teiki arii wrote:
But why don't you use a Leica Camera? Is that expensive where you live?
I own two Leica cameras. It just that they are M mount cameras. I use to use my Leica R lenses on my Nikon DSLRs and Sony A7(II) cameras. Sold the Nikon DSLRs and moved to Leica (M), but kept my Leica R glass to use on the A7II...and recently on my (new to me) Nikon SLRs. I toyed with the idea of picking up a Leica R4S or something, but then I'd have to change the mount on my R glass to R mount...and explain to the wife why I have/need another SLR. Haha!
Maybe I'll mount the 35mm Elmarit-R to the A7II this weekend.
Alpha_Geist wrote:
Maybe I'll mount the 35mm Elmarit-R to the A7II this weekend.
I'm not sure you'd like Leica Elmarit-R 35/2 on A7II. I think this lens doesn't fit well with digital cameras except perhaps Leica SL... Nevertheless, I love Elmarit 35/2 with Tri-X... have a try and let tell us.
Hi Alpha_Geist,
trust me, I give you the best process you never heard about? It is called "Jules Steinmetz Process":
- perfect on "double gauss" Walter Mandler Leica-R/M lenses. (minus 2min on other new Apo/Asph Leica-R/M lenses)
- prepare Ilford ID-11 or Kodak D-76 (it is the same) without dilution (=stock) 2x1litre called A & B for developer bath.
- develop in A and refill A with B after every developing; don't throw A...
- when B is empty do it again (2x1litre of new ID-11/D-76)
- it means A is always One litre and B decreases as one goes along.
- for Tri-X, develop for 12 minutes at 20°C (no more no less) for 400Iso, you have to adjust when you get good experience...
- 3 shakes in 6 seconds every three minutes, 5 shakes for the 20 first seconds.
- The more you develop, better are the results, with exceptionnal shadows and perfect highlights.
- Stop bath or not (=rinse water) for ten seconds as you like but at the same temperature 20°C: stop bath tenses a little bit the grain.
- Fixer bath as usual at 20°C.
Grain is beautiful and very precise, shadows plenty of details, no burnt highlights.. So, dynamic is exceptionnel as well.
And digital RAW look ugly compared to it!
Now, You have got my secret for developping Tri-X, try it and tell me...
Best regards.
Here are some photos with Tri-X in JS process 12mn, scanned seven years ago (July 2008), but actually enlargements (not digital) are very nice. Just to give you an idea of the process.
Thank you for your comments, but you shall understand why I miss B&W rolls. I cant' find the same feeling with digital camera although it is so easy to work with. Now, it's very difficult for me to work with chemical substances, otherwise, I would have stayed with rolls...
Best regards.
PS: While Iso is fixed to 400, in available light, speed some times is no more than 1/8s and often between 1/30s and 1/4s hand held. At this time, 5-Axis SteadyShot INSIDE Stabilization didn't exist but one could take photos at 1/8s without problem...
I miss focus a lot of the time, and don't always have the best exposure or composition, but I feel like I managed to depict the essence of this city in the handful of days we spent there. These days, I think if I took my cheapo 40mm f2.8 pancake I'd have more in-focus keepers, but with the manual focus lens, when I push the shutter, the camera responds instantly (no need to autofocus). I always travel with a single lens, and the 50mm f2 is truly the best for me. It balances size and utility. Plus you can take decent portraits with a 50 (see the monkey), that I don't think would render as well with a wider angle like a 35 f1.4.
My favourite picture is the one from the bridge near Gion and Pontocho, overlooking the river, the restaurants, another bridge, and the mountains. I feel like I could just live in that moment. Upon reviewing this photo, I noticed a girl sitting by the river, doing nothing but sitting there. I think that portrays how I felt in this area. Serene.
Thanks for the compliments! I've got a lot more from recent trips to NYC, London and Japan, so I'll add them.
I actually use the Eg-S screen, but it's hard to hit focus all the time when you're just walking around and snapping. Focusing on a 6D with a matte screen doesn't come close to focusing on an R6 with the split focusing screen and 0.87x magnification. I made the mistake of looking through an old Leica R6 a while back, and my canon "full frame" viewfinder hasn't been nice ever since
You are perfectly right! I'm killing myself telling it. I miss old SLRs' OVF. You speak about Leica R6, don't ever look in 40 years old Leica SL2 OVF! The best one ever tried...
I am quite tempted to throw in the towel with manual focus and get the new sigma 50 f1.4 because it's amazingly sharp, opens to 1.4 and has pretty quick AF. But too heavy to hold all day while travelling! If only they would make a 50 f2 and shrink the lens down by half.
I have the Sigma Art 35/1.4 and Art 50/1.4. Art lenses are quite impressive. But too heavy for sure. I nearly never used them in Indonesia (and for travelling usually) although I brought them with me. I prefer working with Leica-R 90/2 AA, Leica-R 50/2 and Leica-R 28/2.8 v.2 (and sometimes Macro-Elmarit-R 60/2.8). These lenses are light, small, excellent and I can put all of these three in my pockets which is very convenient...
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 7:34 AM on June 10, 2015 of a Buck White Tail Deer in velvet, Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Image heavily cropped and taken with my tripod mounted Leica R 280mm f4 Apo Telyt lens with my Leica R 1.4X Apo Extender and my A7r; ISO 800, lens set to effective aperture of f8 at 1/400 second. Processed in LR6.
There is just so much to see in Tokyo. All these photos were taken on the first half of a single day as we toured around. A friend of mine told me to shoot raw, and i didn't care for it until I realized how much more dynamic range you get from raw vs jpeg. The tower photo in particular was pretty blown out and I think I managed to recover it to perfectly depict that exact scene of the two people embracing,
It was a particularly powerful scene. A middle aged woman met a younger woman in the middle of Yoyogi-koen (park) and they just embraced. For the next minute or two, they stood next to each other, holding hands, peering out towards the tower in the background. It seemed as though they were meditating. It was quite a sight, and an absolutely great place to start our morning in Tokyo.
Contrast this with the peculiar cat man or the new Japanese spice girls at Shibuya crossing. Such a fun city!
