Window Filters

[Michael Reichmann <michaelr@interlog.com>]

A couple of weeks ago I was on an Asian business trip, and I spent a few
days in Hong Kong.  My hotel room was on the 30th floor of the Grand Hyatt,
with a magnificent view of Hong Kong harbour, facing west.

Due to jet lag, I woke up very early in the morning and threw open the
curtains.  A gray overcast early dawn with intermittent heavy rain showers.
No big deal, I would be in meetings all day.

But, as I sat sipping my coffee, watching the boats in the harbour and the
day brighten, the clouds started to lift and within the space of minutes a
most magnificent rainbow appeared, arching over Central, part of the city,
and the harbour.

I quickly grabbed my Leica M6 and put on the 35mm Summilux. Oh Oh!  The
windows were sealed.  No way to avoid shooting through the glass.  A small
section of lower window wasn't streaked with rain, but it was fairly dirty.
No choice, I lay on the floor, using my elbows as a brace and took several
shots.

That evening, back in the room, the sunset tuned out to be very dramatic and
I shot about a half roll of the setting sun, using my 90mm Elmarit, with the
lights coming on in the hundreds of ships in the harbour.  I remember
thinking that while I probably had some interesting images, the fact that I
had to shoot both scenes though a dirty window would make the whole thing
academic.

A few days ago I was sorting the slides shot on the trip and saw the rainbow
and sunset roll.  Fantastic pictures.  One or two of each scene really were
great.  I made a couple of 8X10 Ciba prints and pinned them to the display
board that I use when consider whether an image is worth working on further.

The images were incredably sharp, with great clarity-- just what I expect
from Leica lenses.  I sat there feeling pleased until it hit me -- all of
these shots had been through a dirty window pane!  I had forgotten this when
looking at the slides with a loup and subsequently printing them.

Now my question is -- was the window glass single or multi-coated?  Was it
perchance made by Hoya or even B+W?  Maybe I'll carry around a pane of dirty
window glass from now on. :-)

Michael