Just curious, what did (and does) HCB actually use?

[AntonioC]

I know it's the man who makes the picture, not the camera. But just out of curiosity, I'd like to know which Leica combo HCB uses/used. (I'm sure he can do the same with anything in his hands).

Best regards.

[wilhelm]

The one time I saw him, in the early '80s, he was using a Leica M3

(plain silver chrome, no black tape on it), a 50mm Summar "black rim"

lens, and a Universal viewfinder.

[jackflesher]

And he now uses the fixed-lens minilux.

[john_alfred_tropiano]

From what I have read, HC-B mostly used a 50mm lens. I do believe he

also used a 90 but infrequently. It seems that he pretty much mastered

the use of one lens, the 50.

[wilhelm]

One of his most famous pictures "Picnic on the Banks of the Marne" is

quite obviously made with a wide angle lens. Since the only WA

available for Leica at that time was the f:3.5/35mm Elmar, I think we

can safely assume that is what he used. I've heard he complained

that photographing in America requiring increased use of a WA lens,

although his most famous American shot, the old lady wrapped in an

American flag which she was mending, was taken with a 90mm. For the

PBS-TV Special he used the then-new Leica CL, which sports a 40mm

lens.

[roberto_watson_garc_a]

In Magic Moment Magazine, there is an article on his birthday, he

recived from Leitz a new M6, in the two pictures in this article he

recives the M body and then he is tring it with what seems to be a 50

summicron from the 70´s, without a tab, I´m sure not his only one

lens.

[douglas k.]

I think the "Picnic on the Banks of the Marne" shot was actually done

with a 50mm, showing HCB's masterful use of that lens -- he really did

make it look like a wide-angle shot!

[furcafe]

A similar question was asked very recently:

 

<p>

 

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_i

d=0069O0

[furcafe]

Oops, here we go again:

 

<p>

 

www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00

69O0

[furcafe]

Argh. Make sure to remove the blank spaces in the URL.

[david_killick]

You may have seen the controversy about HCB, now in his 90s, having

his picture, taken by distinguished fellow photojournalist David

Douglas Duncan, published in a book called "Faceless". HCB - who made

his reputation by taking so many candid shots of people - was angry

that his image was being used without his permission. That issue

aside, the interesting thing was the picture showed the great man with

a Leica minilux. He has always favourered simplicity. I read that just

about all his pictures were taken with a 50mm lens, a few but not many

with a 35mm. Look at his great B+W images from the late 30s onward and

one would be hard put to tell what camera he used for each shot. Some

of the early ones have astounding clarity; others are more noteworthy

for their masterly composition than technical superiority. Apparently

HCB switched from photography to painting for a while but is obviously

still very much involved with the subject.

[tony_brookes5]

There is a picture of HCB in Paris with what looks like a III fitted

with a Summar. I also have a copy of the Picnic by the Marne and it

says he used a 50mm but doesn't say which lens.

[wilhelm]

Tony, did HC-B state that he used a 50mm lens, or did someone else

say it (who)? It's difficult to believe that the size differential

between the near and far people would occur with a 50mm.

[tony_brookes5]

Bill. The script simply says "HCB's famous picnic scene taken with

his favourite Leica and 5cm lens". Presumably this was the editor's

comment but unfortunatly it's only one page in the book.

[tony_rowlett2]

For me it would be fascinating and enjoyable to learn which lenses and

films were used for the many famous photographs that interest us,

certainly including H.C.-B.'s. I completely fail to understand the

reasoning of those who (elsewhere) sneer at people who wonder about

this information in the name of "art is art and you don't need to know

the details." In the early days of Leica Photografie magazine (and I

have them from the mid-50s, each and every photograph was

accompanyed by a caption that mentioned which camera, lens, film, and

exposure settings were used.

[tony_brookes5]

Tony R. I couldn't agree more. Books like 'My Leica and I' are

interesting even if film speeds are so different. I have Leica News

from the first issue in 1935 till the last issue just as war broke

out in 1939. Most pictures have camera, lens, film, speed, aperture

etc. which not only confirms how good the Leica was so long ago but

is illuminating as to how such good results were obtained. Long live

picture details.

[hoyin_lee1]

What Leica combo did HCB used (before he got his M3)? Answer: Leica

IIIc wartime + Xenon 50mm f/1.5 + VIDOM universal finder. See for

yourself here: <a

href="http://cameraguild.co.jp/screwdriver/port02.html">http://camerag

uild.co.jp/screwdriver/port02.html</a>.

[hoyin_lee1]

The link again: <a

href="http://cameraguild.co.jp/screwdriver/port02.html">http://camerag

uild.co.jp/screwdriver/port02.html</a>. Hope it works this time.

[leee]

Hi,

 

I can see this is an old thread but I've just been reading it and if anyone else passes this way I would like to add that there's a pdf document at the bottom of this web page which shows all of the Leica models in a family tree.

 

http://www.overgaard.dk/leica_history.html

 

Regards,

Lee

[stephen_w.]

Thanks Lee, Never having seen this before, I saved it.

[MTC Photography]

In an article "Henri Cartier Bresson- A Propos de Paris" in the Leica Magic Moments, there is a paragraph:" I did manage to coax a statement on lens and a assessment of focal lengths out of him...

 

"I find the 50mm lens corresponding to human perception. Wide angle sometimes if the composition demands it. But in the long run it's as if you were flexing your muscles.... fisheye- I don't feel any pleasure in looking at this type of distortion... I use the 90mm for landscapes because of the foreground...sometimes 135mm"

 

In summary, HCB used 50mm, 90mm, wideangle, and 135mm. lenses.

 

Which Leica ?

 

"First the Leica IIIg and then Leica M3"

 

"Now a days I mainly do portraits with the Leica M6"