Black and White film photography - Leica M6 and Ilford HP5

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Shooting film is like riding a bicycle, once you learn it you never forget.

I am finding myself shooting film more often these days. It seems to be a mixture of being tired of the sameness of digital images, the unique look of film, and maybe a little bit of nostalgia thrown into the mix. It also seems that the books that I am enjoying the most lately are by photographers that are still shooting with film. I want to be clear, it’s not that I think film images are better, they just have a different look that I seem to be enjoying these days. I get annoyed when people suggest that film images are better because they are film. Each image has to stand on its own merit and not be defined by the media that it was exposed with.
I have been stopping by to see my old friend Druē Washington the owner of Harry’s Camera in Studio City, California. He sells used cameras and lenses along with lots of accessories. He doesn’t sell any new cameras. Always says that there is no money in new cameras but just a little in used ones. Occasionally I come across some real gems on his shelves.
Every time I stop in he starts telling me how well his film sales are going. He is selling more film each month than the last. He sales lots of Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak Tri-X. Being around all of his old equipment brings back memories of when film was king. We used to call Kodak the big yellow god because of their dominance in the field.
For my part I mostly shoot Ilford film. Usually it is either HP5 or FP4. I find that 400 and 100 speed film cover most of the range that I need these days. I do remember when Kodak TMZ 3200 was introduced. It was shocking to have film that was that fast. The grain seemed like it was the size of softballs in the images. ISO 3200 is of course nothing big these days.
I process my own film with Ilford chemistry. It is so easy to do that I can’t see any reason to pay someone to process it for me. I then scan the best images and work on them in Photoshop. If I wanted to I could still print them with my enlarger. I still have my Besler 23CII that I drag out from time to time and make some silver prints. Everyone should print film just to enjoy seeing the image appear in the developer.
Shooting film with a Leica rangefinder is also something that everyone should try at least one time in their life. I feel so connected with my Leica M6 whenever I use it. It just feels so natural in my hands. And it is so small most people don’t even realize I have a camera. When someone does notice they usually do a double take to be sure that it was really what they saw or they just nod and smile because they are a member of the Leica club. Again not better, just different.
Below are a sample of a few images from my latest roll. No portfolio images, just some memories. A day out with a film camera is like going fishing. It doesn’t matter if you catch anything, it’s just fun to try.

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Leica SL2 Review - Las Vegas test drive

The new Leica SL2 is available and I got a chance to take some images and spend some time checking out the new features. The first thing to know is that preorders are on the scale of the recently back ordered Q2 so put your name on a list now if you are interested.

Leica SL2 review

Leica SL2 review

The Leica SL2 is the second camera line that Leica has revised this year. Back in March the successor to the very popular Leica Q was introduced. The new Q2 has become even more popular than the original Q which was a real surprise to everyone including Leica themselves. It has just been recently that the Q2 has been on dealers shelves after spending the last 6 months on back order. The addition of a 47mp sensor was the headline feature and the same sensor has come to the SL2 in a slightly modified form. You should keep in mind that this means some big files when post processing, the DNG’s are 84.4MB. It is similar to the Panasonic S mirrorless cameras that have joined the L Alliance of manufacturer’s that are sharing the Leica L lens mount.
The new SL2 body is very similar to the previous SL in size and weight. The body is all metal with a leatherette cover, not actual leather as one reviewer has stated, with a nice indentation on the inside of the grip for better holding. The strap lugs have been changed so that they now extrude from the side of the camera. I was told by a Leica rep that this and some other small changes were made to make room for the 5 axis image stabilization system. Every nook and cranny inside the camera has been utilized to keep a moderately large camera from getting larger.
Keeping with the changes that Leica has recently been making to the backs of their cameras the controls have been reduced to only three buttons around the back LCD. They are now PLAY, FN (function), and MENU. Across the top on the back is the on/off switch, the adjustable viewfinder, another FN button, a joystick, and the thumb wheel. As can be expected from Leica, a minimalist approach for interfacing with the camera. The new viewfinder is a high res 5.76 megapixel, 120 FPS OLED display with a magnification of 0.78. The display is sharp and includes all of the expected information that is included in today’s cameras. The camera has the same IP54 waterproof rating that the Q2 has which gives a little more peace of mind when shooting under adverse conditions. The back LCD panel has a non-articulating 3.2” screen that has 2,100,00 dots and touch control.
One comment that I would like to make is about the viewfinder. Myself and a female who were testing the cameras noticed some odd behavior with the viewfinder acting erratically. Sometimes the camera would switch the image from the eyepiece to the back screen for no reason. Not sure if it was beta software in the camera but to have this on 2 cameras was strange. I’m sure it can be fixed with a firmware update.
The 5 axis image stabilization is in my opinion where the most improvement in the camera is obtained. This is were a great deal of the improvement in image quality is obtained. Yes slower speeds can be handheld, but the image quality is increased across the complete range of shutter speeds. Also for any users that want to use the M series lenses they also get the added benefit to image stabilization. The rep also told me that in the future more features will be added to the stabilization. It will be used to pixel shift the sensor and combine the images for even higher resolution. Also this will open the door for combining the images for computational imagining to extend what can be done to enhance the image beyond what is normally possible with just a traditionally processed photographic image. Will be interesting to see what the future brings.
In use I found the camera well designed and the images excellent. I am mostly an M series shooter these days so the camera is bigger than my normal kit but I also have been shooting Nikon for over 40 years so I have plenty of experience with full size cameras. Yes the SL2 is a bit bigger than my Nikon D850 or D5 but it is the size of the lenses that make the difference. They are much larger and heavier than what Nikon or Canon offer. Looking at my images from the Leica Test Drive I would rate the images very high on sharpness and color fidelity. My photos were beautiful. I was shooting with a 50mm 1.4 Summilux Leica lens and the images were every bit as nice as my M series 50mm Summilux. The issue that I feel most people looking to switch to Leica will be concerned about, other than the price, is the range of lenses that are available. Leica is always expanding their lineup but it is not that deep. But as the Leica rep pointed out is that with the L Alliance there are over 40 lenses available so that should reassure most users. The rep also said some of the big rental houses are planning to add Leica SL lenses so that should help owners as well as those who wish to try before they buy.
Deciding if a SL2 is for me is a difficult decision. I would like more megapixels sometimes and since there is an adapter for M lenses to the SL2 body that saves my large investment in lenses. I am more impressed with the images than I thought that I would be based on the images that I have seen from the original SL. You might want to keep checking the blog to see if a new review appears in the future.

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Leica FOTOS for iPad

The native iPad version of FOTOS is now available for download and purchase. The functionality is very similar to the iPhone version that has been available for some time. Leica customers have been mostly unhappy with the FOTOS program because of the slow transfer speeds and the general unreliability of the program. I have found the program to be more stable and the transfers have been much faster.

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This is the start screen. I have loaded a few images from the old version of FOTOS to get the program started.

This is the start screen. I have loaded a few images from the old version of FOTOS to get the program started.

Press the add camera button and a scrolling menu appears where you select your camera. I am adding my Leica Q2. Multiple cameras can be added.

Press the add camera button and a scrolling menu appears where you select your camera. I am adding my Leica Q2. Multiple cameras can be added.

Once the style of camera is added the particular model can be added. In this case the Q2.

Once the style of camera is added the particular model can be added. In this case the Q2.

Next the program is paired to the camera.

Next the program is paired to the camera.

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Camera is connected

Camera is connected

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Here is the app showing a connection to the camera and ready for selecting and transferring images to the iPad.

Here is the app showing a connection to the camera and ready for selecting and transferring images to the iPad.

Camera settings page.

Camera settings page.

Leica FOTOS settings.

Leica FOTOS settings.

Leica FOTOS live view.

Leica FOTOS live view.

Selecting image for download.

Selecting image for download.

Image downloaded to the FOTOS app. The LR button on the top right is to transfer the image to the iPad Adobe Lightroom app. Very convenient addition to the program.

Image downloaded to the FOTOS app. The LR button on the top right is to transfer the image to the iPad Adobe Lightroom app. Very convenient addition to the program.

Success! The transfer from camera to iPad to Lightroom was smooth and will speed up working with the Leica cameras that support the transfer protocol. I timed the transfer and it took 32 seconds to transfer a DNG file to my iPad Pro from the Q2. The…

Success! The transfer from camera to iPad to Lightroom was smooth and will speed up working with the Leica cameras that support the transfer protocol. I timed the transfer and it took 32 seconds to transfer a DNG file to my iPad Pro from the Q2. The program has yet to crash. It seems very stable. The program is still slow when it comes to building the previews of the contents of the cameras SD card. Hopefully this will get faster as the program matures.
The Leica FOTOS app works with the Leica S 007, SL, SL2, M10, M10-P, M10-D, Q, Q2, Q-P, CL, T, TL, TL2, D-LUX 7, V-LUX, V-LUX5and the C-LUX. Leica FOTOS Pro is made for the iPad and allows the download of DNG files from the camera. It has a dedicated Lightroom button for quicker editing. The app will also start and stop video recordings. The “Pro” features are available with a 12 month subscription that costs $49. FOTOS for iPad has a 7 day trial period so you can test it for your workflow. Just remember to cancel if you decide it is not for you.

New Leica Owners’ Area

The Leica Owners’ Area at the Leica web site has been updated. If you already have an account all that is needed is to request a password reset. For new members it is the standard signup.
The Leica Owners’ Area is where equipment is registered. If you have older equipment the serial numbers can be stored here as well. If you purchased products that have other benefits available that information will be listed here. With some cameras a trial membership for Adobe products will be listed here. Also information for the free one year digital membership with the LHSA can be found here.
It would be nice if links to the downloads for the firmware and manuals of the products that you own would be listed here as a bonus for registering. It would be nice if it turned into a concierge service for Leica owners. Maybe a note from the Chairman of Leica Mr. Kaufmann. How about information about your Leica based on its serial number with info like date of manufacture.

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