Your take on the RFF/Popflash contest...

[ZorkiKat]

There's also the practical aspect to using 50mms. HCB started using Leicas before these cameras had built-in finders which showed the fields of the non-"normal" lenses. Using a 35 with the pre-M3 Leicas meant the use of an accessory finder which was propped on top of the camera. That would have made the camera a bit bulkier. Using a II or III-series camera with a 50mm lens still proved easiest to do. HCB may have "grown" up with the 50mm, developing his style according to what the tool he used afforded. So when the tools improved he stuck with 50mms because it suited his vision.

There are a lot of pictures which show HCB using a camera with a finder perched on top- for the convenience of easier viewing perhaps, but still used with the 50mm.

I joined RFF early this year. Been into rangefinders for more than 21 years now. Got my first Leica -a IIIc- as my 'second camera' - in a time when the SLR was THE camera- sort of like looking to the east when everybody else was looking to the west.

Its good to be able to commune with like-minded people. The RFF contest was really an icing of sorts since I never had the chance to join a competition where the entries had to be absolutely RF.

And I like using 50mm 🙂

Jay

 

[markinlondon]

I think the 50mm lens isn't as "normal" as it used to be. For decades, that was the main lens that came with a camera, plus perhaps a 135mm (that was my first SLR kit in the 1970s). Today, hardly any amateurs use a 50mm. All point and shoots, digital and film, are in the 35mm range if fixed. If zoom, the 35 is the wide end of their range. So we're no longer flooded with poor 50mm images.

Vince, you're dead right. In fact, with the popularity of the "bridge camera", the "normal" lens for an enthusiast would appear to be a 28-200mm zoom. I have looked at these superzooms in the past but always walked away with my card balance intact. The weight, bulk and just sheer "wrongness" of them puts me off every time.
I think the rangefinder world is the last bastion of the normal 50mm due to our preference for old kit and the sheer number of really nice 50's available. Also it's the only finder frame for most old Leicas or Soviet cameras which tends to predudice your lens choice a bit.


Mark

 

[GeneW]

The prize, of course, was lovely, and the donation very generous. But I don't like photo contests nor am I much of a street photographer so I didn't participate. As an observer, I thought the requirement of 50mm lens was misguided. Most street photography is done with a 35mm lens. Anyway, it's over. Now back to gearhead talk 😀

Gene

 

[JoeFriday]

I had no pretensions that my photos would be of the caliber of many photographers here, so there was no pressure for me.. but the contest provided an incentive to get out and shoot film on days when I normally would have stayed indoors

it's ironic that I originally was turned off by the fact that the contest was being held during the winter (at least in my part of the world).. and it turned out that one of my favorite shots was taken outside during a snowstorm

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I shoot mainly with 50mm because that was what I had been told to use in school. So I was accoustomed to it beforehand.

I'm not much of a "Street" shooter. It was interesting to see what came out of the woodwork with the contest. Lots of decent images. Some stellar. My own efforts were pretty humble. Especially since the weren't shot for the contest.

I won't bother discussing the personalities that came for the party. It was like one of those insane 70's dorm parties.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I didn't want to participate, but one day at the beginning of the year, I went to Chicago with my M3 and managed to get some decent-looking shots with my 'cron (the collapsible kind) and 400 film. They weren't strictly street, but I submitted them because they were museum moments (kinda decisive, but less so) and thought "why not?"

Otherwise, being a wide-angle fan, a 50mm lens is just a small telephoto to me. I like using it to crop a photo (after I have taken it with a 35mm lens). In other words, it's kinda my alternate lens in my current Leica gear, and the ONLY lens I use with my M3.

It's been fun, though... I won't complain. Winning would be nice, but I frankly would donate the prize to some guys whose posted entries are simply wonderful compared to mine.

OK, time to go to work! 'twas nice talking to ya! 🙂

 

[taffer]

The prize, of course, was lovely, and the donation very generous. But I don't like photo contests nor am I much of a street photographer so I didn't participate. As an observer, I thought the requirement of 50mm lens was misguided. Most street photography is done with a 35mm lens. Anyway, it's over. Now back to gearhead talk 😀

Gene

Amén !!! 😀

 

[RayPA]

This contest generated a lot of talk about "the spirit of HCB." IMO, the "spirit" was simply to shoot with one FL, make some images, and have some fun.

The focal length restriction was a good one, and in the end can only make us all better photographers. The best suggestion I heard for those complaining that a wider FL was their "normal" was, "step back" 😀 (sorry I forget who said it). It reminded me of the often cited/popular Capa quote! 🙂

If the contest got some of us off our arses, and away from the front of the computer for a few hours, or forced some of us to spend some time in the Gallery, or put us outside of our photographic comfort zones for a little bit then it was well worth it. 🙂 I guess this means we'll be seeing a lot of 50mm FS posts. 😀

I had a blast, and enjoyed watching the images come in.

🙂

 

[vincentbenoit]

About HCB- you can get tired of seeing the same classic HCB images over and over just as you do with a song you hear too much, but I HCB has a lot of lesser-known images that are really great.
About the site/contest- I found RFF while searching online for a Mamiya 6 to buy used. I entered the contest but I'm also hooked to RFF forums and viewing members' galleries. I recently moved back from Paris to the US, and one of the things I miss is the B/W rangefinder aesthetic that seems never to go out of style in Paris. In the US, comerical influences dominate discussions and frame the debate, so all we hear about is digital digital digital. I don't want to get long winded here but it kind of pisses me off that what passes for a film review in the states is often just how much a certain film grossed at the box office, not if it was any good or not. I was beginning to think street photography was dead so finding RFF kind of energized me. Keep the faith.

Hey Dave,

I'm with you here. Let's keep classic street photography alive in this day and age of rampant political correctness, fashion-dictated consumerism and blandification of the urban environment.

Cheers,

Vincent

 

[zuikologist]

DaveL - I second (third?) your thoughts. I hope the competition helps us all keep the faith.

 

[wtl]

Just curious, who is the judge? HCB himself? (serious)

 

[vincentbenoit]

Just curious, who is the judge? HCB himself? (serious)

HCB passed away in August 2004.

Vincent

 

[wtl]

HCB passed away in August 2004.

Vincent

Serious on the first part. Sorry didn't make it clear.

 

[Uncle Bill]

I threw two picture of mine onto the contest pile and having seen the gallery, I wondered if I was out of my league a bit. I used my Contax IIIa with my pictures first with a Jupiter 8 later a CZ Jenna Sonnar. Ironic, I did not pick up my Leica or choose any shots taken with it. Its out of my hands, actually out of all our hands now. Would be cool to get a free Zeiss Ikon with a 50 f2 lens, great bragging rights to say, yeah I won this camera.
I will most likely not win and I am not worried about that either.

Bill

 

[StuartR]

I did not enter. I thought about it, but I was not totally keen on the 50mm lens requirement or that images had to be taken in the spirit of HCB. I like HCB a lot, but I think things should be taken in the spirit of the photographer, not of someone else. I am sure many people did this anyway... I guess I just think if you are going to have a photo contest, there should be no limitations except, extremely broad ones -- like theme, camera type or medium. Within that, the individual's creative vision should determine what the photo looks like. But I am not really big on contests...I have a feeling that most of the photos I like probably would not have won any contests.

 

[jhanson]

Regardless of opinions on the lens choice and the photographer it was in the spirit of, the contest got people out shooting, expressing their point of view. HCB choose the 50mm because that is the lens he felt he could best express his vision and for those of us that are not used to or comfortable with the 50mm, it was a good excuse to break out and try something new. I hope everyone had fun.

 

[StuartR]

Who knows why he chose it? Did he say anywhere? Who's to say he didn't choose it because it was the only lens that was easily usable on the cameras he used? I guess my point is that the 50mm was HCB's, the 4x5 was Avedon's, the only person to choose what's yours is you! But anyway, that's just me.

 

[jan normandale]

Like a lot of people said, “I’m not too up for contests” I find I have to break my stride, change gears and then go. Usually I’m too focused on shooting projects of my own to want to spend my time on something that isn’t moving me towards one of my current goals.

In the spirit of RFF and late in the game, I decided to quit being a foot dragger and get out and participate. Unfortunately I had immense problems during the final days of the contest. RFF was continually ‘out of commission’ as some of you will recall. I was out of town when the contest was determined to be closed. So I never did enter my shot.

Moral, stick to what you do.

Aside I: there were some wonderful shots submitted, some were amazing.

Aside II: on HCB, I wonder if his first camera just came with a 50mm and like all good students he was a master of his first tool.

Aside III: I find a 50mm like a telephoto, as kgb32 pointed out the 50 is a compromise, the 35 mm camera was designed by Barnak for motion picture industry people.

"The 50 mm focal length was chosen by Oscar Barnack, the creator of the Leica camera, as a compromise between the theoretical value and good sharpness, as lens technology at the time was such that slightly longer focal lengths were able to achieve optimum sharpness." - From Wikipedia

Aside IV: I was intrigued by Joe’s comments and wonder how many others got caught in the heat of the competition, I think I might have if I had entered.

“…never entered a photo contest before because I don't really believe in them but I got sorta crazed.”

Aside V: Like Todd, I wonder about retention of members who joined RFF for the contest’s valuable prize.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I wasn't ever at all interested, and thought that mails asking me to vote indicated a general lack of interest.

Some nice images though.