cosmo_genovese

Scroll down 15 lines here to "Filters (Max Wall, 2001-07-30)" for a

plethora of answers to a very similar question as yours.

Also http:/www.freestylesalesco.com has the Holga 120SF (built-in

flash) as well as other toy cameras like the fully manual, 35mm

Russian "CMEHA" ("SMENA" in Roman letters).

B+W, Heliopan, Leitz, and Hasselblad, Yellow, medium orange (15) and

red (25) multicoated filters; occasionally a green filter for b&w

portraits of men under tungsten light. I tend to only use any of the

b&w filters under contrasty lighting situations--ie, never under flat

lighting situations. My favorite, all-time favorite filter for

portraits and fashion shots of women is the medium orange filter---it

smooths out skin tones remarkably. I never use UV or skylight filters

on any lenses for protection--I only use those filters when I want to

cut down on haze. For color, I generally use an 81A or 81B from one

of the same manufacturers plus a Tiffen 812 and very, very rarely one

of their blacknet diffusion filters or black tulle stretched across

the front of the lens held in place by a lenshood.

I agree with Oliver about using the 150 + 8mm, 10mm (or 16mm in my case) for portraits. The 150mm MF lens is really more closely equivalent to an 85mm in 35 and you'll find that at best you can only frame tight head AND shoulder shots with the 150 by itself.

Practice . . . a lot.

Yes.

KL Prager,

 

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I attempted to send you an answer to your subsequent question about

how to override the DX coding on the Epic to shoot Tri-X @ EI 200,

but I received a "Failure Notice" (fatal error) for your

address, "www.pragerproperties@att.net".

Check out "Leica M Used Buying Guide" available to download at

http://cameraquest.com/mguide.htm.

At different times, I've used the following "pocket[able]" cameras:

Minox GT; Minox ML; Rollei 35SE (although a little heavy, still one

of my all-time favorites); Olympus XA; Contax T* (the original; 3

weeks after I bought it I dropped it into the Aegean while on

vacation); Olympus Stylus; Olympus Epic (my current Leica M6

companion). As soon as I can find it, the new, all-black Contax T3

(anyone got any leads??).

 

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For the money, the Epic is one helluva pocket point-n-shoot. The only

thing I'm not crazy about is its dependence on batteries and the

shutter lag time. When I take the Rollei SE along with me, I use it

pretty much set on hyperfocal distance and fire away. The compromise

40mm lens is amazingly sharp and the in-the-viewfinder LED light

meter is a bonus, too. I use the Minox the same way. I equip both the

Rollei and the Minox with lens hoods and either yellow, orange, or

red (Heliopan) filters on sunny days--just the lenshades without

filters on others. Except for the Epic which I load 50% of the time

with color negative film, I always shoot Tri-X (@ EI 200) in the

others (I don't think I've ever shot any color in any of the other

cameras). When I shoot Tri-X in the Epic I override the DX Coding so

that the EI is also 200. I have all my film processed commercially at

a lab that's been doing custom processing for me for over 15 years.

The results I get are exceptionally consistent since the lab follows

my preferences for developers and development times when I request

something other than D-76 1:1 with a dash of Benzotriazole. The

negatives sizzle.

I have 3 favorities, viz--(1) A 1947 Museum of Modern Art monograph

entitled "Henri Cartier-Bresson", especially for Beaumont Newhall's

introduction on 'Cartier-Bresson's Photographic Technique'; (2) "The

World of Henri Cartier-Bresson", Viking Press 1968, for the 'Preface'

by HC-B--the major part of which is a "reworking of ideas in my first

book, 'Images a la Sauvette'"; and, (3) "Henri Cartier-Bresson and

the Artless Art," by Jean-Pierre Montier, Little, Brown and Company:

Bullfinch Press 1996.

Whew! Have you put yourself in a lather. I'd tell the bride to hire a professional photographer for those "must have" and set-up shots. Ask the bride to tell the professional that she has another photographer taking candids, so that the pro doesn't think you're tredding on his/her turf and you can both work in harmony for the common purpose of covering the wedding. This will then free you up to take the 35mm gear you're competent and familiar with to the wedding. Explain to the bride that you'll take candid, reportage-like photos for her which will free you from the stressful conditions you're now under which (believe me) will only be magnified tenfold by "The Big Day". Trying to master MF wedding photography in less than two months is a prescription for disaster and for the loss of a friendship. This way, you're shooting free and easy, going with the flow of the wedding, getting the shots that, when all is said and done, will be just as important as the standard wedding shots. And, since you'll be having fun shooting them, they'll turn out terrific.

Add a good (eg, B+W, Heliopan) multicoated, orange filter (OG 15) to your repertoire. It's especially good for portraits of women. I use it a lot for that and for outdoor work where I don't want the more pronounced effect of even a medium (R25) red filter. I don't find filters very useful usually in flat lighting; I tend to use them in sunny daylight or, in the case of studio portraits of women, an orange filter with strobes. The only thing you need to be careful of(unless it's the effect you want, of course) is that both orange and red filters lighten lips considerably so I always ask the makeup artist to use lipstick with a hint of blue--instead of red/red--so that the lips appear natural.

Check out: www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/lubitel.html AND www.kyphoto.com/lubitel.html

Addendum: I rarely use my Hasselblad on a tripod, although this is not to be taken as a rule either....

1. Buy from a reputable dealer who will give you at least a 14-day return and a 90- to 180-day warranty. Since I don't know where you live, this second part might be difficult. But, then take it to a real camera repair store and ask them to check the shutter speeds, the overall wear and tear, and the condition of the lens mount (is it parallel to the film plane, how worn, etc). The shop may charge you a small fee to do all this, but in the end it will be well worth the cautionary expense.

 

2. At slower speeds (< 1/15 sec) you'll have to remember not to take your finger off the shutter release until the shutter in the lens has finished firing.

 

3. I've always used a handheld meter with my Hasselblads. In fact, my first meter was the filmwinder knob meter for a 500C. I used that thing for years, most of the time not even taking it off the camera. It followed me to my 500CM and, shortly afterwards, I moved up to a Sekonic L-398 Studio incident meter (which I still use as a backup to my Minolta IVF).

 

4. I have rarely used the Hasselblad with a flash unit except in the studio where I hook it up to Dyna-Lites.

Response to M.R. Bright: The 16mm extension tube fits the CM too.

Ah, yes, almost forgot: As far as the "muddy areas" and the lack of "tack-sharpness", check to make sure you're loading the back properly (are you sliding the film under the film guide in the magazine?) so that the pressure plate is keeping the film as flat as possible. This could account for the hit-and-miss resolution you're experiencing. If you are loading film properly then Hasselblad can check the pressure plate's alignment, too, when they come to a camera store in your area.

Check with Hasselblad for the next time they're going to be at a camera store in your area for a promotional visit. Usually they'll have a factory repairman along with diagnostic equipment who'll examine up to four Hasselblad pieces for free, one of the most important of which is a body/lens alignment test. In the meantime, suck it up (lay out the exhorbitant amount of $$ you have to resign yourself to spending for Hasselblad stuff) and get the Acute-Matte screen with microprism (with or without grid), a lens hood (used at KEH ~$60)and a good incident light meter (I use the Minolta IV-F and have the Sekonic L398M as a backup, although for years I got along just fine with the Hasselblad winding-knob meter). There definitely is a learning curve for medium format, part of which is getting over your 35mm bias and accepting the fact that we're talking apples and oranges here to a great degree (wait til you start playing around with 4x5 after MF . . . talk about "learning curve").

 

Buona fortuna.

Simplest Solution: Take the camera to the camera repair store in your local area that does repairs on site and caters to the professional photographer crowd (not a retail camera chain and not one that tells you they have to send your camera out to "their repairman"). Ask them to run a shutter (so long as you're there) and meter check for you. This takes just a few minutes and will yield a wealth of information with a minimum of effort way beyond anything that you could possibly do on your own. They'll probably not even charge you for performing the(se) test(s) since they're so relatively simple and easy to do. And, even if they do charge you (you should ask them up front if they do) it's not going to be very much. If they don't charge you, then purchase some film or new batteries or something to show your appreciation. That's the easiest way to check your meter. Once you know for sure, exactly what the meter is doing, then you can compensate either by uprating or downrating your film accordingly. I do this as a matter of course whenever I buy a new camera body; it saves me an inordinate amount of time which I would otherwise fritter away setting up a controlled lighting situation, shooting film with grey cards, taking notes, marking f-stops and processing and comparing film ad infinitum. This is another example of the application of Occam's Razor.

And, as far as your question concerns a choice between the T4 and the Epic, I've traveled all over Europe and the United States with an Epic and marveled at its lens' ability to capture and render sharp, crisp photos. The lens of the Epic has excellent contrast; it's compact, extremely portable, and I especially like a feature of its design which allows you to slide a clamshell cover over the lens for protection. It is weather resistant. On trips I generally keep it loaded with color film as a complement to my M6 which shoulders the responsibility for black and white; but, from time to time I load the Epic with some Tri-X, too, and fool the DX Coder into setting the ISO as 200. The nighttime exposure setting is a true plus as well as the spotmeter, both of which enhance this camera's versatilty and capability to go anywhere under almost any lighting condition. As with any choice between two cameras with the same (equal) features, the one that feels better in your hands and through whose viewfinder you can visulaize ("feel") the pictures you're striving for with more visual ease and acuity is the one to go with, which was the way I came to select the Epic over the T4.

Check out the Contax T3 at http://www.kyocera.co.jp/news/2001/0102/0001-e.asp for what appears to be the ultimate fixed lens, battery-powered point & shoot--a 35mm Sonnar T* f/2.8 lens in a body the same size or maybe a little smaller than the Yashica T4 (also by Kyocera) and the Epic.

I'd third the Sekonic L-398 (besides, it also makes you look like a cinematographer...). Having shot for many years with just a winding knob meter on my Hasselblad (with its trusty 80mm) before moving to the Sekonic (after adding a 150mm), I highly recommend both; when I need to measure flash, I pack a Minolta IVF. Naturally, your vision will dictate your style which in turn will govern your equipment choices. Nevertheless, it's always prudent to keep Occam's Razor in your bag, too.

Melissa,

 

Go into one or a bunch of good camera stores until you've handled all the medium format cameras you can get your hands on. Choose the one that feels best and through which you can "see" your particular(ized) photos. Buy that camera, either right there on the spot or search for it used. It's all a question of "feel", both tactile and visual: The camera that "feels" best is the camera for YOU. You'll know.

Echo.

Check out the Acute-Matte screen with split image and grid, too. In either case--split image with or without grid--the ease of focus is considerably faster than with the normal screens. And the brightness really relieves the eyestrain you normally experience with non-Acute Matte screens. I've never had a Beattie screen so can't compare the Acute-Mattes with them.

 

Cosmo