Gaze up

Photo opportunities, especially some rather weird ones, may sometimes catch you by surprise. Such as the time when glancing up while buying some groceries put me face to face with Spiderman. Bad news, Spidey, Leica M shoots quicker than you move.

2011 - Leica M8, 1/125, f/2.8, ISO 160

Pretty heavy contrast and saturation adjustments were applied in Photoshop to give this photo a more cartoony look. The lens used was the Leica Summicron-M 50/2.

One more Invader

Seen any Invaders?

Paris, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/750, ISO 160

No sports zone

As everyone who has ever touched a rangefinder camera has heard from several sources, you cannot shoot sports with a rangefinder. A big DSLR with a long tele or a zoom lens is indeed the usual weapon of choice in sports photography even for rangefinder users like myself. For sports, you often want to use long lenses as it is otherwise difficult or even impossible to get close enough to the action, and you want to have quick autofocus and a high frame rate to track your subjects and not miss the action.

With all that in mind I went and shot some sports equipped with a Leica M8 and a Voigtländer 50/1.1 Nokton lens. And I made things worse by using the lens mostly wide open. Number of shots missed due to shortish focal length? Probably about a zillion, give or take two. My approach however is not thinking in terms of what cannot be done; always think what can be done and have some fun instead. (And I had a DSLR with a tele lens with me, too, which really makes this a moot point to begin with.) Number of shots missed due to manual focusing at f/1.1? Basically zero. One was clearly off but useable, and a few others missed the critical focus by a small margin. The AF on my Canon failed much more than that.

Let's see some pictures then

The event is the Disc Golf European Open 2011, held in Nokia, Finland. This is the first round of the tournament, with scenes from three holes featuring Nikko Locastro and Jeremy Koling of U.S., Ilari Tuoma of Finland, and Mats Strömgren of Sweden. Locastro entered the tournament as number one in the world; see the PDGA World Ranking System here.

European Open 2011 - Leica M8, 1/1000, f/1.1, ISO 160

European Open 2011 - Leica M8, 1/180, ISO 160

European Open 2011 - Leica M8, 1/360, ISO 320

European Open 2011 - Leica M8, 1/180, f/1.1, ISO 160

European Open 2011 - Leica M8, 1/360, f/1.1, ISO 160

European Open 2011 - Leica M8, 1/500, f/1.1, ISO 160

European Open 2011 - Leica M8, 1/3000, f/1.1, ISO 160

Back to camera talk

High frame rate is close to mandatory — while good timing really is mandatory — in sports photography. With a measly 2-fps rate the M8 sure is lacking in the frame-rate department. This is not necessarily a problem in all sports, but for disc golf the rate is clearly too low. The throwing action is quick, and two consecutive frames at 2 fps fail to catch the visually most interesting moments around the release of the disc. Sure, with good timing you can capture one of these moments, but you miss two or three equally interesting frames. In terms of focal length, you probably want to be at least around a 100-mm equivalent to shoot the action, preferably between 150 and 500 mm. A big lens on a big camera makes certain things much easier.

The moral of the story however is that you can shoot sports with pretty much any camera, you only need to adapt your style to the equipment and the environment. With a relatively short lens, you either need to get closer or you end up with pictures of tiny people in distance (see above for a couple of examples). Just think what you want to achieve. Turns out I liked many of the Leica shots for their mood much better than the closer and more action-oriented DSLR images from this outing. Perhaps I need to post a few of those for comparison.

Past time paradise

Lamai beach is a nice resort area with white sand and a bit more peace and quiet than Chaweng, the main tourist area on Koh Samui. Parts of this laid back beach are perhaps a tad too laid back:

Lamai Beach, Koh Samui, 2011 - Ferrania Solaris 100

All aboard!

Hua Hin, 2011 - Ferrania Solaris 100

U can't touch this!

Hammertone Special Edition, Leica M9-P.

Rumour, or leicarumors.com to be exact, has it that the Leica M9-P will be released later this month with the first special limited edition already made public. Of course, this piece of news has the Leica fans and foes of the interweb buzzing. What I personally find most interesting is the potential effect on second-hand pricing of the original M9. I guess I am not in the target group of this cool new U-Can't-Touch-This edition, although I would gladly use one.

Seeing Invaders

Browsing through some of my Bangkok photographs I came across one with a mosaic Space Invader character. These little creatures are the work of a French artist (you can read more in a wikipedia article about the Invader and the characters inspired by the Space Invaders game), although I assume there are some copycats, too. I remember seeing many an invader during my travels and often photographing them. Here are some I could find from my archives.

Let's start with Paris, where the Invader started his project in 1998. These two photographs were taken with the excellent Sigma DP1 camera, which I have since sold.

Paris, 2008 - Sigma DP1, 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 200

Paris, 2008 - Sigma DP1, 1/160, f/8, ISO 100

The next two photographs I composed with some colour repetition in mind. The first one connects the invader to the person walking the road below via repeating colours. The second photograph is the one from Bangkok that inspired this blog post. The yellowish orange colour of the wrist band is repeated in the mosaic. In addition, the pattern of the legs is repeated in the tentacles of the invader. Not the greatest framing, but I quite like it.

Lausanne, 2008 - Canon 30D, 1/640, f/4, ISO 100

Bangkok, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/180, ISO 160

Bangkok transportation

Some photographs from the busy streets of Bangkok:

Bangkok, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/180, ISO 320

Bangkok, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/180, ISO 640

Bangkok, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 640

Bangkok, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 320

It rains on Koh Samui

While the unrest in North Africa and Middle East as well as the earthquake, tsunami, and the resulting nuclear crisis in Japan understandably grab most of our attention, Thailand is also facing some severe problems. The heavy rains in the south of Thailand have resulted in flooding that has so far killed at least 15 people, and already some 80 districts in eight provinces have been declared disaster areas. Last year about 200 people were killed in the floods in the south of Thailand.

One of the areas that has been hit the hardest is the popular holiday destination, Koh Samui, where more than 10 000 tourists are currently stranded. What western media usually fails to mention is that there are also about 50 000 local residents on the island. Having left Koh Samui about two weeks ago, this was the worst of rain I faced. A fortnight later things have changed.

Bo Phut, Koh Samui, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/180, ISO 160

Chaweng, Koh Samui, 2011 - Leica M8, 1/125, ISO 160

CV 75/2.5 at the Bangkok Grand Palace

As you have perhaps seen in my latest post I have planned on using the Cosina Voigtländer 75/2.5 Color-Heliar telephoto lens on the Leica M8. The goal was to have fun with this lens and especially test its usefulness for travel photography. The playground for this little experiment is Thailand, and below you can find a small set of photographs at the Bangkok Grand Palace.

A short telephoto lens is often seen as a portrait lens. Certainly, the CV 75/2.5 fits the part. For someone looking specifically for a portrait lens, there is a another good Voigtländer alternative: the new 75/1.8 Heliar. While the CV 75/2.5 is sharp across the aperture range, the CV 75/1.8 is said to give a softer look wide open. A razor-sharp portrait is seldom appreciated. You don't want your portraits to look like this:

2011 - Leica M8, 1/500, ISO 160

CV 75/2.5 as a travel lens

Few of us enjoy a large and heavy kit for travel. The CV 75/2.5 is only 64.5 mm long and weighs merely 230 g. The newer CV 75/1.8 is hardly that much bigger at 73.8 mm although at 427 g it weighs almost twice as much as the tiny 75/2.5. For travel any reduction in bulk or weight is however warmly welcomed.

In addition to portraits, a telephoto lens is useful for excluding unwanted distractions from your photographs, photographing details, and compressing landscapes and distant views. Below you can find examples of all three. It would have been difficult to avoid the crowds of tourist in the first photograph with a wider lens. Much the same is achieved with a telephoto lens in the third photo. More importantly, the scale of the buildings is better perceived due to the compression effect. I have included 100% crops of both close and more distant details to give some idea of the lens sharpness (see the links). I can say this is one sharp lens even wide open.

2011 - Leica M8, 1/1000, ISO 160

2011 - Leica M8, 1/750, ISO 160

2011 - Leica M8, 1/1000, ISO 160

Perhaps the only minor gripe I have about this lens is its close focus distance, which is unfortunately limited to 1 m. A 0.7-m limit would make it much more useful, especially for travel when you wish to get by with as little gear as possible. The CV 75/1.8 focuses down to 0.9 m, so it is only slightly better in this respect.

2011 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 160

Voigtländer 75/2.5

The next couple of weeks, I will be mostly using the Voigtländer 75/2.5 Color-Heliar and a couple of other lenses with the Leica M8 and Voigtländer Bessa R2A. The Voigtländer 75/2.5 is the new lens on the block for me and the first 75-mm lens I will be using on a rangefinder camera. Based on its reputation, I don't think I will be disappointed. So, I hope to share some photographs taken — and some user experiences — with this tiny tele in March.

Photographic déjà vu

Already seen, already photographed. I sometimes hear the argument that everything has been photographed. Why would you then take a picture of the same scene, building, flower, bug - or even person - which has already been photographed a million times before? To see how it looks when you click the shutter yourself I guess.

Sometimes you know that not only has a similar photograph been taken before by many others, but you have taken it yourself at least once. This is often the case with scenes close to home or your favourite destination, even more so with pets and portraits of family members. Sometimes it's however something mundane far away from home, like this scene in Rethymnon, Crete, which I photographed twice. I have to admit the second image was simply a snap that I quickly took, when witnessing a moment of photographic déjà vu.

Rethymnon, Crete, 2008 - Canon EOS-30D, 1/500, f/7.1, ISO 100

Rethymnon, Crete, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 160

The lens on the Canon 30D was the Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM. On M8, I believe it was the Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton SC. Note the difference in quality of light. Neither is excellent, but the difference is huge. The photo from 2008 was taken in late morning light, the photo from 2010 in the middle of the day beneath the hot Mediterranean sun.

Cats through lenses

In my latest post, there are five cat photos from Amorgos and one from Crete where I could not previously identify the lens used. I went back to them, studied them, and now have some conclusions. The photograph of a cat lying on a concrete wall was taken with the Leica Summicron-M 50/2. The same lens was used for the cat fight photo (on Superia 200) and for the cat sitting on ground. The photographs of the cat with the man fishing and the cat on the roof of a car were made using the Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton SC. I believe this is the case also for the photo of the cat walking behind a fence, but I may be mistaken there.

Anyway, here is one final cat photograph for this year (with the Leica 50/2):

Amorgos, 2010 - 1/4, f/2, Kodak BW400CN

More cats from the islands

Nothing more than a bunch of random cat photos from the Greek islands.

Oia, Santorini, 2007 - Canon EOS-30D, 1/320, f/5.6, ISO 400

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 160

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/500, ISO 160

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/250, ISO 160

Amorgos, 2010 - Fujifilm Superia 200

Amorgos, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/360, ISO 160

And finally a more urban cat:

Iraklion, Crete, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/90, ISO 160

The photograph with the Canon was made with the Canon EF 70-200/4L lens. The rest? Your guess is almost as good as mine. I think I see at least the Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton SC there. The film shot is a pretty heavy crop.

Super wide angles

Wide-angle lenses can be a lot of fun. Super wides are super fun. I liked the Voigtländer 15/4.5 Super Wide Heliar the moment I tried it, and it has since become one of my favourite lenses. It's tiny, sharp, and gives that extremely wide view on film — or a full-frame digital Leica. Using a wide-angle lens is however often quite challenging. They are pretty much the worst enemies of simplification, which is an important tool of good photography. If you have a single point of interest in your scene, a wide-angle lens can easily make it too small and distant. Let's look at a few photographs fresh from the scanner.

In this following photo, the temple entrance is very distant and occupies a rather small part of the resulting photograph. It is however the pseudo-symmetry of this image, the reflections on wet ground, and the leading line of the people that still make it work fairly nicely. I don't know if I like the helicopter in the sky, but I didn't want to remove it as it seems the people are looking at it.

Tokyo, 2010 - Kodak BW400CN

In the next photograph, I wanted to show the size of the fortress. It gets somewhat cluttered, however the clutter is created by repetitive shapes. That's not a no-no in my books.

Iraklion, Crete, 2010 - Kodak BW400CN

Wide-angle treatment can be effective for close-ups, too. You can either put some distance between your main subject and the background, or you can play the clutter card to your advantage. In this photo, I wanted to show the large pile of Hello Kitty's inside this UFO catcher.

Tokyo, 2010 - Kodak BW400CN

This is a nice lens on the digitals, too. Here's a past post featuring a photo with the Leica M8.

The colour and the shape

Three cities, three cameras, three photographs.

Hamburg, 2009 - Epson R-D1, 1/450, ISO400

Paris, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/360, ISO160

Tampere, 2010 - Kodak BW400CN

Amorgos City

Following the visit to Naxos it was time to see Amorgos. This small island, the easternmost part of the Greek Cyclades island group, has a population of perhaps 2,000 or so. Amorgos is a great destination for some peaceful beach life and nice hikes. Here are a few pictures from and around the town of Amorgos (or Chora).

Amorgos, 2010 - Fujifilm Superia 200

Amorgos, 2010 - Fujifilm Superia 200

There are cats everywhere on the Greek islands. This one was a bit annoyed after an invading photographer ruined a perfect moment of relaxation.

Amorgos, 2010 - Fujifilm Superia 200

I believe the alleyway above is pretty much downtown Amorgos. This is however not the peak business hour. During the peak hour you may actually see the cat above walk through here.

Amorgos, 2010 - Fujifilm Superia 200

All these photographs were scanned from the negatives using the Epson V700 scanner. Not much was done in terms of post-processing, basically just some straightening and removal of a few dust particles. No cropping, as you can see from the uneven borders.

Markets, street vendors

Markets are often great places for street photography. Or is that market photography then? Anyway, with people interacting with each other and going on about their business, the photographer is often ignored. The markets are also full of colour and interesting shapes. Sometimes too full which easily makes photographs too cluttered if you don't simplify them enough. Often you however don't have the choice if you really want the shot. It's also worth hanging around street vendors. They are basically small, simple markets, which helps remove some of the movement and clutter while providing good opportunities for interesting photographs.

Paris, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/125, ISO 160

Helsinki, 2009 - Epson R-D1, 1/2000, ISO 200

Tampere, 2009 - Epson R-D1, 1/450, ISO 400

Sometimes it's the advertising that catches your eye:

Tokyo, 2010 - Leica M8, 1/125, ISO 320

The Leica M8 photos were taken with the Voigtländer 15/4.5 Super Wide Heliar and the Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton SC, respectively. The Epson R-D1 photos, on the other hand, were with the Leica Summicron-M 50/2 and the Voigtländer 35/1.4 Nokton SC.