My Ermanox Journey

[Godfrey]

...
I’m thinking about how Salomon must have focused and gotten his images relatively sharp — I wonder if he perhaps pre-focused his lens to say, two meters, and then as he walked around an event he just paid attention to people who were two meters from himself, so he didn’t have to keep checking his focus.
...
Dunno - what do you think? What’s been your experience with scale focusing?

It's a good technique, actually. I have a number of scale focus cameras and that is often how I work with them. And if you're working hand-held, you can just adjust the distance by how big a head looks in the viewfinder, and similar things like that.

The other thing is that you become sensitive to estimating distance by the sizes of known things ... Blocks of sidewalk, doors and windows, lengths of cars, the span of an arm or a hand, etc.

Use a DoF tool, like DOFMaster, to figure out two or three focus vs depth of field setting couplets, and work within those ranges. It simplifies things.

G

 

[Vince Lupo]

Portly statesmen have long gathered to weigh the fate of nations, cigars and brandy at the ready. But they were always sequestered far from prying eyes. The German photojournalist Erich Salomon changed all that, slipping into those smoke-filled back rooms with a small Leica camera built to shoot in low light. Nowhere was his skill on greater display than during a 1930 meeting in the Hague over German World War I reparations. There, at 2 a.m., Salomon candidly shot exhausted Foreign Ministers after a long day of negotiations. The picture created a sensation when it was published in the London Graphic. For the first time, the public could look through the doors of power and see world leaders with their guard down. Salomon, who died in Auschwitz 12 years later, had created backstage political photojournalism.

I only could find a small picture of his most famous photograph!

Erik.

Yup totally agree. Fortunately I’ve had a copy of his son’s book, Portrait of an Age, for a long time, and I have the book that was published in 1931 when Salomon was 45 on order (Berühmte Zeitgenossen in unbewachten Augenblicken), so luckily I have plenty to study.

I super-appreciate everyone’s input in this thread - very encouraging for me, and I hope it’s been of some value to you too.

 

[Vince Lupo]

A roll of the dice and we came up lucky....


Ermanox Adapter Ring by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

Series 7 adapter ring (53.5mm -- who'd have thought that would even exist???). Hoping to pick up an ND filter.

 

[farlymac]

A roll of the dice and we came up lucky....
Ermanox Adapter Ring by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

Series 7 adapter ring (53.5mm -- who'd have thought that would even exist???). Hoping to pick up an ND filter.

I've got piles of adapters around here, so likely I have a 53.5. I'll check my Series VII filters to see if there are any NDs in there.

PF

 

[Vince Lupo]

I've got piles of adapters around here, so likely I have a 53.5. I'll check my Series VII filters to see if there are any NDs in there.


PF

Many thanks PF - never thought I’d find anything that would fit this lens!

 

[markjwyatt]

The problem with scale focus is you are working with a 100mm lens, so at f2, DOF is really shallow. Maybe you should get acquainted with Ilford Delta Pro 3200! Also carry a handheld rangefinder with you and when you are in an event constantly gauge distances discreetly while not shooting. You could also consider a monopod. Maybe throw an iPhone on it somehow so people think it is a selfie stick. I wonder what Salomon's hit rate was (good shots vs. bad)? With modern film (even Tri-X pushed a stop or two) you are way ahead of where he was.

 

[Vince Lupo]

The problem with scale focus is you are working with a 100mm lens, so at f2, DOF is really shallow. Maybe you should get acquainted with Ilford Delta Pro 3200! Also carry a handheld rangefinder with you and when you are in an event constantly gauge distances discreetly while not shooting. You could also consider a monopod. Maybe throw an iPhone on it somehow so people think it is a selfie stick. I wonder what Salomon's hit rate was (good shots vs. bad)? With modern film (even Tri-X pushed a stop or two) you are way ahead of where he was.

Of course I’m also going to be shooting J. Lane glass plates which have and ISO rating of….25! So I’ll be in the full Salomon mode 🙂

I do have a very nice monopod that has three little fold-down legs, so I already had that in mind as well for interior shots. I may possibly add an accessory rangefinder on the side of the camera - I see a few on eBay that are metric (one of which is a reasonably-priced Voigtlander) that might work. For now I’ll work without it and just see how we get on - alternative is that I get used to working with the ground glass and switching back and forth. I’m pretty good at guesstimating 1.5 meters - it’s just everything between it and infinity I find a bit of a challenge!

 

[farlymac]

Many thanks PF - never thought I’d find anything that would fit this lens!

Out of the boxes I could access I did come up with an Ednalite ND2.5, if that will work for you.

PF

 

[Vince Lupo]

Out of the boxes I could access I did come up with an Ednalite ND2.5, if that will work for you.


PF

Sure thanks! Let me know how much you want for it.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Second shot from the second roll....same subject 🙂


Second Ermanox Shot by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

This is cut down Delta 100 (originally 120 format). It seemed to generally work out, and the red window light leak looks to have been fixed. However, new light leaks made themselves known. I made a point of not replacing the roll film back's dark slide after every shot, and it looks like I had a light leak coming in through the back's dark slide slot. I'm pretty sure I fixed it now -- I recently got some old Ernemann glass plate holders (6x9) that I really bought for the nice little leather Ernemann case, but in so doing I also got some glass plate holders with the bonus of practically new 'felts'. So I did two things -- first I replaced the worn-out 'felt' on the back on the camera (which may have also been the source of a light leak), then I also added a strip of felt to the outside of the dark slide slot and then cut a slit down the middle of it. Seems to be working just fine and looks like it's keeping the light out. I’m sure if I was using glass plates with an ISO of 2 or even 25, these lights leaks (which may have even been there when everything was new) likely wouldn’t even appear, but because of the faster film I’m using they’re making themselves more evident.

The camera is really nice to use 'in the field' -- really comfortable, easy to shoot with, and I think I'm getting a bit more of the hang of scale focusing and guesstimating my meters. We'll see how long I can last without a rangefinder 🙂

One thing that I’ve also discovered that’s important to note — when you’re shooting with the camera, you don’t stick it right up to your face with your nose pressing against the back of the camera. You have to hold it away from your face about 8” for the view through the finder to correspond with the actual framing of the image. Stick the camera right against your face and the field of view through the finder is wider than it actually is.

Glass plates will hopefully be shot on Tuesday!

 

[mothertrucker]

Looking great Vince. Nice shot with sharp focus.

 

[Vince Lupo]

Looking great Vince. Nice shot with sharp focus.

Many thanks! Actually I think the first shot is a bit sharper, but this one is pretty good. Not perfect, but not bad.

Hopefully I’ll get to a point in which I can stop naming these images “# Ermanox Shot” and just call it by what the subject is, then it will be less about the camera and more about the image itself. Not quite there yet!

 

[Erik van Straten]

I love the shot, great work!


Erik.

 

[Vince Lupo]

I love the shot, great work!


Erik.

Many thanks Erik - I think I need to start expanding my database of models 🙂

 

[agfa100]

Also looking forward to some pic's from this camera.

 

[Godfrey]

A roll of the dice and we came up lucky....

Series 7 adapter ring (53.5mm -- who'd have thought that would even exist???). Hoping to pick up an ND filter.

Second shot from the second roll....same subject 🙂

[/url]
Second Ermanox Shot​

...
The camera is really nice to use 'in the field' -- really comfortable, easy to shoot with, and I think I'm getting a bit more of the hang of scale focusing and guesstimating my meters. We'll see how long I can last without a rangefinder 🙂
...
Glass plates will hopefully be shot on Tuesday!

Looks handy and fun, much like a Hasselblad SWC is. You're making me want another one of those. LOL! Of course, the 907x + XCD 45P is not much different either. 🙂

The Second Ermanox Shot is again a winner. It takes a while to get the hang of using an interesting old camera like this, so just keep on going!

😀

G

 

[Leica0Series]

Second shot from the second roll....same subject 🙂


Second Ermanox Shot by Vince Lupo, on Flickr

This is cut down Delta 100 (originally 120 format). It seemed to generally work out, and the red window light leak looks to have been fixed. However, new light leaks made themselves known. I made a point of not replacing the roll film back's dark slide after every shot, and it looks like I had a light leak coming in through the back's dark slide slot. I'm pretty sure I fixed it now -- I recently got some old Ernemann glass plate holders (6x9) that I really bought for the nice little leather Ernemann case, but in so doing I also got some glass plate holders with the bonus of practically new 'felts'. So I did two things -- first I replaced the worn-out 'felt' on the back on the camera (which may have also been the source of a light leak), then I also added a strip of felt to the outside of the dark slide slot and then cut a slit down the middle of it. Seems to be working just fine and looks like it's keeping the light out. I’m sure if I was using glass plates with an ISO of 2 or even 25, these lights leaks (which may have even been there when everything was new) likely wouldn’t even appear, but because of the faster film I’m using they’re making themselves more evident.

The camera is really nice to use 'in the field' -- really comfortable, easy to shoot with, and I think I'm getting a bit more of the hang of scale focusing and guesstimating my meters. We'll see how long I can last without a rangefinder 🙂

One thing that I’ve also discovered that’s important to note — when you’re shooting with the camera, you don’t stick it right up to your face with your nose pressing against the back of the camera. You have to hold it away from your face about 8” for the view through the finder to correspond with the actual framing of the image. Stick the camera right against your face and the field of view through the finder is wider than it actually is.

Glass plates will hopefully be shot on Tuesday!

These are great, Vince. Would be fun to go out with your Ermanox and my 0-Series, which shoots the same way through its little gunsight. Make a scale focusing day of it!

 

[farlymac]

Another good exposure. Just a thought, Vince, but do you completely remove the dark slide, or leave part of it in the film holder while making exposures?



PF

 

[Vince Lupo]

Another good exposure. Just a thought, Vince, but do you completely remove the dark slide, or leave part of it in the film holder while making exposures?



PF

It’s completely removed. After I developed that second roll of film and noticed the additional light leaks, I shone a flashlight through the slot and sure enough, light was coming through.

 

[Vince Lupo]

These are great, Vince. Would be fun to go out with your Ermanox and my 0-Series, which shoots the same way through its little gunsight. Make a scale focusing day of it!

We could arrange that 🙂