adan Posted August 14, 2009 Share #1 Posted August 14, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) This news assignment popped up out of nowhere Thursday. All shot with the M8 - 135 Tele-Elmar, 28 f/2.8, 21 f/2.8, ISO 1250 or 640. Manual exposure for the stage shots of Pickens to prevent the black background from dragging down the shutter speed. New West summit: photo gallery - Rocky Mountain Independent [Edit: BTW, I just discovered you can see the pix in an even bigger slide show by clicking in the image area - hah! Pays to know your own web site!] Some observations: This was the first time I felt a bit nervous about the noise of my M8's original shutter. Modern SLRs, with no film to pull, and that big body to act as a "blimp", have gotten remarkably quiet. I noticed Redford's eyes flicking towards me a couple of times as I shot. Of course, he's been around, and probably knows how a Leica M is "supposed" to sound...it may have been surprise rather than the absolute decibels. I hope the quiet shutter is standard in the M9. The 135's resolution saved my butt, as usual. Easy to crop to 300-400mm field of view (even at ISO 1250, slightly pushed). Who'd have thought, in 1964, that this lens would be shooting digital news - and excelling - in 2009? The tight shot of Redford and New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall is IR-contaminated - I'm short a 39mm IR filter and forgot to swap one over from my 50 for the first few frames of the "press availability". The tightest Pickens headshot is 135, ISO 1250 (but really exposed at close to 2500 and pushed a bit in ACR, to avoid camera shake). Cropped to about 400mm framing. I did need to bracket my focusing a bit with the 135 to be sure I got a sharp frame - just tweaking the ring left and right a breath between shots once I'd put the RF images together. I've changed my mind about RAW for breaking-news photojournalism - with a combined sorting and processing program like Bridge/ACR or Lightroom or whatever, it is trivially easy to get a RAW image uploaded as jpg in less than 3-4 minutes. No need to shoot jpgs unless you are wifi-ing a picture direct from a cellphone. (Or, I'll grant, from the sidelines at an NFL game.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 14, 2009 Posted August 14, 2009 Hi adan, Take a look here M8 meets Robert Redford, T. Boone Pickens. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
kidigital Posted August 14, 2009 Share #2 Posted August 14, 2009 Excellent job, Andy! Very, very nice images. The 135 is a great lens ... reminds me that I need to pick up another copy before it again becomes more sought after with the introduction of a FF M9. Kurt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljclark Posted August 14, 2009 Share #3 Posted August 14, 2009 No way! I've been reading on the DPReview forum that the M8 isn't a pro camera. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbarker13 Posted August 14, 2009 Share #4 Posted August 14, 2009 Nice images. I had an assignment to photographe T. Boone about 20 years ago when he was visiting my old college. I swear, that man hasn't aged since. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoleica Posted August 14, 2009 Share #5 Posted August 14, 2009 Very nice images Andy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted August 14, 2009 Share #6 Posted August 14, 2009 This was the first time I felt a bit nervous about the noise of my M8's original shutter. Modern SLRs, with no film to pull, and that big body to act as a "blimp", have gotten remarkably quiet. I noticed Redford's eyes flicking towards me a couple of times as I shot. Of course, he's been around, and probably knows how a Leica M is "supposed" to sound...it may have been surprise rather than the absolute decibels. I hope the quiet shutter is standard in the M9. The quieter shutter on the M8.2 really does make a difference. Have you had a chance to try one? Cheers, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill W Posted August 15, 2009 Share #7 Posted August 15, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) T Boone has not aged. I met him over thirty years ago in Amarillo Texas where he lived at the time. He might not like all the detail the Leica brings out though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adan Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted August 15, 2009 Sean - yep, I've tried it, liked it. Was ready to do an upgrade, and then they slowed down, and then they got expensive (and I got laid off) and then the M9 rumors began... Once Leica reveals...whatever it's going to reveal...then I'll either swap for quiet M9s or get the upgrades. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean_reid Posted August 15, 2009 Share #9 Posted August 15, 2009 Sean - yep, I've tried it, liked it. Was ready to do an upgrade, and then they slowed down, and then they got expensive (and I got laid off) It's really too bad about the paper and, of course, that story is playing itself out all over the country now. Best, Sean Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennB Posted August 18, 2009 Share #10 Posted August 18, 2009 Andy, From one old newspaper photog to another, Nice Job ! Also good to hear the M8 is useable for those type assmts (at least in your hands !). I'm still questioning my ability to work fast enough with my M8 for a news assmt. Guess I've just gotten lazy using my Canons for the job, and using the M8 only for pleasure. Keep up the good works, Glenn Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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