At 14:02 9/22/99 , Barry Bean wrote:
>On Tue, 21 Sep 1999 20:36:51 -0400, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
>
>>So, although my own view of the world wants to be close-up on something,
>>I'm hoping that many of you _don't_ use extension tubes, etc. I'm
>>hoping to see lots of exciting pictures that just happen to be taken
>>with just a 50mm lens. Maybe I will learn a little bit about viewing the
>>world from that perspective. That's why I suggested it.
>
>And it was an excellent suggestion. One of my favorite exercises is
>to load my OM-1n with Tri-X and a prime (pick a prime, any prime) and
>shoot a roll or two from that one perspective. I always finish the
>roll with a greater appreciation for that focal length.
Thanks to Chuck for the suggestion and I *really* like Barry's exercise. I
have four very different cameras (not counting the spare OM-10 body) and
although two of the others have interchangeable lenses I only have a
"standard" on them. The OM-4 is the only body for which I have a number of
other lenses. So . . . when I use anything except the OM-4 I am reduced to
a standard lens. The 50/1.2 stays on the OM-4 probably 900f the time.
A friend at work and I have been bantering for some time about how much a
photog really *must* have all the other lenses. My position has always
been that a good general photog should be able to do nearly everything with
a standard lens. Most of the time some other focal length is more a
convenience (including saving time) than necessity. Emphasis on "nearly;"
I will admit there are a few specialized things one cannot do and one must
be willing to crop slightly in the darkroom (no more than 1/4 of the neg or
slide area). He keeps on coming up with hypothetical scenarios that are
impossible without some other lens . . . situations that a general photog
would encounter only a few times in a lifetime of shooting.
My wife recently signed me up for an adult education beginning photog class
and I'm now in week four. It really is very basic stuff, but I have picked
up on a few tricks the instructor has dropped here and there. He was a
professional doing 35mm, MF and LF work over 25 years and is very, very
good. I told my friend I was going to do the class exclusively with my
Zeiss Ikon Contax IIIa rangefinder and 50mm/1.5 Sonnar so not only would it
be pure standard lens, but completely and utterly manual everything. He
laughed and wanted to bet on how long it would take to break down and jam a
wide-angle or tele on the OM. Hasn't happened and it won't, in spite of
some of the assignments.
I have discovered it requires studying the subject thoroughly from every
possible POV, real thinking about everything, and some ingenuity. Thus far
it has been a tremendous exercise in the discipline of composition. Now I
know *why* many photog teachers of more formal courses *insist* a student
use a standard lens, manual focus and manual exposure.
Shot the ADITL the over two days following the Equinox using the OM-10 body
(recently CLA'ed), my original 50/1.8 SC, the manual adapter and Elite 100.
No lens hood, no filters, nothing else. Of course I took the Contax and
did the weekly shooting assignment with some Royal 100 at the same time.
Got a lot of the same shots on neg and slide. Just got the slides back
today and it's an interesting comparison! Yet another reminder of why I
switched to chrome a while back. Have yet find a local printer that can
get color balancing right; Qualex does an acceptable job.
Anyway, looking forward to see what everyone did when the gallery goes up!
I have a gallery of work from three of the four cameras up (MF scans are
*very* expensive):
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1139/
Still a work in progress (and stalled recently, again due to work).
Getting 645 MF negs and slides scanned is very expensive. Comments,
corrections and critiques are welcome (off list due to the volume here).
-- John
P.S.
Been really lurking a lot lately due to *work* and know I owe a couple off
list replies.
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