Why is a rangefinder best for street photography?

[zlatkob]

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That shutter lag myth, which came up here at some point is ridiculous.

 

My M8.2 surely has more shutter lag or whatever lag, than my Nikon SLRs, but I never missed a shot due to something abstract as shutter lag with either the M8.2 or the Nikon's.

 

The shutter lag comparison no doubt comes from a comparison of film cameras. In that comparison, film M's apparently had a distinct advantage. In the digital age, however, the sutter lag of the M9 is comparable to that of a typical DSLR and not as short as that of the fastest DSLRs. I'm sure many photographers feel it doesn't matter, but for some photos it does matter.

[menos I M6]

The shutter lag comparison no doubt comes from a comparison of film cameras. In that comparison, film M's apparently had a distinct advantage. In the digital age, however, the sutter lag of the M9 is comparable to that of a typical DSLR and not as short as that of the fastest DSLRs. I'm sure many photographers feel it doesn't matter, but for some photos it does matter.

 

This I cannot comment on, as my oldest SLR in use is a Nikon F3, which should be a fairly advanced SLR in terms of speed and controls.

With the introduction of the digital RF Leicas though, as mentioned, this specific advance surely went away (up to the current generation of Leica M8/9 that is).

 

We may see some improvement - if it is hardly necessary, as heavy users do get used to it and do not have issues, timing shots.

[Xmas]

We may see some improvement - if it is hardly necessary, as heavy users do get used to it and do not have issues, timing shots.

 

Well I've not got an M8 or M9 to try, but timing shots is a significant issue unless you are posing models. Allways wondered about Capa's 'Death of a republican'.

 

I don't use needle capture cameras cause of the longer shutter travel, Contax G auto focus is unbelievably slow, even in manual, for a film M I normally take up the first pressure on the shutter and wait for the moment - if I have time.

 

A DSLR or compact in video mode is another option... but not got one of those either.

 

Noel

[menos I M6]

Well I've not got an M8 or M9 to try, but timing shots is a significant issue unless you are posing models. Allways wondered about Capa's 'Death of a republican'.

 

I don't use needle capture cameras cause of the longer shutter travel, Contax G auto focus is unbelievably slow, even in manual, for a film M I normally take up the first pressure on the shutter and wait for the moment - if I have time.

 

A DSLR or compact in video mode is another option... but not got one of those either.

 

Noel

 

I shoot mostly moving subjects or shoot from a moving platform - there is no issue with timing shots even with a digital M.

 

I got a GH2 with adaptor, to shoot Leica M lenses for fun and THIS indeed is a camera, that defines lag (not necessarily shutter, but EVF) to an entirely new level - so much, that actually moving subjects are already half out of the frame, when triggering the shutter, as if it would be a Leica M

[iphoenix]

Personally I believe the shutter lag of SLRs makes a difference for hardly anyone. I think anticipation and reflexes are far more important. In fact I was unaware that SLRs had a problem before I read about it on the internet - despite using SLRs for many years.

 

And if the shutter lag makes street photography - with its (literally) pedestrian speeds - difficult, how come SLRs have been used by sports photographers for years with great success? Capturing someone walking down Oxford street may be difficult, but capturing the decisive moment in say a football match, seems far more difficult - to this photographer at least.

I totally agree, I come into this from the viewpoint of tourist photography and have only had trouble with occasionally being too slow to press the shutter, resulting in people thinking they were in the way of someone trying to take a scenic, etc., photograph. I've had the same result with using both a Rollei 35 and Nikon F's. What people see is someone holding something up to their eye, which they deduce is a camera. It makes little difference what sort. However (yes, that beautiful word); seeming to be a tourist has good results and if you have been noticed, you are quickly ignored and they will go back to what they were doing. :D

[tim power]

Yes to all the stuff about stealth photography by rangefinder. But tho I have an M8 I am getting covetous of the X100 which looks to be even more slim and discreet than the Leica, with a similar size sensor. I've never been able to understand why photographers want to put a bloody great lump of blackpaint technology between their face and the world they are observing and the subjects they want to relate to. In the old days we used OMs and Nikons which were modest in size (the Olympus in particular being the smallest SLR ever made, I believe) and relatively unthreatening to the subject. Bringing one of these to the shooting position, in focus, at correct speed and aperture became instinctive. There was no lag waiting for the electronics to kick in. Today's DSLRs are very different proposition, being bulky and intimidating, not an eye in the hand but a suite of software interposed between the observer/sampler and the world. Would Mr Obama and his situation room chums in that famous picture have been as totally oblivious to Pete Souza if he had been wielding a DSLR I wonder? I suspect not.

[zimboom]

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Robert Capa Quotes - "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough"

 

That's street photography for me, it the end result!

 

Bernard

[Guest Holy Moly]

Robert Capa Quotes - "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough"

 

That's street photography for me, it the end result!

 

Bernard

 

but this has more to do with the length of the lens......28 or 35mm should be the maximum.... otherwise you can't 'smell' the persons soul......