You need to shoot a number of photos of an island for an assignment but you are only allowed to use one lens of one focal length! (so, NO Tri Elmar please!) Quality is VERY important and the photos will be enlarged to (about) 12x18". You can use a tripod but it's sure that you will walk for miles in difficult areas in high temperatures. (No, I am not going to hell - yet!) :O) 1) Which one lens would you use on your Leica M? 2) Would you choose to use your -heavy- medium format camera with one lens instead? 3) Would you leave your tripod at home?

Greetings from Greece, Jordan.

-- Jordan Koussis (jordan@koussis.com), September 09, 2001

Answers

Hallo Jordan,

hope your island has a darkroom and/ or a filmprocessing plant. Otherwise yozu might end up looking at unprocessed filmrolls.

I donīt think i would take a tripod along, but my camera would be a LEICA M with a 35 mm Summicron- lens. Together with the proper lensshade and some filters, especially a polarizing one.

Happy journey

K. G. Wolf

-- K. G. Wolf (k.g.wolf@web.de), September 09, 2001.

Hallo Jordan,

hope your island has a darkroom and/ or a filmprocessing plant. Otherwise yozu might end up looking at unprocessed filmrolls.

I donīt think i would take a tripod along, but my camera would be a LEICA M with a 35 mm Summicron- lens. Together with the proper lensshade and some filters, especially a polarizing one.

Happy journey

K. G. Wolf

(I just try a second posting. Do not know if the above message was submitted)

-- K. G. Wolf (k.g.wolf@web.de), September 09, 2001.

1) Either 35 Summicron pre-ASPH or 21 Elmarit P-ASPH, depending on which island.

2) No, even if I had one. 8^)

3) Depends on nature of assignment, but either no tripod or tabletop tripod with ball head.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), September 09, 2001.

Andy, I'm curious why pre-ASPH Summicron? I would assume landscape would be shot at f/8 or f/11, with no concern for bokeh.

-- Phil Stiles (Stiles@metrocast.net), September 09, 2001.

M6 with 35/1.4 Sumilux ASPH. Tripod is a must. Remember to always put on lens hood and remove any UV filter during shooting.

-- Damond Lam (damond_lam@hotmail.com), September 09, 2001.

Jordan:

It would really depend on the specific nature of the assignment, but...

1) 35mm asph Summilux.

2) No. Especially since you won't be enlarging much beyond 11x. (However, if the assignment was for a mixture of geography and people, and I did not expect to have to do any real low-light work, I might be tempted to take the very light-weight Mamiya 7 with its 80; and if the assignment was primarily for the geography, and not any people, I might be tempted to take my 4x5 - with tripod! - and a 90mm.)

3) No. I'd bring my lightweight Gitzo 12 series -- that is unless I knew for sure people (street) were the only thing I was going to be photographing...

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), September 09, 2001.

If this is a hypothetical exercise, then fine. But if it is a real situation, then from a practical point there would be no hindrance to using two lenses if we are talking about a Leica M as the camera. Both the 35mm and 50mm Summicrons just about fall within the physical size of a roll of film, (and I am sure you are not just bringing one roll of film), so I would bring both. They both exhibit the quality desired, both are universally useful in most situations, and their profile (size / weight) is optimized for unencumbered trekking.

As far as the hypothetical exercise, for me it would be an M6, with the 50mm Summicron... no wait, the 35mm... no, the 50's good... no....

If you were not restricting the enlargement size to such a small print, but had the same criteria, (one lens, one camera) I'd use my TLR RolleiFlex 3.5F with Planar lens and 220 film capability. With the neck strap pulled tight, and camera pressed into the chest, no tripod is required usually.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), September 09, 2001.

Jordan, From my travel experiences on the Greek islands [ over the last 43 years], I'd suggest that you (1) select the 75mm Summilux , together with the heaviest tripod you are willing to carry (ala the 3-series Gitzo,plus a table top model should you be in a village setting, for example;) or (2) I agree with the earlier suggestion about considering the Mamiya 7, with either the 150 lens. Again take a tripod. While they may be tapering off now, the "meltemia" (trade winds) can still be a challenge--even with a tripod. So, consider taking empty "bean" bags that you can fill with dirt/rocks on location to help stabilize your tripod.Given your stated requirements, the tripod is a must. Happy shooting, BILL

-- William Mitchell (mitchell.candy@worldnet.att.net), September 09, 2001.

What kind of oddball print is 12x16? Do you mean 12x18, or perhaps 10x15?

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), September 09, 2001.

My friends,

Thank you all for your interesting answers. The size I am talking is "about" 12x16 inches! that is: 30x40cm or 30x45cm !

Bill, it is obvious that you know a lot about my country! It also looks like we are the only who would consider a non-wide angle lens as our one lens!

It's not a big surprise though, as most people would use a 35mm lens (or wider) for landscape. (But landscape is not the only theme in an island of course.) And even in landscapes I love tight compositions too.

2) So, you think that for 30x40cm prints the Leica M will have no visible differences from a 6x7 negative? What about the color "sparkle" and "punch"? I am ready to quit the medium format game and to invest this money to digital, so, this IS important for me! If Leica M could deliver equal results up to 30x40cm I would be really happy. BUT, I don't think sooo!...

Jordan.

-- Jordan Koussis (jordan@koussis.com), September 09, 2001.

Phil - I was thinking of an island as in David Alan Harvey's CUBA - I'm a people photographer primarily. And as to why the pre-ASPH, because it's the one I already own.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), September 09, 2001.

Jordan:

I have not been to Greece, but I would probably choose a lens based on the lighting conditions. If it was low light, I would use my 90 Elmar otherwise the 90 Summicron. If a tripod was an option, I would leave it behind and use the weight for a second lens, 28 Elmarit. Like others, I prefer a short telephoto for people shots. Handholding an M is not a problem hence no tripod. Another question would be what type of film to use. I would probably shoot with transparency film for the narrow exposure latitude and leave the color choice away from the lab doing the printing.

How about posting some pictures of this Island for us to see?

Mark J.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logic@gci.net), September 09, 2001.

I should think the 75mm or 90mm would be a bit restrictive for many shots. I think I'd be wishing I'd at least taken the 50, if not the 35. I wouldn't go wider than 35 if taking only one lens. A wider one would make it hard to isolate the important elements, when necessary. 35 or 50 for me.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), September 09, 2001.

Not so much the lens but the FILM. That to me is a big print froom 35mm. Tropical islands to me need grainless photos if you are shooting for the travel industry. Velvia is the choice for transpariencies but for col neg i don't think any one makes a good film for that size prints. 160 NC is a tad less grainy than 160 VC and 100 gold is a tad less again. I shot a job in the Cook Islands with 160 VC on my R6 and M6 with 35 cron and i thought the saturation was not good enough for the tropics and the grain was noticable on full magazine page shots. I am packing my bag as we speak to do a job in Fiji. I am taking M6 with 24mm and 35 cron and my r6 with 60mm macro and a widelux. Film ????? I still don't know but it will be between VELVIA ,RDPIII AND REALA. My film scaning person hates reala to scan and wants me to shoot 160 VC again. I think i would rather do a print from the REALA and then scan that. Ease of exposure is my only reason for shooting Neg.I would shoot 3 times more film to makesure i got the shot if i was shooting tranny. I still have not ruled it out though. To answer your other Question there is no substitute for neg size. You are better of shooting as big as you can. The FUJICA 6X9 will beat any leica any day. (only 8 frames per roll though.)

-- Tim (timphoto@ihug.com.au), September 10, 2001.

Hi Jordan

You want quality for landscape photos - medium format without a doubt.

I would use a Hasselblad with 60mm/100mm lens (or maybe an SWC depending on the shots I wanted to take) and a tripod - not that heavy to carry, I've carried heavier up mountains with no problems.

I would use Agfa 25 developed in Rodinal, no 35mm will touch this combination.

35mm = convenience, speed and surprisingly good quality but on quality alone - medium format kicks it way into touch.

Tapas

-- Tapas Maiti (tapasmaiti@aol.com), September 10, 2001.

For best quality of the 12X18 prints I would take with me:

1) a Linhof ST 23 Vb & a SA 65mm/f5.6 & a Super Rollex 6x9 & tripod;

or 2)Linhof 220 (a little worse due to cropping from a neg 5x7 to the ratio of 2x3, the lens is 95mm/f3.5,), with no tripod;

or 3) Hasselblad 500-serie with Distagon 60mm/f3.5, (cropping too when an A12, no cropping when an A16), with or no tripod;

or 4) any Rolleiflex 2.8 or 3.5 with a Planar or a Xenotar (need cropping too when printing), with no tripod;

or at least 5) any Leica M-serie with any 35mm Summicron/'lux.

-- Victor Randin (ved@enran.com.ua), September 10, 2001.