Manual or Auto?, That Is The Question.

Hebden Bridge - Leica SL + Voigtlander 35mm F1.4 Nokton Classic II

I’m no stranger to using a manual lens. They were the only option back in the 1970s and my Dad’s Yashica and Canon cameras could produce lovely sharp images with this technology. The use of film cameras in recent years has reignited the use of manual lenses originally designed for film. Makers such as Olympus Zuiko, Pentax Asahi & Takumar, Nikon, Canon , all produced high quality optics. Third party lenses could also be very high quality, in many ways the 60”s through to the 1990’s were the heyday of lens manufacture.

Modern lenses are in some ways superior to the old ones with superb topics and fast autofocus. You do hear some photographers today say that modern lenses can be almost too sharp, too perfect. Little or no aberrations, reliable and predictable, tools of the trade, not enough character. I use Sigma Contemporary lenses with my Leica and the Ricoh GRIIIX has a superb 26.1mm f2.8 fixed lens. I know the results from these lenses will be sharp, reliable and consistent. Photographers of yesteryear also needed reliability however and that often came from the quality of manufacture the companies produced. Olympus Zuiko lenses can stand up to modern day lenses in sharpness and contrast but are often made to a higher standard than many top notch modern autofocus lenses. I use a modern rangefinder lens made by Voigtlander. It’s incredibly reliable, sharp and beautifully made. It is also surprisingly easy to use.

Hebden Bridge, Leica SL + Sigma 90mm f2.8 Contemporary.

Learning to manual focus could be seen as a rite of passage for modern photographers. Most modern cameras can be supplied with autofocus kit lenses. They allow the photographer to focus on composition, learning the exposure triangle rather than how to manually focus. It is seen as slower where in fact, learning about hyperfocal distance can make manual focus quicker. My Voigtlander can be set at a particular aperture and focal distance. All you have to do then is compose and press the shutter. Autofocus lenses will often hunt to nail focus and sometimes miss. Once you know that everything from a certain distance will be in focus, a manual lens makes life a little easier. No hunting, just sharp results every time.

Grasmere from Loughrigg Terrace, Leica SL + Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Nokton Classic II

So why not go for all manual lenses? Well , in fairness I could. I do like the convenience of autofocus, the build quality of the Sigma lenses and the fact they are weather sealed. I can also use them as manual lenses if I wish but in the end, I’m happy with their performance. You do have to be careful when searching for old vintage lenses. They can be from a top name manufacturer but time and poor care can affect the quality of the build and optics. Get a good one however and you’re on to a winner, particularly as they often cost a fraction of a modern top lens.

In the end, they are all tools and secondary to the image you want to capture. You can have the best kit money can buy and still produce mediocre images. It isn’t possible to make a terrible photograph good by having expensive gear or extensive editing. You can however produce a good photo with a mediocre camera plus a good lens. My photography hasn’t improved because I have invested in better gear. it has done so by taking thousands of photos and learning from the mistakes captured earlier on. I have a long way to go before I am ever content with the finished result but the trying is the fun part!

My current kit.

The Wonderful World of Leica ?

Albion Place, Leeds - Leica Sl (typ601) + Sigma 45mm f2.8

I don’t want you to think by adding a question mark after the title of this blog that I am not a Leica convert. It’s only been a week since I got my hands on my new camera. The design of the Leica SL (typ601) is a thing of beauty. It looks so good both sat on a table and in hand. It feels solid, well made and comfortable. I have had my fair share great cameras in the past. I was a committed Fujifilm user for several years. A few months ago, I switched to Panasonic full frame. Great cameras, loads of tools to help you take great photographs and capture stunning videos. The problem was they had too many buttons, too many options. Whether it is a thing with growing older but I need my tools to be simple, well made and good quality. Panasonic are great quality, well made but not simple. I looked around and my thoughts turned to the Leica SL (typ601). It was a less capable video camera, it lacks image stabilisation and the battery life isn’t as good as the Panasonic S5. The image samples I saw taken with it however have a certain something. It isn’t necessarily about the ‘Leica colours’ or the stunning monochrome images. Ok, they are a factor but there’s something more, almost indefinable. With a good lens and a half decent photographer using them, they create images with something sprinkled on them.

Sunrise, Halifax

I have this theory about Marks and Spencer. Their food has a certain something about it. It is as if M&S sprinkle a special dust over their food which makes it taste ever so slightly better than other supermarkets. It doesn’t smell different, look that different but tastes as if it comes from M&S. Leica are like that. They produce images the same way other camera manufacturers do, have similar specs to other cameras but produce images with a sprinkling of Leica on them. The raw files are like no raw files I have ever used. The colours aren’t flat but look as if they are the finished article. Interestingly, the SL has a 24MP sensor the same as the Panasonic S5 yet the raw files are 10mb larger on average than the Panasonic.I can’t work out why but they just are. The dynamic range of the S5 is slightly greater than the SL but I seem to be able to pull out more detail from the Leica files.

Church Street, Haworth

I have found myself in old familiar locations this week taking photos with my new camera. I look at the image after Ive taken it and find myself smiling at the captured image on the lcd screen. Of course, I’ll still make a mess of compositions and take dud photos but the ones I’ve nailed, I smile at. I haven’t done the before and it takes some getting used to. I was also stopped in the street whilst in Haworth. A couple came up to me and the husband said ‘wow, is that a Leica?’ . I said yes and explained it was a secondhand one and maybe not as expensive as he thought it would be (he did ask me how much it cost). I have shot with some very nice cameras but I have never been asked questions about them. I guess you can’t always go unnoticed when using one. Ultimately, I have always wanted a camera I want to pick up and take out. I want to enjoy holding it and feel over faced by buttons. Leica do make very expensive, sometimes ridiculously expensive cameras but they make them well. They are hand made by workers who are paid well to do so. They are engineering works of art, designed to produce stunning images. How stunning depends on the ability of the person holding one. I am far from highly polished when it comes to photography. I can produce some good photos, photos of which I am proud. I know with this camera in hand, I have to up my game and make art worthy of the tools I have at my disposal.

By Leeds Market