Cartier Bresson only use a 50mm Leica lens...

[Olof]

so what does the other famous Leica photograpers use ?

[martinb]

Winnogrand used and Gilden use the 28mm elmarit from what I know.

[pascal_meheut]

And Cartier-Bresson used a 35mm and a 90mm also even if the 50mm was 90% of its pictures.

[mat_mcdermott]

David Alan Harvey is pretty much wedded to the 35 'Lux but uses a 28 and 50 occassionally.

[wattsy]

Gibson is quite clearly a '50 man' but I understand he also uses the 90 and 35 (and, more lately, the 135).

[scott kirkpatrick]

Originally Posted by martinb

Winnogrand used and Gilden use the 28mm elmarit from what I know.

Someone commented here a while back that they had taken a class with Winogrand and at that time he liked a Konica 28 (perhaps the lens that Sean Reid tested in his 28mm series).

But the pictures that we all know were 28mm.

scott

[gesper]

I assume all of these were film cameras so we have to scale down for digital (i.e., need a 28 to get a 35, etc.).

[bill vann]

i use a 50mm and my mom thinks i'm a world famous photographer

bill

[Eoin]

Originally Posted by bill vann

i use a 50mm and my mom thinks i'm a world famous photographer

bill

You're so my hero Bill.

[giulioz]

Famous M photographers mainly worked with 35mm, 50mm and 28mm. There are very rare famous M pictures taken with focal lenghts longer than 50.

Giulio

[jaapv]

I seem to recall quite a number of striking Mountain Elmar photographs, Guilio.

[carstenw]

It is believe that HCB used other lenses (at least 35mm, possibly also 73mm) later on in his career, of various designs, including a Zeiss.

Leica and Rangefinders Forum: Lenses/film used by HCB?
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Photoethnography.com - Classic Cameras

[jlancasterd]

Jan

The story that HCB only ever used a 50mm lens is a myth - as is the claim that he never cropped his photos. I can't remember where I saw it, but I have certianly seen a whole negative print of the famous shot of a man jumping over a puddle in Paris, and the usual version of that shot is heavily cropped.

[mike prevette]

the HCB dvds show you his contact sheets and his cropping instructions. Damn it Ansel was right about that performance part.

_mike

[M'Ate]

Originally Posted by Olof

so what does the other famous Leica photograpers use ?

Elliot Erwitt said last year:

"Confining yourself to one lens, say a 35mm, is stupid."

He's obviously got a good point; why restrict yourself?


He also said:

"I used a Rolleiflex until I discovered the Leica and I changed and never looked back."

And he is still using Leica & B&W today for all his personal work (and nearly al of what we know of his stuff is his personal work).

He does use digital work for his commercial assignments though. Apparently, he is a big shot in studio work. I was unaware of that until last year.

[guy_mancuso]

How about every lens i can get my hands on that will do the job well

[erl]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

How about every lens i can get my hands on that will do the job well

At last! Someone who recognizes it is only a bloody tool. Not a magic wand.

Good images are made by photographers, not tools.

Cheers,
Erl

[johnbuckley]

I believe I read somewhere that HCB kept his lens -- whatever focal length -- always at infinity, and set at f/8, with a shutter speed of 125, to be ready for "the decisive moment" in any contingency. Anyone know if this is true? It would certainly make sense, given the immediacy of some of the shots... JB

[Cruewell]

Originally Posted by erl

At last! Someone who recognizes it is only a bloody tool. Not a magic wand.

Good images are made by photographers, not tools.

Cheers,
Erl

I emailed Cristina Garcia Rodero to ask her if she has any preferences. Needless to say she is the best photographer ever, at least her photographs shot within Spanish borders. Outside this country she becomes just another excellent photographer. Er... well, we all know she is second to Bill Van, of couse, but to no one else!

PS- I doubt she'll ever answer back.

[guy_mancuso]

Thanks Erl but my theory is never limit yourself to one thing ,make as much available to the creative presuit of the image.