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F-1's with Canon 35's |
I began photography in 1968 with a Canon FT. I later moved to the professional-grade Canon F-1's, a bargain in 1998. I stayed with film for as long as I did, in no small part because of the superb viewfinder screens (PJ comes to mind) available for the F-1 professional cameras. These screens, and the available Speed Finders have served as a welcome relief for these tired eyes.My favorite Canon FD lenses are the several 35mm f2's, the amazingly compact 35mm f2.8, the 28mm f2.8 SC version, the new FD 24mm, 50mm f 1.4 and f3.5 macro, the 85mm f 1.8 and the superb 100mm f2. When an SLR was too bulky to carry around, I enjoyed the Leica CL, a tiny rangefinder with a superb 40mm lens. Of all my cameras, it has needed the most frequent repair. I found a 70's Leicaflex SL SLR (article by Douglas Herr) (photo below) languishing dejected and unwanted in a camera shop with a botched engraving job on its bottom plate. It begged to be taken home like a mutt in the dog pound. The SL's viewfinder, even in its aging, yellowed condition, is nearly as bright as that of the Canon F-1.
Leicaflex SL with 90 f2.8 |
Another discovery has been the Leica R 28mm f2.8. I was blown away by its color rendition and sharpness, especially at f8 and beyond, and, important to me, apparent lack of barrel distortion. I also use this 28 on a Leica CL rangefinder (with an adapter and add-on viewfinder, no focus capability, just set hyperfocal distances.I added the Leica 90mm f2.8 Elmarit when I wanted a short tele with extreme sharpness and little apparent distortion. This 90mm is also a splendid flat field macro lens when used on the Leicaflex with extension tubes. The Leica 50mm f2 Summicron is a classic 50, sharp even in the corners of the frame, with a very special color rendition.. Lurking ominously in the wish list is the Canon 5D, with a sensor the size of the 35mm frame. I can use my Leica R lenses (by means of adapters), and add the best Canon lenses as I can afford them or find bargains. A late step in quality film image-making has been medium format film (120/220). The Bronica RF 645 is a rangefinder camera with superb lenses, yielding a negative 2.7 times as large as 35mm. The RF 645 is an excellent field camera, no larger and weighing about the same as a full-size SLR, and still available new, at big discounts. Since I've always thought that the 35mm frame is too long (or tall), I expect to do a lot less cropping with 6 x 4.5cm. The larger negatives scan nicely with reasonably priced flatbed scanners.
The prohibitive cost of new digital equipment, including storage media, kept me out of the running for years. However, with the advent of such quality compacts as the Canon G9/G10 and the Panasonic DMC-LX3, Canon's Rebel series with the same quality sensors as the bigger, heavier D-series, and inexpensive digital cards, quality digital has become affordable. A cost-cutting strategy is to buy a new camera, with a warranty, just when it is about to be eclipsed with the latest and greatest upgrade. You benefit from the lower purchase price, and the seller receives some profit from his sale. The Pentax K 20D is my digital system of choice. I still like to use prime (non-zoom) lenses, for their optical quailty, and as an alternative to walking the streets of Europe cradling one of these 72-filter size zooms like a drunk protecting his bottle. The new DA 21mm f3.2 is so compact as to tuck neatly under the viewfinder prism hump, making for a nearly (coat) pocketable SLR. This 21, on the APS-C sensor K20D, is the equivalent of about a 32mm semi-wide in 35mm.
21mm Pentax DA lens on SLR |
The FA 35mm f2 is my return to hair-shirt basics, disciplining me to isolate the subject, instead of capturing so much image space the viewer has no sense of my subject. After 40 years, my work still suffers from this problem. Older Pentax A-series manual focus lenses can be used with wide-open metering in the "A" position, with a focus confirmation light in the viewfinder. The Pentax KA 50mm f1.7 is a favorite of many Pentax shooters, sharp, light, cheap, and an excellent portrait lens. Any Pentax KM, K or screw-mount (with an adapter) lens can be used on Pentax digital SLR's, albeit in the stop-down mode, using manual or AV metering. Leitax.com, a company in Barcelona, Spain, offers an adapter fitting your Leica R (or Contax) lenses to Pentax SLR's (film or digital). Each lens you wish to convert needs its own adapter (about $100 US). Once you install the adapter, the lens is usable only on your Pentax, unless you uninstall the adapter and re-install the original mount. Some intriguing possibilities include: the 50mm f2 Summicron as a 75mm equivalent portrait lens, the 60mm Elmarit as a macro and a 90mm equivalent portrait lens, and the very easy installation of the Leitax adapter to the breech end of the Leica R extension tube, making macro photography with 50mm or 90mm R's possible. Compose and focus wide open, using Pentax's built in electronic focus confirmation. Stop down to meter on manual or AV.
I am still nostalgic about the finely crafted Canons and Leicas for which I scrimped and saved and bought used in my youth. Now, however, I must see the camera itself as a temporary tool, passing though my hands, no more worthy of sentiment than early versions of software. Rather than using my camera for 35 years, I know I must replace the camera when the electronics burn out, or when it becomes far too obsolete. I must turn my attention to the image, deciding whether each is worth saving, worth sharing, worth preserving for my grandchildren, worthy of commentary. I must learn to use affordable technology to be sure the image reflects what I saw, and to preserve it for future work, or for whomever might be interested in seeing it. For this old photographer, the capability to craft each image with camera settings, and to save an original first-generation image in RAW format, for later re-interpretations, is revolutionary. I think that I will be shooting much more in RAW format, as I don't trust jpg for serious work needing tonal and color edits. The disturbing thought keeps returning that I think I was a better photographer in Japan in my 20's, the world fresh and new, the Vietnam war behind me, the remainder of college ahead of me. The trick is to try to find the photographer I was, using the tools available to the photographer I have become.
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