raffaele_bartoli1

Thank you very much, Fabrizio: "passion" is the best driving forces of all.

Raffaele

Keep one leica body and one lens. Namely 35 mm or 28 mm.

Without to look at focusing ring, if the tab is around six o'clock you're focused between 2.5 and 3 meters (i.e. around ten feet).

Keep 400 iso film bw or color negatives and 1/250. Move the f/stop accordingly to light changes following the f/16 rule.

At the right moment, rise up the camera and correct quickly the focus (you're already close to the right focus, anyway) and shoot. Don't bother that much about exposure.

If you're involved in an action shoot with both eyes open, Leica permits it with a little of practice, to follow the action also out of the frame.

If you are shooting somebody up close, keep both eyes open and keep talking to him/her: Leica doesn't cover your face and doesn't stop the flow of feelings between you two.

Use very confortable shoes, and very inspiring reading. Enjoy.

This is Leica shooting for me.

M6 0.72 with pre-asph summilux, tri-x, a Bruce Chatwin book (or Sepulveda, Neruda, Melville, you name it), Timberland shoes.

The rest (M6 0.85, 75 lux, 21asph, 28E,35sum asph) are details, and stay at home.

R.

Oh, these dark, dangerous double minded italians!

Let them alone with their two thousands years of history and art, their best food and wines in the planet, thir best cars and theis stupid italian way of life that permits them to enjoy the best things in life without to take anything too much seriously, and yet to be still competitive enuogh to survive in this business ruled world.

Oddly enough they are also among the most long living people in the planet.

That site is free, gentlemen. Attended by old timers Leica enthusiasts, supported (shame!) by Leica Italy (one of the highest volume Leica sellers in the world). And Germans trust them enough to partecipate with pictures and articles...what a stupid thing.

Mitch Alland, although we italians prefer to say "teste di cazzo" the concept is cristal clear, like the 90apo asph...A deep bow to you, Sir.

By the way, because I never (really, never) found in 20 years of trips a people as kind as americans, I beg I'll be forgiven for my less than perfect english.

R.B.

I can spend two words about 35mm. I have 35 cron asph and 35 pre-asph lux. You can find plenty of scientific (or pseudo-scientific) comments everywhere, so better here to talk about feelings.

Personally I love the pre-asph lux, I like the footprint, the smooth tonality, the almost perfect dimensions, the feeling of the lens in your hands.

I like the way it falls in my (admittably tiny) hands, the way I can control focus and stops using two fingers. I absolutely like the way it performs with tri-x and rodinal, and with tri-x and D-76.

I don't like the minimum focus distance of 1 mt.

I like to have a 35 mm f/2 that in case of emergency I can open up to 1.4.

The summicron asph is almost perfect optically, but sometimes has a weird behaviour in contrejour conditions, unpredictable, I would say. But it is splendid wide open in low light. The footprint is (as people say) "clinical" but I rather call it digital. See for reference the tasty writing of Tom Abrahamsson in Karen Nakamura site. Also Ron Moravec and Richard Sintchak (spell ?) could add a lot about old and new lenses taste.

Would you like to drive a perfect, silky german BMW M5 or a british odd and fashinating Jaguar XR ?

Personally I would go for lux and the magic of Mandler era, Jaguar car, italian wine, and (althoug they are reeeally odd) italian women, fountain pens, renaissance architecture, last Clint Eastwood movies and so on.

And you, you'll not go wrong anyway: use your Leica as glasses to SEE the world, and shoot: you'll love it, whatever lens you'll fit.

Just talking about MF, my 90 tamron was absolutely better than my sample of 105/2.8 micro, better than 55/2.8 too.

It was not just sharpness, but there was some clarity, vividness, sense of air. A great, great lens.

Congrats, Dennis.

I was in NOLA in may 05. Great time, vagabonding alone with my leica.

Then two months later I find myself crying real tears for your town.

We italians have a clue about what "historical city" means and it is good to know that New Orleans spirit lives in you and your pictures.

May Marie Laveau make your pictures shine over all the others in that exibition.

R.

I had, in succession, 90 tamron SP (manual focus), 105 micro/2.8 (MF), 85/1.8 AF, 105/2.5 AIS.

You do not go wrong with any of them, as far as optical quality is concerned. Only personal feelings matter then.

Personally I find 105/2.5 the best of them just because of handling and signature.

105/2.5 is a classic rendition lens, very (VERY) good for portraits, giving you creamy results wide open and crispy reportage-like results from f/4 on.

85/1.8 is the lens that I liked less. Optically perfect from 2.8 on, very sharp, very clinic, lacks of personality to my eyes (sometimes perfection bores, in women too). Plastic feeling, little too short for my tight head-only portraits, big bayonet hood that lives on the lens, pratically doubling its volume (105/2.5 with its sliding hood fits in a pocket easily).

105/2.8 MF is sharp (no surprise) heavy, rock solid, brilliant enough, but my sample at least wasn't "special". Bayonet hood again.

Tamron 90 SP (manual focus, 1:2 ) stays in my heart. Brilliant, VERY brilliant results at middle apertures (don't remember wide open performance), a sense of air, presence, reality, three-dimensionality (you name it) that normally you can see only in german top lenses (like german made Zeiss for Contax). Quite a big lens (although a great one) and very big bayonet mounted hood.

All in all, because I like to see personality in lenses (my favourite one is pre-asph M-summilux, and Leica people know what I mean...) I stay with 105/2.5 MF, cheap, ultrasolid, perfect handling, compact, good bokeh, and so on.

Of course your mileage can vary (my is tri-x in Rodinal or D-76, FE body+105/2.5 and FM body+35/1.4 AIS, (plus 18/3.5 AIS only when surgeon orders) many books and many shoe soles.

My two cents, gentlemen.

When I try to fix the focus of my VC 35 using the supplied test slide I cannot focus contemporarly center and borders, as per Martin Jangowsky experience.

On the other side I printed the same negative (tri-x in rodinal, 28 mm elmarit M) at 10x in a Meopta opemus 7 diffusion enlarger with Nikkor 63mmm, focotar 50 (front writings), componon 50/4, componon 50/2.8

My findings are that it takes around one hour of very very close inspection to decide that the order is Nikkor, componon/4, focotar, componon 2.8.

But the same picture from VC 35 comes out more pleasing to my eyes. Puzzling.

For sure film+dev combo is not the best for comparision, but it is my reald world stuff (and thanks God I take real world pictures).

Again 10x prints from tri-x D76 and Focotar from street photo in New Orleans last may (tears...) are excellent, technically speacking.

All in all, I have the impression we're splitting hairs....But I suggest to pay attention to Mr. Moravec comments: he is always spot on, and I buit my V35 knowledge on his posts

Paul,

mainly I second Mr. Fulton view.

I have a 35 cron asph and don't like the clinic look (sounds in some way "digital" to me and out of focus rendition in the circumstances I use it is often disappointing, with a pixillated view, somebody said).

Actually I bought my summilux after a tasty reading of Tom Abrahamsson article on Leica 35s on Karen Nakamura site. My summilux 1.4 is a pre asph Germany version (some says with a much improved coating) and I absolutely love it. Smooth, creamy tonality (I use exclusively tri-x in D-76 and Rodinal) plenty of sharpness from 2.8 on, fast and perfect to handle. Without hood, makes my M6 a carry-everywhere tool.

Out of focus is coherent, reliable, smooth.

Soft at 1.4 ? Not in the center for sure, not mine. Soft in the field at 1.4 ? Sure: Carnot theoreme from geometry proves you that anyway if you focus at the center and you MOVE the frame, you miss the focus. So what ?

Handling, now. If you turn your hood a little bit clockwise (looking at camera from behind) the chrome buttons of the hood get out of the way and you can handle the lens with two fingers: index on focus lever, thumb on aperture ring: it is fast, reliable, comfortable and permits you to shoot without to look at the aperture ring.

If I can find a defect to this wonderful lens I must underline that 1 meter of minimum focusing is really borderline...But anyway I would like to remember that the right tool is the tool that the user feels more, not the perfect one. The concept works for swords, guns, fountain pens, whatever, including summiluxes. M6 and a Mandler 35 ? You wrap your hands around History. Be glad.

Shoot and enjoy.

R.B.

JEFF, like always happens RONALD MORAVEC is spot on. I build up my knowledge about V35 on his comments, and he has plenty to say about old leica lenses taste too.

My experience seconds his thoughts: tree M6, one of them 0.85, 90 apo and the same test you did.

One camera focused 1 centimeter closer, one was spot on, the third one just about so. Tolerances sum algebrically, alas. Too bad because I love head and shoulders portraits. A local repairman refused to pick up the task because of the (too) small difference.

I know of PRO that send camera and lens to Solms to match them and then use them exclusively in this way.

Hope this helps,

R.B.

Don't worry too much about fogging. X-ray machines are state of the art and you will not have problems with a reasonable number of controls. Remember to keep films in hand luggage !

To decrease the risk you can ask manual inspection in American airports (wow, what a friendly/polite people I encountered there: never a refusal) and forget this possibility in Europe.

Just another tip: go to Siena, sit in a sunny late afternoon outside a bar in Piazza del Campo, surrounded by italian Renaissance art, with a beautiful woman (every woman is beautiful if you look deeply), your Leica on the table, and sip thoughtfully a glass of Chianti wine. If there will be children laughing around you will be in touch with the best things in life.

Enjoy my Country, you're welcome.

R.B.

Chris Waller is well known as a rodinal addict. I am too, so I "must" second him. Never a problem with neopan 1600 (neither 400) in paterson spool (never, NEVER had a problem with any size of Paterson tanks and spools: very well thought stuff IMHO).

Try again. Neopan 1600 is really wonderful at 800 ISO in rodinal 1:50, expecially with nikkor AIS lenses (i.e. 35/2 35/1.4 105/2.5).

I don't really see the reason because neo 1600 should resist to Paterson: it is a Japanese film, so it is supposed to be particulary polite...

Raffaele Bartoli

Coming from 35 cron only, my photography moved towards 28 mm almost exclusively plus 50 cron mainly as a portrait lens.

Whenever I can I use two cameras and two lenses and I think too that lens changing disturbs the flow.

Mainly I agree with Rob and Carsten (I like the way he uses his tools) about 28 mm: just more breath to the frame, inviting to get closer (and making you feel more...)

Best regards,

Raffaele

If new battery doesn't work, try clean the contacts using the eraser fit on a pencil back. It works, sometimes.

Othewise, the 16 rule: bright sun, f/16, shutter time close to the ASA/ISO of your film.

Than open a stop if the sun is not bright, open another in case of grey sky, another one in case of dark grey sky or shadow in sunny day, another in dark shadow and so on.

Earthquake relief ? You must be an interesting person.

Good luck.

R.

I second Deus Ex Machina too. Few pretty "intimate" shots, though, if you've got children around.

"Brasil" is a recent one: David Allan Harvey colors in Gibson composition. I wouldn't bother, honestly.

Raffaele

Great link. I've read the interview carefully once more. Not new but always inspiring. Stay on images, Paul: I'm with you.

By the way there is another (old) link about Frank Horwat interviewing many photographers (Salgado, Sieff, Koudelka, Giacomelli and so on. Some stuff in english, some in french, some (mercy on us) in italian...

Check also Larry Towell work on Magnumphotos. The man travels with a Leica (and a DR cron if this is important). What inspires me is his name card: "Larry Towell, human being".

Nice times to everybody.

Raffaele.

Paul,

thank you for your nice words, and for bearing my italian-polluted english.

Ancient Rome philosopher SENECA wrote a small terrific booklet about shortness of life. I red it at fifteen, then at twenty and at thirtyfive: I took it seriously, that's it. Your profile makes me think you understand.

By the way, I see that my best ("best" according to MY standards) stories come out from very simple equipment.

Nigeria with FE2 and 35/2, Russia with M6 and 35/2 (minus 25 deg. centigrades, no problems), New Orleans (last may) with M6 and 28/2.8 and an old 50/2 somewhere in a poket, and so on.

And lots of Tri-X and reading, of course...

Nice day to everybody.

Arie,

I have both M6 0.85 and sum asph, although normally use M6 0.85 with 75 lux. I wear glasses too, and use them to shoot around 100 films per year.

My (humble) advice is: just mount the lens, get out and partecipate to the breath of the planet. You've got two wonderful tools (and a lovely wife, for sure) and Leica is not made for precision framing but it is supremely good in "being there".

Just go.

Raffaele