Why HCB uses a 50mm lens

[250swb]

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1 hour ago, Capuccino-Muffin said:

Can i post a video on here?

3-4 fps is easy peasy for anyone who is not 60+

Leica could only get 3fps from the last M motor winder they produced, and a Rapid Winder can only do 2fps. Which I think highlights a potential problem you may have, at 4fps your camera or thumb could catch fire with the friction involved.

But I would relate this to the guy who says he can shoot at 1/8th second and get sharp pictures, and I say 'now do it for 36 exposures straight'. I have no doubt you believe what you say, and I also have no doubt you will fail to prove it. 

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[Capuccino-Muffin]

39 minutes ago, 250swb said:

Leica could only get 3fps from the last M motor winder they produced, and a Rapid Winder can only do 2fps. Which I think highlights a potential problem you may have, at 4fps your camera or thumb could catch fire with the friction involved.

But I would relate this to the guy who says he can shoot at 1/8th second and get sharp pictures, and I say 'now do it for 36 exposures straight'. I have no doubt you believe what you say, and I also have no doubt you will fail to prove it. 

This only shows that you are either old, or do not own a Leicavit, or both.  Which is all fine.

But believe me, youngish hands can work a Leicavit at 4fps very easily.  

Edited August 30, 2022 by Capuccino-Muffin

[250swb]

30 minutes ago, Capuccino-Muffin said:

This only shows that you are either old, or do not own a Leicavit, or both.  Which is all fine.

But believe me, youngish hands can work a Leicavit at 4fps very easily.  

So now you say you can do it only with a Leicavit, ah, you are the God of the Leicavit, like you are the God of your own imagination. So, prove it, and of course with sharp photographs.

Edited August 30, 2022 by 250swb

[Matlock]

2 hours ago, Capuccino-Muffin said:

Can i post a video on here?

3-4 fps is easy peasy for anyone who is not 60+

With your vast knowledge of all things Leica you will know full well that you can post a video, I look forward to seeing it. Of course, as I only took up photography in 1954 I would not be able to match your great knowledge but give me another 65 odd years and I might get there.

[lct]

Never heard of a 4fps Leicavit so far. Is it the current 14008 or 14450? If so, according to Leica (link), « The Leicavit M fast winder is mounted in place of the base cover, and allows experienced photographers to shoot up to two frames per second ».

[Matlock]

7 minutes ago, lct said:

Never heard of a 4fps Leicavit so far. Is it the current 14008 or 14450? If so, according to Leica (link), « The Leicavit M fast winder is mounted in place of the base cover, and allows experienced photographers to shoot up to two frames per second ».

Sadly the Leicavit has now been discontinued by Leica. Note that Leica state "up to two frames per second". The general consensus is nearer one and a half frames per second.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Matlock

[lct]

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1 minute ago, Matlock said:

Sadly the Leicavit has now been discontinued by Leica.

I did not know that thank you. Now besides this Leicavit issue, one question remains that our colleague @Capuccino-Muffin raised rightly IMHO. In matter of photography is it only the result that counts or is it the way the photo is taken? A famous photographer used to say that once the photo is taken he was not interested in it anymore if memory serves me well. I can't seem to recall whom though.

[pippy]

28 minutes ago, lct said:

..."The Leicavit M fast winder is mounted in place of the base cover, and allows experienced photographers to shoot up to two frames per second"...

Utter nonsense. But what do Leica know? Amateurs.

Everyone knows that any Professional Photographer worth his salt can easily manage 4fps with a Leicavit;

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!

Philip.

[LocalHero1953]

Just now, pippy said:

Utter nonsense. But what do Leica know? Amateurs.

Everyone knows that any Professional Photographer worth his salt can easily manage 4fps with a Leicavit;

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!

Philip.

Stunning shots, Philip. I'll give you £500 each in Monopoly money for a matted and framed set, complete with NFTs.

[a.noctilux]

13 minutes ago, lct said:

A famous photographer used to say that once the photo is taken he was not interested in it anymore if memory serves me well. I can't seem to recall whom though.

Garry Winogrand ?

Even if he didn't say that, when he died he left thousands of unprocessed rolls.

[IkarusJohn]

6 hours ago, lct said:

From the author's mouth (link at 16:20):

(free translation)

I have always thought that this was yet another occasion where there was a significant gap between what Henri said, and the reality of what happened.  Interestingly, In the Magnum Contacts book, we see the strips of film from which famous Magnum images were taken.  Not with HCB - he destroyed many of the before and after frames of his famous images, preserving the myth of his photographic technique.

I do agree that luck plays a large part in photography.  But I believe the image behind Gare St Lazare was staged.  I have Elliott Erwin’s ironic image of a man jumping a puddle, holding a tatty umbrella, with the Eiffel Tower in the background on my wall.  It seems I’m not the only one to doubt this improbable story.

[Matlock]

13 minutes ago, pippy said:

Utter nonsense. But what do Leica know? Amateurs.

Everyone knows that any Professional Photographer worth his salt can easily manage 4fps with a Leicavit;

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!

Philip.

Fully agree Philip, Actually after all this discussion I decided to try the 4fps plus. Believe it or not I got up to 7fps. Sadly at that point sparks started to emit from the Leicavit which set fire to the table cloth. The fire quickly spread to the soft furnishings and, in spite of a call to the fire brigade, I am now forced to live in the back of my car. The insurance company will not cover the loss as they say I was using the equipment in a manner that was not intended by the manufacturer. The moral is don't listen to Muppets (or Muffins, or whatever)

Edited August 30, 2022 by Matlock

[lct]

15 minutes ago, IkarusJohn said:

[...] I believe the image behind Gare St Lazare was staged [...]

Then do yo mean you believe HCB was a liar? It is your right to believe as you like of course. Just to avoid misunderstandings.

[Capuccino-Muffin]

I will gladly prove it.

But since it is clear that this place is one of a Country Club, and one where BULLYING is tolerated, and done by people with what is clearly limited knowledge, I want my victory to be worth it.

I ask for one HP5 100’ Bulk roll, and a clear recognition that “4fps with a Leicavit is easy peasy”.

You guys bunch up for a Bulk roll and I will post 3 videos where I show this easy feat.

 

Or better yet, send 100$ to cancer charity, with proof.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Capuccino-Muffin

[250swb]

9 minutes ago, lct said:

Then do yo mean you believe HCB was a liar? It is your right to believe as you like of course. Just to avoid misunderstandings.

The inaccuracy makes me think it wasn't staged, but just by being in any location it could be argued CB did change the scene he photographed especially as soon as people knew he was photographing them.

[250swb]

2 minutes ago, Capuccino-Muffin said:

I will gladly prove it.

But since it is clear that this place is one of a Country Club, and one where BULLYING is tolerated, and done by people with what is clearly limited knowledge, I want my victory to be worth it.

I ask for one HP5 100’ Bulk roll, and a clear recognition that “4fps with a Leicavit is easy peasy”.

You guys bunch up for a Bulk roll and I will post 3 videos where I show this easy feat.

Anybody telling the truth wouldn't demean themselves with extortion, you made the claim, you follow it up or shut up.

[IkarusJohn]

15 minutes ago, lct said:

Then do yo mean you believe HCB was a liar? It is your right to believe as you like of course. Just to avoid misunderstandings.

Yep, I think the first sentence makes that point abundantly clear.  He had a relaxed relationship with the truth.  That doesn’t change the quality of his images, just the myths he built around them.

[Jeff S]

3 minutes ago, Capuccino-Muffin said:

I will gladly prove it.

But since it is clear that this place is one of a Country Club, and one where BULLYING is tolerated, and done by people with what is clearly limited knowledge, I want my victory to be worth it.

I ask for one HP5 100’ Bulk roll, and a clear recognition that “4fps with a Leicavit is easy peasy”.

You guys bunch up for a Bulk roll and I will post 3 videos where I show this easy feat.

 

Or better yet, send 100$ to cancer charity, with proof.

Remember, not only 4fps, but ideal composition with no need for cropping any frame, as you described.

Jeff

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[250swb]

7 minutes ago, Jeff S said:

Remember, not only 4fps, but ideal composition with no need for cropping any frame, as you described.

Jeff

You are cruel!

[John Robinson]

This topic is drifting a long way from the original question about "best" focal length.  Now we have an assertion that cropping an image at post-production stage is somehow "impure" with a kind of macho assertion about "getting it right in the camera".

As an apprentice in the early 1970s I was taught about the benefits of shooting 6x6 because I could get a "good 10x8" in either portrait or landscape mode by my choice of how I set the easel under the enlarger (35mm could be treated the same but the quality was not as good and the camera had to be held the right way for the proposed destination).  Absolutely the image had to be "right" at the moment of taking but there was no problem with printing to the requirement of the job.  The real skill was visualising the image in the square (or 35mm) viewfinder to work out how it was going to be presented.

Sure, shooting images with the intention of showing them in their entirety without cropping is a good discipline, but what if you (like me), prefer the 3x4 aspect ratio and find the 2x3 of 35mm unsatisfying?  I can't always drag out my Phase One 3x4 or A16 film back on whatever heavy thing it is attached to, just to be pure.  So I look through the 35mm viewfinder and visualise the image as 3x4.  Does this make me "impure"?

Hmm ...