PIERCE'S MATTRESS

Waterbury, Connecticut

Three Fences

Torrington, Connecticut

Some urban walkabout shooting, using the M Monochrom and (old) 35mm Summicron.

Rangefinder focusing was convenient for these subjects that could easily confuse AF systems.

Noctilux in the Woods

Washington, Connecticut

Last Tuesday I took a long hike around the Hidden Valley area of Steep Rock Reservation. I had the loaner M Monochrom and three lenses: my 35mm Summicron, 50mm Noctilux, and 90mm Elmarit. All lenses I bought in the 1980s to use on my then-current M6 cameras and my already venerable M4 from 1967. Since these lenses of course lack the indexing/coding that current Leitz M lenses use to communicate with the camera body, I've set up three "user profiles" (these work a lot like the "custom modes" that I've written about at TOP that help streamline work with modern digital cameras)—one for each lens. Change the lens, hit the Set button, do a dial spin and a couple more button pushes and the camera now knows which lens is mounted. Not as sleek as an indexed lens, but it only takes a few seconds.

The 35mm was too wide for a shot I wanted to make, so I switched to the 50 and used it at f/4 in quite dim light. When I reviewed the shot on the LCD, the relatively shallow depth of field looked nice and gave me an idea. I'd bought the Noctilux (having wanted one for quite some time) used, in a private sale around 1988, in utterly mint condition, for $1200. It went to work right away on some commercial assignments, one where I was shooting in a hospital operating room where the lights were turned way down low so the surgeon could clearly see the monitors of the new-fangled laparoscopic tiny-incision procedure he was using. It also saw a workout in low-light situations on personal projects I was doing, including some of the "Ten Pictures" set from Kingston, NY, on my website galleries page, and work with first Gulf War evening/night demonstrations. The incredibly small depth of field of the lens used at f/1 gives a distinct look. I decided to see what would happen using this razor thin dof for nature shots in the woods. The results seem interesting to me and I want to try some more experiments in this line. I'm sure it's not what the designers of the Noctilux had in mind.

More from the Woods

Litchfield, Connecticut

Two more pictures from Sunday morning at White Memorial Conservation Center. Also made with the loaner M-Monochrom and my 35mm Summicron which dates back to the mid-80s. I've given them a bit of split tone treatment in Adobe Camera Raw to make the web files look a little more like the platinum/palladium prints I'll eventually make from the most successful pictures. Even with a 30+ year old, pre-asphereical lens, the resolution of the 24 MP monochrome sensor is impressive. Since I'm used to working with a 16 MP, Bayer array, M-4/3s camera for my digital capture work, the 100% view of these files on-screen is astounding.  Scrolling all the way out to the corners does show up some resolution falloff with the old lens. It would be interesting to compare to an up to date aspherical version of the 35 'cron.

Into the Woods

Litchfield, Connecticut

For the next several weeks I have a Leica M Monochrom camera on loan, curtesy of the Penumbra Foundation, where I'll be teaching a modified version of my "digital platinum" workshop in October, aimed specifically at owners of this camera. This past Sunday I took it to White Memorial Conservation Center in soft, deep, early morning light. The idea was to test the high resolution 24 MP monochrome sensor with highly detailed subject matter, along with some tonal range torture testing. Below is a phone snap of the camera with one of my 30+ year old M Leica lenses and even older TilTall tripod.

City Tree / 152

New York, New York

Chained

New York, New York

Smile

New York, New York

At least I think that's what it says.

Very Small City Trees

New York, New York

Bike and Surveillance

New York, New York