The Leica 35mm f2 Summicron III

i'm with u. went through the 35 f1.7, 35 v4 cron and 35 preasph lux and still didn't like what i was getting. I realized it was a matter of focal length when the shots improved with a 40mm and now 50mm lens. On digital, my favorite lens is a 20-35L on my 1D, so i guess my comfort zone for wides is about 26mm.
 
Avotius said:
Just a note, I am going to try out the summicron on my bessa for a few piles of film then see what happens, work with different exposure values then see what happens, with my bessa I think its a lot easier to mess with different things with more consistency, thats one thing that keeps coming back in my head, the bessa is more consistent then the m6.
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So ... do you think it is more a lens-related or camera-related issue ? What would you expect being more consistent with the Bessa, the AE advantage ?
 
Great storytelling and photography, Colin. Being very new-to-film, I'm curious what film(s) you use for your color work? Both here and in previous essays (esp. a few shots with the CV 35/2.5 P-II) I've really enjoyed the character and tonality of your color shots.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and images with us!
 
maddoc said:
So ... do you think it is more a lens-related or camera-related issue ? What would you expect being more consistent with the Bessa, the AE advantage ?
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One of the things that I noticed when using a AE camera like the bessa and its excellent light meter is that the negatives are more consistent in thickness, saturation, etc, one of the tricky bits of the m6 is that you are stuck to whole shutter values and half aperture values, and sometimes there is a half or a third off and that can change a lot of the characteristics of a negative. I noticed this best before with my GSN, when shooting xp2 at 400 the contrast was much higher then when I shot it at 320, a large difference in the negatives indeed, but 320 gave more glowing skin tones and more overall tones but was lacking more in the deep blacks, not that you could not alter that with some darkroom work or a tweak of the levels in photoshop, but it will be interesting to see what happens as a camera to camera difference.
 
Thanks Colin for this information, it confirms quite exactly what I observed myself. Negs, exposed using AE with my Hexar, show a more consistent density (over one complete film) compared to these exposed with my M6 TTL. I always thought that silver-halogenid based BW would compensate for these small variations (+/- 1/2 stop) better.
 
Avotius said:
One of the things that I noticed when using a AE camera like the bessa and its excellent light meter is that the negatives are more consistent in thickness, saturation, etc, one of the tricky bits of the m6 is that you are stuck to whole shutter values and half aperture values, and sometimes there is a half or a third off and that can change a lot of the characteristics of a negative. I noticed this best before with my GSN, when shooting xp2 at 400 the contrast was much higher then when I shot it at 320, a large difference in the negatives indeed, but 320 gave more glowing skin tones and more overall tones but was lacking more in the deep blacks, not that you could not alter that with some darkroom work or a tweak of the levels in photoshop, but it will be interesting to see what happens as a camera to camera difference.
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Good to know. You just confirmed what I have been thinking lately.
btw. great great storytelling photographs. It's been a pleasure to read you threads.
 
Sorry for the late reply but I've been busy as of late...

First of all some wonderful imagery with great captions and information. I always love your posts Colin, and I hope that I can find a vision for my work as well as you have.

In any case, I must say that I've been using a 28 almost exclusively for the past five months and the more and more I look at my imagery the more I feel bored with it. perhaps it is because I am having the tendency to frame and compose many of the 28 shots in a similar manner. I've been forcing myself to use the 50 planar more, but it seems too long for me as of late for street shooting. For portraiture work I find it wonderful but I think I may be a 35mm person myself.

Your descriptions and wonderful imagery has made me begin to ponder the idea of purchasing a 35 summicron as well.

Hopefully the upcomming exhibition/vernissage that will be taking place here at my study abroad location in France will give me a bit of extra cash to purchase a 35mm lens with.

We'll see. 😀


Anyway once again I love your work. I hope that you wouldnt mind taking a look at some of my work once I get finished with thise vernissage in a week or so. 🙂
 
Honus said:
I think you would really like the 28mm Biogon, but I urge you to find a way to hold on to your Summicron. You really make nice images with it.
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GAS strike and you were right, I do enjoy the Biogon, I really like it in fact. One of the things missing from my RF photography was more wide's, I dont like aux. finders and ended up with the 28 on my m6, which when I wear my contacts I can see the 28 frames but just....

So there I was in Arsenal's HK shop with the 28 biogon in one hand and the 35 summicron in the other and really having a hard time of it then finally decided to sell the 35 and keep the 28, then when I got back from Hong Kong my old man urged me to keep the 35 as well and just have all of them and make a go of it. So I did. I kept all of them

Now on the other hand I will be selling some stuff off, the cv 35 pII I will stick up in the next few days after my finals and stuff. Maybe a few other things to sell as well. We will see.

But this means now I have a Zeiss 50 Planar, Leica 50 Elmar 3.5, Zeiss 28 Biogon, Leica 35 summicron, and a cv 35 PII. Too much overlapping, but I do have the perfect set for color and the perfect set for black and white. Interesting!
 
Florian1234 said:
To bump this up again, I have a question to your processing, Colin.

Do you alter much of the photo's tonality/contrasts after scanning in Photoshop? If so, what do you do with it? :angel:
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Yes and yes, I do alter in photoshop. The scans I get back are always dull looking but that is the way I want them, its difficult to get good results from a direct scan and easy to clip highlights with a contrasty scan. I like to use the levels in photoshop a lot, also layers and the bw function is neat as well. Why the black and white function (CS3) when the photo is already black and white? Simple, because the scan is not actually black and white, its a color interpretation of black and white, so there is actually something you can play with in the color channels with a black and white scan (this varies between scanners) and can be useful for getting a little extra detail out of a shadow or tweaking the image to your taste.
 
Avotius said:
Yes and yes, I do alter in photoshop. The scans I get back are always dull looking but that is the way I want them, its difficult to get good results from a direct scan and easy to clip highlights with a contrasty scan. I like to use the levels in photoshop a lot, also layers and the bw function is neat as well. Why the black and white function (CS3) when the photo is already black and white? Simple, because the scan is not actually black and white, its a color interpretation of black and white, so there is actually something you can play with in the color channels with a black and white scan (this varies between scanners) and can be useful for getting a little extra detail out of a shadow or tweaking the image to your taste.
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Thanks for putting some light on it, Colin. 🙂
 
Wow, I think these are incredible.

Being based in China I also feel there is so much to shoot , but I have never been able to create images that are as interesting as these. love,love, love it.

James
 
Very nice documentary/street series, you captured the atmosphere of that l'il old village and its persona very well.
I kinda prefer your B&W shots, even tho' I shoot mostly color with my Leica's. Especially like 4, 5 and 6, no. 4 being the one with the most 'story telling' potential of an old man waiting for his long lost lady to return. Just so compelling, congratulations!
 
Some very nicely composed and exposed shots there. Nice narrative too. Well done on a hugely enjoyable post.

I get 35mm Summicron envy sometime and would love to to try one but they are soooo pricey nowadays. Why didn't I buy a 35mm ASPH when I started out with M Leica's at the £600 they went for in those days? :bang:
 
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