Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/16

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Subject: Re: [Leica] 75'lux focusing
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 11:17:46 -0400

FWIW...

I find that when I use the M, my attention to composition - and thus
composition - improves immeasurably over the composition of my reflex
shots. The fact that I am "looking through a window" with a "frame" for my
subject, makes me concentrate on the entire picture before me, rather than
just the subject. Because I can see beyond the edges of the frame, I am
aware of what is and is not within the frame, and how the spaces are
arranged within the frame.

I think that what happens with the reflex, on which I use a 105 and 180
lens, is that I am simply seeing and concentrating on the "subject" of my
photo, and I tend to pay too little attention  to the subject's
surroundings and where the "frame lines" fall...

All of which is to say that I think the original poster was on to something
- - Eric's heated response to the contrary aside. I am not suggesting that
users of reflexes are any less sophisticated as photographers, or
necessarily pay less attention to composition, but if "what you see is what
you get," then seeing differently will produce different results....and
those differences MAY have something to do with the Leica "look."

B. D.
>With respect to M and R composition. As someone who uses both systems, I do
>think there is a way in which my style of composing changes somewhat
>depending on which system I'm using. With an M in my hands I usually remain
>more aware of the broader context within which I'm framing shots. When I'm
>photographing people, I feel a bit closer to them using the M and more a
>part of (less removed from) their (and my) surrounding environment. My M
>photos tend to show more balance between person and immediate environment.
>Since I only use 90mm or shorter lenses on the M, the surrounding
>environment is also more likely to remain in acceptable focus.
>
>I don't associate any compositional shift with focusing per se but with the
>way in which an SLR removes me somewhat more from the broader context of the
>shot -- a characteristic that makes macro and telephoto shooting much easier
>with an SLR and most "in situ" portrait work easier with an M.
>
>Gib
>