Anybody else eyeing that new Sigma Art lens? You know, that 28-105mm f2.8 zoom? Sony E and L mount users only... sadly.

President George H.W. Bush and Michael Dell. ©KirkTuck

I wrote a piece this morning about using three Leicas to photograph fast breaking action in corporate photography work. It was more or less a reflection of how we used to use Leica M cameras professionally back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. After I wrote about it I was responding to some historical image requests from clients this morning and I came across a bunch of images I took for various clients which included not only "captains" of industry but also presidents, foreign dignitaries, inventors and the like. And I remembered the transition in the early digital days from prime lenses to zoom lenses for work like that. 

While I was a big fan of Leica M cameras in the 1990s the company didn't really enter the digital camera space until Fall of 2006 with the troublesome M8 model. Although introduced in 2006 the M8 was not widely available until the middle of 2008. It came complete with a set of frame lines that didn't match the focal lengths of the most useful lenses, a loud as fuck shutter and a horrible tendency to deliver a magenta cast if used without an IR cut filter. The Kodak CCD sensor delivered good colors, once you added an IR blocking filter to whatever lens you were shooting with. Leica also eliminated the anti-aliasing filter which was, in retrospect, a really bad idea. At 10 megapixels the lack of the AA filter meant that just about any subject with repeating lines/patterns would bloom with moiré like a weird kaleidoscopic nightmare. 

All of this meant that back in 2004 or 2005 when I made this photograph (above) I needed to use a different brand of digital camera and attendant lenses. For me that meant something like a Nikon D2Hs and a Nikon 28-70mm f2.8 lens. What I would have given back then for a super well corrected 28-105mm f2.8 lens that focused accurately and quickly....

But, with the gear at the time I was still able to deliver the needed shots. Although with more effort than it should have taken. The big plus at the time was that Nikon had electronic flash incorporation well figured out. That was a defining feature in the early days of digital. But yeah. A president and a billionaire captured posterity with a 4 megapixel camera...

I just got a note about an hour ago that I'd "won" the proposal to be the still photographer on a day long video shoot that's scheduled for next week. I'll be shooting during the "no audio" b-roll takes and also setting up or duplicating other shots that I won't be able to get while the video crew is shooting interviews and what not --- with sound. The shots I've been asked to take don't require highly specialized anything and most will fall handily in the 24 to 90mm range offered by my Leica 24-90mm zoom lens. But, as usual, I've been ruminating about the short comings of that lens. They are only a few but the one literal shortcoming is that the lens tops out at 90mm with an f-stop of 4.0. I'd love the lens even more if it zoomed out to 105 or even 120mm (memories of the Nikon 24-120....). The second shortcoming is the variable aperture which, as I just wrote above, is limited to f4.0 and smaller at the longest focal length. 

I started thinking about how nice it would be to try out the recently introduced Sigma Art lens that offers high optical correction, a range of focal lengths from 28-105 and a non-variable maximum aperture, at all focal ranges, of f2.8. I'll try to restrain myself because, of course, the 24-90mm is perfectly capable of delivering what the client needs. But I keep torturing myself, wondering how much more I could throw out of focus in backgrounds with a bit longer long end and a one stop greater maximum aperture. 

Still, the lens isn't much lighter or less cumbersome than the Leica (at 2.1 pounds) and I have the idea that as good as the Sigma might be I know from experience that the Leica zoom is phenomenally good and has the advantage of being well proven --- at least to me. Still, if I was starting from scratch on lens selections in the L mount family I can pretty much guarantee that the Sigma 28/105 Art zoom would be among my very first choices.

The second newly released Sigma zoom I have my eye on is the 28mm to 45mm f1.8, full frame, Art Series lens. I know it's a very short zoom range but it's a useful one. I owned the Sigma Art Series 24-35mm f2.0 lens for Nikon F cameras a few years back and, optically, it was one of the best lenses I've shot with, including primes. It left the market during the great march to mirrorless and I, for one, lamented its passing. My thought is that the new short focal range zoom lens might even be a better match for much of the way I work and it would give me a stop and a third more of light than the big Leica at corresponding focal lengths. Plus it would be wildly eccentric and therefore highly interesting. Maybe no new camera bodies in 2025 but I never promised anything about new lenses....right? 

Anything else seem compelling to you out there right now? If so, let me know in the comments. And I'll let you know if I toss away money at more exotic lenses. 

Sure would have been a joy to have the Sigma 28-105mm f2.8 Art lens for that day of documentary photography back in 2004..... Well, and one of the various, newer 24 megapixel cameras as well....

 

If you are serious about shooting commercial work with Leica M cameras you will definitely need ..... four of them. Here's why...

When you photograph as a fine artist or a humble hobbyist it's entirely possible to spend the rest of your life shooting pictures with a single prime lens. Provided that it's one you like. A focal length that suits your vision of the world. But it's a bit different if you are into "corporate reportage." In other words, if you have clients who pay you to do photographs.

In the case of those doing M Leica photography for corporate clients you'll often find that you require a range of lenses. Maybe not the 16mm to 600mm reach that the YouTube influencers might insist you need to have at your disposal for any contingency but certainly samples of the wide/medium/telephoto "holy trinity" of lenses that actually get used on jobs such as corporate trade shows, on site factory documentation, events of many kinds and those times you get hired to walk through offices documenting the look and feel of a company. 

I think you can do most jobs with three lenses. At least the kinds of jobs I do. I mostly need a wide angle lens for establishing shots, a normal lens for normal vision perspective and a longer lens/short telephoto for compression effects, more easily achieved out-of-focus backgrounds and decent, flattering portraits. 

For me it's usually 28mm, 50mm and 90mm. For some it might be the 21mm, 35mm and a 75mm option. The exact focal lengths you'll want to use don't matter for the main subject here but, believe me, you'll want the range if you are going to step into a location and make good, story-telling images. But the problem for M photographers is that there's no such thing as a zoom (let's ignore the Tri-Elmar, three in one lens for right now...) so you'll need three primes and that's where the problems start. 

If you want to shoot wide on a current M camera with the .68x viewfinder you'll find it annoying to try to frame a 28mm with the bright line frames in the eye level viewfinder. If you wear glasses it's especially annoying as you'll have to move your eye all over the place to see the various frame lines that show you where the edges of your photos reside. So you'll probably want a dedicated bright line finder that you can put into the hotshoe with which to get a better view.

So that's one camera with a 28mm lens mounted and a bright line viewfinder accessory sitting in the hot shoe. The second set-up for me is the 50mm lens/camera combo. That combination doesn't need an auxiliary finder and so it's a bit more barebones. I'd use that camera with a diopter on the eyepiece and no eyeglasses on my face. The third camera/lens combo for me is the 90mm which I prefer to use in a more modern setup. Meaning I want to use that camera and lens with an attached EVF so I can see the frame bigger than it appears in the bright lines of the optical, camera finder. A dedicated bright line accessory finder is also a possibility. 

So, that's three camera set-ups for a fast moving, multi-focal length photo shoot. Why not just use one camera and change lenses when needed? Well....because it takes more time, so accessories would need to be added or removed, and changing lenses in dicey environments means there's always a risk of getting dust on the sensors. So much easier to use three identical cameras, set with the same parameters, and just to pull the one you want up to your eye and engage with it. 

This is all predicated on the presumption that you're using digital M Leicas. If you are using film M cameras an additional benefit to a three camera solution is the fact that instead of having only 36 frames in your camera before you need to take the bottom plate off the camera and remove and then reload film you'll have 108 frames at your disposal before you need to restock the cameras.

This is actually the way many photojournalists and editorial photographers worked for decades back in the "golden" age of film. With M Leicas but also with other brands of cameras as well.

It helps if all three working cameras are the same model because all the accessories will fit across the three working cameras and your brain will already be tuned into the way the cameras and their controls work. Familiarity leverages functionality across multiple cameras. The fourth camera can diverge from the homogeneity of the functional three but not by much. 

So, while it seems wildly extravagant, let's flesh out why you need four camera bodies. Seems crazy, right? Well, while Leica M cameras, especially the digital versions, are highly reliable stuff does happen. Rangefinders go out of adjustment. Cameras get dropped. Accidents happen. 

You'll want that fourth body accessible as a back-up camera on high profile jobs that can't be reshot or when working for clients who don't believe in failure....at all. Better to be a Boy Scout and be prepared than to wing it and spend the money instead on something less critical, like a new 8K TV or a new car.

The fourth body also comes into play for the photographer who works with multiple cameras for those times when you want to or are required to send a camera body away for repair, adjustment or tweaking. 

None of this is a mandate that every M shooter needs to haul four cameras around all the time. In fact, most of the time when I am photographing for myself I'm carrying only one camera and one or two favorite lenses. With an M240 I don't even take along an extra battery because.....it's not needed. And for many jobs I can work at a more relaxed pace and so only need one shooting camera for all three lenses with a second body in the bag or in the car as a redundant back-up. If I can take 30+ seconds to change lenses then the triple layer of gear is unnecessary. But you need to be aware of dusty environments and still avoid lens changing in the middle of a dust storm...

Of course, you might consider all of this to be insane. Why would anyone hobble themselves with so many cameras when they could use any one of a number of mirrorless camera bodies along with a lens like the Sigma 28-105mm f2.8 zoom and get "equally" good or even better files (technically)? It's a great question if all you care about is getting the job done. Solving an equation. But if you enjoy your version of process, and you love working with rangefinders and prime lenses, this way of working makes more sense. Everyone does it their own way. Neither is faultless or flawless. Each can be enjoyable. Everyone gets to choose for themselves. 

My working method usually involves two cameras. Two M240s. One with a 28mm and the other with a 50mm. If I need a longer lens (75mm or 90mm) I pop it onto the 50mm camera and continue. A third camera sits in reserve. Only occasionally would I consider draping all three working bodies over my body and use them that way.

In all honesty, if a job is so time sensitive and fast moving that it might require the use of three M bodies I often just reach for a Leica SL variant and the 24-90mm lens. Need something longer? Use the same 24-90mm on an SL2 or SL3 and click into the APS-C mode. The 90mm becomes the equivalent of about a 135mm. 

The underlying reason for using multiple cameras with prime lenses is that those camera and their prime lenses are fun. Working with cameras is fun. Problem solving is a challenge and challenges can be very satisfying. Plus, there is a different look between different lenses and some people love the look of their favorite prime.

Just stuff to think about at the outset of the new year. Hope you are doing well and your biggest problem this year is deciding which camera you want to use today.  Best, Kirk

 

Wrapping up 2024. What's ahead and what's behind.

Dominique Ansel, creator of the "Cronut" assembles my just desserts...

I woke up exactly at 6:59 a.m. Seconds before my alarm was set to go off. It's something I've done nearly every day for this entire year. It's almost like a game with the universe. I set an alarm for 7 a.m. to get up for swim practice. Every morning I wake up five, ten or even one minute before the alarm goes off and I turn it off; preemptively. Don't know why.

I dragged myself down the long hallway in our house to the kitchen and set water on the path to boiling. I rinse my coffee cup and the ceramic cone that holds a filter and the coffee grounds. I rinse the ceramic components in hot water to raise their temperature from the chilly 68° house temperature so the coffee I make in them doesn't get too cold too quickly. Then I grab the bag of coffee beans, measure out the same portion that I did yesterday, and a couple of hundred days before, and put the beans in my manual coffee grinder. And I grind them. Once complete the fresh coffee grounds are poured into the #4 filter. I try to time all of this to coincide with the water coming to a boil. It usually works out just fine. 

I pull the water off the boil and let it sit for a minute or two before wetting the grounds, waiting and then slowly pouring more water over the grounds, going around in a circle pattern to keep the grounds from sticking to the sides of the filter as each measure of hot water recedes. 

As the water and coffee meld together I stick a hearty slice of fresh bread into my toaster. It cooks while I tend to the coffee,  then dropping the soggy, ground filled filter into the kitchen trash can and rinsing off the filter holder. 

When the toast pops up, golden brown, I slather it with peanut butter and apricot jam (always apricot for some unknowable reason) and bring the toast and coffee to the dining room table. I savor the coffee and the toast while I check the news, the stocks, and the (mostly non-existent) blog comments on the laptop computer I keep on a shelf near the dining room. The computer is like a centerpiece on my breakfast table. 

At 7:30 I rinse my coffee cup and put it on a shelf next to the sink. I use the same cup for a week and then I put it into our dishwasher and select another one for the upcoming week. If the cup gets too grungy during the week I toss in some dishwashing detergent and wash it by hand. Usually a rinse with hot water is all it needs... I use a new plate for toast every day so that plate goes into the dishwasher.

After I've used the toilet, washed my face, brushed my teeth and rolled up a towel to take with me I exit the house and make my way to my current favorite car. I play something by ColdPlay or Elvis Costello as I warm up the car. I've read that turbochargers like to be gently warmed up before one goes nuts and starts driving like a teenaged boy. A minute later I'm backing out of the long drive way and heading to the pool. A drive of three minutes on quiet holidays. Five to ten minutes on school days coinciding with rush hour.

The pool sits in the middle of a very desirable neighborhood. It is surrounded by a few acres of lush landscaping. A fence surrounds the facility separating it from an adjacent, public park. I head into the men's changing area and stuff my clothes into one of several dozen open-faced cubicles. I have been doing this for over 25 years. I leave my wallet, my car keys, and occasionally a Leica rangefinder in the cubicle and to my knowledge we've had nothing go missing at the club in all the years I've been going to swim workouts there. It's a private club. People have to sign in. There's a gate attendant.  I guess that's a good deterrent. That, and the fact that there is no obvious signage related to the club. No indication that there's anything to conveniently pillage.

I change into an appropriate swim suit, grab my training fins, hand paddles, goggles and a weathered, discolored pull buoy and head to the pool deck. If I've timed my arrival correctly the folks from the seven o'clock workout are just finishing up and starting to exit the lanes. In cooler weather it's nice to stand on the deck for a few minutes to let your skin temperature drop. Then, when you hit the water it feels a bit warm. My training partners and I usually swim in lane five... it's a tradition.

Today's workout, the last of 2024, was grueling. The coach got carried away and wrote a workout that clocked in at 3,600 yards. One really has to keep moving to complete all the sets in a one hour time frame. Most of what we seem to do these days falls under the idea of HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. Mixed distances with lots of shorter distance, all out, sprinting. For example we might do a cruise-y set of three 200 yard swims, then some faster 50 yard swims and cap it off with a full sprint 100 yards before starting the next set. The idea is to swim the sprints hard enough to get to your maximal heart rate and to use the longer distances as cardio recovery.

The temperature in the water today was 81°. The temperature on the deck, with a nice breeze, was in the fifties. Perfectly clear, sunny skies above and small flocks of far away birds coasting by. My lane mates and I have swum together for so many years we hardly need to talk during the sets. We agree on an interval time and we fall into a circle swim pattern (up on the right side, flip turn, back on the right side...like driving) with just the right spacing between us. Five seconds between send offs...

When the workout is over and we've run out the clock we thank our coach for braving the chilly wind and then head to the changing rooms to savor a hot shower, and the usual chatter that seems to follow any activity that raises one's dopamine levels. Then it's home for second breakfast. 

I plan on doing this six times a week, every week in 2025. Because...why would you not want to be in the best physical shape you can manage to achieve? Toss in a daily walk and some weight training and you'll feel at least 20 years younger than what's indicated on your drivers license. Exercise and teeth flossing; the two miracle procedures that seem to almost ensure longevity. Ah, the luxury of being a 69 year old adolescent. (Implied maturity level).

I don't have anything today that I think would require "New Year's Resolutions" for 2025. If I did find something lacking in my life I think I would have fixed it by now or sought out help for it. Most resolutions made at the end of one year or the beginning of the next seem to involve either the desire to lose weight or the (related) desire to exercise more. Or to eat healthier. Since I haven't gained or lost weight in at least a decade and I exercise with gusto nearly every day those resolutions have no relevance for me. I'm not a procrastinator so there's no requirement for improvement there. I guess I could resolve not to buy as many lenses this year but it's easy to write that once you own all the lenses you ever wanted...

So, that's how this year wraps up. I took some photographs over the last 12 months. Some you've seen here and many you'll only see in client advertising. We stayed in the black. Financially. Easier to do when the house is paid for and your kid is through with college and well launched. No loftier financial goals for next year. 

I've enjoyed taking photographs this year. I like my remaining clients. I'm happy to have jettisoned the ones I was less satisfied with. And to have done so on my own initiative. I'm happy having fun cameras to play with. I'm happy with my home town. I guess that, and a happy family, are all one can really wish for.

On my wish list for 2025? Nothing I can control comes to mind. Hope 2025 is a quiet and happy year. For everyone.

Tomorrow we have a special, New Years Day workout at the pool. Instead of our usual 7 and 8 o'clock, one hour workouts, we're going to have a combined practice from 10 - 11:30 in the morning. Same coach as today so we can count on a lot of yards sandwiched in with a lot of speed work. What a treat!!!

Moving right along. Ciao! 2024. 

 

Just thinking about cheese right now...

the highest and best use of mold....

 

Go to Amazon. Buy David Hobby's incredibly good book about travel photography. It's called, "The Travel Photographer's Manifesto." It's the best book written about the practice of photography in the last ten years.

 Here is what I wrote in my review of David's book on Amazon:

I loved David Hobby's blog called "Strobist.com" He gave photographers so much valuable information about lighting and you could always sense his joy at photographic problem solving and lighting mastery. And now he's written a great book about the actual processes and best practices of making wonderful and engaging photographs while traveling the world. A couple things to know. There are no photographs in the book and that's fine. There is very little coverage of cameras brands, lens brands, or any push to buy new stuff in order to do your work. Rather, the book is an amazingly well written blueprint for learning how to meet strangers, make them into friends, and then make great portraits of them. It's an explanation of how a very experienced photojournalist actually works. It's worlds different than the dumb stuff and stolen shots you see from most "street photography" videos you see on Youtube. He teaches genuine engagement and a deeper, more compelling way to make photographs that are more interesting and quite visually rich.

I have to confess that I've been an advertising photographer for more than 40 years, have written five books about photography (sadly, mostly about gear) and am jealous of David's ability to cut through all the mythology and false facades about photography in a way that had me cheering and considering taking a workshop from him. The book is that good. So is the philosophy behind it.

This is a great book for people just starting out on a photographer's journey. But, at the same time, there is so much older, more experienced photographers can harvest from this book. It was both a "refresher course" and a source of new inspiration for me. I can't wait to get back out with a camera and consciously work in as many of David's "secrets" as I can to my own practice. You wanna be a better photographer? Forget upgrading the hardware. Upgrade the software between your ears with this book. It's that good.

Here's what I wrote about the book on a different blog post: 

Here's a book recommendation: David Hobby, of the Strobist.com fame, wrote a book that was published this year. It's called, "The Travel Photographer's Manifesto." It is by far the best book I've read on the subject and you can be sure that it's not just a self-serving vehicle used to print a portfolio of greatest hits because there are no photos in the entire book. Just great writing (not weird, overly fraught academic pablum) and lot of great information. I learned a ton.... and I thought I already knew everything about photography (smile emoji goes here....). I'd buy this book again in a heartbeat. David walks the walk (actually makes a living taking photographs) and talks the talk (well, I guess writes the writing....). Whatever. Just go over to Amazon and buy a copy. If you don't like it a lot then you might just be a landscape photographer ---- or an odd duck who doesn't at least think about traveling. And photographing. 

No hidden agenda here. No links to David's book. No cash in my hands.

I re-read the chapters about fine-tuning color again today and learned even more...

Wealth of knowledge. Well delivered. 

Low cost learning....

I kid myself that I never shoot for posterity but sometimes it ends up happening anyway.

If you've followed my blog you've no doubt seen photos of this complex of old, industrial buildings many times over the years. They occupy a couple acres of premium, downtown land and they have been there since before I moved to Austin in 1974. From what I can tell the buildings are or were part of an iron works and metal fabrication facility. The brick building, which adjoins the corrugated metal-clad buildings has been more or less vacant for as long as I've been aware of it and walking by it. About twenty years. 

On the other side of the fence, to the left of the building in the bottom frame, are railroad tracks and just on the other side of the railroad tracks is our small, quiet Amtrak station. The plot of real estate is just to the West of Lamar Blvd. and just north of Lady Bird Lake. It's in an area that used to be a quiet, close-in to the Capital, residential area but it's now a red hot development target. Four and five story "mixed use" projects are going up all around.

When I first started walking through this area with my camera it was sleepy quiet. The front of the brick building is located on a low traffic street that came to a stop at a dead end for two way traffic and maintained a bike lane and a little used, one way, car lane instead. I'd walk through this area on many business days without seeing a single person. And I don't know why, other than the fact that the buildings are so different from all the new, aimed at the affluent professionals, cookie cutter buildings. And the idea that, at least once upon a time, a thriving business existed here that was centered around skilled labor and craftsmanship but not high end retail sshopping.

I was happy enough to walk by and snap a few frames on my way from my favorite parking spot into the heart of Austin's downtown but about a month ago, when walking by, I found a sign on a small wooden post declaring that imminent demolition had been applied for. This piqued my interest as I somehow have convinced myself that the simplicity and tenor of the existing structures resonates with a collective memory of what Austin was like, what it was about, before our rush to excess affluence started to change everything. Now I am motivated to at least preserve it in photographs. As I did about a decade ago with the decommissioning of the Seaholm Power Plant that existed since the dawn of time in the middle of downtown. (Now a mixed use retail/residence project).

I've been in touch with the owners to gain legal access to the property and am awaiting a reply. I proposed spending a couple different days documenting every square inch of the exterior and then at least a day to wander through the guts of the space with a bag full of wide angle lenses, a stout tripod and a high resolution camera. We'll see what happens. I don't know all the particulars but I hope I not racing against some sort of unmovable deadline for the eradication of this little, out of the way and barely noticed piece of old Austin. 

The images shown here were done in passing with a Leica rangefinder camera and the 50mm f2.0 Zeiss ZM lens. Hardly the optimal choice for a wide-ranging architectural documentation. But something had to light the fire under my feet and get the process rolling and the shots done in passing, over time, seem to have had a cumulative effect. 

When (and if) I finish the project I'll also interview the owners to find the history and backstory of the business there and the evolution of it. I'll offer the whole package to the Austin History Center for their use. It's not the kind of content that I usually do for myself but I'm curious enough about the whole place to pursue this. And if parts are still functioning I might even be able to make some good portraits. 

That's what I'm working on between work and swimming. The schedule is filling up. 

Don't need any A.I. for this one....

50mm Happiness. Or maybe it's just the time spent walking. And a bit about media of the future. Hmmm. A.I. videos are now a thing.

I find it hard to separate the years of looking at other people's images with the act of making of my own. The references get so tangled. The red truck above is one of my ripostes at the endless adoration of William Eggleston's color work. Homage to banality. But once you see the red trike it's hard to forget the power of something new. I'm also a sucker for deck plate. That's the pattern on the metal utility cover show below. I love deck plate. I like industrial stuff. I'd happy for days in some sort of SteamPunk clock factory, just snapping away.

And...by the way....

Have you seen the "Steampunk" A.I. videos all over YouTube these days? I find them fascinating. And in a few years we'll collectively probably stop making TV shows and movies with real actors and flood the market with A.I. constructions. Interesting to know that the reason home video players took off in the 1980s was all down to the pornography industry. (The link here doesn't fall under that category....). But the video I'm linking sure makes use of my love for complex, mechanical, brass constructions as well as beautiful women. 

Mike will hate this "new" media because it's not pure. Not handmade by humans. But it is the future of mass media whether you play along or not. And it's going to displace something....

Go see for yourself and make up your own mind. It's okay if you disagree but I'm not sure these short videos are anything more than proof of concept. Mini-portfolios as it were: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6VikmWKPw

Sure. We can all talk a good game about how A.I. will never replace: fill in the blank but if you sit down and look at what is already out there, and out there in a really short amount of time, you'll have to admit that the potential of the new technologies is more or less only limited by one's imagination. Finally, a reason for 8K monitors? Or you can dismiss it as did many critics of the original iPhone...

Not that I'm planning on melting down all my Leica gear and buying a bigger monitor and an easy chair, but I think it behooves both the people who are into photography as an art, as well as people who are into photography as a commercial business, to take off the blinders, ignore the Luddites and see what's out there for ourselves. Then, if you want to scurry back to your analog darkroom and unload those sheet film holders you can aptly label yourself as a contrarian or a keeper of the flame(s). 

My take is that mass media is going to go in one direction and people in my generation will publicly rail about it ad infinitum but will also be sneaking another peek. You know, just for research...