Lenses that inspire you to take photos

[pippy]

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4 hours ago, ianman said:

...Maybe I should have written that of course there is pleasure in using great gear. I seriously enjoy making images with my old Thambar and Summar, but that was not the question...

This is, in essence, the root-cause of my difficulty in addressing the thread-title as a whole. In part are you 'enthused' when taking out, for instance, the Thambar in the hope of being able to capture images where the unique character of this amazing lens can be allowed to express itself?

If so then does the 'Inspiration' come from Within You and Your combination of Vision, Eye, Skill, Imagination, Experience and Knowledge? Or does it come from the Topography of the (say) Landscape, Lighting and Viewpoint? Or does it come from the Individualism of the Rendering of the Thambar itself? Is it partly due to the fact that You Have A Thambar (!) and That Simple Fact also gives you an unalloyed pleasure in simply being able to use one of these amazing creations in the first place?...

Or is it a mix of absolutely everything?

For me the answer would be "absolutely everything" but, in my case, I'll be the first to acknowledge that the edges are distinctly blurred.

By way of example; I have a pair of v3 90mm Summicrons. One is 'the usual fare' and the other one happens to be (as mentioned elsewhere) the satin-chrome brass-bodied version. I absolutely love both lenses in terms of their results but there is, additionally, an intangible tactile delight in handling the silver lens; it is just an extraordinary piece comprising an old-world choice of materials, superb levels of machining and workmanship which is rarely to be found these days. I fully appreciate that the Alu / Brass distinction is, in practical terms  largely unimportant - and I'm not usually anywhere near as shallow as this admission shows me to be - but there really is something about the brass lens which heightens the pleasure of using it when it comes out to play in comparison to the black-chrome one.

Philip.

EDIT : What The Heck! It's the Weekend! Apologies to those who have seen these snaps already but Cue Gratuitous Snaps of the Lenses Mentioned Above just by way of distraction. I Do Love Them Both Equally (sort-of).

Black on the (peerless) M-D Typ-262 and Satin-Chrome on the M Monochrom;

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Philip.

Edited June 5, 2021 by pippy

[pippy]

4 hours ago, pgk said:

My feeling is that if I am interested in my subject matter it helps...

I failed to point out that, here, I'm only considering my 'personal' photography and not my professional work.

The gear I use for my 'professional' work is dictated by factors outwith the scope of this discussion.

My 'personal' work is, by way of contrast, more republican by nature...

Philip.

[cboy]

5 hours ago, Dennis said:

And by the way. There is not an official open-thread about he CV 35/1.4 Nokton II MC ... Someone who knows well how to start such an important thread, especially w/ such unique lens. "A lens that inspire us to take photos" . Many people here have one.

I'm just suggesting 🙂  

Wasnt a month or so ago you had good things to say on the tt/7artisans 35mm 1.4? How did that pan out to consider the 35 cv 1.4?...

[Dennis]

1 hour ago, cboy said:

Wasnt a month or so ago you had good things to say on the tt/7artisans 35mm 1.4? How did that pan out to consider the 35 cv 1.4?...

I actually liked the TT; it's cinematographic, a nice mix between classic and modern lens. Sharp wide open. It flares but good.

A few shots I like about this lens

wide open

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f/4

not sure

 

The two reasons why I decided to sell it are weight and size. I'm really comfortable and prefer to carry and use small lenses. After three years w/ Leica M, I understood it. I initially wanted a 35mm F/1.4 or even f/2. I heard and read many good things about Nokton, so I decided to buy it.
If I come back again at lenses with bigger sizes and weights in the future, it would be for outstanding IQ lenses such as the 35/1.4 Distagon or the CV 35 Apo Lanthar. Always, one thing for another one. Or compromises.

The Nokton looks to be (at least for me) two lenses in one. f/1.4 to f/2 unique look, and f/4 to f/8 it's like a modern super sharp lens. In less than 200gr, focus tab, etc. A super bargain. I'm still in the M learning curve.

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Dennis

[ianman]

11 hours ago, pippy said:

If so then does the 'Inspiration' come from Within You and Your combination of Vision, Eye, Skill, Imagination, Experience and Knowledge? Or does it come from the Topography of the (say) Landscape, Lighting and Viewpoint? Or does it come from the Individualism of the Rendering of the Thambar itself? Is it partly due to the fact that You Have A Thambar (!) and That Simple Fact also gives you an unalloyed pleasure in simply being able to use one of these amazing creations in the first place?...

Or is it a mix of absolutely everything?

For me the answer would be "absolutely everything" but, in my case, I'll be the first to acknowledge that the edges are distinctly blurred.

Excellently put (I would add "as usual" but that would make me a bit of a crawler, so I won't ).

My answer is that I agree... mostly.

Generally speaking, I think that it depends on what you shoot, or to use the correct photographic term (there it is again), the subject. For the most part, I just don't understand "street photography". Here I am talking about the seemingly random pictures of people going about their daily business, as opposed to a body of work such as the brilliant "The Animals" for example. I'm not criticising the genre, I just don't understand it.

To answer your question more specifically, for me, most of the points you mention are part of the process, but it happens in stages. First and foremost are the landscape - to be more precise, the location - and viewpoint. The lighting too of course but it's rare that the 3 come together simultaneously hence the stages. It has happened that driving along I have seen a landscape, the lighting has been nice enough and had just enough time to stop, grab my camera which I may happen to have with me and take a shot. It's happened but it's just pure luck. This is one of those:

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Of course I used what was attached to the camera at the time which happened to be a 21mm Elmarit and so it had zero part in the decision to stop and try to take a decent photo.

Mainly though, the lighting is not good. In that case I may stop and take a quick snap to remind me of the scene or look for a good viewpoint, but if I see potential I will take a note. I have notes, lots of notes of locations I plan to go back to when the weather and lighting looks like it could be interesting.

Now... when I have these notes and know what the subject looks like and decide to go back when the lighting could be interesting, only then can I make an informed decision about which lens(es) & other gear to take. The Thambar picture you know (I'm not going to post it again as not to bore everyone to to tears with it), was made just like that. Like Jaques and his Biotar I know what "I" can do with the Thambar, what might look good and what will look crap with it.

I think that covers most of your points.

 

[roydonian]

I don't know if they 'inspire' me - I've never got much past the snapshotting stage of photography - but the lenses that seem to whisper "take me" when I'm packing a camera bag are the 5cm retractable Summicron and the 90mm heavy Canadian Summicron.

The attraction of the 5cm lens is that in the words of the poet "In my end is my beginning." My first forays with the Leica were with my then-newly-purchased black Leica II and my late father's 5cm Summar. I still have that Summar, but prefer the Summicron. (The body it's mounted on is now a black M-D.)

The big Summicron featured on the front cover of a c.1960 Leitz brochure. One day I'll have one of those, I promised myself....

 

[Capuccino-Muffin]

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7 hours ago, ianman said:

Excellently put (I would add "as usual" but that would make me a bit of a crawler, so Iwon't ).

My answer is that I agree... mostly.

Generally speaking, I think that it depends on what you shoot, or to use the correct photographic term (there it is again), the subject. For the most part, I just don't understand "street photography". Here I am talking about the seemingly random pictures of people going about their daily business, as opposed to a body of work such as the brilliant "The Animals" for example. I'm not criticising the genre, I just don't understand it.

To answer your question more specifically, for me, most of the points you mention are part of the process, but it happens in stages. First and foremost are the landscape - to be more precise, the location - and viewpoint. The lighting too of course but it's rare that the 3 come together simultaneously hence the stages. It has happened that driving along I have seen a landscape, the lighting has been nice enough and had just enough time to stop, grab my camera which I may happen to have with me and take a shot. It's happened but it's just pure luck. This is one of those:

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Of course I used what was attached to the camera at the time which happened to be a 21mm Elmarit and so it had zero part in the decision to stop and try to take a decent photo.

Mainly though, the lighting is not good. In that case I may stop and take a quick snap to remind me of the scene or look for a good viewpoint, but if I see potential I will take a note. I have notes, lots of notes of locations I plan to go back to when the weather and lighting looks like it could be interesting.

Now... when I have these notes and know what the subject looks like and decide to go back when the lighting could be interesting, only then can I make an informed decision about which lens(es) & other gear to take. The Thambar picture you know (I'm not going to post it again as not to bore everyone to to tears with it), was made just like that. Like Jaques and his Biotar I know what "I" can do with the Thambar, what might look good and what will look crap with it.

I think that covers most of your points.

 

Wow!

[Dennis]

8 hours ago, ianman said:

For the most part, I just don't understand "street photography". Here I am talking about the seemingly random pictures of people going about their daily business, as opposed to a body of work such as the brilliant "The Animals" for example. I'm not criticising the genre, I just don't understand it.

I appreciated your post 

I agree with you. I don't think street photography (SP) is a photography "genre," as landscape or photojournalism is (to mention just two). Nowadays, almost everything is saturated, and we all see many SP labels for photos that have nothing to do with SP. I think samples like worth to exist, very inspirational. The following photos are taken by Pau Buscato. They are not mine!

 

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-

I often shoot SP almost daily when it is possible. It's fun; it's like an exercise, practicing your composition, layers, sometimes humor, sometimes with a strategy. Always (randomly) in pursuit of something peculiar that catch my eye. It's about chasing, fishing, patience, perseverance, and make yourself a more responsive shooter. I think that practicing often SP, I'm a better storyteller now (than before practicing often).

[ianman]

Dennis, thanks for taking the time to explain your view of SP. I was actually looking at your site a couple of days ago and the photo of the lady following a kid being carried on someone’s back with half his arse showing made me laugh. At first I thought that she was obviously taking a photo of the kid and only after do we see she is oblivious to what is going on around her and is in fact taking a selfie. Very well seen indeed! Very humorous and clever as are the photos you have kindly posted. But that gets back to my own view about this genre (and by the way I do think we can call it a genre, it is after all very wide spread and popular) and that is after a few seconds thinking that’s clever or funny, I move on to the next and forget about what has come before. I don’t want to sound pretentious but I would call it the fast food of photography. Does that make sense?

On the other hand, there is street photography which I can keep going back to with the same pleasure every time. I mentioned “The Animals”, Bert Hardy is another who has done a certain type of street photography, and even Eugene Atget to a certain extent. But one photographer who I feel may be closer to the current style of SP was Lartigue. His photographs were unpretentious, “light”, humorous, again almost fast food photography. So why do I like these and other photographers? I cannot be sure, but I think it is because, due to a coherent body of work there is a real story, or stories. The Animals speaks for itself, Hardy made a number of series (even though two of his best known photos, the panda taking a photo of his son, and the lady in the polka dot dress were to my knowledge not part of any specific series, I could be wrong), Atget was telling the story of Paris and Lartigue the story of his childhood and family. For me, that is why their work is interesting. That is in comparison to what I wrote in my previous post as random shots of people going about their lives. In a single shot, there is no story. As written above I can find a single shot clever, humorous, but that’s it. Of course I, as a viewer, can make up a story but then why would I need a photo to do that?

Do you agree with this view? Or am I totally wrong? I’m genuinely interested in hearing your opinion, and others of course should they wish to jump in. Maybe we should have another thread!!

I can understand about the practicing of course but practicing something in the view of achieving a goal. If one never goes beyond practicing then there is no point, in my view anyway.

One way I can demonstrate what I’m talking about is to suggest you watch a program called Shooting the Past. It’s a mini series by Steven Poliakov, quite old now but still a very good watch. There is some serious,  very moving story telling going on in it. Of course it’s fiction but I think it illustrates quite well how a series of photos are quite different to just one.

[IkarusJohn]

On 5/25/2021 at 2:58 PM, rcusick said:

I've tended to favor lenses that inspire me to take photos.  They're often lenses with character and those that live up to the barnak philosophy of being "lite".

My favorite today is the 28mm summaron.  What's yours?

 

I guess it depends what you mean by “inspire”.

I loved my first Nikon, bought when I was 19 or so.  My father told me to shoot lots of film, of anything, until the controls and the camera became second nature.  He also told me to stop down as much as I could to use the best of the centre of the lens.  In those days, I saw no point in duplicating focal lengths - I used a wide, a mid-range zoom and a short tele (180mm).  Lenses I bought were as good as I could afford (most Nikkor lenses were very good anyway).  Photography was all about composition - subject, where to put the camera, timing and light.  Everything else was mechanics and irrelevant.

I used to look at a scene, think about framing and exposure, sometimes thinking about an interesting composition which was about to unfold ..

I can understand Steven’s fascination with the gear, but to be honest it has little in my mind to do with photography.  It’s distracting.  A rabbit hole.  Yes, there is considerable pleasure in the feel of a Leica camera and lens in my hands, and the anticipation of the image.  Understanding how a lens will behave is important, but it is secondary. I know for example, that if I wish to take portraits, then the softer wide open lenses like the 50 or 75 Summilux or the 50 Noctilux will serve my purposes better.  But I’m not really sure that they “inspire” me to take photos.  That sounds like saying to myself, “today I’m going to do photography with my 21 Summilux” - something I’ve never done with any lens, DO photography.  I’ve never been able to go out with gear and feel inspired in that way.  I carry a camera with me most of the time, and photograph what interests me, with the lens I have.

Much like Ian, I really don’t get photographs of random strangers, unless like Robert Frank and a few others, the context is interesting.  “Street photography” is something other people do.  On the rare occasions I’ve captured an image of a random stranger, I ask myself wha the image shows me.  If it has no strong purpose, it just looks like an invasion of someone lese’s life, and I bin it.

I guess what I’m asking (badly, and at unnecessary length), is what does inspire you to take photographs?  And what are you seeking to achieve?

The photographers I like have clearly worked hard at their craft.  They have understood their equipment, they have worked out what they wish to portray, and how.  I can’t see it’s ever about the equipment they’re using.  Often it’s in spite of it.

[Dennis]

2 hours ago, ianman said:

Dennis, thanks for taking the time to explain your view of SP. I was actually looking at your site a couple of days ago and the photo of the lady following a kid being carried on someone’s back with half his arse showing made me laugh. At first I thought that she was obviously taking a photo of the kid and only after do we see she is oblivious to what is going on around her and is in fact taking a selfie. Very well seen indeed! Very humorous and clever as are the photos you have kindly posted. 

Glad you like that photo. It was funny because I started with the arse 🤣 I took one or two, and then the magic happen. But I always believed in that photo haha. I remember I push a little a person behind me to get the shot because I was not seeing the selfie face well in the mobile display. You know, when moving a few inches makes the difference. 

2 hours ago, ianman said:

I don’t want to sound pretentious but I would call it the fast food of photography. Does that make sense? 

.

.

Do you agree with this view? Or am I totally wrong? I’m genuinely interested in hearing your opinion, and others of course should they wish to jump in. Maybe we should have another thread!!

I don't think so. I think I'm seeing what you think, but it doesn't apply to SP. IMHO 

2 hours ago, ianman said:

I can understand about the practicing of course but practicing something in the view of achieving a goal. If one never goes beyond practicing then there is no point, in my view anyway.

There are multiple ways to explore and shoot SP: I can just take my camera and walk 3 miles (maybe) for 2-3 hours; I found a few intriguing spots and situations, the ones worthing to shoot. Also, when I have a free hour or part of it, and because I always carry the camera, I take a chance and do SP. I always learn new things, make minor changes, sometimes I experiment. Like few months ago I shoot at f/4 only. I learned many things about f/4 behavior with 35 and 50mm, at different distances. I predict now, most of the time, how much my DoF will be. Or If I had an essay in mind and I'm collecting shots of the same theme: reflections, mannequins, and thousand things more.

To say it simply, Street Photography is my daily training, like an athlete is doing a workout as part of his body condition. SP for me keeps me awake, fast shooting. Which is crucial to catch a good moment. I would say 50% of the time, I'm shooting SP with some idea or purpose (or experiment) in mind. The rest of the time, it's just to catch some great shots, that's it. I enjoy taking photos, always. I love to use my M10; I practice new techniques and always discover more about my gear. Sometimes it's about IQ; sometimes, it's about me and my feelings about a specific situation. 

 

 

 

 

[ianman]

9 hours ago, Dennis said:

I enjoy taking photos, always.

I think that is true for all of us here and a good enough reason to do it 

 

[Dennis]

7 hours ago, ianman said:

I think that is true for all of us here and a good enough reason to do it 

 

Yes! Yes! I think passion is key. It's crucial.

I have an idea for you, of course, if you don't mind. Why don't you find a day you can be able to shoot SP for a while? You can give it a high-quality time to try it. You can google for ideas, you can decide on a simple challenge or assignment. If you need/want more ideas, feel free to DM me. But I'm sure you can find a specific type of SP that will suit your needs and tastes. Positive..

Edited June 7, 2021 by Dennis

[ianman]

I think it's a great idea Dennis!!  I do have one issue though, I really feel uncomfortable about invasion of privacy. I know it's legal to photograph in the street but still, personally I wouldn't like it done to me, so I have a moral issue photography others without consent. For example, there was a heated discussion here some time ago about Dougie Wallace, I could never do that sort of stuff, nor would I ever want to!!

But, yes, it's a very good idea and I'll think of something to do that is not invasive.   If I can't find something suitable I'll definitely ask you! 

 

[Lelmer]

18 minutes ago, ianman said:

I think it's a great idea Dennis!!  I do have one issue though, I really feel uncomfortable about invasion of privacy. I know it's legal to photograph in the street but still, personally I wouldn't like it done to me, so I have a moral issue photography others without consent. For example, there was a heated discussion here some time ago about Dougie Wallace, I could never do that sort of stuff, nor would I ever want to!!

.......

 

 

Same opinion/feeling

[Dennis]

3 hours ago, ianman said:

I think it's a great idea Dennis!!  I do have one issue though, I really feel uncomfortable about invasion of privacy. I know it's legal to photograph in the street but still, personally I wouldn't like it done to me, so I have a moral issue photography others without consent. For example, there was a heated discussion here some time ago about Dougie Wallace, I could never do that sort of stuff, nor would I ever want to!!

But, yes, it's a very good idea and I'll think of something to do that is not invasive.   If I can't find something suitable I'll definitely ask you! 

 

Great. Awesome! So you are ready to embrace your next challenge 🙂 In absolutely respect of everyone privacy, I would suggest (also @Lelmer is invited) to try BW silhouettes. It's very rewarding, challenging, need to work on composition, patience and perseverance. And the luck always is welcome. A few sample I shoot with whatever gear I had a that moment. That's why it's a screenshot. Warning, no Leica photos. It's just for reference. Thanks admins 🙏 But it's for you to have an idea about street photography not being necessary intrusive. 

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It's fun and safe. If you check, people here are not recognizable. Just black shapes trying not merging between each others 🙂 You can also preview the world in BW (EVF and live view) if you set the DNG to be monochrome. With my M10, I'm always inspired to shoot, but mostly with a 35mm FL. It's a beautiful match. And usually when I see a silhouette, it's like a nitro for my inspiration 🤷‍♂️ Can't resist, need to shoot.

 

Here the 2.8/35 ZM at f/8

Wow lens for SP

  

Edited June 7, 2021 by Dennis

[pgk]

On 6/7/2021 at 1:14 AM, IkarusJohn said:

I carry a camera with me most of the time, and photograph what interests me, with the lens I have.

😄 A good and simple summation of being a photographer.

[pgk]

I'm going to return to this thread with another observation. I recently bought an SL and Mto L adapter. I find it surprisingly ergonomic and usable with the 75 Summilux. In my hands the combination feel well matched and balanced. So I'm going to suggest that for each of us some lens camera combinations, if not inspirational, are certainly ergonomic and as such feel 'right' and are therefore more usable than others. I am happy to use the 75 Summilux on my M cameras, didn't particularly like it on the Sony A7II and find it very pleasant to use on the SL. Likewise both the 35 Summilux aspheric pre-FLE and the 21 SEM feel good and work very well on the M. So perhaps ergonomics and focal length do help with image creation when the photographer is in tune with ALL their characteristics. Still not sure about using the word ispirational because it feels excessive, but certainly effective ergonomics can be highly beneficial as has been demonstrated elsewhere in life.

[evikne]

I get inspired by lenses that create a longing in my fingers to hold it and use it.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Stef63]

On 6/9/2021 at 10:40 AM, pgk said:

I'm going to return to this thread with another observation. I recently bought an SL and Mto L adapter. I find it surprisingly ergonomic and usable with the 75 Summilux. In my hands the combination feel well matched and balanced. So I'm going to suggest that for each of us some lens camera combinations, if not inspirational, are certainly ergonomic and as such feel 'right' and are therefore more usable than others. I am happy to use the 75 Summilux on my M cameras, didn't particularly like it on the Sony A7II and find it very pleasant to use on the SL. Likewise both the 35 Summilux aspheric pre-FLE and the 21 SEM feel good and work very well on the M. So perhaps ergonomics and focal length do help with image creation when the photographer is in tune with ALL their characteristics. Still not sure about using the word ispirational because it feels excessive, but certainly effective ergonomics can be highly beneficial as has been demonstrated elsewhere in life.

Exactly.  I prefer to use 3 of my M lenses (well, one is an LTM) on an SL2 rather than on an M10 : 18 SEM, 75 Lux and 90 Thambar.  The SL2 is here the more natural combination than an M with (eventually an Visoflex)