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