Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year

[marknorton]

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I went to this exhibition at London's Natural History Museum yesterday, some really excellent pictures and you can only marvel at their patience in waitng for the right shot.

 

Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year - Natural History Museum

 

Each picture had equipment details and two things were noticeable: One, hardly any film - just the odd Nikon F5, Pentax, Mamiya shot, most of the rest was split pretty evenly between Nikon and Canon digital. Two, not a single picture displayed was taken on a Leica. Not one. You might not expect M's to be used for this sort of work but I had hoped to see some R/DMR shots but I was disappointed.

 

For most wildlife photographers its seems, cameras like the D2x and EOS 1DS Mk II are the cameras of choice and not just with super long telephotos (though there was one shot of cranes taken on Nikon's 600mm f4), a surprising number of pictures were taken up close and personal with the Nikon 12-24 and Canon's equivalent.

 

Exhibition recommended if you are spending time in London, open until the end of April and you pre-book to ensure comfortable viewing.

[telyt]

I had hoped to see some R/DMR shots but I was disappointed.

 

The number of Canon and Nikon users in any general population of photographers far outnumbers Leica-R users; digital capture is especially dominant for wildlife photography because of the (often) very high rate of rejection, high ISOs image quality (a Canon strength) is particularly useful with long lenses and active subjects and whole generation of photographers has only the vaguest idea how to focus manually, so when you consider that there are only 3000 DMR unts in existance it's surprising to see one being used anywhere outside of Leica-specific groups.

 

I know of only two or three photographers aside from myself whose primary camera for wildlife is Leica-R vs. the multiple thousands who use C or N so on simple statistical basis I'd be surprised to see any wildlife photos made with a Leica in a popular competition. The DMR's tonal gradation and color quality along with the image rendering of R lenses can help make distinctively beautiful wildlife photos but these strengths are overshadowed for most wildlife photographers by an emphasis on action photos.

[marknorton]

...true, but Leica R will only survive if it is able to establish a presence amongst C and N users and the countless thousands of people who will visit this exhibition and confirm their beliefs that N and C are the only major players. Leica are fighting a rear-guard action here and, ultimately, losing.

[Guest flatfour]

Plenty of comments about Digital and Film and particularly Nikon and Canon versus Leica. But to me the post significant point is the poor pictures. They might be clever but to me the the photography was mostly of low grade and certainly doesn't suggest that Nikon or Canon have anything special going for them. Very disappointing.all round.

[marknorton]

Well, we'll have to agree to differ on the pictures, you thought they were poor, I enjoyed the exhibition.

[telyt]

...true, but Leica R will only survive if it is able to establish a presence amongst C and N users

 

Only if they wish to play the same 'game'. There are many many more ways to photograph wildlife than to try for Velvia-color action shots. Leica users can play a different game, one that emphasizes rich accurate color, precision and composition for example. Yes C and N users can do the same but the R8/DMR is better suited to this approach.

[mwilliamsphotography]

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As many of your shots prove Doug. A different perspective is always a welcome sight IMO. Leica shooters have always gone their own way, and never have been in the mainstream as far as I can recall.