Photographers Photographing Photographers

My wife and I operate a small local photography business and we often joke about the sad fact that we are out taking other families' portraits so often that we never take any of our own. The walls of our house are filled with memorable candids that Stephanie and I have taken of our kids...

Leitz 5cm f3.5 Elmar: The Meaning of Gestalt

I'll admit it. As I shuffled around the streets of downtown Frederick, Maryland anticipating the paths of passersby and lifting my little black Leica to my eye, I imagined that this is what it was like for Henry Cartier Bresson before this equipment was legendary, new methods were standard practices and the genre was a...

Happy Birthday, Kodak Tri-X

Kodak Tri-X, as a concept, has been around since the 1940's when it was a 200 ISO b&w sheet film. Because it was their first fast film, when Kodak released the 400 ISO roll film version, the Tri-X name was maintained. Just like Kodak TMAX P3200 revolutionized low light photography in 1989, Tri-X was an...

5 LTM 50’s for $500 or Less

Choosing Leica mount lenses is always a bit of a struggle for me. I can find things I like and don't like about them all. And the ones that meet my ideal specs are often out of my price range. So I will end up buying another lens as a reaction to something I did...

Ilford XP2 – A Smart Go-To B&W Film

Are you interested in shooting black and white and want to know what film to start with? Do you you use a lab to process your work, or do C41 at home? I highly recommend giving Ilford XP2 a spin. 35mm Ilford XP2 400 Super rated at 1600, scanned without ICE Ilford XP2 400 Super...

An Odd Length; Voigtländer 75mm 2.5 Heliar

Most prime lens SLR kits are a 28-50-85 or 135. Most rangefinder kits are a 28 or 35-50-90. 75mm is an odd focal length. I don't think it's even available for SLR's and most rangefinder shooters fall on the side of either 50 or 90 - the distinction between normal and portrait focal lengths. 75....

Rating + Processing for Available Light Portraits – EI 3200 ISO

It bears repeating: International Center of Photography shooter James Mignogna once told me that a good photographer matches their light, lens, film and developer. Nowhere do I think these decisions are more critical than portraits in dim lighting. That was the intro I used in my previous entry: Rating + Processing for Available Light Portraits...

Rating + Processing for Available Light Portraits – EI 1600 ISO

International Center of Photography shooter James Mignogna once told me that a good photographer matches their light, lens, film and developer. Nowhere do I think these decisions are more critical than portraits in dim lighting. With all of us spending so much time at home lately, I have gotten a number of emails asking for...

One Year with the Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 Nokton MC

Since buying, shooting and writing about the Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 Nokton MC, I feel like I see this lens everywhere! I didn't realise how popular it is. The blog I wrote about it is my third most viewed of all time, I see it mounted to many of the cameras that I read reviews of...

There’s No Excuse Not to Own a Leitz 9cm f4 Elmar

by Johnny Martyr The Leitz 9cm f4 Elmar is almost as ubiquitous as the famous Leitz 5cm f3.5 Elmar but often seems forgotten about. The lens dates back to 1933 and was Leica's first 90mm.  It was likely designed to take advantage of their newly released rangefinder cameras, model's II and III.  The 9cm Elmar...