bob_jarman

Thanks to everyone who has replied! I will heed your advice and comments, and report back after the trip. This is my first chance to go on a wildife photo hike in a year....needless to say I am already getting excited.

My family is planning 8 day trip to the Grand Teton National Park in

late May. Much of the trip will be spent with family touring

around and the like, but I have two days where I will be able to

leave the group and do all day day hikes solely for the purpose of

feeding my photograpghy bug. :-)

 

I have ordered a ton of maps and guidebooks, but wanted to check

with any of you who have gone before me as to which areas I should

focus on during my two solo days. I will be hunting for

wildlife.

 

Thanks in advnace for any suggestions.

 

Bob

Wow, the situation must have really changed in a month! I was there the mid part of May for 12 days, and we had no problem whatsoever.

 

Friendly people and transfers/flights/tours went without a hitch.

 

Sorry for you problems.

You don't chew tobacco do ya? :-)

Coming from digital myself, I would agree with most of Anthony's comments, the Leica is a joy to use. I have more fun with my Leica than with any camera I have ever owned.

 

That said, I would not go so far as to say "you will never want to use anything else". :) I may agree that for candid and for street shooting I may never want another camera, but a DSLR or SLR is made for fast action and wildlife shooting which the Leica is not.

 

I am sure that Anthony meant to restrict his answer to say for the type of shooting that Leica's are designed to do. :) And for those purposes, I would agree with him

The noise is due to the mirror and shutter. And you want to talk about deafening, grab a hold of my 1d mkII. Sounds like a train.

 

Its actually kind of cool in a sports environment, but blows chunks when shooting wildlife. The MkII does have a quiet mode, which helps when needed but you lose the 8.5 fps.

Thanks Arthur.

 

I had my lab scan them when developing the rolls and make no prints. Our pro lab will scan as the film is developed for $10 per roll if done before cutting. The scans are good enough to get 4x6 album prints and do some minor cropping. Then If I get one I really want a big print of, I will either scan it with my old Minolta Dual Scan II, or have the lab make a drum scan for me if its something really extraordinary.

 

As far as using the polarizer, I just set it for maximum effect and left it there most of the time. I did that by screwing the filter on and marking a spot on the filter ring that was the exact top center. Then I took the filter off, held it up and rotated the filter while looking through it. When I got that effect I noted the number (heliopan filters have a nuber scale) that corresponded with the mark on the filter ring. I read that on this site site I believe.

Maybe, but I like the look the 24 gave, distortion and all. The 35 or 28 would have been a nice lens to have with me, but the 50 in most cases was no where near wide enough IMO. I tried it on several shots.

Thanks everyone!

 

Jose, if you are talking about the shot inside the Hotel Monestario, that was taken with the 24mm. I just held the camera on my head and flat against an archway wall, pressed the shutter and hoped. :)

 

Paul - Great shots! I can see the clouds cooperated with your trip a great deal more than ours. :) Some of your perspectives are really great.

 

The reason I have so few people in a lot of mine was that we spent the night at Machu Picchu Lodge. We were able to be on the ruins before first light, and had nearly 2 hours of shooting time before the tourist buses started showing up. That really helped!

Went to Machu Picchu the first of the month and took nothing with me

but a M6, 50mm and 24mm ASPH.

 

What a blast....not having to haul around a ton of digi stuff. In

fact, I bet I left the 24mm on the camera 95% of the time.

 

Shot Portra VC 160 with a polarizer on pretty much all the time

 

Gallery is at the floowing site if you are interested:

 

http://www.rkjarman.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Peru

Mark is a great seller, very trustworthy and honest. I bought a M6TTL and 50mm a couple of months ago from him.

 

You wont be dissapointed.

Thanks Bert!

Another newbie question, sorry. :)

 

I keep reading group comments around about the Billingham S3. All

of the on line stores I see sell the Hadley, which looks from the

pictures anyway to be about the same.

 

Is there a difference between these bags?

"Al Kaplan , mar 24, 2004; 01:04 a.m. You have to sell the giant Canon digital monster with its huge zoom lens before the gods will allow you to fully master the art of exposure"

 

Yikes Al! I am doomed. :-)

Thanks for all the advice. I shoot a lot underwater, but really dont want to drag a housing and 35mm along for a 5 hour raft trip.

 

It will stay safely with the Bags, locked up. I guess I already knew the answer....as suggested. :-)

 

thanks again.

LOL If you see that post, you will most likely see the phrase "with a drowned dumb American still hanging on to it"

 

:)

Hi,

 

Quick question. I am going on a trip to South America and part of

the trip is a 1/2 day rafting trip. there are going to be some

awesome photo opportunities and I would like to take my camera along.

 

Trouble is some of the trip will be class II and III rapids, which

means some water splashing in/on the boat. I don't have room to

bring a pelican case, so I was thinking about stuffing the camera

inside two ziplocks and putting in in a lowe pro A/W belt pack for

the trip portions that are "rough"

 

What do you think? any other suggestions on how to carry it? This

will be the only wet portion of a 10 day trip.

 

Thanks!

 

Bob

Love that last one!!!

 

That is exactly why I bought my Leica, hope I can do as well.

Thanks everyone! I am leaning towards the 28mm as this point. Thankfully I have a month before I have to decide.

 

Appreciate all of your thoughts and opinions.

Hi all,

 

I am new (1 month) to Leica gear, and older than I care to talk about

in terms of photography. :-) I shoot mostly wildlife and nature with

a digital set up that I love, but its just way to much camera to be

hauling around on pleasure trips/parties and the like.

 

So, I recently bought an M6TTL/50mmSum that I intend to use for my

travel and candid photography. I would like to add one more lens,

a wide angle, and I am really hung on what to buy. I was going to

purchase a 35mm, but most of my friends tell me its not really wide

enough for decent travel scenics. (I am talking mountains, sunrise,

sunsets, and cityscapes mostly.)

 

I am happy with my digital equipment for my wildlife shooting, and

would love to get opinions on what you would use for travel in terms

of focal length, ASPH or not, etc etc.

 

It has been a blast carrying and using the Leica, but I dont see

myself trying to get a huge set up of lenses and the like, so if you

were going to get one more lens, what would it be?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Bob

Hi Mike,

 

Going back to film was a very difficult decision. I am primarily a nature and wildlife shooter, and as such digital suits that need very well. I kept a digital Canon 1d and a few telephotos that I use exclusively when shooting wildlife or sports.

 

I have been one of those people on the cutting edge of digital, I bough a D30, upgraded to a D60, and then to a 1d about 14 months ago. When the 1dMkII was announced, my knee jerk reaction was to get my name on the waiting list.

 

But as I studied a typical day of shooting what I found was that I was beginning to become a rapid fire (ie take 50 shots one will be good) photographer. I stopped thinking. I should note that for many this is not an issue, but it was for me. Also, I found myself not carrying my camera around anymore. As good as it is, it is big, heavy and cumbersome. Finally, I wanted to start shooting people in casual settings and black and white.

 

So I decided after a great deal of angst to add a film camera. I have friends that shoot Leica's, and I have always loved the feel of them and there compact size. That plus the fact that I have to shoot manual, makes me stop, set up and think a bit more.

 

My hope is that I will use the Leica for everyday use and for vacations, and then transfer what I learn about composition and lighting to the times I am out in the field with my 1d.

 

Both mediums have their place. I thought I would never turn back to film, but after looking at the pop of a perfectly exposed slide I am glad I did.

 

Thanks for the comment!

Bob

Francisco. your shot is awesome. B&W is one of the main resaons I bought the Leica. I hope I can do as well as you! Thanks for sharing.

Hi and thanks!

 

Yes Trevor, I did crop it slightly mainly to remove excessive foreground. I remeber you as well from Usefilm. Still a member there. Come chat someday!

I bought a Leica M6ttl this past week, my first venture back into

film since switching to digital photography about 4 years ago. What

a joy! Hope to follow this group and learn a lot in the coming

months.

 

Here was one of my first shots:

 

http://www.rkjarman.com/gallery/view_photo.php?

set_albumName=nature&id=Pondering03

 

Taken with a M6 & 50mm Summicron lens on Provia. Scanned with

Dualscan II.

Dittos to the getting your 1ds checked. I use my 1d for wildlife and the focus is normally nothing less than amazing using super teles!