i'm doing it: one year, one leica

a few more members that subscribe to it and we can call it a sect : Onelensology ?
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I like that.

Mike Johnston (or anyone else) could come up with a more "advanced" year as well. After one year of one lens/one film/one Leica, what do you do next? Go hog-wild shooting with all those tools you have not been working on for a year? If a person has a keen sense of his camera, two focal lengths and several film types already, would the suggested first year be as beneficial as continuing to practice with what they have?
 
rya said:
... Mike Johnston (or anyone else) could come up with a more "advanced" year as well. After one year of one lens/one film/one Leica, what do you do next? Go hog-wild shooting with all those tools you have not been working on for a year? If a person has a keen sense of his camera, two focal lengths and several film types already, would the suggested first year be as beneficial as continuing to practice with what they have?
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Mike already has:

"P.S. A year with a view camera, too. But, as Ctein would say, "Put down the can opener and step slowly away from the worms...."

(from Mike's blog, Friday, 29 May 2009.)
 
aizan said:
as for film, i was thinking hp5, just because tri-x would be sooooo cliche. 😉
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Tri-X might be cliche... but that is because Tri-X always delivers the goods inspite of how much you abuse it. I understand the sentiment, but after chasing other 400 speed B&W films, I have come back to Tri-X. I actually prefer Efke KB400, but it is much more finicky and tempermental. Tri-X can be pulled to 200 and pushed to 3200 without a fuss or commotion.
 
I understand that if you are primarily interested in gear, the idea of one camera, one lens is equivalent to a game of Russian roulette. But, if you are really serious about your images, one camera, one lens is really not that big of a challenge. You will learn, you will grow, and your images should improve. Multiple bodies and lens are often more of a distraction than a benefit.
 
i find too much gear makes me crazy and choosing what to use does interfere with my creative process but having only one body and lens would also restrict me.
i shoot by mood and sometimes i like a wide view nd sometimes a longer view.

joe
 
My going out kit has trimmed down considerably over the last couple of weeks. I'm down to a camera, attached lens and a couple of lenses in my pocket. I have to admit that those pocket bulges look and feel a little strange.
 
Roland.

I am in the same position as you are... and have already conceded that I could not only use one camera/one lens/one film for a whole years because of my portrait commissions.

I could easily live with my M5 and Nokton 35/1.2 loaded with Tri-X for a year's worth of street, candid, general photography, but for high-quality portraits I would at least need to use my Mamiya C220.

But I am considering restricting myself to this regime whenever I am not in the studio or on-location, for a lengthy period of time.

Of course, if the deal was that I would get to use your F-mount Helios 40-2 for the year...😉
 
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I read Mike's posts (but not all the comments -- I didn't have that much time and I can just imagine some of the more idiotic comments! -- and I am going to do this. First, I need to get a Leica and lens (no, my lovely 35SPs don't count ... as much as I love them, they are NOT a Leica!) so my one year term may not start for a while. Unless I change my mind it will be an M4-2 or M4-P. I haven't decided which lens yet. I'd love to stick with Leica glass, but I want something fast and a Lux is definitely not in the budget. I'm thinkin' Nokton 40, but who knows.
 
About 2yrs ago my 35mm f/2 for my Canon EOS packed in. For a year all I had was a 50mm nifty fifty and it did me well, I can definitely say it felt as if I was improving steadily with just that kit in my compositional terms.

It also reinforced the notion of using my feet to "change the focal length" - and I do think it made me better for it.

Simarlarly for the past 6 months I have almost exclusively been shooting with my beloved 35mm wide angle on my M2 and although I now have a couple of 50s, it's amazing what you can do with one lens, it really makes you work that lens and your composition; especially as I really don't like to crop when I print, full frame (except on 4:5 aspect papers) and I shoot a lot of slides for projecting so there's little room for saying "Ignore the rubbish bit on the left there!"

Good luck, you'll enjoy it just as much! 🙂
 
I`m in on this too. I`m no stranger to this kind of "self-punishment", and I think I can "endure" the treatment of one camera - one lens, although I`m will not use a Leica (`cause I don`t have one), but the "replacement" camera will be an R3A + 50/1.1 (my first rangefinder - joy, joy, joy).
Even if it`s cliche to use TRI-X ... I`ll live with the shame. 🙂

I mentioned I`m no stranger to this type of action ... well, when i get bored of my Nikons, I turn to my Konica Autoreflex T and the 40mm f/1.8 pancake. A week (and 3 rolls) later, I`m like a newborn.

I will try to blog this (in english) and keep everybody else posted.

I`m romanian ... so my english is not flawless, but I`m doing my best.

(I guess this is my second post on this forum so I can just say "Nice to meet you!")
 
What Mike Johnston proposes is:

...if any young or beginning photographer of real ambition within the sound of my voice would like to radically improve his or her photography quickly and efficiently, I suggest shooting with nothing but a Leica and one lens for a year. Shoot one type of black-and-white film...

Note the young, beginning, ambition, radically improve.

Doesn't say lazy old geezers, such as me, with way too much gear and a closet full of negatives and trannies that one day will be scanned and printed.

However, I am intrigued by the proposition... I am thinking M5 + 50lux + Tri-X + one of my living room walls.

To warm up and clear the fridge, I will develop the 20+ rolls of Tri-X accumulated in there this week.
 
Vics said:
... maybe even my Contax IIIa (my Dad's, so...)
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No, don't do that! Don't sell your Dad's cam!
Don't use it, put it into a cabinet, ok. But don't sell it!

BTW, since I do not own a Leica (well, I've got a C2...) if I had to do that (and I know I had huge problems with this project) it would be my Yashica Electro 35 GS, because this is the most versatile film cam I have.
 
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It is just a coincidence.

Just this weekend my old photo buddy and I made an agreement to shoot the same format and focal length lens and have "shoot out."

We will shoot landscapes and some architectual stuff.

In our case we will use homemade 5X7 point and shoot cameras, hand held with 135mm lenses. (The 135mm lens in 5X7 is equivalent to 28mm in 35mm photography.) We will exchange contact prints only.

He called it something like a soapbox derby. Maybe we will need a judge!

My friend is in Chicago and I am in South Carolina (USA). We think that this contest will get the creative juices going.
 
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Hi everyone!

I read Mike's blog post few days ago and ended up finding this forum. Yes, I got the bug. I got the GAS too and I'm turning 40 this month, so I think I deserve my first real Leica!

I've been shooting since a little boy with TLR's, SLR's and DSLR's. In January this year I bought myself a Leica D-LUX 4, which is a fantastic little camera. To be honest, haven't touched my DSLR kit since I got it. This little Leica got me seriously in to more artistic photography and to be more precise, in to black and white photography. And now I read about this "exercise". Sounds absolutely like a great idea to shoot b/w film only with one body and one lens.

I have decided to get a M6, as I strongly like the idea of having a meter inside the camera. Classic or TTL, I don't care. Regarding the lens I'm still not sure. After spending last 48 hours reading about them here, I've ended up with two possible lens candidates:

- Summicron 35mm
- Summilux 50mm

Both pre-asph, as my wife might leave me if I go mad on the budget...

Any ideas, tips, hints? What I understand, those seem to be rather nice lenses and a good bang for the buck? I tend to prefer wide angles with other cameras, but a 50mm on a Leica does not sound exactly like a bad idea either? So 35 or 50? Don't tell me to get both...

Greetings,
Sterno
 
Sterno,

I have both and have a hard time deciding which to take when. You state a preference for wide, so start with the pre-asph 35 - a classic Leica combo.

Then, a year from now, reward your sticking with the one camera, one lens, one film exercise with a pre-asph 50!

Good luck.
 
When I was a kid, all I had was a Canonette GIII Ql-17, with a fixed 40mm lens and a freezer full of Tri-X. Probably the best thing that ever happened to my photography was spending three years with that camera and only that camera. I've still got the little guy, though it really needs a CLA at this point.
 
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