More From Chalk Fest, Leica IIIC with Summaron 3.5cm f3.5

Here are a few more pics from Chalk Fest, all shot with my Leica IIIC and Summaron, on Fuji 100 color negative film.

 

The Summaron 35 is a spectacular little lens, and I do mean little. I love the subtle color rendition that this lens produces.

 

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Street Art, on Film With Leica IIIC and Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 Lens

Street Art, by Reed A. George

Leica IIIC, Summaron 3.5 cm f3.5 Lens

Fuji iso 100 Color Print Film

 

Man, do I love to shoot my old Barnack cameras. On this particular day, I chose to carry only this camera and lens to photograph "Chalk Fest" in Reston, VA.

 

When I started shooting in the late morning, the light was bright and harsh. The shade was fine, though. I ended up coming back later in the evening to finish up, when the light was much more agreeable. I'll have more to share from this event later.

 

The tiny little Barnack camera and lens, topped with a Russian 35mm viewfinder, caused little or no distraction amongst people at the festival. It is small, quiet, non-threatening. I can see why Barnack's little camera was able to transform photojournalism back in the day.

 

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How Leica Killed "Leica Photography" on Leicaphilia

Now this is an interesting post, especially for me to be reading one day after I posted about taking a modern digital image from my Leica M9, removing many of the gray levels through boosting contrast, adding grain, and in my opinion, improving it.

 

The blog Leicaphilia provides a perspective on how Leica has killed its own style of photography by abandoning their expertise in making compact, functional, straightforward rangefinders and instead shifting their focus to exacting optical designs and products.

 

(Click Here) to read the post on Leicaphilia.

 

What do I think of all of this?

 

Sketching, by Reed A. George

Leica IIIC, Canon 50mm f1.4 Lens, TMax 400 Film

 

Well, I certainly agree that the attraction to Leica, especially old Leica cameras like the IIIC I used for the shot above, has something to do with the camera body design. Simple, effective, obviously hand-built. And, I must agree about the quality of some of Leica's competitors' lenses back in the day. The Canon 50mm f1.4 I used for the shot above is really quite nice.

 

I'm not sure that I agree that other brand lenses were actually better than Leica's back in the day. No, I don't judge them by micro-contrast or even necessarily sharpness, but my Leica Summar and Summaron lenses make beautiful images. They take quite a beating in the above-referenced post. There also seems to be a marked lean toward Nikkor lenses in that post. Not that I disagree; I have a nice Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 in Leica thread mount (LTM) that does quite a nice job. Honestly, though, I prefer my Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 in terms of the images it produces.

 

Finally, I don't agree that Leica has turned away from its design basics. The Leica M9 is about as straightforward to use as you could make a modern digital camera, while still giving the user complete control. I can easily switch back and forth between the M9 and a 1955 M3, without having to worry about differences in controls.

 

Now, the same cannot be said for some of Leica's other cameras. Some of them do have the same issues with complicated controls and multilayer menus that their Japanese counterparts have. Anyone notice the differences between shooting a Nikon F film camera and the wonderful, but complicated D700, for example?

 

So, I agree with some of the points in the article, not with others. I would say it's a call for Leica to be vigilant about future designs.

 

The author is correct that optical perfection does not necessarily lead to a great image. I'm learning to remove some perfection to get to the image that I really want.

 

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Subtle Color Can Work, Too

 

Persimmons, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 Lens

 

 

It seems that use of bold colors to make a strong statement is popular these days. It is one of those concepts that you read about in nearly every book about photography and composition. Like the idea of using simple, basic compositions, bold color can really add to the punch of a photograph.

 

However, sometimes I don't want my photograph to punch the viewer. I prefer something a little more subtle.

 

Lens choice, lighting type, exposure, and post-processing can all affect how bold or subtle your color is. In the shot above, I used my old LTM Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 lens, which is a master of gentle constrast and subtle colors.

 

(Click Here) to read an article on digital-photography-school.com about using subtle colors. There are some good example images in that post.

 

The way you choose to use color and composition says something about you as a photographer. As in regular life, if your style is in-your-face, punchy, bold, that begins to affect your overall reputation, how people think about you. I believe your photographic, artistic reputation is similar in this respect. I would not expect Monet to paint a bold, red, orange, and black abstract. I would also not expect Picasso to paint muted water lilies. It's worth thinking about your own style, rather than blindly following the instructions to make your images punch your viewer. At least not all the time.

 

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Some Whole Lotta Leica Results - Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens on the Leica M9

I have been shooting quite a lot this month, but not particularly a lot with my monthly feature equipment. One reason is that I got a Leica M3 DS (film camera) that has my interest. Another is that both my WLL lens for this month, the Summaron, and my Skeletons From The Closet camera, the Autocord, are both f3.5 lenses. That's somewhat limiting for me, as I'm used to shooting at least f2 lenses.

 

(Click Here) to read about the Summaron.

 

I have posted a few results from the Summaron already this month - (Click Here) and (Click Here) to see them.

 

Here are some new ones:

 

Sibling Rivalry?, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 200, f6.7, 1/30 sec.

 

The shot above is probably my favorite from the Summaron this month.

 

I never did get into the city to do any street photography with the Summaron this month. I did spend some time in the countryside.

 

Barn, Harpers Ferry, WV, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 200, f13, 1/125 sec.

 

Meadow Sunrise, Manassas, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 160, f5.7, 1/60 sec.

 

Sunbeam, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 160, f4, 1/60 sec.

 

 

Here's a family snapshot to wrap things up.

 

Kitchen Fun, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 1250, f3.5, 1/25 sec.

My conclusions about this lens are: 1) it's tiny, 2) it is capable of very nice images, especially in the way it renders color, 3) the f3.5 aperture is limiting to me. I have always enjoyed the images I've made with this lens on film. I shared some of those in the lens introduction post (first link above).

 

I think the correct use for this lens is on a screwmount Leica (Barnack) camera. The size fits well with the screwmount cameras, the 35mm focal length and small maximum aperture lend it to use where shallow depth of field is not necessary (or to put it another way, where you need depth of field to allow quick focus setting). I think I'll mount it on my Leica IIIC and take it street shooting soon. I know it's great for that.

 

I don't want to give the wrong impression about this lens. If someone asked, I would recommend that they try it. It does some things very well. On the other hand, I I would not suggest that anyone select it as their only lens.

 

For June, I've selected the Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 lens to mate up with my M9. There can be no excuses about a slow lens this month.

 

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Memorial Day at Manassas National Battlefield

If you follow my blog, you probably know by now that my home is close to the Manassas National Battlefield, site of two vicious battles of the American Civil War.

 

I got up early this morning (on Memorial Day) to walk around the battlefield, think, and shoot a few images.

 

Rebel Cannon, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

iso 100, f2.8, 1/1000 sec

 

This cannon stands in the precise location of where Thomas Jackson's rebel troops rallied at First Manassas, where Jackson earned his nickname "Stonewall." I love the band of light grass against the much darker trees in the background. Everyone shoots pictures of the cannons; I still like the way the barrel of this on stands out from the background.

 

Stonewall Jackson Statue, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens (May's WLL Lens)

iso 160, f9.5, 1/500 sec

 

I shot the image above with May's Whole Lotta Leica lens, the Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM. Here I tried to blend the base of the statue in with the treeline. I aimed for a complete silhouette, with no detail in the foreground, which I achieved reasonably well.

 

I'll finish up with an extreme wide angle shot.

 

Judith Henry's Grave, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 LTM Lens

iso 160, f16, 1/180 sec

 

Judith Henry was an old lady at the time of First Manassas (July, 1861). Too old, in fact, to leave her home, even though it was placed right in the heat of the battle. Mrs. Henry was killed by Union artillery, which ripped through her room, removing one of her feet, amongst other injuries. She is buried with two family members in the front yard of her home, Henry House, on the National Battlefield.

 

Memorial Day in the states usually focuses on the military. We shouldn't forget that plenty of civilians die in these wars we wage against our own kind.

 

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Whole Lotta Leica - Results From May's Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM

For some reason, I haven't really shot much with my M9 and Summaron 35 this month. I suppose I've been shooting other cameras too much. But, I've got a few results to share.

 

To read about the Summaron (Click Here).

 

Here's a shot I took in DC on my way to a training class. These guys were carrying in chairs for an event. I processed the image in Lightroom, and used Nik SiverefexPro2's Tri-X 400 preset for the black and white conversion.

 

Carrying in the Chairs, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 640, f8, 1/180 sec.

 

The Summaron is tiny. It is difficult to see the f-stop numbers and settings, but otherwise, it's great to have such a compact lens.

 

Springtime Sun and Shade, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 160, f8, 1/125 sec.

I like the way this lens renders colors. While I did remove some contrast in the shot above in Lightroom, the Summaron gives nice colors on its own. This is not a high contrast lens.

 

Church at Harpers Ferry, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM Lens

iso 200, f22, 1/125 sec.

 

Closed down, the 35mm lens gives miles of depth of field. I really didn't think I'd get the flowers in the foreground in focus using the hyperfocal setting for f22, but I think it did pretty well. Again, I really like the colors, which are much more saturated in this scene.

 

The Summaron is an older lens, in Leica Thread Mount (LTM), and yields the vintage Leica look. I really enjoy using it, and like the results. However, at f3.5 maximum aperture, it's not really an all-purpose lens for me. I like faster glass, in general. That said, in the right circumstances, the little Summaron can deliver. I like the image quality much more than the comparable W-Nikkor-C 3.5cm f2.5 LTM lens that I featured in February's Whole Lotta Leica posts. (Click Here) to read about that lens.

 

I'm going to try to get out with the Summaron at least one more time in the month of May. Hopefully I'll have more results to share soon.

 

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Whole Lotta Leica - May's Lens for the M9 is the Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM

 

Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 LTM, ca. 1949-1960

 

This month's pick for my Whole Lotta Leica (WLL) series, where I pair up a different "normal" focal length lens with the Leica M9 is the Summaron 3.5cm (35mm) Leica Thread Mount (LTM).

 

This is one of those sleeper lenses that gets underestimated because of its relative small maximum aperture of f3.5. However, it's capable of great things.

 

I got mine along with an old LTM camera kit I bought on eBay. This was the diamond in the rough in that bag. It is in great shape, and looked pretty much unused, except for some haze on the internal elements. A quick trip to DAG fixed that, and now it's really a great little lens.

 

And by little, I mean little. I compare it to the Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 that was my WLL pick for February. While my Nikkor is also in beautiful shape and faster, the Summaron outperforms the Nikkor in image quality.

 

(Click Here) to go to my WLL page and see all of the lenses I've used in the series so far, along with results.

 

Here's one of my favorite shots from the Summaron, made with a Leica CL film camera.

Harpers Ferry Train Station, by Reed A. George

Leica CL, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 Lens

 

This image has won contests and even sold prints.

 

This lens has a great way of handling color, quite warm and subtle. Below is an image I shot in an afternoon project on a business trip to Concord, Mass. It was Halloween, and I shot pictures of the pumpkins around town with my CL and the Summaron 3.5cm.

 

Pumpkins of Concord, by Reed A. George

Leica CL, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 Lens

 

(Click Here) to see the whole Pumpkins of Concord series.

 

But, this month, we'll see how the Summaron performs with digital sensor technology, on the M9. I'm pretty sure it's going to do great.

 

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Saturated Colors and Emotion - A Leica Strength, I Believe

Me & My Balloon

Image Source: http://www.rangetraveler.com/me-my-balloon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=me-my-balloon

 

This shot was made with a digital Leica M9-P and teh Leica 50mm Summilux. When I look at this, especially the saturated red balloon, and the enhanced vignetting, darkening the areas surrounding the child, I can almost remember what it felt like to be a little kid. Wearing my hood up, with my new balloon, in a world of my own. I think this image really succeeds in taking us elsewhere, in time and space.

 

There is clearly some significant post-processing in this image.

 

(Click Here) to see the original post on rangetraveler.com

 

The color here reminds me of what I get with one of my favorite old lenses, a Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 thread mount (LTM) lens. Here's an example of what my lens produces, without boosting saturation, etc.

 

Autumn Colors, by Reed A. George

Leica CL, Leica 3.5cm f3.5 Summaron Lens

iso200 Film

 

I'll be featuring my Summaron at some point in the coming months on my M9, as part of my "Whole Lotta Leica" series. I'm always pleased with the images this tiny little lens produces.

 

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A Few Autumn Landscapes - 35mm Film

 

Pond's Edge, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5, iso200 color print film

 
I had a roll of film in my Leica M4-2 that I needed to finish up. So, I took a walk around the grounds where I work, around 2:00 in the afternoon. Autumn is just beginning to happen here, and I found a few things that caught my eye.
 
I love the purple swath of grass in the image above.
 
 

Wild Persimmons, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5, iso200 color print film

These persimmons signify the coming of winter for me. Right now, they would be hard as rocks and more sour than lemons. In a month or two, they'll be soft and extremely sweet.

Flat World, by Reed A. George

Leica M4-2, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5, iso200 color print film

I think my composure for this shot was inspired by some traditional Chinese art being displayed in our building. Earlier in the day, I marvelled at how the large horizontal distances (depth) from subjects to mountains and clouds are represented in flat two-dimensional paintings. This has that feel to me.


Boy, I sure do love to shoot film. My M4-2 is a little rough around the edges in appearance, while my 1937 Summaron looks like a little jewel. It's not fast (f3.5), but boy does it deliver.


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My Favorite Shot From A Recent Music Festival - So Far, At Least

 

A Little Shy at First, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summaron 3.5cm f3.5 (ca. 1937)

iso200, f5.6, 1/125 sec

 
I recently went to my favorite local music festival, the Watermelon Park Festival, held every year in September in Berryville, Virginia.
 
(Click Here) to read more about the festival. If you like bluegrass music, this is a great one. The folks that run the event are super nice, as are the spectators. The festival attracts great local talent, as well as national acts. This year, the headliner was Del McCoury, a living legend.
 
The young man in the picture above is the son of one of the festival's vendors. When I asked permission to take his picture, he ran behind these hanging dresses, and peeked out at me as you can see. The moment really clicked for me. It was a perfect Leica moment, if you'll allow me that expression.
 
Shot with an old Leica Summaron 35mm screwmount lens that I got with a Barnack body some years ago, this image is one of my favorites from the M9 so far. I had to bring the contrast up in Lightroom, but didn't want to go too far with that. The original is almost creamy in its low contrast.
 
I'm quite happy with this one.
 
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