I’m a fan of Leica. And I’m used to their pricing. But after the ‘sandpaper-the-M-for half-a-day-and-call-it-Lenny-Kravtiz-edition’ there’s a new definition for rock bottom as far as Leica concerns.
A few weeks ago Leica released some pictures that were shot with the Leica Thambar 90/2.2 and they look like they were shot with the cheapest lomography hipster plastic lens they could find. Although there is a market for these lenses, I seriously doubt there is a market for these lenses when there’s a price tag attached that says 6080 euros.
Today in Featured: Simon King. He’s been featured on the Leica Blog and was recently interviewed by Creative Londoners. Enjoy!
1) Can you tell a bit about your background (as a photographer)?
‘I started photography in University – rather, I started taking pictures in University, as part of projects and to document my life there. It was a while after that that I began to “practice photography” and still some time after that until I was comfortable working professionally. My photographs of my friends represent some great memories, and if it weren’t for those I likely wouldn’t feel comfortable photographing people at all, as an introvert, and would have ended up shooting landscapes, or perhaps not at all. From here I started in fashion and from there found clients ranging from corporate, to journalistic, to food, to cosplayers.’
2) How did you get into the Leica system?
‘I decided on the Leica M system after reading a lot about the history and significance of the rangefinder, and the friendly, approachable retro styling of the cameras themselves. After trying one out in a shop and deciding that it was not for me I returned to using my Sony RX1R for around three more months until I went back, tried it out again, and bought it, a 35mm Summicron, and a 50mm Collapsible.’
3) Which camera and lenses do you have?
‘Since then I have chopped and changed lenses, camera bodies, and shooting styles until settling on what I am currently very comfortable with – which is day-to-day the M240 usually with Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5, Zeiss 21mm 2.8, or Leica 90mm APO. I also have some vintage Russian rangefinder lenses which I use on my film CL, and the Noctilux which used to be my primary lens, and which I look forward to returning to in the winter. Joeri has asked me for a list of cameras I worked my way through before settling on my current setup, and I am happy to oblige as far as my memory will allow:
Sony Nex-7, Sony RX1R, Fujifilm X100t, Fujifilm X-Pro 1, Pentax K3ii, Olympus OMD EM5ii, Olympus EM1, Sony A7, Sony RX100iv, Canon EOS M, Leica M8, Leica M9-P, Sony A7Rii.’
4) What kind of pictures do you take and why?
‘Although I photograph a lot of things for a lot of clients my personal work will always be street and documentary – with the occasional emphasis on personal documentary. I enjoy finding light first and waiting for people to enter a scene, or looking for things that are out of the ordinary or which catch my eye. I have so many images that I would never show anyone for their photographic poorness, but which for me represent something that interested me at the time.’
‘You can follow my work on Instagram (www.instagram.com/simonking_v), which I try and keep as up to date as possible. I also link through to my website in my bio. Recently I started keeping a blog of my thoughts and day to day work, which you can read at streetdances.wordpress.com.’
Last week I paid a visit to the brand new Leica Store in Amsterdam. Absolute eye catcher is the Van Gogh painting on the right side of the store. It makes the store look like an art gallery and only if you look closer, you see it’s actually a camera store. Also, I’ve never seen so many current M-lenses available in one location. If you’re in Amsterdam, make sure you pay a visit.
This summer I was invited by my friend Susannah for the third time to take some shots of the children playing in her child nursery. Because the nursery is quite small it is impossible to ‘not get noticed’, especially with small, curious children. Blending in is the only way to get the shots that I want and for that, the small and silent Leica M is the solution.
An even better reason to bring the M is that children tend to move quit a bit and often in an unpredictable manner. With the M, I can adjust focus very fast and without having to think about is.
Here are some shots. I used the M and 50 Cron for most of the shots. A few were taken with the SL and Noctilux. Can you spot them?
There are quite a few SL users complaining about the lack of native lenses for the Leica SL. I’ve read remarks where people say that ‘A pro system is not professional if there are only three lenses for it’, and “When is Leica finally releasing the new line of Summicron Sl lenses?’
It is a fact that at this moment there are ‘only’ three native lenses available. But it is also a fact that you can mount almost any lens, not just made by Leica, on the SL. Autofocus may or may not work, but you’ll be able to use them. Even your plastic fantastic Canon lenses will work with an adapter. How cool is that?
Check out this crop: unbelievably detailed, nor chromatic aberration and this is a zoom lens!
Besides that, Leica is still on schedule with the road map they presented a year or so ago. We all knew it would take some time to bring out the new lenses, so no surprises here. In the meanwhile, they have presented a major firmware update for the SL. The claim that the SL system is dead, or has failed, couldn’t be more beside the truth.
There’s another reason why we should be complaining about the lack of native lenses. The three lenses that are actually in production, are among the best in the world. That’s why I’m working on a review of the 24-90, which I have been shooting with recently.
You might have seen one of these funny looking goggled lenses on a Leica meeting. I never thought these lenses would make your camera look better, but even if you agree with me on that, there is still a pretty good reason why these lenses deserve a place in your gear cabinet. They are sharp and fun to use!
Of course an even better reason for owning one of the goggled Leica 35mm lenses is the existence of the Leica M3. Yes, this camera, made famous by HCB, wasn’t built to be used with regular, non-goggled 35mm lenses. So what did Leica do? They made a lens with a ‘viewfinder attachment’, transforming the 50mm viewfinder of the M3 into temporary 35mm viewfinder.
If you’re interested in this lens, you can ask my friend Maarten if he’s got any in stock.
It’s not for everybody: the 35 cron goggle does have some influence on the aesthetics of your Leica M.
Even if you put this lens on the M9, a camera that was released more than half a century after the M3, it still toggles the 50mm framelines on your camera, but the viewfinder attachment reduces the enlargement of your viewfinder and thus corrects for the actual field of view. This is actually a good thing for people that wear glasses who have trouble to see the built in 35mm frame lines of the camera.
This is actually a good thing for people that wear glasses who have trouble to see the built in 35mm frame lines of the camera…
Collectors pay quite a lot of money for this first version of the Summicron (even more for the non-goggled version, which has cheaper optics) and there’s reason why they do. It’s not just a lens that you keep in your safe, no, you can easily use this lens in everyday situations and achieve brilliant results.
Enough sharpness and detail for landscapes.
Build quality and ergonomics
The lens itself is tiny and light weight. It’s the goggle that makes it bulky. If you’re using a bag with narrow lens pouches, you might have some trouble fitting this lens, but don’t let this be a reason not to buy it. This lens, even though it’s ancient (or maybe because it’s ancient) is sturdy, focuses well and doesn’t feel like you need to wear silk gloves to handle it.
This lens, even though it’s ancient (or maybe because it’s ancient) is sturdy, focuses well and doesn’t feel like you need to wear silk gloves to handle it…
One thing I had to get used to is the infinity lock. To be honest, for me it doesn’t do anything. If your focus ring is so loose that you need an infinity lock, you should send your lens in for repair. This lens clearly doesn’t need it. Having said that, it’s always a good idea to shift your focus ring to infinity when you put away your camera. If you need your camera for a quick shot, there’s only one way you can turn your lens.
Some old (fast) lenses have lots of spherical abberation, something that I don’t like, but this lens doesn’t…
Sharpness, bokeh and rendering
The lens consists of eight elements in six groups in a double Gauss design and Leica used some new, exotic types of glass for this lens. And it shows: it performed better in the sharpness department than I imagined. Some old (fast) lenses have lots of spherical abberation, something that I don’t like, but this lens doesn’t. Wide open it’s a tad softer than the new modern ASPH summicron, but still ver much usable. Contrast is a bit low, which is good for black and white photography. Wide open you can tell you’re shooting with a vintage lens. It just has a different rendering than modern lenses have. If you stop it down, the differences narrow down and you’ll be able to shoot perfectly sharp landscapes with it.
Fowley shows the true rendering of the lens. A bit low in contrast, but pleasing to the eye.Here’s a crop.
@2.8 sharpness is already quite good.And the crop…And @f4, I’d happily shoot large print landscapes with it.And the last crop.
There is also very little distortion and fall-of in this lens: another reason why it’s more than capable of shooting landscapes and architecture. Bokeh is nothing to rave about (it’s a 35mm f2 lens, right?) but it’s not bad either.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for an affordable and all-round 35mm lens, this is not your lens. This lens has become a collectors item and therefore prices have increased in the years. For more or less the same money, you can get a used 35mm Summicron ASPH, which is technically better than this lens.
If you’re looking for an affordable and all-round 35mm lens, this is not your lens…
However, if you’re interested in the heritage of the Leica 35 Summicron lenses, this is the lens to start with. This is the lens where it all started. This is the grandfather, the genesis of 35mm lenses. This lens will keep its value and will probably increase in price over the years.
If you own the M3, there is actually no excuse not to get this lens. Just buy it.
Here the 35 Cron goggle in a studio setting. Works fine.You’d draw less attention with a non-goggled cron (maybe), but the M is always a good fly on the wall camera.Here shooting it’s German brother: the Porsche 918 Spyder. It’s not mine by the way.I do miss some contrast wide open, but nothing to moan about.Nice greytones in B&W, a slightly lower contrast helps with that.
Yes, I know, holidays are over. It’s time to get back to work! I’m working on my review of the goggled 35 Cron and my friend Maarten (owner of the analog camera store) has a Canon 50/0.95 available for a review. Can’t wait to see that lens.
Meanwhile one shot of this vintage lens in action, as shot with the SL and Noctilux. Proudly illuminated by the Broncolor Siros mobile flash unit.
When I switched from a DSLR set to the Leica M9, my Billingham 335 was way too big. I bought the Hadley Digital for day trips and the Billingham Hadley Small for my wedding assignments. But in the years, my gear list expanded. I bought more lenses, but I also found that for very long weddings (10 hours plus) I needed extra space for items like a clean shirt, some food, a dry pair of socks and maybe even a compact merino sweater. The Hadley Small was (as the name already says) too small for this.
Most photo bags are still designed to be used with DSLR cameras and DSLR lenses…
Most photo bags are still designed to be used with DSLR cameras and DSLR lenses. Fitting a rangefinder kit in such a bag is a pain, not because it doesn’t fit, but because the small rangefinder lenses will ‘drown’ in those deep pockets. Bags that are designed for rangefinder kits are generally too small for what I need. Luckily, there’s an exception and it’s called the Billingham 225.
Here the 225 with 2 M bodies and six lenses. Very, very good accessibility.
With an internal height of 19 centimeters, the Billingham 225 is just perfect for a rangefinder camera kit. If you bring a lot of lenses, you might need to stack a few, but if you don’t, you can store approximately 4 lenses plus two camera’s with a lens attached. The best news is that you can easily grab those lenses and that you can see which lens you’re grabbing. Sounds weird, but in a deep bag, you can’t see anything.
The best news is that you can easily grab those lenses and that you can see which lens you’re grabbing…
But let’s get to the basics first. The 225 is made of very durable canvas with a butyl rubber fabric inside. Long story short, it feels a lot better than every nylon bag I’ve used and it’s far more waterproof than all these bags, without having to use the awkward rain cover that are usually provided with nylon bags. Unlike the Hadley series, the 225 is more boxy, which makes it a little heavier to carry (more weight further away from your body) but makes it a lot easier to place on the floor without tipping it over. Brass feet keep the bottom of your bag tidy, dry and new.
And here with 1 M and 1 SL and 6 lenses. Note the tuck top cover that can be tucked away. Very handy.
Next, there are a number of ways to carry the bag: with the padded shoulder strap, or with the hand grip, which works with closed and open top cover. Under the top cover you’ll find two zippered compartments. The cover of the big camera compartment can be tucked away on the sides of the bag, providing very quick access to the content of your bag. Brilliant!
The smaller (but still quite big) non-camera compartment is why I chose this bag to be my wedding workhorse…
The smaller (but still quite big) non-camera compartment is why I chose this bag to be my wedding workhorse. This is where all the accessories go: batteries, SD-cards, maybe a charger, a powerbank, some food, dry socks, a very small wind jacket, a small bottle with water. You can fit a lot of stuff in this pocket. And there’s more: two smaller, non-zippered pockets fit my wallet, a phone, more food, a backup hard disk and my keys. Finally, there’s a zippered pocket on the back of the bag, where you can slide in an iPad, or a small laptop.
In this compartment I can fit all my stuff that I need for a full day of shooting, including some food and clothes.
Under the top cover, you could store a small tripod, but this limits access to the bag, so I’d only do this if I could store the tripod somewhere at the place where I’d be working.
I did some tweaking and tuning to get my 225 ‘rangefinder ready’…
I did some tweaking and tuning to get my 225 ‘rangefinder ready’. The Billingham 225 comes with a Superflex 9-15 insert and a Superflex Flap. Now that deserves some explanation. The ‘flap’ is just a divider than can be attached anywhere in the bag, but the Superflex insert is something else. It’s a flexible, pre-shaped box with two compartments that provides stiffness to the bag and superb protection for your lenses. The good thing is that there are a lot of different Superflex inserts to choose from. Here’s a clear overview of them.
The back compartment can be used for an iPad or some other flat things. It doesn’t fit A4 sized documents.
Instead of the single Superflex 9-15 and the flap, I ordered two 6-12 inserts for my 225. This has two major advantages. First, because of the lower height (12 centimeters vs 15 centimeters) it is easier to grab a small rangefinder lens. Second, because the bag is big enough to accommodate the 15cm inserts, this provides me with a few extra centimeters between the insert and the top of the bag. The result: I can easily stick a lens in the insert with a camera attached and still close the zipper of the bag. Perfect!
I can easily stick a lens in the insert with a camera attached and still close the zipper of the bag. Perfect!
Another good thing about the 6-12 inserts is that there’s a big and small lens pocket in each insert. In the big pocket I can fit a Noctilux or CV 35/1.2 and in the small pocket I can fit any medium Leica rangefinder lens. If you don’t like the inserts, you can either order a different type of insert, or choose from one of the many, many dividers, flaps and other inserts that Billingham sells.
Here’s what I usually bring in my 225 on a wedding:
Bottle of water.
My wallet. I often have to pay for the couple when they decide to have a coffee somewhere. If they’re nice, I don’t put it on the bill.
Power cord.
Leica SL charger. The SL is a hungry beast.
Powerbank for iPhone.
Utensils kit: a few pills (allergy, pain, etc), tooth picks, other small but very useful stuff.
Air blow thing.
Deodorant. I have very, very long working days.
Gum. I like to attract new customers, not repel them.
Extra SD-cards.
Power cord for iPhone.
Some extra lens covers for both the M and SL.
More SD-cards.
Leica M240 with CV35/1.2
SL batteries
M batteries.
Lacie HD back-up with current work.
Leica SL with 50/0.95 Noctilux.
Leica Summicron-R 90/2 with Novoflex adapter.
CV 21/4. It’s so tiny!
EVF for M240.
Leica 28/2.8 Elmarit. Brilliant lens.
Leica 50/2 Summicron. Best lens ever.
Billinghams are tough and the 5-series (225 is the smallest in this series) is no exception. For my Canon gear I once owned the 335, which I gave to a friend of mine. He’s a professional too and has hundreds of short assignments every year. That means he’s using this bag every single day and that it is packed, unpacked, thrown in a trunk, carried on the shoulder, strapped on a bike every, every day. The bag is about eight years old now and it still looks perfectly fine. No holes, no broken zippers, not even a single sewn has come loose. Yes, it isn’t cheap, but it lasts a lifetime.
Yes, it isn’t cheap, but it lasts a lifetime…
The front pockets fit a small bottle of water and your wallet.
If you carry a lot of rangefinder gear, but also need enough space for other stuff and you want to look sharp and professional, the Billingham 225 is probably the best bag you can buy. I’ve shot more than hundred weddings with this bag and many other assignments and working with this bag is an absolute joy, simply because it works so well with a rangefinder kit.
Yesterday I found that there’s a website (which I will not link to, since that will even boost their SEO ranking) that offers my ebook for free. Curious what would happen if I clicked that link, I was redirected to geeker.com, an online platform for ‘free digital media’. I called their customer service, which turned out to be a somewhat strange conversation.
Bottom line: Geeker.com is a scam. They build fake websites with content that is interesting (which I consider to be a compliment) for many people. As soon as you sign up, you’ll have to leave your credit card details and that’s where you get into trouble. For details: just check for geeker.com at www.trustpilot.com
In the screen dump you can see there have been 624 downloads. This is also fake. If you opt for ‘read online’ it loads 295 pages (my book has 50). Try it again and it loads 249 pages.
I am currently in the process of taking legal action, not only because this is bad for my name, but mainly because people get into trouble.
My ebook is for sale through E-Junkie (English and Russian) and through Blurb (English). I never gave anyone permission to distribute my ebook in any other way. I make a living with photography and selling my ebook is a way to justify the time that I spend on this website.
It has been quiet on this website, I know. Now that the holidays are over, I’ll be posting more Leica stuff in the coming weeks. How was your summer (presuming you live on the Northern part of the world)? Or, how was your winter?
Speaking of winter (and winter IS coming), I have spent quite a few days in the saddle of this lovely new ride. I’ve decided that cycling is a better preparation for the speed skating season than inline skating. And the results are promising: after a few weeks we managed to do 100+ km rides in 30+ km/h average.
This Friday I’ll publish my Billingham 225 review. A great bag for the RF user with quite a bit of gear.
Welcome back.
Leica SL with Minolta MC58/1.2 (yes, with radio-active coating)
