Forum Replies Created
Kurt Kamka;1485 wrote: Al, you are such a gentleman.
Kurt,
I try my best! And my wife liked the shots as well so all is good!David,
A pleasure meeting you as well, fun ride you have there! Will try again to capture the towers in the morning. Who knows what I get to shoot tomorrow!-Al
Mark Gowin;1487 wrote: Al, it appears you are having a good time in South Florida. In my opinion, it is a sad commentary on our current culture to lable that very attractive lady as a plus-sized model. She doesn't appear to be skinny, but she certainly doesn't seem to be what I think of as plus-sized. Of course I am basing my comments on your photos and perhaps your photographic skills make her look less plus-sized than in real life.
Mark,
Thanks for the compliments on the posing technique. I would say that she was a size 10 or 12 which once was considered normal but not in todays' size 0 world.Yes, there are little tricks that you can use to keep harmony in the family when taking shots of your wife. Here is a shot of her that is not complimentary, it shows her waist and thighs in an unflattering position. By having her point her toes, it lengthens the leg and makes the calf muscle defined. Then have her point the leg toward the camera, minimizing the side view of the thigh and butt. Have her position the right hand so that it covers the butt, twist the upper body so that the abdominal muscles get defined by the light and the shoulders twist to contrast with the waist making it appear smaller.
Josh, I'll take you up on that Kindle:o !! Now if the HSS mode works at high shutter speeds, could I use the SF58 to trigger external strobes? Or does the HSS mode “strobe” short bursts during the exposure like HMI?
Beautiful Mark, that would make a nice wall mural.
stephan;1272 wrote: yes, this is how I use them with the m9, works pretty well for studio. (pw in basic trigger combined with a sekonic DR)
But I like to use sometimes just a bit “fill-in” flash in TTL “on the fly” (mostly with exposure correction to -0.7 – – 1.5) which works very well with Nikon. How to do that with the S2? Also in AA-mode? Or do I need the Leica SF 58 for this? Or are there other options?
Stephan,
For TTL with any system, Leica included, you will need to buy the manufacturers solution which for Leica is manufactured by Metz. I use an old Leica SF 20 for fill flash, setting the flash on A mode, f2.8 and then setting my camera for f4 or f4.5 and it fills in nicely.-Al
Mark,
I agree with you that Leica has taken a great deal of time and effort in order to connect with it's customer base. I do not ever recall other brands letting their engineers and product managers interact with their customers. Mostly you see the sales force and marketing managers spinning the information. It takes a lot of guts and trust in your users that what they say really means something.-Al
David Farkas;1139 wrote: Al,
The price of the Schneider 120mm APO Macro TS is $4695. We are Schneider dealers and also brought the lens to PPE. Actually, we brought the lens with us on our Fall Foliage trip for everyone to try.
The S2 will work in A or P mode with the 120 TS. When you stop the lens down, the camera will automatically set the correct shutter speed, even with movements on the lens.
When you go to the dentist and have a cavity filled he injects Novacaine to numb the pain.
You know that you have been around Leica for a while and feel that $4695 is not that bad of a price to pay. That is “Leicacaine”, which numbs the pain in the wallet. 😮
Cam Garner;1140 wrote: Maybe you can help me understand the application for this focal length of a TS. I use a 17mm TS and a 24mm TS on my Canon and use them frequently – especially the 24mm. Since I do mostly landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes there may not be a need of a longer focal length TS. Any insight on potential use would be helpful. Thanks
Cam,
The 120 focal length is ideal for table top product work it allows room between the front of the lens for lights and reflectors. In addition, the slightly longer focal length reduces perspective distortion.The T/S market is limited as is and having one lens is big news and a big investment for whoever is producing it.
Regards,
-AlDoug,
I wear a Columbia Titanium series vest, normal everyday style, not made exclusively for photogs. I put some neoprene lens bags to line the bottom two pockets to fit my M lenses in. Plenty of pockets to keep most items handy and a large pocket in the back for the “emergency” plastic bag for the rain. Last trip I took did not involve taking a bag at all, just the two lenses in the pockets and camera/lens on my shoulder.-Al
Pete,
At PPE, Leica was also demoing the Schneider 120 Macro TS Mamiya mount, adapted to the S2. With TS, manual focus and exposure is the norm so no real compromise there. Historically, Schneider has been the provider of TS lenses for Leica. The price I hear is in the $5,500 range or in Leica speak, a “Bargain”. I think David can confirm the price.-Al
I also got to shoot with the 30 and find it more to my liking than the 35 for my applications.
Mark and David,
I will be in NYC (with my wife) the 26th to the 30th. I will be attending Photo Plus on the 27th – wife gave me a day to do what I wanted to do 😮See you guys there!
That is one of the best lenses in my collection, highly undercrated next to its' brothers the ‘cron and ‘lux both of which I have owned.
Josh,
I use the SF20 with both my M9 and S2, yes, they do not do TTL. I use flash to supplement the light or “fill” the shadows in when mounted on camera. So setting the flash to “A” and setting a flash output aperture 1.5 stops less than the aperture I am using and I get a nice natural fill effect. I also use my Nikon SB800s in the same way on those cameras as well again, no TTL, but fine for what I use flash for. This is a good “Green” way to recycle those old flash units 😮 !If you want the flash as the main light, then set the output power to the same as your shooting aperture. By underexposing the ambient light you can control the darkness of the areas not lit by the strobe. Say the ambient light calls for 1/30 @ f2.8, by setting the camera at that setting and the strobe at f2.8 a balanced exposure will be the result. If you then shortened the shutter speed to 1/60th, the background not lit by the strobe will be one stop darker.
-Al
