I just cant get it right

[bpalme]

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Keeper rate really depends on the situations. Banff national park .. I got a high percent of keepers. You get to take your time composing. Street.. well you can go days and get nothing.

I learned on an old film camera and delved into the Micro 4/3 for my intro to modern DSLR type cameras before the M. I think where I learned made me feel at home immediately on the M camera. Maybe you just have a train of thought geared more toward a DSLR. The M does take some practice though.

Or maybe I just don't know what I'm missing

[SiMPLiFY]

I'm new to using an M(2) and felt pretty unworthy and still do. I feel like a beginner all over again. It's different but the more you use it and study the technique the better you become at making pictures. It's both art and craft so it does take some learning and practice. I made index cards with the steps at first.

1. Lens cap off?

2. elbows in and one foot forward?

3. ISO?

4. Aperture (depth of field decision)?

5. Shutter speed (motion decision)?

I still mess up on focusing with shallow depth of field. I have a lot of focused hair strands and defocused eyes.

 

I'm giving myself a good year to learn and play. Trying not to get frustrated but felt compelled to respond because I do feel your pain.

 

Good Luck and Have FUN learning!

[SiMPLiFY]

There is a book called Camera Lucida by Roland Barthe which discusses punctum and studium.

[algrove]

Neil

Lots of good advice here. I would also suggest going to a Leica Akademie workshop to help you fine tune all of the above and then move forward from there.

 

I am sure the workshops are available in London quite often. I took one on street and night photography which gave me tremendous incentive to do more and more on my own. Also they offer participants the opportunity to use any lens they have and also other camera bodies.

 

In the US they book professional photographers who specialize in each course and they are very helpful. Sounds like it's time for a workshop on your next on shore leave. Also the workshops have only around 12 participants so there is a lot of one on one time.

[bpalme]

Adding to Simplifies advice above.

If necessary try rocking your body forward or backwards and observe the focus patch move instead of moving the focus ring.. Good for some situations.

I keep mine on Auto ISO most of the time. Certainly depends on the situation.. as I'm sure you know . But I tend to forget to change it. Maybe keep it on auto until you get more familiar with the camera.

In a way a camera is like flying an airplane on instruments. Keep the "scan" going .. meaning checking the settings periodically.

 

Now do you think your high number of duds is because of settings in the wrong place, missed focus, bad framing from an optical viewfinder... just wandering if you could be more specific.

Are you by chance shooting fast glass wide open type photos?

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Adding to Simplifies advice above.

If necessary try rocking your body forward or backwards and observe the focus patch move instead of moving the focus ring.. Good for some situations.

I keep mine on Auto ISO most of the time. Certainly depends on the situation.. as I'm sure you know . But I tend to forget to change it. Maybe keep it on auto until you get more familiar with the camera.

In a way a camera is like flying an airplane on instruments. Keep the "scan" going .. meaning checking the settings periodically.

 

Now do you think your high number of duds is because of settings in the wrong place, missed focus, bad framing from an optical viewfinder... just wandering if you could be more specific.

Are you by chance shooting fast glass wide open type photos?

Here are two examples of where I messed up yesterday.

1/. Saw this guy sat in a sweet little cafe drinking coffee and smoking, I visualised the shot and pre focuses at f2 with an ISO of 160 (should have had that at ~400) then got my wife to move out of the way and took the shot..............exposure looked great but as you can see the focus sucks, it was one of those rushed shots:(

 

2/. After taking some more shots inside and switching to ISO400 I went back outside on the street and shot this artist painting and completely unaware of taking this shot at ISO 400 when it should have been 160 I started shooting again got a great exposure and the framing was ok but when I uploaded the shot I then noticed all this grain and then saw the mistake...frustrating

[farnz]

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The first shot is slightly soft but since it was shot at 1/25th it could be camera shake rather than mis-focus. Presuming that you were intending to focus on his eyes I don't see anything that's sharper, which also suggests camera shake. In my experience pre-focussing at f/2 can be risky because of the shallow depth of field in close subjects.

 

Pete.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

The first shot is slightly soft but since it was shot at 1/25th it could be camera shake rather than mis-focus. Presuming that you were intending to focus on his eyes I don't see anything that's sharper, which also suggests camera shake. In my experience pre-focussing at f/2 can be risky because of the shallow depth of field in close subjects.

 

Pete.

The more I think about that comment the more I tend to think you are right, it was a typical street shot ......up to the face t, take the shot, get the hell out of there:)

[jaapv]

Here are two examples of where I messed up yesterday.

1/. Saw this guy sat in a sweet little cafe drinking coffee and smoking, I visualised the shot and pre focuses at f2 with an ISO of 160 (should have had that at ~400) then got my wife to move out of the way and took the shot..............exposure looked great but as you can see the focus sucks, it was one of those rushed shots:(

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/1071/melaka250820120057.jpg

 

2/. After taking some more shots inside and switching to ISO400 I went back outside on the street and shot this artist painting and completely unaware of taking this shot at ISO 400 when it should have been 160 I started shooting again got a great exposure and the framing was ok but when I uploaded the shot I then noticed all this grain and then saw the mistake...frustrating

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/5716/melaka250820120100.jpg

If you see grain at 400 there is something wrong with the postprocessing, unless you are way underexposed. I did do a lengthy post on the FAQ thread on the subject, or read Fraser and Schewe: Real World Image Sharpening.

And I might add, don't be too hard on yourself. A great shot is not necessarily a technically perfect shot.

[bpalme]

Also you hear a lot about zone focusing in Leica land.. If you want sharp photos you need to do a real focus with the patch. There was an article in LFI magazine during the past year stating zone focusing is really just for emergencies.

Some people get better at that but like said above you may need to go to F8 or more.

Those pics don't look that bad though.

[CalArts 99]

From looking at your avatar it appears that you ride a motorcycle. Also you said you work on oil rigs.

 

I'll bet both took time to master. Neither are easy.

 

Stick with the Leica and keep practicing. Eventually you'll understand the process and it will become second nature just like riding a bike and working on a oil platform.

[Jeff S]

From looking at your avatar it appears that you ride a motorcycle. Also you said you work on oil rigs.

 

I'll bet both took time to master. Neither are easy.

 

Plus he lists his other hobby besides photography as golf.

 

Enough said.

 

Jeff

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

its not in my genes to slooooooooooooow down like many members have stated but I guess I will just have to if I am ever going to get this thing right......time for a beer I think:):)

[farnz]

... There was an article in LFI magazine during the past year stating zone focusing is really just for emergencies. ...

I think that's strange advice from LFI. I don't often use zone focussing but it can be very useful for unobtrusive street shots when shooting from the hip with focus set to 4 feet (focus tab at 6 o'clock) and f/8 so everything from 3 to 5.5 feet is acceptably sharp. I wouldn't consider that to be an emergency but more a useful technique.

 

Pete.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Plus he lists his other hobby besides photography as golf.

 

Enough said.

 

Jeff

I used to golf 7 days a week until the D3s came along then I was down to 4 times a week golfing and 3 taking pictures.

Now I am golfing twice a week max and the rest shooting photography......just as well I have an understanding wife, at least now that I am more into photography I get to spend more time with my wife as she likes it too:):)

[Jeff S]

I get to spend more time with my wife as she likes it too:):)

 

Well, we already know what a woman's advice is when it comes to slowing things down.

 

Now you have 3 pursuits requiring similar behaviors.

 

Jeff

[Messsucherkamera]

I think that's strange advice from LFI. I don't often use zone focussing but it can be very useful for unobtrusive street shots when shooting from the hip with focus set to 4 feet (focus tab at 6 o'clock) and f/8 so everything from 3 to 5.5 feet is acceptably sharp. I wouldn't consider that to be an emergency but more a useful technique.

 

Pete.

Zone focusing at f/2 is really painting yourself into a corner - you don't have much depth of focus at all, especially at close range. If you want to shoot using zone focus, try shooting at f/8 or better yet, f/11.

 

Regarding ISO and grain, the slower ISO you can get away with the better. Set your ISO so that your shutter speed equals at minimum twice the focal length of the lens you are using: For a 50 mm lens, your shutter needs to be at least 1/100 (or 1/70 for a 35 mm lens, etc.) if you want to shoot handheld. This for a full frame camera like the M9.

 

For a smaller sensor you must go with the focal length equivalent - for an M8, the minimum shutter speed to assure a sharp handheld shot with a 28mm lens would be 1/70 because the 28 mm on the M8 is the equivalent of a 35 mm lens.

 

I thought your two photos were better than you did - both show promise. #1 was a bit soft as someone else noted but was far from worthless. I really liked #2 - it is hard to tell anything about image quality when looking at a Kindle screen but IMHO #2 is a very nice image.

 

Don't give up on photography - it takes a long time to grow and evolve as a photographer.

Photography cannot be "mastered" in a weekend any more than oil painting or heart surgery can (whoever titled a book "How to master photography in a weekend" should be tasered) .

 

Anselm Adams once famously said "Ten truly good images in any one year is a good crop." This holds true particularly in street photography. As for me, if I get 3 - 6 good street photography images out of ax36 exposure roll of Tri-X, I consider that roll a success and am pleased with that result.

[bpalme]

I think that's strange advice from LFI. I don't often use zone focussing but it can be very useful for unobtrusive street shots when shooting from the hip with focus set to 4 feet (focus tab at 6 o'clock) and f/8 so everything from 3 to 5.5 feet is acceptably sharp. I wouldn't consider that to be an emergency but more a useful technique.

 

Pete.

I don't necessarily disagree.. But I think it requires someone to be very intimate with their camera.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Another one from yesterday at ISO 160 but again not popping. Will head out again this afternoon and give it another bash:)

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[businessasusual]

To quote Henri Cartier-Bresson:

 

"Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst."

 

I recall reading somewhere, too, that he said "It takes a lot of milk to make a little cream"