Leica Netherlands recently introduced a very interesting program for potential Leica customers: Leica Test Drive. After enlisting – and maybe a bit of waiting – you just pick up a bag with a Leica M240, a 35 and 50 summicron and there you go. Shoot it for a few days and bring it back. Costs: absolutely nothing.
Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of shooting with one of these happy Test Drivers. Jop wanted to get the most out of his Test Drive and decided to hire me for a brief instruction. Being used to a manual focus Hasselblad system, Jop didn’t have too much trouble with the rangefinder and he made quite a few decent images.
The Hadley series is one of the most popular photo bags for rangefinder shooters. Almost every Leica shooter seems to own one of these bags in his or her photographic career. And for a reason: the Hadley is one of the most versatile bags you can buy. It is light, stylish, very sturdy, waterproof and easily accessible.
Very simple, yet so effective. A Hadley does what it is supposed to do.
The Billingham Hadley Small is a typical day bag: big enough to carry one rangefinder camera with 4 lenses (or more) and some accessories. For me as a documentary wedding photographer, it is too small. But when I’m out for a day of shooting, it is just perfect. When walking around all day, I want to carry as little as possible. That means a single body and a few lenses. With the Hadley small there’s still enough space for a wallet, your phone, some batteries and even compact sweater or jacket in case the weather changes.
It is for a reason that the Hadley Small, L2 and the 2.8 series are popular among RF photographers…
I also have a Hadley Pro, but I don’t use that bag when I know I’ll be walking around all day. It’s too big and heavy for that if you pack it. The Pro is used for assignments and for workshops when I need to carry a few cameras and lenses for my students. It is for a reason that the Hadley Small, L2 and the 2.8 series are popular among RF photographers: they’re all small and light enough to carry all day. Make no mistake about that. Also, consider the fact that the Hadley small is so light because of its fabric. For example: the ONA Berlin II, which is just slightly bigger than the Hadley Small, is twice the weight of the Billy, because it’s made out of leather. It is a very pretty bag though, I really have to say.
Two front pockets and a camera insert. Place enough for a RF kit.
The reason I keep coming back to Billingham camera bags is that they all do their job, without shouting what they’re doing. It may seem so trivial, but I can’t stand bags that need velcro for closing, or bags that need two hands to open it up. I don’t like the big zipper on the Artisan & Artist ACAM-1000 which is neither waterproof nor sturdy. Lowepro bags work in the outdoors, but I don’t like most of them in the streets. The ThinkTank Retrospective series may be the best alternative, but there’s still the velcro. ONA is another brand with silent closing system and I need to take a good look at these bags. Of all bags that I have had, Billingham has the best closing system.
Plenty room for a rangefinder and a couple of lenses, plus other stuff.Regular wear after intensive use for a couple of years.
The layout of the Hadley Small is very simple: a canvas bag, with waterproof rubber material between the two layers, a removable camera insert and two front pockets. The strap is adjustable and can be fitted with an optional pad. If you pack light, you won’t need that. The insert has four dividers: two large ones and two small ones. Since the bag is designed to be worn close against your body and is quite thin, you’ll need to ‘stack’ lenses if you carry more than just two. During weddings, I don’t want to stack, but on the streets, I don’t care much.
Yes, you can fit all of this in the Billingham Hadley Small. Easily!
Spare batteries for Leica M9
Business cards
Lacie Rugged hard drive
Spare SD-cards
Lens cloth
Blower
Wallet. Mine is big and fat of course
Very old iPad. That’s why my wallet is still fat. Yes I know it’s a bit greasy.
CV 35/1.2. A big and heavy lens
Leica M9P with 50 cron
Leica 35 cron
Leica 28/2.8 ASPH
Leica 75/2.5 Summarit
Of course, I don’t carry this around on a day trip. It’s just to show what could be fitted in the bag. If you leave the iPad and a few lenses, you can pack a scarf or a sweater in the back pocket.
My wife likes my Hadley Small just as much as I do. Here in Cambodia after a day of tomb raiding. This is what Leicas and Billies are made for people!Here she does it again. This time in Santiago de Chili.
The Hadley Small is just big enough to be carried by a man – if you care about that – but in my case, my wife always seems to be the first to pick up the Hadley small and I have to find another bag for myself. I might buy a second one just for that in the future. Anyway: on a recent trip we carried a Hadley Small through the muddy and hot ruins of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, through the windy cold of Patagonia and the humid cities of Cuba. Of course, our Billy didn’t break down – neither would a 10 euro bag without a brand – but it just seemed to work so well everywhere. I forgot to pack my shoulder pad, so we bought a Tatonka pad in HongKong, but it wasn’t really necessary after all. Most of the time, we’d carry our cameras in our hand, attached with a wrist strap. We visited some unfriendly neighborhoods in Cuba and Chile, but the bag never attracted any unwanted attention. Perfect!
the bag never attracted any unwanted attention…
With 229 Euros, the Hadley small doesn’t come cheap. It you want to spend less, Think Tank may be your best alternative, but if you’re carrying around an expensive Leica, this bag probably won’t be the priciest piece of gear you’ll own. Having used and abused it a lot for years, I can tell you it is very durable and will protect your gear under most conditions very, very effectively. Maybe that’s why I have four Billingham bags.
The pictures of the bag were taken with the Leica M240 with Minolta Rokkor MD35-70 Macro lens.
Unlike most Leica shooters, I didn’t own a M5, M6 and M7 before I moved to the M8. No, I had a M9 and out of curiosity – and because I wanted a second body – I bought a second hand M8. In chrome. It was unbelievably pretty, even prettier than my black M9. It has a nifty battery indicator/frame counter, nice and grippy leather and a shutter dial that says 1/8000. More important, it is capable of delivering fantastic images, as long a you keep the ISO on 640 or lower, and don’t forget to screw on an IR-filter.
One of the best sunsets I’ve seen: clouds reflecting all the terrific light.
The shutter makes a whiny sound, just like the M9, but somehow my M8 felt a little snappier than my M9 did. I guess it was my imagination, but I just liked the thing. The fact that it features ‘only’ 10.3 megapixel is an advantage if you use it for fun shooting. It will fill up your SD-cards and computer not as fast as the M9 does. I’ve got prints 1,5 meter long that were shot with a 8.6 megapixel camera and they look great. If you’re shooting 30 or more weddings a year, the difference between the 18.5 megapixel M9 and 24 megapixel M240 becomes noticeable. Mind you, as a pro shooter, I absolutely love the M240. It’s all I need as a documentary wedding shooter.
Yesterday, I visited a good friend of mine. A few years ago I gave him a print of his dog, who I regularly take for a walk. It was a sunny evening and the light was as soft as it could be. Yellow, orange, almost red. Beautiful. The dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback in a very good shape, stood still on a ridge and stared at something far away. I grabbed my M8, focussed and hit the shutter. A few minutes later, he walked towards me. I knelt, focussed again and shot the frame straight into the sun. These two pictures have become my favorite shots I took with the M8. I printed the one on the ridge on 1 meter wide and it’s still on the wall of my friend.
Soft light, a four legged friend, a Leica M8 and 35 cron. All you need on an evening like this.Once upon a time in the west, don’t you think?
I just took a look at eBay and at this moment you can get a M8 for just a bit more than 1000 euros. Add a tiny 35/2.5 Voigtländer pancake lens and you’re done for less than 1500 euros. Still quite a bit of money, but you’ll get images that are absolutely gorgeous and the user experience is unbeatable.
The end of my wedding season is near and I’m happy to have more time on my hands in the next few months. One of the thing I will do is update this website more regularly. While I was editing one of my weddings, I was struck -again- by the sheer beauty the M240 delivers in combination with the lovely Voigtländer 35/1.2. If you get close enough, it has a Noctilux-like rendering and softness. Perfect for my weddings…
A few months ago my friend Susannah, who runs a child nursery, asked me if I’d be interested to shoot some portraits of ‘her’ children. Let me begin by saying that her nursery is not a very typical nursery. She runs the business in her own house with lots of attention and love for her little customers. They bake pies, play with wooden toys, pick berries in the garden and in the meantime, they get to eat lots of healthy, organic food.
Say cheese? Please don’t…
When she asked about the portraits I was afraid she meant I’d have to take clean shots, with a white or blue background, lighted with a big studio flash and the kids staring at the lens with a forced grin, most of us impose on children that face a camera. Luckily, that’s not what she wanted. Instead, she wanted real life shots of the kids in the way they really are. Playing, talking, thinking, staring, laughing…
When I see these portraits I can’t help but feel sorry for all children who’s parents made their children ‘say cheese’ on every occasion…
I decided to keep it as simple as possible. I took my M240, my 35 and 50 summicron and nothing else. Fortunately, the light was good. Some sun, but not too harsh and most of it was filtered through the leaves of the trees. Just perfect for available light shooting. Of course, I’d lie if I said that I stayed unnoticed. With little kids, that’s impossible if you’re in the same room with them. They stare at you, curious as they are and I used these first moments to catch some of this mix of curiosity and shyness. When I see these portraits I can’t help but feel sorry for all children who’s parents made their children ‘say cheese’ on every occasion. Why on earth are we so obsessed with the idea that we need to smile in front of a camera? And why do we make our children smile, while their natural expression is far more interesting?
In these first moments, you can capture the mix of curiosity and shyness.
One of the photographer I truly admire is Peter – I don’t even know his real last name – of the blog Prosophos. He has been documenting his own family life, which he calls ‘Life’s little moments’. I think there is no better description for what he does. He just takes pictures of little things that happen in his house, the garden and places they visit. His pictures are real masterpieces, not because they are technically very good – though they are-, but because the perfect timing of his shots. There is some kind of tenderness in his pictures that can be felt very clearly. Even though you never met the family, after a while you actually start thinking that you know the different characters. It also helps that he obviously shares a passion for rangefinder cameras and a deep interest in the rendering of different lenses with me.
Some people say that playing children are too fast and too unpredictable to capture with a rangefinder camera…
After these first few moments, the kids started doing what they like best: playing. Now all I did was watch them playing, waiting for something interesting to happen and capture that moment. Some people say that playing children are too fast and too unpredictable to capture with a rangefinder camera. I think it’s not that hard, at least if you’re experienced enough. In this case experience is comprised of two components: the ability to anticipate the moment and the ability to quickly focus your camera. The second component can be learned in a very effective way. The first component can be learned by watching peoples behavior. If you do that enough, you’ll discover patterns and you’ll learn that anticipation will result in better pictures. Maybe the hardest shots were the ones on the swing. But even that can be anticipated, because even a swing follows a very logical pattern. In fact, it would be a very good exercise to try to keep a kid on a swing in focus all the time. Just try it.
Again, prefocus and wait. This is such a gentle moment.This is a little harder: a swing in action.The 50 cron shines here. I’d say: as usual. Such a good lens.
And for shooting indoors, with the Leica M240 even a relatively ‘slow’ summicron is fast enough.
Finally, some advice:
Kneel down to get to their level when you’re shooting kids
Focus on the moments. They may last only a second
You will miss moments: don’t be upset that you missed them, be thankful that you saw them. It means you have an eye for moments.
While I was uploading another 25 Gigs of a long wedding, I was looking at my M6 and I was -again- surprised with the sheer beauty of the top plate design. It’s so simple, yet so attractive. I placed the M6 on my almost black chair, grabbed the 5D3 of my wife – I could have used the M240 as well of course – , fired up a single speedlite flash and there you go: just mechanics. So beautiful.
I hope you didn’t expect a full review of the M6. Well, I might do that in the future. Here’s an interesting article that I wrote for Steve Huff about the M6. By the way, I have long been tempted to get a personalized MP. I never bought one, because all my commercial work is done with the digital rangefinders. The new M-A sounds tempting as well though. It’s quite incredible Leica is still releasing new film cameras.
Today I came across an interview with me that is part of a very interesting series of interviews, done by Roger Overall. It’s two years old by now, it’s a bit lengthy and my English couldn’t be worse that day, but it’s still interesting enough. If you’re interested in how I use my Leica in documentary wedding photography you can skip to the 18th minute. Funny detail: apparently, two years ago I was still shooting weddings on my ‘quiet’ Converse Allstars and in black trousers and shirt. Nowadays, I ask my clients about the dresscode. Usually, it’s ‘tenue de ville’, a suit, with a tie and proper shoes. I have had a couple of suits taylor made to my needs and by now I can say: there is no need to dress as a ‘photographer’ on a wedding anymore.
With all the releases of new Leica lenses at this Photokina, you’d almost forget that Leica is also THE brand for vintage lens lovers. Newer is not always better and ‘better’ is relative anyhow. Is sharper better? Or faster, is that better? I get emails from readers asking which 35mm lens is the sharpest you can get. But why would you need the sharpest lens available? I’d say, the character of the lens, or its signature, should be more important than just sharpness alone. I’m more interested in the rendering of a specific lens than just its sharpness. To be honest, a lens can even be too sharp, depending on what you’re using it for. The 75 Summarit for example, is very sharp and has lots of micro contrast. Not the ideal setup when you’re doing headshots of women in their fifties. However, as you’ll find out in this article, the way I use this 90mm, sharpness is quite important.
To be honest, a lens can even be too sharp…
When I bought my first Leica, the M6, it came with a 90mm tele-elmarit. The friendly man who sold it to me didn’t have any other lenses left after he had started selling his Leica gear. I just took his offer and bought the lens for 300 euros. I didn’t really know what I was buying, but it turned out to be a good deal.
My tele-elmarit from 1976. Dented, scratched, but works like a charm
About tele lenses
I’m not a frequent user of my 90mm. As you know, most of my time is consumed by covering weddings in my own documentary style. For my wedding work, I use 35 and 50 lenses for most of my shots. A 28 and 75 are included in my bag for less or more reach. Because I like to work close, a 90mm is too long. Besides that, I’m not a big fan of tele lenses for my wedding work. I don’t like the perspective and I want the viewer to be ‘part of the image’. With a tele lens, you create a visible distance between the viewer and the subject. Furthermore, a 90mm can be hard to focus on a rangefinder camera. With the normal magnification of the M9 or M240, there’s just a tiny retangle that shows the frame you’re working in. Focussing needs to be done very carefully, otherwise, you’ll end up with many out of focus images. By the way: there’s a solution for getting better at focussing rangefinder cameras.
The 90 tele-elmarit is light, has a small diameter, but is quite long. Well, for a rangefinder lens. Not for a 90mm lens of course…Even more so when focussed close-up and with the hood attached
For street photography, as far as I’m concerned, the same thoughts apply as to my wedding photography. I like to get close and take my viewer with me in a scene. With a 90mm the photographer creates a certain distance that is felt by the viewer.
With a 90mm the photographer creates a certain distance that is felt by the viewer…
So, if it is hard to work with a 90mm and there is less use for a lens like this, what on earth would you buy it for? For most people, one of the main reasons is portrait photography. For me – sorry to disappoint you again – this doesn’t work either. Again, the 90 delivers a certain distance to my subject that I don’t like. I prefer a 50mm for a portrait and a 75 for a headshot.
The use of a long lens
OK, let me tell you what I use my 90mm for. Landscapes and outdoor sports photography! Yes, you didn’t suspect that, did you? I started of in photography with landscapes and outdoor sports photography and the lenses that I used most were my 24mm and 135mm. The wide-angle to show as much as possible of the environment and to get as much action in the shot as possible. The tele to compress the image and to show ‘layers’ in my compositions. With a tele, you can show specific parts of a landscape by isolating them from their environment. But with a tele you can use the compression to your advantage. In the shot below, I wanted to show my wife, preparing some food on a beach in New-Zealand, with the mountains clearly visible in the background. The 90 makes it easy to get your subject big enough in the frame, while the background – though quite far away – makes up a significant part of the frame as well.
Compression of a scene can be very usefull in outdoor photography
So, enough about 90mm lenses in general. Why would you buy the 90mm tele-elmarit? In short: because it’s light, relatively small, very sharp, cheap and it renders nicely.
Build quality and ergnomics
My tele-elmarit is scratched – also on the glass – , dented, had haze on a few elements, but after a CLA, it worked like new. In this case, ‘new’ is almost forty years old. My lens was produced in 1976 in Canada, just two years after Leica started to produce this lens. In 1987, the production of this lens was moved to Germany. In 1990, the production seized. In general, the Canadian versions are cheaper than the German versions. As far as I know, there are no differences in quality. But we’re talking about the build here. Considering the state of my lens and the fact that it still delivers razor sharp images, it’s safe to conlcude it is built to last.
It’s safe to conlcude it is built to last…
The aperture ring clicks nice and firm and focussing is smooth as it should be. The focus throw is quite long, but that’s a good thing, especially with a long lens. The lens is light, considering the focal lenght and the maximum aperture. It weighs only 225 grams. The optional hood is a bit akward to use. It’s a clip-on system and it keeps the sun out, but it’s too big to comfortably fit in your bag. If you don’t shoot against the sun, you might leave it home. If you do shoot against the sun – or other strong light sources – I recommend to take it with you. The closest focussing distance is one metre: good enough for landscapes, but for portraits, you’ll notice that you’ll need to take a step back every now and then.
Sharpness, bokeh and rendering
I’ll be honest: I really, really didn’t expect this lens to be this sharp. Old lenses are – in general – a little softer than modern lenses. A modern 50 summilux ASPH is sharper than the first versions of this lens. Period. This forty year old lens surprised me in a good way though. Let me show you:
A rare sight: a rainbow above the Opera House in SidneyAnd here’s a crop
Want to see more? OK, here you go:
Somewhere in PatagoniaAnd the crop…
I started this review with a question: is sharpness realy that important? Well, it depends. For documentary work, sharpness is less important than for landscape work. At least, for me it is. And I’m not the only one. When I work for magazines, art directors tend to be OK with documentary work that isn’t 100% sharp. As long as the message is conveyed, it’s OK. In landscapes it is – generally – less about emotions, messages and decisive moments. The image needs to be sharp. So for me, using the 90mm mostly for landscapes, sharpness does matter.
The bokeh is nice, but not as nice as the bigger, heavier and faster Leica 90 summicron, which has been made in quite a number of different versions. As you can see here, if you get close enough to your subject, bokeh will be nice and smooth. For me, bokeh with a 90mm is less important compared to my other lenses, because in my landscape shots I don’t use out of focus subjects as much as with other lenses and subjects.
If you get close enough, bokeh is nice and smooth
The Leica 90 tele-elmarit for portraits
For many photographers, one of the main reasons to buy a 90mm is for portrait work. It’s a classic focal length for this kind of work. But classic or not, for my taste it is too long. I prefer the more natural perspective of a 50mm or a 75mm lens. But again, this is very personal. If you do want to shoot portraits with this 90mm, you’ll like its long focus throw, which makes very precise focussing easier than the short throw on the modern Leica 90 summarit. Be aware that the 90mm frame lines make up a small part of your viewfinder, so composing is a bit harder than with a 50mm. If you use this focal length a lot, you might consider buying a magnifier for your viewfinder. While I consider my 75 summarit to be almost too sharp for portraits, the 90mm appears to be softer than the far more modern summarit lenses. And it’s not just the sharpness, but the lack of micro contrast that might result in what I’d call ‘a not so crispy picture’.
Nice rendering with natural light and a black background.An ‘environmental portrait’.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a light, sharp and small 90mm lens for landscapes, travel and some portraits, this is the lens. It can be found for 300 euros and more and you won’t be disappointed. If you’re buying a 90mm for portrait work mostly, you might consider the heavier, but better rendering summicron.
Although my preferred supplier Leica Boutique in Lisse doesn’t have a 90 tele-elmarit in stock, they might have other interesting lenses and cameras.
Shot against the sun – with a hood – still delivers excellent sharpness
Sunset in Ronda, Andalucia (Spain). Shot against the sun, still razor sharp.See what I mean?
With a long lens you can create interesting images that are almost abstract.Here the magnificent Cerro Torre in Los Glaciares, Argentina.A lone penguin on Magdalena Island, ChileMy wife completing the 105 km ‘Circuito Grande’ in Torres del Paine, Patagonia.
Recently I had two clients over for a double Leica workshop. Both clients didn’t have a Leica M yet, but they were both thinking of getting one. One week ago, one of the clients emailed me to say he had bought a Leica M240 and that he was very pleased with it. Personally, I took a long time deciding whether the Leica M system would work for me. Being a documentary wedding shooter, I need to nail a lot of moments and I was afraid that manual focus would slow me down. Nobody offered the opportunity to shoot with an M as a try-out, like I offer to my clients, so I just bought an M6 and started working with it in my spare time. After that, it took just a week before I decided I’d get the M9. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my photographic career.
Nobody offered the opportunity to shoot with an M as a try-out, like I offer to my clients…
This picture was made with my Leica M240 and the CV 40/1.4 Nokton. I’m still working with that lens to find out if I like it. Sometimes I love the rendering, but sometimes it looks awful. I don’t use it for my regular work yet, since it is far less predictable than my summicrons.
Is the camera you carry around. That’s one of the reasons why I love rangefinder cameras. They’re tiny and light, compared to SLRs. And the lenses are even smaller and lighter. This combo: the M9-P with the CV 40/1.4 weighs 760 grams. With that you get a full frame camera with a fast and multifunctional lens. It fits in a small bag that I carry over my shoulder on the bike, or you might even put it in your cycling shirt. Of course, the Fuji X100 and Leica X2 are even lighter, but since I don’t have one of these, I try to create a versatile system with a nice setup for every occasion.
