Going to Iraq....MP + 35 or 50?

Going to Iraq....MP + 35 or 50?

  • 35mm Summilux Pre-Asph

    Votes: 126 67.0%
  • 50mm Summilum ASPH

    Votes: 62 33.0%

  • Total voters
    188
I like the sound of your project. I have honestly fantasized about traveling with a light kit and baggage, following the breezes and inspiration. I apologize for some of the unkind responses here. I'm not sure why people feel compelled to comment like that.

A basic question you should ask yourself is how close do you want to work from your subjects? A wider lens will mean you will need to get closer to fill the frame. A 50 can be intimate, but it produces a picture plane that is a little more flat feeling and more like someone focusing their vision on a center of interest. Bud Green on RFF and on Flickr does such wonderful work and I think he uses a 50mm summilux exclusively.

I would choose a 35mm lens. It's a versatile focal length. You can work close and indoors when needed. It's a natural environmental portrait length and has some inherent drama. I like the depth of field more with wide lenses as it helps me achieve focus more often when working fast. I often end up working wide and in low light.

I recently met someone who was a student of Steve McCurry. I was shocked to hear that Steve works almost exclusively with a 35 and 50. I would have thought he had a portrait lens in his kit. It was so encouraging to realize what can be done with those two focal lengths.

Finally, I don't think you will go wrong with either. Your mental eye and way of working will adapt to the focal length you use regularly.
 
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I agree about 35, but when I go to the beach, I go with a cheaper body and lens. Source a Canon P and LTM 35 - or just a Hexar AF. Either costs less than the lens damage and body CLA.
 
Best of luck to you for a safe and fruitful assignment, we all look forward to seeing the results of your efforts. I do hope your MP and lens are black, I wouldn't want a nice shiny chrome finish attracting unwanted attention.

As for a lens... probably the 35 if you can only take one. Depending on where you are going (city) you may need the field of view.

Take care,

Kent
I was out in the Everglades on a hot summer Florida day. At one point we stopped to look at some wildlife. After only a minute or two in the hot hot sun I could barely hold my all black M6.:eek:
 
I'll be working in Iraq for the next year. I want to keep my load to a minimum. I've already decided to take my MP. But now I'm torn between taking my 35mm Lux Pre-Asph or my 50mm Lux ASPH. I really just want to stick with ones lens for this reportage project. Which would you choose? Also do any of you have any tips for working in a harsh desert environment?

BTW, I will be shooting Tri-X exclusively.

take both :D

You can then leave one in the bag but what if you just bring the 50 and finallyyou need a 35 ?

a lens is small and light ;)


My choice would be for a 35 mm, maybe a 35 color skopar which is very small and performant
 
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It's all about the integrity

It's all about the integrity

Well the OP started the thread in 2008, so anyone reading this is "late to the party".
My two cents, part of why so many gave what could be perceived as "snide" comments, is for example this attitude:


Tom, Thanks for the advice but I'm pretty set on my ways with the MP. It's important for the integrity of this project that a Leica + Tri-X is used.

Which brings me to my posthumous "snide" remark: I sure hope the OP made sure that his rolls of Tri-X were not souped in inauthentic XTOL instead of ID-11 1:1 ! Too bad if the accumulated integrity were to have been washed down the lab drain... (Note: for those who do not know, the ID in ID-11 stands for: Integrity Developer.)

;-) ;-) ;-)
 
Well the OP started the thread in 2008, so anyone reading this is "late to the party".
My two cents, part of why so many gave what could be perceived as "snide" comments, is for example this attitude:




Which brings me to my posthumous "snide" remark: I sure hope the OP made sure that his rolls of Tri-X were not souped in inauthentic XTOL instead of ID-11 1:1 ! Too bad if the accumulated integrity were to have been washed down the lab drain... (Note: for those who do not know, the ID in ID-11 stands for: Integrity Developer.)

;-) ;-) ;-)

Or the project could be part of a series of photos where a Leica and Trix was used for the 1st half of the shots and to change to another system would result in a change in the visual style halfway through the essay......
Just a thought.
 
Which brings me to my posthumous "snide" remark: I sure hope the OP made sure that his rolls of Tri-X were not souped in inauthentic XTOL instead of ID-11 1:1 ! Too bad if the accumulated integrity were to have been washed down the lab drain... (Note: for those who do not know, the ID in ID-11 stands for: Integrity Developer.)

;-) ;-) ;-)

I don't get it... Is Tri-X and ID-11 a no-no combo?
 
I don't get it... Is Tri-X and ID-11 a no-no combo?

Phantomas, the other way around. Tri-X and ID-11 (1 part stock solution and one part water, shorthand: ID-11 1:1) is widely regarded as a standard, benchmark etc... So to take this quest for "integrity" to or over the edge, surely the choice of developer could not be left out... ;-)
 
Man, I cannot believe how heated this debate got. Everyone is right about it being an impossible question, but people ask similar question of this forum basically every day!

I think its an incredible opportunity to take powerful images. Furthermore, I have traveled with solely one lens, one camer, and one film. I think in the time frame I had I got some great shots. My setup happened to be an M6 TTL, 50 DR, and Sensia. That is all I own.

Were there times I wish I had another focal length? Yes.

I just don't understand all the fear of taking a camera on a trip. If you buy a camera with the audacious name of Mechanical Perfection, then it should be heavily used. In fact, it comical to me that anyone would fear taking an MP anywhere... Will it get dusty? Sure, but its better than leaving in its display box and just looking at it.

I really hope he posts his images; to me what he carried is infinitely less significant than the moments he might have captured.
 
I would strongly suggest visiting a psychiatrist and figuring out why you would go to Iraq of your own volition.

Are you suicidal? Out to prove something?


I'm currently in Iraq of my own volition. Granted, I am military, but I volunteered for this assignment and do not regret it. I don't share (and barely understand) the mindset that putting yourself in a potentially dangerous situation is somewhat deranged. This is a dirty dangerous world and sometimes, someone has to dirty dangerous jobs.

That being said (and sorry for starting off-topic), I AM in Iraq with a Nikon FE and a 28mm lens. Photography is not my job, and I don't get to take photos anywhere near as often as I would like to. While I don't have a 50mm with me, I think it would be too restrictive, go with the 35. BTW, the dust here is impossible to describe, you just have to experience it. Good luck!!!
 
The OP last signed onto RFF in late 2009, a year after this thread began.

I googled "Naos" and "Leica", comes back to this thread. "Naos": The term is from Greek, and was a designation used for temples of Greek religion.

I hope Naos is safe and happy, and Kansas Parker- stay safe. We have several RFF members that are deployed, and I think about them quite a bit.
 
If I were him I would not care to post here how the project went - after all that sarcasm and mockery. I am just guessing, but am I the only one who came to think that maybe he hoped for a bit of more relevant advice and support apart from the lens question .. ?

It is a pity though. If he managed to finish his project I would like to see the results even though it is not really my favorite topic. I just hope he made it safe back to his family.
 
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