tim_robinson

I notice on the B & H site they have a Horseman Digitar 100mm 1.8 lens listed. I can't find

any info via google or on the Schneider site. Any one have any info?

Regards Tim

" a GOD" ..................you have got to be kidding!

Oh come on guys i couldn't give a damn about Harvey, i just want to wind up

the D A H fans out there, But it looks like there are no more left.

TIM

National Geo crapic... The last time i posted was about DAVIDS Vietnam

story. This time its re the Australian story in the latest Nat geo. He needs a

holiday or should just retire if he going to continue to produce this below

average rubish. Somebody should show him the story in there shot by the

young lady??? Good on her

If he had better the mag would have run them ! If he had better and the didn't

run them then the editor needs to go. After 40ish stories in N G David would

have a bit of a say as to what is printed. Have a look at the grainy , contrasty

,badly lit cover shot and then have a look at the digi happy snap on the back

cover. This is "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC" NOT the High school news paper.

what ever hapened to the "stay until you have the shots ' Apart from the cover

everything looks like it was shot within 50m of his hotel.

What do you guys think of Davids Hanoi pics in Nat Geo ? And what do you

think of the mag in general these days ? Personaly i think my 6 year old could

have taken those shots. (ok i might be a bit harsh ). I think he is a good

shooter but those shots are ordinary.

TIM

Well Ithink these 2 lenses are totaly different in feel.Forget the

perspective differences which i think are minimal. MY noct (latest

model) is never realy sharp wide open.It is not bad in the center but

else where forget it.But this is the feel I want from this lens.The

fall off in the corners is very very obvious aswell.The 75 on the

other hand is much sharper and has stacks better edge sharpnest etc

if this is what you would prefere.To me lens aberation differences

are way more noticable than the focal length difference.

I agree with Steve get the best first but you can do without TTL

and I don,t feel I need to sell my non ASP 35 cron for the latest.I

bought a mint second hand M6 in chrome and a 35 cron in

chrome.These 2 items have shot the bulk of my work.I really

could do without my other lenses.As a travel camera I have been

to India,Indonesia and Vietnam with only this lens.Not only is the

1 lens 1 film idea the cheapest option it also can help you

become a better Photographer.A good Leica lens now will be a

good Lens in 20 years time.

Thank you all for your advice. I agree it does sound like a lot of

gear. The widelux is a must and does slip into any narow spot in

my bag,m6 and 35 is my usual camera for travel ,I am still

thinking about the 24 and the 50 i normaly would not take on a

trip but i thought Paris at dusk and night would be a good subject

for that lens and then the R6,well I may be doing a story on

coffee later in the year and i thought it may be good to do some

shots of coffee cups,tea spoons,etc,but then again this may stay

in Sydney also.The reason I thought of 160 NC is because it will

give me maximum infomation to then play with latter.I have been

unhappy with 160 Vc printed full page in a magazine but then I

have had good results also.Today I had a play with a neg on my

Mac and i found the grain structure to be nice and crisp in B&W

unlike XP2which never looks sharp to me.In a A4 print I actualy

gave it a bit more grain.Thanks again for the recomendations on

where to go.M6,35,Noct,Widelux,& a bag of Tri-X that sounds

tempting!

Ah yes butter side down! I have a simple fix for you. Start

shooting with you camera upside down and fire the shutter with

your left thumb.You won,t squash your nose either!

I am going to Paris in a few weeks(first time to Europe) just for

fun not for work(I am a Photographer Profesionally) Now if i were

working then i would be shooting medium format tranny but for

fun i am only taking my m6 ,24,35cron,50noct and r6,60macro &

my widelux.Family presure says i need to shoot colour first ,B&W

2nd but what i am thinking is to shoot 160 NC low contrast neg

and then scan the negs to do B&W prints on my epsom 1290.I

can dial in grain and contrast when i get home.Sounds like a

good idea to me and i do do this at times at the studio but i have

never done this on a holiday. Have you and been happy?

I have shot hundreds of rolls of this film in 35mm and 120.The

first roll was when it first came out. I wasn't overly impressed

with the starknest.Tri x was my other film at the time . A few years

latter i read about Ansel Adams teaching out in the desert

somewhere and insisting his students shot on 35mm tech-pan.I

needed to give this film a second chance.So after many many

rolls in a Linhof 23b and my M6 in

Vietnam,India,Indonesia,Fiji,Australia and one or two other

places these are my findings.

1-i shoot at 25 iso

2- the extended red sensetivity is about the same as a mid

yellow filter so if you use one of these then its the same as

iso50 with a filter.I find the 100 iso films to be more like 64.So

suddenly tech pan is not so slow.

3-the tonal range is very very good .I never have a problem with

blocked highlights like t-max or empty shadows like all the other

fine grain films.

4-low light and fine films like agfa 25 ,panatomic x and pan f do

not mix well.Empty shadows every where no matter how long the

exposure. Tech pan is amazing in this way.

5-when processing do a pre- wet and put the film into the dev not

the dev into the tank with the film allready in it.Agitate for the first

30 sec extreamly vigorously then for 2 sec every 30 sec(not 2.5 or

1.5) Do not go and make a coffee or go to the toilet or answer the

phone etc. Print in a glassless carier to avoid neuton rings.

Sorry about my spelling.

You know the saying "it's not the camera but the person behind

it" Thats what my wife is in love with not the camera.

Alex , I ,like you have a few rolls of film unprinted of various

things. -My grandmother a few hours before she died and a

portrait of my mum the day i left home etc. Small things I know

but I am glad I have them. Photography is what I do, sometimes

people don't understand that.

Did anyone go out to record their thoughts on film or to record history?I know a lot of NewYorkers shoot every thing to do with their great city and i would like when you are ready to share your experiences.(photographic) Thinking of you all from Australia TIM

Not so much the lens but the FILM. That to me is a big print

froom 35mm. Tropical islands to me need grainless photos if

you are shooting for the travel industry. Velvia is the choice for

transpariencies but for col neg i don't think any one makes a

good film for that size prints. 160 NC is a tad less grainy than

160 VC and 100 gold is a tad less again. I shot a job in the Cook

Islands with 160 VC on my R6 and M6 with 35 cron and i thought

the saturation was not good enough for the tropics and the grain

was noticable on full magazine page shots. I am packing my bag

as we speak to do a job in Fiji. I am taking M6 with 24mm and

35 cron and my r6 with 60mm macro and a widelux. Film ????? I

still don't know but it will be between VELVIA ,RDPIII AND REALA.

My film scaning person hates reala to scan and wants me to

shoot 160 VC again. I think i would rather do a print from the

REALA and then scan that. Ease of exposure is my only reason

for shooting Neg.I would shoot 3 times more film to makesure i

got the shot if i was shooting tranny. I still have not ruled it out

though. To answer your other Question there is no substitute for

neg size. You are better of shooting as big as you can. The

FUJICA 6X9 will beat any leica any day. (only 8 frames per roll

though.)

Do you not all find the Billingham bags all a bit featureless? I

love the look of them but they are only a canvas shell with a

floppy padded insert . I prefer the lowe-pro bags for all of there

features esp when on and off planes. Lots of places to hide

travelers cheques etc

Harro to answer the question you asked me the 75mm has a

smallest subject area of 192mm x 288 mm .this is the smallest

of any M lens. The noct will not focus bellow 1 meter with a

subject field size of 410 x 615 mm.

Your velvia to b&w idea is exactly what I have decided to do with

my travel shots. If i use 2 bodies i know i will miss something. I

love the fact that you can shoot B&W anytime of the day and of

any subject but with col you realy need to shoot in perfect light

and look out for strong colours. eg In asia they use so many of

those blue plastic or orange plastic tarps in their markets. They

can destroy the feel of the place. It can be the difference between

running a shot in a mag or not. Well done man!

It is only a week old camera not a week old baby! Both would

probably be fine when dropped from 1.5 feet. Put a roll of film

through it before you worry too much. I have lots of gear that has

been dropped and 90% of the time there is no problem.Just

don't make a habit of it. When you do your test roll focus on an

obect and shoot wide open to see if the range finder is out. They

sometimes are from the factory . Thank yourself lucky it wasn't a

plastic nikon. Most things inside the M6 are easy to fix.

I don't see why you couldn't do that. Would it be worth the effort?

Yes the Blad lenses are crisp but they feel very light weight and i

feel there long term image quality might suffer.I have had this

problem with zooms where they ere sharp when new but go soft

after use. What i would like is an M6 body that has about an extra

5 to 10 mm added in the image width. The problem for me with

the x-pan is lens speed and the 35mm lens. If the made another

body with internal frames for the 35 and 90 then made the

lenses f2 or maybe 2.8 then it would be my perfect travel

camera.I find the body easy to use and the frame size switch is

easy. The only other thing i would like them to do is show the

shutter speed in the finder when using A prioroty.

As a pro shooter i try and make these sort of shots look atlaest a

little bit interesting but that "Happy Meal" photo has not one good

point to it except the fact that it has been in Nat Geo.You would

throw it out if it was yours right?But then go and have a look at

several fashion mag covers, take the mast head off and forget

obout the Celeb factor and most of them are nothing much. Most

of the famous ( i am talking famous to the general public not you

and I) photographers shoot celebs ,it doesn't mean they are

great photographers. Just because you shoot for Nat Geo

doesn't mean your a great photographer either. I wish that was

my shot there to but i'm also glad it's not.

I sold a Leica R4 to buy a Nikon F4 .BIGEST mistake I now have

a R6 and M6

Lux, your problem is you can't focus so you need to

practice.Hyperfocal focusing is very useful at times but it is a

patch for your problem.You need to sit in your lounge and play

with your camera.Focus on your feet then the tv then over there

and over here.You get the idea.Learn to look for a high contrast

area of your subject like a belt buckle or the rim of glasses or a

glint in an eye, anywhere there is a change in contrast.When you

get good at that then load some film and shoot wide open.To

every one who said to stop down to gain focus through depth of

field I disagree.2 things dictate the look of a photograph ,the

focal length and th f stop. You should be choosing your f stop to

give the photo the look you want not just to get the shot in focus.

To an extent i could not give a damn what my shuter speed is but

i always know what f stop i am using an for what reason. That to

me is why apature priority is the only auto setting worth having on

a camera. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!