M9 /MM in a Studio

[hhanebeck]

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Has anyone used the M9 or Monochrom in a studio setting? I have been asked to repro a couple dozen fine art prints (permission obtained) for a non-profit publication. The panels are vertical six by three foot in high-quality B&W.

 

I have been reading up on it quite a bit and understand that I need two light sources in 45 degree angles, very precise positioning of the art work (each has a stand), a 50mm lens, a tripod (obviously) with interchangeable plates for both bodies, white balance card and light meter.

 

Having never done this kind of photography though, what else do I need to look out for using the M9 and Monochrom? Any advice or experience you can share? Thanks a lot!

 

Cheers, Chris

[CaptZoom]

Use the M9 extensively for studio work, but I don't think I've ever used it to photograph prints, let alone fine art prints. It's surprising that they're allowing the use of flashes. Apart from that, the lighting setup you've mentioned should work. The photographers for MOMANY operate under much more restrictive conditions, often having to use a single light source (and often times it's sunlight). It may be worth for you to read up on how they operate.

 

You'll have some difficulty framing (more tedious aligning than difficulty); be aware of this and remain patient and methodical. Get you DoF right and if possible, use a lens with the flattest field curvature you can get a hold off. This (field curvature) is something Tim Ashley usually covers in his reviews, so it may be time to visit his blog.

 

The rest is typical stuff. Use a heavy tripod.

Use bubble levels to get both the prints and your cameras aligned properly.

At the very least, use the timed shutter release. A cable release will be better.

Allow for camera to settle down before releasing the shutter.

Don't be afraid to subtract light. Black poster boards work great.

Be mindful of the height placement of the flashes. Try to keep them at equal height for your baseline/starting point.

 

These are the first things that come to mind, but again, I haven't photographed prints or paintings. I seem to recall someone posting photos of documents elsewhere in these forums. Hopefully they'll chime in shortly.

[hhanebeck]

Hi CaptZoom,

 

Thank you very much for your great ideas and tips! Your help is extremely valuable!

 

I will search for the MOMA materials right away and have found a number of other sources on the web as well based on simple Google searches. I had also searched the Forum for articles prior to posting, but had not found any. As you confirmed, I am pretty sure they exist here and shall try again.

 

Your points on framing are very well taken. Am planning to use tape on the ground to mark the precise spots for placement of the panels given that they'll be exchanged regularly. I'll do the same for the tripod to ensure it does not move. It'll have to be a crop at the end of the day due to the size of the panels.

 

I'll be sure to start out with an equal height for the lights. Given that they are six feet high and three wide, I was planning to point one light higher on the left and another lower on the right, but have no prior experience. Will also use umbrellas with the lights to ensure there are no spots on the panels.

 

In regard to lenses, I have the Noctilux, Summilux and APO-Cron available. Will certainly try out all three with varying apertures. I was planning on using an f:8 to f:11. Your comments on field curvature are well taken in this regard. I might also try the 75 Cron just to gain an additional perspective.

 

Again, many thanks for taking the time to reply! I truly appreciate it.

 

Cheers, Chris

[garysamson]

The two lights need to be polarized and you will need a polarizing filter the lens too in order to create the most accurate digital reproductions.

[likalar]

I can't find any mention of flash in your post, but no matter. I've done a bit of copy work over the years, and you seem to have put a lot of thought into the project. Camera and artwork on the same plane, even, glare-free lighting, heavy tripod, all good. A couple of tips, flash or not: The environment is very important, especially if the artwork is at all glossy and reflective. Try to work in a darkened room with no bright flooring, furnishings, bright windows, etc, that can cause soft reflections/glare on the artwork. These reflections must be controlled/eliminated. Use a dark tripod and wear dark clothing for the same reason. Even a light colored carpet can cause problems.

The distance between the lights and the artwork can be a big factor. Start with the lights exactly centered, not staggered as you suggested ("higher on the left and another lower on the right"). Staggered height lights are not lighting the entire surface evenly. Your meter (try incidence readings also) will tell you that. Picture this: If the lights are centered just 3 or 4 feet away from the 6' tall art, you can imagine that the upper and lower portions are getting less illumination because of the greater distance to the lights. Back the lights away several feet and the problem is lessened. The M9 will work very well, because you can see the results (and any glare/reflections problems) on screen.

Leica lenses are usually very free of barrel distortion. My guess would be to start with the Chron 50, but pre-test before hand. Bracket exposures. Camera and art should be dead-on centered, but that will be difficult. The "skew" tool in Photoshop can correct later if necessary. Can you pre-test your setup beforehand?

One additional thought: If you have only 2 lights, consider mounting the art panels horizontally instead of standing them up. This may give you more even lighting if the lights are kept a good distance from the art. Or not. ;-). Best wishes for a great job.

Larry

P.S. You mentioned umbrellas. These too can cause hot spots if aimed poorly. The playback screen will be your best friend. Direct light or umbrellas can both give good results, if distant enough, and angled properly.

[hoppyman]

For reproduction of art like that the APO Summicron M 50 ASPH would be perfect because it has completely distortion free rendering from corner to corner when stopped down a little. Of course you will need to have the camera on the tripod perfectly level in each plane and centred.

 

[Erik Gunst Lund]

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I would use a large softbox or just sunlight form window and reflector

and shoot at f 5.6 - 8 max for peak sharpness to avoid diffraction.

Use a lens with flat field performance, 50mm Summicron.

I would choose a DSLR for this...

[hhanebeck]

All,

 

Thank you for your invaluable help! I will gladly put your advice into practice.

 

Gary's advice to use polarization filters is great. I had not considered it since I only came across one reference to this in the online articles. Likewise, Larry's points on moving the lights back from the panels while keeping them level, maintaining a dark and reflection-free environment are equally well taken. Avoiding bright furniture, carpets or clothing were not something I had thought of previously, but I will certainly watch out for that. As Hoppyman, Erik and Larry pointed out, the Cron shall be my starting point.

 

I really appreciate all of your comments and support! Thank you very much!!!

 

Cheers, Chris

[sblutter]

I wouldn't worry about everything being straight, you can crop later

 

BUT make sure the planes of the piece and your sensor are parallel - will save you a lot of headaches later

 

like this:

 

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[pico]

I cannot understand why anyone would use a 35mm format camera for studio work.

[tmldds]

Why not?

[CaptZoom]

I cannot understand why anyone would use a 35mm format camera for studio work.

 

If I understand you correctly you mean to say given the controlled environment and the luxury of time, the studio is well suited for medium and large format cameras, especially so since the resulting images are so rewarding. And yet, many people can not afford medium or large format camera especially if they don't regularly work in studios. Sometimes renting isn't an option. And some times, people just want to use gear they're comfortable with, or want to experiment.

[pico]

If I understand you correctly you mean to say given the controlled environment and the luxury of time, the studio is well suited for medium and large format cameras, especially so since the resulting images are so rewarding. And yet, many people can not afford medium or large format camera especially if they don't regularly work in studios. Sometimes renting isn't an option. And some times, people just want to use gear they're comfortable with, or want to experiment.

 

Yes, you understood correctly. Thank you for the well-reasoned response.

 

And if one has a modest, but adequate studio then later he can experiment with MF and LF to decide for himself.

[CaptZoom]

Yes, you understood correctly. Thank you for the well-reasoned response.

 

And if one has a modest, but adequate studio then later he can experiment with MF and LF to decide for himself.

 

Absolutely.

[hhanebeck]

I cannot understand why anyone would use a 35mm format camera for studio work.

 

Hi Pico,

 

I am not a studio photographer. This project was just a favor for a friend. We took some 400 shots yesterday in what was more of a rehearsal and the M9 with the APO-Cron worked great. I'd take it into the studio any day again.

 

There certainly is no argument that the S2 works much better. The problem is that I just don't have one.

 

Cheers, Chris

[CaptZoom]

Hi Pico,

 

I am not a studio photographer. This project was just a favor for a friend. We took some 400 shots yesterday in what was more of a rehearsal and the M9 with the APO-Cron worked great. I'd take it into the studio any day again.

 

There certainly is no argument that the S2 works much better. The problem is that I just don't have one.

 

Cheers, Chris

 

Any insights (learned through the rehearsal)?

[erl]

Much of the above plus, based on past extensive experience:

 

The polarized light is good advice, but you also need to use a polarizing filter on the lens to make it work.

 

If you have access to honeycomb grids for your lights, this will effectively eliminate other reflective surfaces from being lit and reproduced by any shiny surfaces on your object.

 

Don't place your lights too close to avoid hotspots.

 

Exclude all other light sources bar your studio lights.

 

The 75mm cron is excellent for this work because of the focal length, but the APO 50mm may be better, theoretically. I have no experience with the APO 50.

[Paul J]

Polarising gels are quite expensive these days and are mostly unnecessary if you are shooting flat prints. They are only really needed if you are copying something with surface depth or irregular texture, such as an oil painting. Careful light positioning is all that is required with a flat surface.

 

In terms of studio use I use my M9 a lot in the studio, even over Medium Format, by choice, where possible. It's really no different to any other camera in use except, not forgetting, you will need Pocket Wizards or something similar to trigger lights as there is no PC Sync. I hate shooting with a sync cord anyway so no biggy.

[erl]

Anything mounted in glass will benefit from polarizing as well, otherwise you are Paul. Having instant feed back via LCD is a great advantage over the old film days.

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[hhanebeck]

Any insights (learned through the rehearsal)?

 

Yes, certainly. Thank you for asking! Here are the things as they come to mind ...

 

- The light setup with two 1,000 W lamps and umbrellas did not supply enough light although the museum was quite well lit. We could have not done it w/o the additional light sources at all and I ended up turning them directly onto the panels. We were lucky that they did not reflect at all.

- We shall use strobes for the next outing.

- The biggest issue though was that these were "advertising-type" banners where the bottom is firm and the top can wiggle. There is just a small pole in the middle that keeps the banner up. Even while looking out for the orientation, I got a couple of distorted shots. Not yet sure what kind of a contraption I need to build to keep the top plane. Maybe something that holds them steady to a back wall. Have played around with clothes hangers a bit to see if that could be made to work.

- The image quality was phenomenal and I have reproduced small parts of the panels from the images in excellent quality. The M9 and APO-Cron really came through in this regard.

- I had taped paper to the floor to mark the position of each panel, which turned out to be great for orientation. What I did not do due to time constraints was to do the same for the camera tripod. Should have though as someone bumped into it eventually. Next time, I will mark the light positions and tripod with tape and paper as well to ensure nothing is out of position.

- Focusing the lens turned out to be really hard. First of all because I had to bend down quite a bit and then because it was really hard to find a good spot to test with (given that the camera was fixed). It took a couple of images before I had text on one that I could use to focus. Once that was done, the images turned out to be extremely sharp (see above).

- I used a Sekonic L-478D meter for the measurements and that was a tremendous help. In fact, it was the only way to ensure that the readings were fairly constant across the entire panel. The whole day would not have worked out without it.

- Also used the color checker to ensure accurate reproduction, which turned out to be great. I plan to take it with me from here on out, especially for indoor lighting where you sometimes drift into nasty reds and oranges that need to be corrected in LR5.

- Last, we did not have a chance to visit the location beforehand due to its museum operation during the day and my schedule as well. I wish I had though since we might have been able to make this the real shoot rather than a test.

 

Well, this is a brief rundown of my impressions. I m sure there is a lot more that I could have done better, but it worked out alright for a first experience,

 

I have attached two samples here. Keep in mind that the file size is in the low KBs. The exhibition, organized by the German government, shows the repression of Jewish citizens in Wittenberg, Germany during the Third Reich. It was not easy to take some of the images, as you can probably imagine.

 

Cheers, Chris

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