kentish_townie

I don't have a problem with this image. I like it.

How does Ronald know what 'most' will, or will not, appreciate? Too presumptious by half.

Mark,

Thanks for your clarifying comments. I look forward to the exhibition in London, sometime

next year.

Paul,

I've often wondered about just how sharp a lot of his prints were. I must confess, I haven't

seen them in the flesh, as it were. Mind you, I would suppose that, even if he wanted to

move up to medium format, or whatever, the diminutive size of his grant would have

probably prohibited it.

I thought it was interesting to note the contrast betweeen Ravilious and his working

methods have just seen Meyerowitz in action on the streets of New york in 'the Genius of

Photography'. The quietness of Ravilious's photographs seemed even greater.

I agree with you that VW or Purcell could have sounded too lush, too romantic but I still

have reservations about Part, in this particular instance.

By the way, you might be concerned about your eyesight but could you understand what

was being said by the locals? The Beeb should have supplied sub-titles.

I agree with David. It was an interesting and rather poignant programme. Following on

from 'the Genius of Photography', which I think is a really terrific series, it made Thursday

night essential viewing for photographers.

One minor quibble, given that the programme was about an English photographer working

in a disappearing English landscape, I can't help but think the programme makers missed

a trick by using Arvo Part (great though he is) for the background music. Maybe someone

like Vaughn Williams or Purcell would have been more appropriate or perhaps that would

have been too obvious?

Last night's 'the Genius of Photography' was on street photography (Eggleston, Frank, Parr,

Winogrand et al). It will be repeated, on Monday night, and I think it's worth seeking out.

Jinbo,

Where do you live? I don't think you should go for either of these two. There is an awful lot of

Leica equipment, out in the world. Can't you look somewhere else, further afield?

Hi Mark,

If you can put up with a 45mm lens, rather than a 50mm, I would happily recommend the

Zeiss Ikon Contessa. It's a neat, little, folding, coupled rangefinder with a very nice coated

Tessar lens. The focussing is easy and accurate and, so far (only had it a few weeks), I'm

happy with the results.

What about Robert White?

Also, Teamwork are a good source for Heliopan filters, which are every bit as good as B/W

but are considerably cheaper.

Henri,

Isn't the Heliar a Nikon rangefinder mount? I'm not expert on this, and will no doubt be

corrected if I'm wrong, but I don't think that this will work on your Leica.

I thought Jessop's were about to go bust, or is it Dixon's?

Anyway, try Snappy Snaps. They are a lot more reasonable about processing and scannin.

Alternatively, of course, there is the M8. Decsions, decisions :)

If you're going to shoot at f8, or higher, then it would be quite cumbersome to use a Leica

lens, via an adaptor, on your Canon ( I it's a Canon you are using).

If you want wrinkles, what about medium or large format?

Hi Albert,

I understand that you can still buy the Kinoptik 75mm f2 new. It's a special order and it's

mind boggingly expensive.

"Unless you want to carry a tripod around th eworld, do not buy medium format, it's not good

hand held as it rattles a lot.."

Surely, not with something like a Mamya 6 or Mamiya 7 and their leaf shutters? Also, medium

format cameras have been known to be successful for portraiture, as well.

How 'bout the Mamiya 7? It's a medium format rangefinder with bitingly sharp lenses and it's

(relatively) light.

Example, from a couple of years ago, of a 40mm Summicron. Taken with an M3 and Fuji

Superia 400.<div></div>

Personally speaking, I always found it easier to find examples of bokeh, good or bad, in

medium or large format photos.

Vivek mentioned Cookes. This was taken on a 1920's 6x9 Thornton Pickard with a 5" f4.5

Cooke. Please excuse, the sentimental subject of the photo as it was only a test of camera

and lens.<div></div>

Trevor, what was it like? I thought the wretched thing was on next week.

I have to say, I didn't particularly enjoy the experience but Lee Lapthorne is a good mate so I

was only too help to him out.

From today's Guardian:

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/photography/story/0,,2175671,00.html