Wide Ideas From Voigtlander and Leica

If you are into landscape photography or architecture with the Leica, Fujifilm X-Pro1, Olympus micro 4/3, Panasonic Micro 4/3. or similar cameras that can take the Leica M-mount lenses, here are two very good ideas.

The first is the Voigtlander 21mm Ultron f:1.8lens. It has an integral metal lens hood as part of the mount but also has a filter thread on the front. heavy, solid construction and 1/2 stop detents between the full stop markings on the aperture ring. Apertures down to f:22. We have one for sale new at $ 1195.

The second lens is the multi-focal type from Leica. The 16-18-21 Tri-Elmar is intended to be used without an additional view-finder - eminently suitable for the Leica M or the new Leica T with the appropriate adapter. It is a little more - $ 6365 - But you can console yourself with the thought that the RRP is $ 7000.

Back In Black - And Better For It

A month or so ago I reported on a chrome version of the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f:1.5 lens that was passing through the shop stock. I am ashamed to say that I made fun of it for looking like a refugee from a the set of  "Metropolis". The lens is a good performer but I considered the aesthetics over the top.

Two more examples of this lens have come in - these are in black. The appearance is greatly improved, and should you elect to take it out with your Leica or Voigtlander or Fuji  or Ricoh ( with adapter ), you will have a wonderful street shooting lens. Discrete where the other was garish.

Build quality? Superb metal finish and  smooth operation. Aspherical formula.

Shinier Than A 1958 Cadillac...And Heavier Too

I am always amazed by what the manufacturers will do to catch a niche market. We have seen orange Leica MP cameras, green Voigtländer Bessa T's, and Pentax DSLRs in very colour of the rainbow. Now it is the turn for a lens design that harks back to Russian Chrome Days.

Or maybe they are channelling the Swiss - or a minor German manufacturer in 1954. Whatever started it, the end result is an M-mount lens for Leica and Voigtländer bodies that has more shiny bling than anything that has been seen since Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor.

It is a Nokton f:1.5 and focusses as close as .7 of a metre and can shoot in very dim circumstances. If course as soon as the first ray of light hits it, there will be no dim circumstances. This is a rare and exotic bird and wold suit the retro-camera scene to a tee. It is metal, heavy, and bright.

Latest Breakthrough In Lens Technology Delivers New Word To The Lexicon

Students of photography have always had to learn new words - the nature of the subject seems to generate them; bokeh, scheimpflug, and low-pass being examples. Lens makers have added their share, and have used the language shamefully in the effort to make a model name stick in the minds of potential buyers.

Would you know what a Distagon is? Or a Nokton? Or a Summarit? Are they small-vineyard wines? Diseases? Towns in Bohemia?

No - just maker's family names that describe either a lens formulation or an aperture that you can hopefully achieve. If you attach one lens to the front of another by means of a reversing ring or glue, you can get Summicro-Planars and Oresto-Heliars and I can assure you that someone, somewhere will try it. There will be no real purpose for this and no expectation of success and it will look manky and horrible but then so did the the 1979 Nissan...

One of the current rude blasts of the advertiser's trumpet is to alert us to the fact that a lens has an aspherical element in it - to improve the lens by reducing chromatic aberration most likely. A laudable thing, but it needs an explanation - most lenses have a simple curve on either side of their structure - it might be convex or concave as needed and the radius of the curve can vary but it is the same curve fro the entire surface.

Aspherical elements can have a combination of curves on that surface, and can bend light rays so as to plop the red, blue, and green rays at the same spot on the sensor. Of course the path of the light rays through the completed lens is complex and is altered each time it his another glass or air surface but aspherical element can mean a very high degree of resolution indeed.

But what if we are trying to be artistic and haven't a clue how to do it apart from wearing an earring and an exotic haircut? How can we get a lens that will make our career? The answer was surprisingly simple for a number of major lens makers.

The answer was to cut down on the amount of mounting resin that is used to put the raw glass elements onto the lens-grinding machine and to pour a bucket of hot water into the lubricating spray that keeps the grinders moving smoothly over the surfaces being ground. This is put in 4 minutes before the scheduled end of grind. The effect is to slightly soften the blank on the mandrel and let it slide out of position. The grinder therefore puts an series of odd shapes into the glass at the end of the process and as these elements are incorporated into the finished product, artistic effects are produced.

These artistic effects may be somewhat of a surprise to the artist but then surprise has always been a feature of great art. In the case of Edvard Munch I have always been surprised that he was not lynched...

So - what do you look for when you want one of the new lenses?  Look carefully on the box or in the instruction sheet for the words " unsymmetrical element". You will get what you want and what you deserve. Remember Munch...

The Wurst-Käse Scenario

Many people have seen the uniforms of troops in the German army and noticed the various pouches and attachments that they have on their gear, ammunition pouches, entrenching tools, gas mask containers, etc. Few know the significance of the small sealed box on the upper left hand strap of the 1917-model field webbing.

It is seen in old photographs of the period and can sometimes be offered in militaria auctions. Rarely is it seen in the unopened form, but recently at Denby's in El Paso one of these originals showed up and after it was sold the collector who had bought it agreed to open it for the camera. It contained the  remains of three small sausages and a block of extremely hard cheese - the seal must have been good enough to prevent total spoilage over the the last 90-odd years.

The collector explained that this was the emergency ration of the observation-corps soldier, to be used only if all other rations had been expended, he was trapped far behind enemy lines, and on the point of death from starvation - the seal was to keep the food edible but there was a military law that forbid breaking it under any other circumstances.

It was the the sort of dire situation that gave rise to the Wurst-Käse scenario...

Which brings us to the topic of this post. Most people come into the shop looking for the best camera. They all ask for it. They all search for it on the internet. They all know someone who has advised them to get it...

Hardly anyone comes in looking for the worst camera. Oh, there are a few who do - they are very special people. Very. Special. And they have got me thinking that their approach to the art and science of photography might be a good test for the rest of us.

To that end, I shall be proposing a small contest later in the year - open to amateur and professional alike. There will be publicity, prizes, and probably art. Or artillery. Either way, there will be sausages and cheese.