W/NW: Casual Portaits with a 90mm lens

R

Rich Silfver

Guest
Was having a cup of coffee at a sidewalk coffee place in San Francisco.

As commented in another forum I am not 100% happy with the sharpness I got in these photos. I may have to either start learning how to focus better, upgrade to a later lens or stop scanning on a flatbed scanner...or all three...

Camera: Leica M3
Lens: Elmarit 90/2.8 (from 1964)
Film: Tri-X 400
Filter: Yellow-Green

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(This is more of the location - as you can see, not much too it :))​
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Oh, and as 'comparision' here is one w/ a Summicron 50/2 - which is a lens I've always liked:​
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Marry me, Melanie! No wait, I'm already married. Want to move to Utah? :)

Oh, nice photograhs too, Rich.
 
Rich,
The fourth and fifth shots are sharp where they need to be, the first three look like you were pushing the minimum focus distance a bit but are still great portraits.
 
This is Tri-X 400 at EI800 developed in Amaloco AM74 and shot in a Contax G2 with Sonnar 90.

Strong late afternoon light from the left caused some flare probably from the. cheap and dirty, UV filter.

Her eyelashes are sharp, although I had the lens full open and a relative slow shutterspeed.

Compared to this, yours are razorsharp :)
 
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They look very nice-I suspect care with focus, as one of the shots has one eye sharp, the other somewhat soft.

Of course, with a beautiful model like that, all those pictures are great. I'm smiling as I contemplate a fellow complaining about those portraits.
 
The Summicron is the better lens, methinks. Very fine shot of the young lady with the Summicron.

Ted

BTW: I still can't see anyone's thumbnails. Been going on for several days now. Jorge thinks it's my computer settings, but this is the only website where this occurs. Anyone have a clue?
 
Did you focus on her earrings? (Photos 1 & 2)
If that´s the case, then her face (eyes, lips and nose) was a bit closer to the lens. Was the focusing distance close to the limit?

Regards

Ernesto
 
ErnestoJL said:
Did you focus on her earrings? (Photos 1 & 2)
If that´s the case, then her face (eyes, lips and nose) was a bit closer to the lens. Was the focusing distance close to the limit?
Click to expand...

I tried focusing on her eyes but yes I was at the very limit of the close focusing distance. These were shot at 2.8.
 
If you look carefully, you´ll see the earrings perfectly shaped, but not the rest of her face.
Her hair (at ears level) is in focus.

Guess this is just a combination of adverse factors: big aperture, lower focus limit (perhaps exceeded by a few inches or less), and (may be) a moving subject.

Anyway, they are nice pictures.

Cheers

Ernesto
 
Nice shots, Rich. I ran into a similar problem with a Canon 85mm/1.9 last week. I got several shots soft, but the ones that were correctly focused were quite sharp. Sometimes, the softer images mean more to us when we take photos of people we know and love.

Frank: Move to Utah first, then make your move ... within the UTAH Photography Social Affairs Society ... if such a society even exists ;-)



Regards,
Raid
 
The one of Melanie taken with the Summicron 50/2 is just awesome. Great composition, scanning, tone, etc. Oh, and she's not a bad subject either - for a former Philadelphian. Aaa ha hhahahhahahaaa!!!.
 
With models like these its hard to go wrong. I like the 50mm f/2 shots better, and I can see Rich in the window reflection in the shot with the table and chairs! I think next time stop down a bit with the 90 and you should be able to snap all of the head into sharp focus. Melanie looks like you had your Leica as well, where are the shots of pretty boy Rich! :p
 
Here's one taken with an M7 and a new Elmar 90mm f/4. This is probably my least used lens, but I'm trying to make a point of using it more.

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I love this because the woman is not identified, she can be the universal mother, and we can all identify with the injured child. (whether physical or emotional) Super!
 
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