I retourned to the M6 and scanning - it's so much pleasure!

Below, a scan of a friend, with my usual technique.

Some more images, with the M9

I got lazy (and tired from scanning). In other words, I took quite a lot of images with the M9 this year and less with the M6. Some of them can be seen below. The B&W conversion was done in Lightroom by a simple, but highly effective technique due to Thorsten Overgaard, a renowned pro photographer and Leica specialist.

Some impressions from the Biennale 2011 art exhibition in Venice, Italy (Summicron 50/2.0):

Below, you see Isabella at 800 and 1250 ISO, Summicron 50/2.0, "Thorsten Overgaard B&W conversion technique":

A comparison with the M9

First, some images from the M6 TTL - Fuji Sensia 100 - Minolta 5400 workflow:

And now, some images from an M9 which I had the opportunity to use for a few days. The light was the same as for the M6 images.

Not that bad, the digital Leica images, aren't they? It was difficult to return the M9. I got addicted to this photographic tool, although I still prefer the M6. But, for working in color or if time is an issue, an M9 is clearly preferable.

Every tool has its limitations. With an Leica M, it would be difficult to produce an image like the following (Canon 5DMkII), where the autofocus is an asset in such situations:

Some recent images, with Silver Efex Pro Version 1

The following images were taken under extreme conditions, in a dimly lit art center (Kunstbox Seekirchen).
 Lighting was in red (!), which made it really difficult. Exposure times were 1/15 sec. to 1/30 sec., aperture 2.0, all images were taken with the 50/2.0 Leica Summicron, Leica M6TTL (0.85), on Fuji Sensia 100.
 

 

The following images were taken backstage at the Salzburger Landestheater, shutter speeds 1/8 or 1/15 (handheld), postprocessing in Silver Efex Pro, Tri-X simulation. Film was Fuji Sensia 400 slide film; camera/lens combination same as above.

Some more images

In this post, I will present some of the images taken with the Leica M6 - Summicron 50/2 combination.

The following image was taken with Ilford Delta 400 b&w film and then scanned.

Kodak 125PX b&w negative film was a little bit easier to scan:

Same shooting, same light, but with Canon 5D MkII:

For the next images, Fuji Sensia 100 slide film was the source. The hybrid approach with color slide film as the image base and conversion of the scanned image to b&w in Photoshop gives stronger contrasts, which are quite attractive in some cases:

First steps and some helpful links

In this post, I would like to describe my steps into Leica land and to give you some useful links.

I have started my Leica "adventure" with the following steps:

1.  regular visits to the local Leica gallery, thus getting infected with the Leica virus,
2. thereafter, regular visits to Ken Rockwell's Recommended Lenses for the Leica page, to get an idea what Leica camera and lenses to buy at which price,
3. finally, the acquisition of a Leica M6  and an Elmarit M 90/2.8 at Andrej Borodin's Fotokor shop for used camera gear,
4. the acquisition of a used Summicron 50/2,
5. the acquisition of a Minolta 5400 film scanner to be independent of a wet darkroom,
6. the decision to use mostly slide film as source for my black and white images,
7. the decision to use Ed Hamrick's Vuescan scanning software and to follow the tutorial of Tim Gray on scanning b&w negatives.

Alternative choices would have been

• to visit the well-known  Leicashop in Vienna and buy the equipment there,
• to use Silverfast for scanning my negatives and slides,
• to use a Nikon Coolscan scanner,
• to start with a 35/2.0 Summicron instead of a 50mm Summicron,
• to buy a Leica M7 instead of an M6 or M6TTL, see Michael Reichmann's page for details.

After about eight difficult weeks, I had acquired all the necessary hardware and software, and all the information and tricks to produce images. That is where I came out of the tunnel. My experiences with my Leica system so far:

1. for me, a Leica M is meant for taking images of people, for getting into the crowd. It forces you to get close to the action. There is no 200mm telephoto lens available to stay away. You will have to get involved with the life around you.
2. The rangefinder covers a larger arear than the lens (hence, the framing lines in the rangefinder window). This is a much more important advantage than I have thought. You will have to experience it in practice. This fact means that (i) framing, and (ii) waiting for the decisive moment is much easier than with an SLR.
3. The Leica handles extremely well; even changing film is not a real problem any more.This took me about 10 rolls of film
4. The M6 makes me think much more before pressing the shutter: only 36 exposures on a roll of film!. I take less images, but quite often I get a "keeper".
5. I strongly miss one important advantage of digital photography: changing sensitivity at the push of a button. If my Leica is loaded with a ISO 100 film, that's it. No way to change ISO when it gets dark (and bright again).
6. Rangefinder focusing works quite well for me.
7. In part, the secret of Leica images seems to reside in the blurred part of the images, if this secret exists at all. Bokeh is wonderful in case of my 50mm Summicron. I never thought before that the unsharp part would be that important, although I use my lenses close to full aperture most of the time, as a personal preference for portraits. It appears that my Canon EF 50/1.4 and 100/2.0 cannot compete with the Leica lenses.
8. The Leica M6 is so discrete and quiet. People feel much more comfortable when I use the Leica than when I aim the Canon "gun" at them.

When do I prefer the Canon 5D MkII? In several situations:

1. for color images,
2. for nature, landscape and for macro,
3. for sports photography,
4. when using flash,
5. when I do not trust my photographic skills or when I am impatient. 

Finally, I would like to point to the following page of Kirk Tuck and to his readers' comments, which give a good impression of the differences between an SLR and rangefinder.

A most helpful page on the Leica system, containing an outstanding discussion of  important aspects like lenses for a Leica M camera and other valuable information is Erwin Putts' Tao of Leica. Highly recommended!

If you want to read about taking images with a Leica or if you are interested in improving your shooting and post-processing, then visit Thorsten Overgaard's excellent pages at http://www.overgaard.dk/ Thorsten provides some of the best information on (Leica-)photography that can be found anywhere.

You will soon find some more Leica images in one of the next blogs.

Some images

Below, you will find some images taken with the M6 and the 50/2.0 Summicron. I am rather satisfied with the Leica.

I took slides (Fuji Sensia) that were scanned with a Minolta 5400 scanner and converted to b&w in Photoshop.

From the same shooting:

The image taken with a Canon 5D MkII and a EF 70-200/4.0 L zoom lens does not look bad, but somewhat flat in comparison:

Where does this special look of the Leica images come from, this "charme"? I have no explanation so far.

What I like about the Leica at this stage:

1. the rangefinder covers a larger area than the image recorded on film: this helps a lot with framing.
   (Note that the rangefinder has framelines that adapt to the lens that is mounted on the camera; for my purposes, the framelines in the 0.85 finder for 50 and 90mm lenses are very convenient.)
2. the handling of the Leica and its quiet shutter: unobtrusive photography
3. the compact unit of  the camera+lens combination: less weight to carry around
4. the concentration on the essentials of taking images that comes with this camer: simplicity

I have to say that the Leica M6 has already made me a better photographer. I care more about framing and exposure, get closer to the action, think more before pressing the release button and think more after the image was taken.

My summary at this point: the M6 appears to be a very fine, unobtrusive tool for taking images of people and for travelling. I appreciate this low-paced style of photography and I really like the images I get. In other words, if you like b&w, get a used Leica M6 or M7.

In one of the next posts, I will provide a short list of steps necessary to go back to film, together with recommendations and links. In a further post, I will also write about my experiences with a Leica M9, during a long weekend at the Leica Academy (the latter is highly recommended!).