bill vann Posted April 23, 2007 Share #1 Posted April 23, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi all, grew up with rangfinders and am extremely happy with my M8 but have struggled with portraiture. i find the parallax issues coupled with my tendency to crop tight an issue. clearly i need to back up but any hints? been using a 90 cron or 75 lux. also definitely need to get the micro flash as my old quantum radio or my hard wired setup are a pain on such a small easy camera. bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 23, 2007 Posted April 23, 2007 Hi bill vann, Take a look here portraiture issues M8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
lars_bergquist Posted April 24, 2007 Share #2 Posted April 24, 2007 Hi all, grew up with rangfinders and am extremely happy with my M8 but have struggled with portraiture. i find the parallax issues coupled with my tendency to crop tight an issue. clearly i need to back up but any hints? been using a 90 cron or 75 lux. also definitely need to get the micro flash as my old quantum radio or my hard wired setup are a pain on such a small easy camera. bill You are probably too close! Don't approach anybody (except maybe an infant, with its flattish face) closer than about six feet or two meters. Doing that will give you perspectival effects (big noses, small ears) – no matter which lens you use! Geometrical perspective is determined by direction and distance-to-subject only; the focal length just determines the cropping. Finder frames will give you pretty correct cropping *at the plane of focus*, corrected for parallax, but nothing can change the fact that the the finder and the lens do see the close subject from slightly different angles. It's like the wiew from the left eye and the right eye! Try it. Another reason not to work too close. 90 and 75 are just fine, do simply resist the temptation to close in to kissing distance ... The old man from th Age of the Glass Plate Negative Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grober Posted April 24, 2007 Share #3 Posted April 24, 2007 Had the 75 'Lux for my film M-bodies but never liked its heavy weight and poor overall balance. I sold it (at a small profit!) as soon as the rumors for the 75 "Cron solidified and have never regreted it for a second. BUT since 49mm filters needed for the 75 'Cron are not yet available, I finding (on the M8) that any 50mm lens can be used with fairly good results due to the 1.33x factor. This is especially true when shooting a group of two. I have yet to use my available Leica 90mm lens for any portrait work on the M8. To me, the 90 is my "long reach" lens. When Leica finally ships the 49mm filter, I'll need to learn how to use the 75mm lens all over again. Tight cropping is best done on the computer screen: use the "magic window" of the rangefinder M-body to emote with the subject. Don't fret over precise framing whilst shooting. -g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ross Posted April 24, 2007 Share #4 Posted April 24, 2007 Hi Bill, "Tendency to crop tight" is the issue, indeed. The 90mm has a fov where the short side is 1/5 the subject distance, so an 8" field would be had at 40", right on the near focus limit, where parallax is anoying. I like to crop tight, too and found PP cropping to be my tool. Maybe this is why Guy fell in love with his 135mm so fast...:-) Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guy_mancuso Posted April 24, 2007 Share #5 Posted April 24, 2007 Yes i do not like to crop much at all reason i went for the 90mm mount for the 135mm . i should get this back very soon from leica and will report how that combo is. I like compression for portraits , reason i tend to get the longer lenses here Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Roggen Posted April 24, 2007 Share #6 Posted April 24, 2007 You are probably too close! Don't approach anybody (except maybe an infant, with its flattish face) closer than about six feet or two meters. Doing that will give you perspectival effects (big noses, small ears) – no matter which lens you use! Geometrical perspective is determined by direction and distance-to-subject only; the focal length just determines the cropping. I don't agree completely because using other focal lenghts definately changes perspective. Longer lenses tend to pull everything closer together whereas shorter focal lenghts tend to make it look like things are further apart. So, taking a portrait with a wideangle from nearby will give your subject a big nose and small ears. But if you take a picture from nearby with a 75mm or a 90mm it will all look pretty natural and can give you a very intimate effect (see pics - taken from about 70 cm - sorry, no Leica this time but they're just an illustration). Taking these kind of pictures from very close is indeed a bit tricky with a rangefinder. I tried shooting my kid through a little hole in a fence...no cigar. Hans Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/22322-portraiture-issues-m8/?do=findComment&comment=237523'>More sharing options...
Bob Ross Posted April 24, 2007 Share #7 Posted April 24, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Yes i do not like to crop much at all reason i went for the 90mm mount for the 135mm . i should get this back very soon from leica and will report how that combo is. I like compression for portraits , reason i tend to get the longer lenses here Hi Guy, I'll have to try the 90mm framelines, using the frame selector, the next time I have the Tele-lmar on. The lens mount on my Tele-Elmar doesn't have screws, so your elegant solution wont work fot it... Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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