[Leica] Leica M8 in the theater

[kididdoc at cox.net (Steve Barbour)]

On Oct 25, 2007, at 12:42 AM, tom lianza wrote:

> Hi to all,
>
> I run a small theater group in New Hampshire and I handle the  
> lighting and sound.  I usually take photos during the show and I  
> thought I would share my recent experience and images with the group.
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/tomlianza/Theater+Shots
>
> I typically use a Nikon D2x up in the balcony with a long lens.   
> This has worked well in the past and it worked well in this show,  
> but there were some moments that I thought that needed some more  
> intimacy.  I had the M8 with a 50mm Voigtlander F/1.5 .  I moved  
> down to stage level and started taking some images in color.  Of  
> course, I didn't bring any IR supression filters with me.  As I  
> looked at the colors I realized that this was going to be a very  
> interesting editing session later that night.  I found working with  
> the M8 somewhat difficult. The first thing they need to do is to  
> put a physical control for exposure adjustment on the next  
> version.  It really slowed me down to go into the menu.  In the  
> end, I just underexposed by 1.5 stops and figured I would work it  
> out in light room.   The reason for underexposure is that the stage  
> is generally dark with the characters often lit in isolation.  The  
> frame lines on the M8 seem to be a mere suggestion of what you will  
> see in the final image, so it's important to stand off a bit and  
> crop, this exactly what you don't do with an SLR/zoom.  The noise  
> level of the M8 was not obtrusive which was a "must" in this  
> situation.  Focus was easy and this is where the RF really shines.  
> Auto focus is not a good idea in stage situations.   The tungsten  
> lighting plus the artificial dyes used in the costumes lead to the  
> expected disaster in color rendering.  I decided that the images  
> would be far better in Black and White.  I printed these images on  
> an HP 130 printer on Glossy photopaper at width of about 22  
> inches.  People just loved them...

I bet they did... these are smashing images... shows what can be  
done. Steve





> and they did look great at that size.  Working with the M8 in the  
> theater is no picnic, but the results can be quite good.  I'll use  
> it again in this situation.  I hope you enjoy the images...
>
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