Panning with the M and heavy lenses. Attn: Jack...

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Jack,

You remarked something about panning as a method to try in low light. Well, here's a photo for you buddy.

This was done with the 75 Lux @ F2.8. Night shot, 400 ISO film, 1/8 sec. I have some examples (horrendeous examples) of panning shots with the 35 cron (probably because of the weight). Or maybe because my hands were shaking from the biting cold that night.

Does anyone else find it easier to pan with a heavy setup (ie using the inertia of the moving mass)?. Or to put it another way.... who has successfully executed a pan shot with a P&S?

Thanks,

-- John Chan (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), December 27, 2001

Answers

Yes, i have successfully panned with a P&S.. but only when on a tabletop tripod that i used as a chest brace and then by twisting my torso. In General i agree with you. Although i haven't tried panned shots with an M, I have done a fair amount with a big pro SLR and pro zoom... the weight sure seems to help a lot if you don't have a tripod or monopod (which of course works superbly), of course it also has the disadvantage that you get tired much more quickly... handheld, a smaller/lighter SLR with a prime doesn't seem to work as well for me.

-- Matthew Geddert (geddert@yahoo.com), December 27, 2001.

I used to experiment a lot with long exposures and panning. It's easy with the Leica M because of the viewfinder...I used a 90mm 2.8 thin for this with excellent results.

-- Emile de Leon (knight[people@msn.com), December 27, 2001.

John- The 75 lux seems to put you far enough away that the subjects do not seem to be aware that you are taking their picture. This shot appears to have been taken under a lot of fluorescent lighting. I wonder if an FLD filter would help any. I think you have to open up one more stop for the FLD, so this shot would have been at f/2. The big 75 lux is possibly my next lens.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 27, 2001.

You have no idea how thrilling it was...

Imagine working outside the lighted area of the rink in COMPLETE darkness. The lighting wasn't fluorescent... I think they were mercury lamps overhead and I'm not too sure about color temperatures. Come to think of it... I don't know color temperatures.

When I first got the 75 I thought I'd made a mistake... and my first impression of the 24 was "a keeper, together forever...". Boy was I ever 180 degrees from the truth. Can't wait to get my hands on the 35 Lux now! Intimate candle-lit dinner portraits HERE I COME!!!!

-- John. (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), December 27, 2001.


John-- How did you meter that shot? Or did you just use the recommendations you get from photography manuals for outdoor arenas under floodlights?

-- Frank HornJohn-- (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 28, 2001.


Oops! Forgot to move the cursor out of the "Your Full Name" field.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 28, 2001.

I metered the scene with an incident meter (Sekonic Zoom-master)

-- John (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), December 28, 2001.

"This shot appears to have been taken under a lot of fluorescent lighting. I wonder if an FLD filter would help any. "

Or alternatively use the midtone dropper in the photoshop levels command on the concrete rim of the rink and boost the black slider to 10, it increases the depth of the blacks and brings the skin tones back.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), December 28, 2001.


John:

Hey buddy, I like this shot! The color-cast doesn't bother me at all either -- it's what you get when you shoot under artificial light.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 28, 2001.


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