their process are nuts and bolts images of gear, the affiliate selling of which is their underlying goal. Close ups of USB-C connectors. Comparison shots of the sizes of two different cameras. A sexy shot of a lens. But no finished work. Nothing that one could remotely describe as the art they profess to want to talk about. 

Yeah, the closest most come is to show a book cover from a mainstream art photographer coupled with a shopping link. And therein lies my lament. With the exception of Andrew Molitor's blog (which is far too infrequently added to...) very few of my peers actually get beyond describing how they will choose their gear. They certain don't address why they photographed something or what compelled them to do it in the way that they said they did. And that's the disappointing aspect for me. 

I already know which lens to use, which camera works best, how to light a subject, how to set exposure but...I keep waiting to read about the "why." And that is the failing of most photo blogs for me. YMMV. 

Writers such as Thom Hogan are honest in their presentation. They let us know up front that the subject will be gear. That's helpful. And he's good at it. The majority seem to think we're here to enjoy the story of their existence. And most of them have....a pretty boring existence. Maybe that's why no photos are forthcoming...

Sharing the mundane for dollars.... 

 

It's the dog days of Summer. Better spent indoors. A chance to revisit old photos.

 

This is Ben early in the teen years. We're having dinner at our favorite restaurant, Asti Trattoria. 

I had a camera with me. A Leica M9 with a 35mm Summilux. While we were waiting for our first course I snapped a photo of the kid. The light was beautiful because while it was indirect sunlight it was flowing through a window just to the right of the frame. A nice time to live in Austin. 

This is one of my favorite combinations for photographing slow work. Situations in which you can take your time and play around. So, a Leica SL2 mostly for the 47 megapixels and the nice color but a Voigtlander 50mm APO to match the high res potential and give me sharp detail. It's on my desk right now. It will be over my shoulder and out the door in an hour or so.

On the other side of the entrance door for Crew Café in Montreal. Traveling light that morning. Just a Leica Q2 over one shoulder. What more did I need? Well....coffee, of course. 

Waiting for my dermatologist to drop by, check out my epidermis and maybe burn some unwanted stuff off with liquid nitrogen. Reflecting on all those times I neglected sun screen at the noon swim workouts. Eventually paying the piper. Leica M-240 with 28mm f2.8 Carl Zeiss ZM lens. 

I asked if I could keep the cool, long shirt but....no.

Not really practical as it fastens in the back.

An additional favorite combo. That same 50mm APO from above married to an M240 body.

The APO can resolve the 24 megapixels on that sensor in its sleep. 

Intermission. Samsung Galaxy NX camera with Samsung long macro lens.

Getting some use out of that EVF-2 finder. Perfect for those times when the 28mm seems okay.

Why is this photographer so squinty? 

Love the cheap, leather straps from Small Rig. Less than $20. 

It's fun to look at myself in self portraits so I can see how the world sees me when I am out photographing. Always seem to need a haircut. Reasonably good shape otherwise.