Subjects the rangefinder camera is not suited for - (AKA: more stupid Tele-Elmarit tricks)

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There are some subjects the rangefinder camera is just not supposed to be suited for - we are told.

Such as:

Sports action photography

More sports action photography

Wildlife photography Studio tabletop photography

Since I (mostly) don't have anything but rangefinders, I tend to ignore this advice and just shoot whatever needs shooting with the Leica-Ms.

Seems to work.

"If they hand you lined paper - write sideways."

Oh, yeah - all shots made with the much-maligned, flare-prone, etching-prone 90mm Tele-Elmarit-M (thin).

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 07, 2002

Answers

I think you've confused "not suited for" with "impossible to do with". You are free to try just about any type of photography with any type of camera... it's for your own enjoyment, and after all, all you really need is focus, shutter speed, aperture, and shutter release. What it really boils down to is how hard or easy you want to make it for yourself, and that's where the "horses for courses" advice comes in. Personally I'd rather use an SLR for the type of work you mention above.

To use an analogy - some might say that a Ferrari F55 isn't suited for off road rally racing. But can you do it? Why not - all you really need is steering, transmission, engine, gas, and brakes. It's your money, your car, and your race. But how hard or easy do you want to make it for yourself? I know I'll be driving the 4x4 baja buggy. You want to do it in the F55, suit yourself, nobody's going to arrest you for it.

-- Anon Terry (anonht@yahoo.com), April 07, 2002.


Nice one, Andy. Great pictures. Keep doing it for the fans.

-- Steve Jones (stephenjjones@btopenworld.com), April 07, 2002.

Hey Andy, I always paid attention to your comments,now I'll look for your photos.....

-- Tony K. (tony_k_@hotmail.com), April 07, 2002.

Nice shots, Andy. I particularly like the first Sports photo! How'd you get that vantage point?

-- Patrick (pg@patrickgarner.com), April 07, 2002.

More top-notch work from Andy. Good idea, bringing a goat (?) along to carry the gear. I think Galen Rowell uses a yak or a llama or something. ;<)

More examples of using the Leica successfully for product photography can be found in Brian Bower's Leica Lens Book. You might think all the shots of Leica gear were taken with a view camera. But no, the captions show that all the shots were taken with other Leicas.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), April 07, 2002.



Bob: the product shots in Bower's Leica Lens book were mostly taken with an R body. Nonetheless he has mentioned his affinity for the 65/3.5 Elmar on a bellows. Bower was certainly an inspiration to me to think oustide the box re: the limitations of the M.

Andy: The one thing that is the most hindrance to wildlife photography with the M is the near impossibility to handle daylight fill flash effectively and easily, due to the sync speed. In the shot you posted, you couldn't really have opened up another stop without blowing the great details in the rimlit part of the fur, but the consequence is that the body and face are in shadow and somewhat underexposed. A blip of fill-flash would have evened it up just right. I find myself using a lot of fill-flash with wildlife, many times using a fresnel extender with a long lens.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), April 07, 2002.


Andy- How did you shoot the goat? Viso & Telyt?

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), April 07, 2002.

Ooops! I missed the part about the 90mm lens! Usually, goats don't like people to get that close to them.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), April 07, 2002.

Not true!I found the M with quicker response time of shutter release perfect for "horse trials",jumps etc!I've often used it where I needed this rapid and instant release of shutter.Slr lil slow.The RF is a tool.Make use of its positive points...In fact I find the delay on some modern SLR,point and shoots and digital way too slow for my needs.Who cares if you cannot use a high-speed motor drive.I have already way too many images!

-- jason gold (leeu72@hotmail.com), April 07, 2002.

Andy, as a guy who shoots a lot of action sports, I must say that I am blown away. I would have never thought of pulling out my M-6 for those kinds of shots, but maybe now I will for the shear challenge of it and heavens knows challenge is what keeps us on our toes. And Jason, try a Canon EOS-3 of EOS-1V if you find shutter lag a problem. In my experience there aren't any quicker shutter releases out there than those two. DAYTON

-- Dayton P. Strickland (daytonst@bellsouth.net), April 07, 2002.


Lovely shots, and scanned brilliantly. How do you do it? Glad the goat didn't eat your camera. Actually, the 135 is great for action or sports photography since you can track the action. It's also good for: garden close-ups!

-- David Killick (dalex@inet.net.nz), April 08, 2002.

Anon: Actually I consider my well-weathered M4-2/P cameras to BE "Baja- buggies" rather than Ferraris - tough and utilitarian and ugly/cute, what with all the gun-metal gray showing through the black chrome. A different analogy might be that I have a couple of 1980 C90 Defenders compared with the 2002 Range-Rover of the M7 - complete with wood-grain interior.

Obviously there are some things for which an SLR and long lens are invaluable. Picture NOT taken with a 90mm. 8^)

I just wanted to remind folks not to let their thinking and shooting get boxed in.

However, as it happens, on Friday I went back to the kayak chute with the SL and 180 f/2.8 to see what else I could get. It was SO slow and cumbersome compared to the Ms (focusing, release, etc.) that I took the roll out after 12 frames and loaded it in the M4-2 and shot the other 24 pictures that way. The M was much easier to work with - so long as I could get close enough.

Jay: actually the goat scan (seen from another computer) looks very dark (and blue) compared to my home monitor and the original slide - there's lots of detail in the shady side of the wool coat (about Zone 5). But your flash point is still valid (except for the M7, of course).

RE: technique for the kayakers - My location for picture 1 was on a rock ledge right at the edge of the shute (the corresponding ledge is visible in the background) - feet overhanging the water.

I didn't even attempt to follow-focus (something I can't usually do even with an SLR). I used trap-focus: study the action, watch where the peak moments are likely to occur, pre-focus on that spot, and then let events unfold in the viewfinder.

Trap-focusing changes the focusing problem from a 'spatial' issue (WHERE will the action happen?) into a 'temporal' issue (WHEN will it happen?) - which plays to the strengths of the rangefinder camera - ultra-quick shutter release; and the ability to see outside the frame edges and watch the action developing.

It obviously won't work for every action subject - but does pretty well for things that are marginally predictable in spacial terms - like kayaking, basketball, or even baseball (except the Ms lenses aren't long enough for field sports - for the most part).

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), April 08, 2002.


Good job, Andy! Nice to see more people taking advantage of the M's capabilities in "unconvential" ways.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), April 08, 2002.

Well Andy i use a Nikon F100 for those type of shots.Perhaps i need to re-think.I live and learn.

-- Allen Herbert (allen1@btinternet.com), April 08, 2002.

Thanks, Andy !

Great lesson I will not forget.

-Iván

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), April 08, 2002.



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