Due to the responses of a previous post re: Henri Cartier-Bresson books, I purchased "Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer", and am enjoying it very much. I have been unable to find any information pertaining to HC-B's most frequently employed lenses. Can anyone help? Thanks. Max

-- Max Wall (mtwall@earthlink.net), August 21, 2001

Answers

The vast majority of HCB's famous shots were taken w/the 50mm focal length, although he did @ least own 35mm & 85/90mm lenses. Don't know what he uses nowadays on those rare occasions when he picks up a camera.

-- Chris Chen (furcafe@cris.com), August 21, 2001.

He reputedly used his 50 for most of his shots, although he owned other lenses. I'm not sure which 50(s) he used over time, probably an Elmar, but it is also likely he has owned more more than one version 50 over time. I have recently read that HCB now uses the fixed lens minilux.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), August 21, 2001.

hi all, hcb used a 50/1.5 zeiss sonnar in ltm for most of the 40s, 50s and 60s.

regards,

kenny

-- ken younts (ojingoh@sitespecific.net), August 21, 2001.

John Brinnin, who traveled across the U.S. with HCB on an abortive book project, reported how annoyed he was that so many subjects in the country required the 35mm. It was "shrill" he complained, and the 90 reminded him of "an old deaf lady's ear trumpet." Having virtually internalized the depth of field of the 50 at all apertures he much preferred to shoot by adjusting only that, keeping the shutter permanently at 125 and the distance at 4 meters, which he marked on the lens with red nail polish. "That's my life -keeping a certain distance from things," he told a questioner. So it was wise but also maybe a little self -serving for him to state "It is by strict economy of means that simplicity of expression is achieved." I've often wondered how he would have reacted to the equipment cupboards of just about any member of this group. Jay's might have given him a heart attack! And, as stated above, for most of three decades, until Leitz finally made a fast lens to equal it, the 50 he used was the 1.5 Zeiss Sonnar.

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), August 21, 2001.

I agree that the 50 was his lens of choice. But have a look at the photo of HCB at the Mall in Washington, D.C. Obviously, there were occasions when something other than a 50 was required. No big deal, just thought somebody might find this interesting.

What lens is this?

-- jeff voorhees (debontekou@yahoo.com), August 21, 2001.

RE the Mall picture. It COULD be a 50 Sonnar or 50 Summarit with a filter ring (the Sonnar and Summarit had kind of long barrels for 50mms) but I'd guess it's an 85 of some kind - has the look of a Serenar (Canon). The separate turret viewfinder doesn't mean much - H C-B used that some even shooting a 50.

Geeez. HCB with Zeiss glass. Gene Smith shooting Canon rfs. The next thing you know Salgado will show up holding an F100!!

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), August 21, 2001.

Cool. I've got a bunch of pre & post-WWII 50/1.5 Sonnars that I can mount on my M3. I guess I can finally put my wallet away! ; )

-- Chris Chen (furcafe@cris.com), August 21, 2001.

When I spotted him in London in the 1980s, it appeared to be a black- rim Summar.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), August 21, 2001.

The short tele might be a 85mm f/1.5 lens. See the book, Focus by Beaumont Newhall, on page 159. Beaumont took Herri's new lens, 85/1.5, mounted on his camera and took the portrait of Herri in 1946. Then Herri took his lens to make a photograph of Beaumont.

-- kenny chiu (amchiu@WORLDNET.ATT.NET), August 21, 2001.

If it's a Summarit, it doesn't have the regulation lenshood, which was rectangular with a porthole cutout for the viewfinder.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), August 21, 2001.

i thought he used a tamrkin...or was it a tamron...?

hmm...

-- grant (g4lamos@yahoo.com), August 22, 2001.

Could the lens be a 1960s 90mm Elmarit? I seem to remember you could use the same Leitz hood with cutouts supplied for some 50s on it, and that hood looks exactly like the one I had on my 1961 rigid Summicron.

The finder is probably the long-obsolete Vidom, multifocal precursor of the Imarect. I believe it showed an inverted and reversed view, and according to some sources HCB often used it to give him a more abstract image for compositional purposes. He wouldn't have needed it for any other reason when using an 85 or 90 on an M3.......

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), August 22, 2001.

Chris, you've got treasure. That was the lens of choice for the founders of Magnum, the lens with which Capa shot D-Day, and the Zeiss design that made Nikon famous, when the allies handed them the Zeiss patents after the war. It was hand-calculated by Ludwig Bertele in 1930. Want a brand new one in 2001? no problem, just buy a 50mm 1.4 Ni

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), August 22, 2001.

Excuse #27342.

If only I had hands as large as HC-B's I too could take great stealthy shots like him.

Excuse # 27343.

If only I had that Zeiss 50/1.5...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), August 22, 2001.

I'm a huge fan of HC-B, but I really don't have the time to be concerned with which lens he used. I'm too consumed with trying to figure out how to make people 50 years from now wonder what kind of lens did Mike Dixon use. It's a far more challenging puzzle. . .

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), August 22, 2001.

Hah, GO Mike!

If HCB wanted us to know what lenses he used, he would have photographed them.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), August 22, 2001.

I don't believe that the Nikkor 50mm/f:1.4 for the RF and the SLR are optically the same, as it had to be redesigned to clear the mirror.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), August 22, 2001.

In the August 2001 issue of Popular Photography there is a very interesting article on HCB. In a picture of him on page 53 there is a Black Minilux sitting on the table. I assume this is his camera.

-- Sanford Lee (sanford@usa.com), August 22, 2001.

Are we not talking about a thing that has no meaning. HCB was probably using the contemporary lens from what ever period he was in at the time. Using that same lens today would not suddenly raise anyone's photography up to any grand level. Looking at his work, I never thought, "Wow, what a sharp picture!" It was always about the timing and unique juxtapositions of the subjects... some shots were actually not very sharp at all.

We should stick a lens, any lens, on our cameras and go take pictures.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), August 22, 2001.

I have to agree with Al. HCB wasn't know for his sharp pics. But more for the poetry in his composition and the life in his photos. He really doesn't care much for his camera. He just used a Leica because it was the first decent camera in his time that offered portability and reasonably good results. Had it been a nikon which came first, I'm sure he would have used it the same.

-- joel (joel_low@yahoo.co.uk), August 22, 2001.

Bill: of course you are right, I stand, or rather sit, corrected. As for the vexed question of which lens Dixon used for his great early work, the curators of the Dixon Collection at Vanderbilt, are in general agreement that it was the Babemagnetar. There is much less unanimity, however as to whether he actually uttered the famous dictum,"A strict economy of means is necessary if you expect her to pick up the tab."...........

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), August 22, 2001.

Thank you, David. I've had a rotten day (with another scheduled for tomorrow), and that definitely cheered me up.

I think the quote may have been derived from my frequent pleas of "Honey, I ain't got no money!"

Shot below was shot Sunday with the Dual-Range Babemagnetar (perfect for those occasions when you just got to get a little closer).

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), August 22, 2001.

Gee, .. I wonder what lens Mike Dixon used, that nose reminds me of Walter C. Beery.

-- Bill Dewberry (dewbie@earthlink.net), August 22, 2001.