Michael - really like that third shot a lot! I admire the PP skills of you guys. I really have to put more effort into that essential aspect of photography.
joe88 wrote:
Excellent shot, Winston! Munich? You seem to travel a lot Have you considered sending the M9 back for calibration?
Hi Joe, thanks! yes that was Munich last month I usually travel about 3 times a year. Since I live on the equator, I got to pick either Northern or Southern hemisphere. Yes, I think about sending the M9 to Solms - after I get a second body. If I send it back now I will be Leica-less for at least a month. Some friends suggested me to sell the M9 and just get a new M-E. So I'm still thinking
Michael - gorgeous portraits! Interesting character in all of them.
Joe - that must have been a fabulous experience. Would also be great to have an assistant to scan all my film images!
Winston - very nice, and a spot I'm quite familiar with. Did you go across Odeonsplatz and visit the Leica store?
Here are a few from the day before the others, during the storm...
These first two are my attempt to at a Sigma Merrill look
Thank you Winston for your comment! Very nice b/w conversion with the buildings and boats shot.
Joakim, fantastic winterscapes. 1 and 2 are my favourites.
Ron, thank you for your comments as well! Very nice post-snowstorm set. I really like 2, 3 and 6. From the during the storm set, my favourites are 1, 2 and 4.
Zhangyue, love your son's portrait on page 651 and the black musician shot on this page.
Too many awesome shots to comment on all I'm jealous of the people that get snow, I'm not a fan of cold weather, but I would enjoy some snow every so often!
Going to pick up a ZM 50/2 and a M6 to pair with the M9/35 combo when I head home for 3 days in late March. Will will visit Hong Kong on the way back to the Philippines during my vacation, so looking forward to shooting there.
I can't get out and shoot during this work trip, so going through some older shots.
I just got a SOOKY-M adapter for my 50 Summicron collapsible, and it's a pretty cool little gadget. It's basically a set of googles, similar to the dual range summicron, and it allows me to mount my collapsible (or the front section of a rigid, if you have one) in order to focus all the way down to around 16"-17".
Here's a quick test shot at about 16", just to get a vibe on it. This was at f4, and you might be able to see that the center is pretty sharp. I probably won't use it often, but it's a cool option to have for occasional short mfd work. I haven't tested the long end, yet, but I think it goes out to about 3 feet, so maybe the total range is around 16"-36"ish.
On a related note, a 60mm B+W F-pro filter can be used as a decent substitute with the 21 Lux. I tried it out with the red filter that I use with my Noct. No vignetting at MFD or infinity, at 1.4 and f8. Hood still screws perfectly on as well.
Thanks Michael - love the mood of your night images. Regarding the 'Sigma look' it would be using extreme clarity and also pulling back on the shadow slider to block up the shadow values. For some areas of the snow, where I wanted to exaggerate the texture and make subtle shadow values more prominent, it was a matter of brushing on a +100 clarity and -100 shadows adjustment.
Allen - great work in both sets!
Andrew - always interesting to see what 'the other guy' shot during a walk, and you came away with some great angles from that installation. I love the look of the Nikkor in the first one and the Voigtlander also looks great. Just reinforces my belief that it's a great value.
Justin - very nice and great tonality. Nice to see such a positive reaction as well.
Dpedraza - yes, please do!
Doug - wow, that's a handy thing to have... seems like another reason to pick up a 50 DR...
xpr.108 - excellent!
Ryan - thanks for the info... I was wondering about the 60mm - thanks for confirming this! I paid a visit to the local store and tried to do the same with 62mm filters but they were about 1mm too wide and 58mm was too narrow. Good to know there are options beyond the limitations of Series 8.
Some more snow...
Everything was going great until I did these looking up...
28 Cron:
50 Lux ASPH:
Notice those two round 'blobs' in the upper right third? The back of the 50 Lux was a bit wet, due to snow getting in my satchel and in the pocket where I keep this lens. I'd noticed that the back of the lens was a bit wet but didn't think much of it. I guess pointing the lens up to shoot the branches was enough for a couple drops to fall on the sensor. At first I was 'oh sh**' but then, it's 'just water' . Luckily it was just a few drops and eventually dried out (had to do a bit of sensor cleaning afterwards to remove the water spots). Cool thing is they act like little lenses right on the sensor, and those lines within the blob are the branches. Would be interesting to try it with water drops all over the sensor.
Thanks Gary. Definitely something to keep in mind for a future project. BTW, I accidentally overlooked your photo above. B&W looks great and I really enjoy the moment and quality of the light. Interesting that he's curled up with an old-fashioned analog device (book) rather than an iPad, etc.
Have you considered sending the M9 back for calibration?
I usually travel about 3 times a year. Since I live on the equator, I got to pick either Northern or Southern hemisphere. Yes, I think about sending the M9 to Solms - after I get a second body. If I send it back now I will be Leica-less for at least a month. Some friends suggested me to sell the M9 and just get a new M-E. So I'm still thinking 
