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New page the Overgaard Leica M9 article: Backstage in the Fashion Week

Overgaard

By Overgaard
in Leica M9 / M-E

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chris_tribble

chris_tribble

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Thorsten - great to see the M9 used in a setting where it thrives ... For me part of the delight of this sort of work is the revelation of the world that exisits behind the public display. It's the same experience when working during theatre or music rehearsals. With the M you're in there, the camera becoming a way of extending how I see...

 

One thought with the shots here ... you mention the "film like" noise from ISO 800. This runs a bit against my experience unless the shot is significantly under-exposed. One thought is that LR3 beta can be really helpful with controlling noise. I know that this isn't fully functioning, but when I've used it with problematically noisy images it's been a dramatic improvement over LR2 (or are you processing in C1?). As it is, one of the thing's that has impressed me with the M9 is how much less grain effect 800 gives me than was the case with the M8.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Best.

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Vlad

Vlad

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Thorsten, great insights and feature.

 

Reason why I personally find this very intriguing is that I am aiming to get in on the fashion week action next September to cover it for our large bag blog. I envision myself utilizing my mkIV for runway shots, taking advantage of the fast AF speed, frames per second and overall ease to cover the events.

 

But the backstage work you can accomplish with the M9 in such an unobtrusive manner is precisely the reason why I am gravitating towards the M9.

 

Hats off to you!

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charlesphoto99

charlesphoto99

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Cool pics. I doubt though one need worry about being unobtrusive around models and fasionistas though! Both Larry Fink and Lee Friedlander have shot backstage fashion weeks with medium format and strobes. It's your eye and attitude more than the camera that will set you apart. But the M9 would be my first choice!

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Overgaard

Overgaard

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Btw, I don't mean to go off on tangents here, but is the chap in this photo and this banner Gavin Bellour by any chance?

 

He's a family and business friend of ours, the resemblance is striking.

 

Cheers,

Vlad

 

It is, and I should meet him when in NYC March 2 to 10. I did a series of him in December for different stuff, and something for fun.

 

Maybe we'll meet too.

 

The Canon will do nicely though Nikon had lend-outs in Copenhagen and managed to change the fashion scene from 50% white lenses to only 10% in the end.

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Vlad

Vlad

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It is, and I should meet him when in NYC March 2 to 10. I did a series of him in December for different stuff, and something for fun.

 

Maybe we'll meet too.

 

The Canon will do nicely though Nikon had lend-outs in Copenhagen and managed to change the fashion scene from 50% white lenses to only 10% in the end.

 

Now that's a small world. :p

 

Not going to be in NYC in March, but rather in September, since I am moving there actually. Cheers!

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Theodor Heinrichsohn

Theodor Heinrichsohn

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Thorsten, I enjoy your site. Is that the latest 50 sumicron (uncoated?)

 

Thanks

 

Thorsten,

Beautiful pictures, lovely tonal shades and colors. I'd also like to know which "uncoated" Summicron you mean. I have the first type (collapsible) as well as the 2nd and 3rd, but no newer example. The collapsible one generates the softest pictures fully open (slide film) but I have not tried any of them on the M9. Your examples make me keen to do so.

Teddy

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Guest mc_k

Guest mc_k

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...would also like to know which Summicron. I thought there was a rule of thumb for Leica that everything post-war was coated, but I wouldn't really know.

 

Am also curious if you used flash with the R? Gorgeous pictures, as always.

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Overgaard

Overgaard

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It is a Summicron-M anno 1962, serial 2052762 which goes for 400-800 Euro mostly at Meister and other second-hand Leica dealers.

 

You can get an overview of the 50mm Summicron-M lenses in the compendium (see the list of serial numbers/years in the bottom):

leica.overgaard.dk - Thorsten Overgaard's Leica Pages - Leitz and Leica Lens Compendium

 

As for coated I don't exactly know the amount of coating, but it's certainly not as coated as new lenses. I would say that the Summicron-M has a look of interesting bokeh very much like the Summilux-M ASPH but is easer to focus and has the "exploding milky light" when you hit it right. Some times too much so the image is actually blown away.

The Summilux-M ASPH has much much more detailed shadow detail, very strict control of light rays and higher contrast.

The contrast you can adjust to a large degree in Lightroom with adjusting it lighter and contrast (and compensating with bringing down exposure a bit).

 

I always shoot the M9 with -1/3 EV exposure compensation - which really doesn't matter as I shoot manually.

 

All shots are with available light, usually the rather strong light around the mirrors and with a few spots from the ceiling - not the same in every venue.

 

The runway shots made with teh DMR are always without flash. Most photographers shoot without flash (and should do so) but there was a handful of photographers shooting with flash this year, also amongst the audience. But the light onto the runway is mostly quite good 3200 Kelvin light and plenty enough to shoot 200 ISO f/2.8 at 1/250.

 

You can see some of the runway shots by the DMR at LIFE: Image Search Results for "Overgaard/" - Page 1 of 81 - LIFE

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Overgaard

Overgaard

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Thorsten - great to see the M9 used in a setting where it thrives ... For me part of the delight of this sort of work is the revelation of the world that exisits behind the public display. It's the same experience when working during theatre or music rehearsals. With the M you're in there, the camera becoming a way of extending how I see...

 

One thought with the shots here ... you mention the "film like" noise from ISO 800. This runs a bit against my experience unless the shot is significantly under-exposed. One thought is that LR3 beta can be really helpful with controlling noise. I know that this isn't fully functioning, but when I've used it with problematically noisy images it's been a dramatic improvement over LR2 (or are you processing in C1?). As it is, one of the thing's that has impressed me with the M9 is how much less grain effect 800 gives me than was the case with the M8.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Best.

 

 

Thanks Chris,

 

Always valuable input you give. I use Lightroom 2.6 which automatically uses the profile I downloaded with the Lightroom 3 Beta (which I won't use till it's officially released; but I like the profile from it and once downloaded the 2.6 will use the newest profile which is in that Beta package).

 

It's a bit artificial speaking about grain as it's a 10% crop of a 100% image (the one with the hands). In the rest of the it's 100% shots at 800 ISO I don't notice the noise or grain. In a shot like this which is 80-90% of a 100% I don't see anything worth mentioning. I just see colors and contrast that I find pleasing. In short, it works which very often is the level of technical judgment I use: Does it work or does it not (and if not, is there a way to make it work as part of a standard workflow that can easily be applied to a series of images)

 

L1009200_CROP_GIFT-Leica-M9-sample-CFW-640w.jpg

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rleffingwell

rleffingwell

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Thorsten, thank you for posting these images. They are very cool. I shot a couple of Paris and New York weeks in the early 1980s and these bring back memories. Your images show a lot of insight into how all the front stage magic comes into being behind the curtain. Very nice "seeing." randy

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