Re: [Leica] Digital Aesthetic

["Jim Laurel" <jplaurel@nwlink.com>]

I think you're right, Tim.  People do seem to be discussing several
different questions in this thread, which confuses the matter.

Here's what inspired me to think about this.  I like to shoot with short
focal lengths, close to the subject at very wide apertures.  There's nothing
I love more than photographing interesting people in marginal light, up
close and personal, with a 35mm lens wide open at f1.4.  Or the Noctilux at
f1.0, for that matter.  I have recently been spending so much time scanning
slides, that I have been considering adding a Canon digital body.  I'm leery
of the 1DS because I know it's going to be revised in 18 mos or so, if it
follows Canon's usual digicam upgrade cycle, and I am not willing to own an
$8000 paperweight in 2004.  So, I started thinking about the 10D, which is
more reasonably priced.  But I soon realized that with this camera, I would
not be able to get the look that I so prize, using an M camera, with its
fast lenses.

Q: How do you duplicate the the FOV and DOF look of a photo taken with an m6
with 35 summilux or noctilux, wide open, at close range, with a digi SLR
using a 15.1x22.7mm sensor?

A: Not possible.  (without some clever Photoshopping, that is)

- --Jim

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Atherton" <tim@KairosPhoto.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 8:39 AM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Digital Aesthetic


> > Sounds like we're going to need an experiment to learn the truth here.
I
> > did some cursory tests similar to what Clive describes, which bear out
my
> > opinion on this.  I will try to whip up something tomorrow to post for
> > review.  A digital camera with a smaller than 24x36 frame does
> > *not* change
> > the lens' focal length.  It merely crops the image projected by that
lens.
> > DOF and perspective are the same as they would be on a full-frame
camera,
> > but the image is cropped.
> >
> > --Jim
> >
>
> It does, however, change the "effective" type of lens that you are using -
> that is, the actual used field of coverage changes and the exact same lens
> can go from being a telephoto to a wide angle.
>
> This is all old hat to anyone who uses two different large format cameras.
>
> One problem we are getting here is people using the same term to mean
> different things (and by this point in the discussion, I'm not quite sure
> what the question is anymore).
>
> On my 8"x10" camera my 210mm lens is a moderate wide angle lens (= to say
> around 28mm on 35mm cameras)
>
> Now, if I take that EXACT SAME lens and put it on my 4x5 camera it becomes
a
> moderate long/telephoto lens ( = to around 75mm or so on 35mm cameras).
>
> But you are also right the DOF from use on one format camera to another
has
> not changed, nor has the focal length of the camera - I still need 210mm
of
> bellows from the ground glass to the lens to focus at infinity on either
> camera. But on 4x5 I am seeing a much wider (and higher) part of the scene
> than on the 8x10.
>
> Your lens can "effectively" change from being a telephoto to a wide angle
> lens, but nothing else has changed apart from the actual field of view
that
> it covers 'on that particular format'.
>
> >Sounds like we're going to need an experiment to learn the truth here.
>
> No-one needs to do any experiments here to learn the truth (unless you
want
> to invent the wheel again...) - just read a couple of basic books are
> articles in using lenses on different format large format cameras - people
> did all the experimenting for you about 100 years or so ago  :-)
>
> tim
>
> PS - trying to read the threads on this I think there are about three
> different questions being asked and being answered at the same time... so
> I'm probably answering a question no one is asking
>
> --
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