Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/06/10

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] HCB negative
From: mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:05:51 -0400

I think the best way you're going to get an HCB flavor to your street
photography is to use a 50mm lens like he always did instead of the wides
which pretty much all the street photographers use now; when not using ultra
wides. Ultra wide zooms are the basic piece of gear now.
So if you're using a 50 you're going to get much more or a formal look to
your work than what's mainly out there. Its going to stand out and not look
like the ongoing stuff but maybe if your lucky a little bit like HCB' s. Its
going to be much flatter and formal looking. So if you shoot enough when
something's happening when you look over your results you just might get a
shot where everything comes together perfectly from a composition angle as
well as a capturing the perfect moment angle. And when you see that shot on
your contact sheet or screen and recognize it for what it is: your million
dollar HCB shot. Then THAT'S the decisive moment. It happens in effect with
grease pencil in hand not really when your out burning lots of film or
pixels.
And I do think the trick is to do what HCB did. Just take millions of
pictures. Real fast. Don't think. Its not going to happen if you go "click"
and walk away.

Mark

--------------------
Mark William Rabiner
Photography
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/
mark at rabinergroup.com
Cars:   http://tinyurl.com/2f7ptxb




> From: James Laird <digiratidoc at gmail.com>
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:15:35 -0500
> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] HCB negative
> 
> I might try some Efke 50 or 100. I've heard some good reports on
> Neopan Acros-100 too. Anyone using this film?
> 
> Jim Laird
> 
> On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 4:05 PM, Henning Wulff <henningw at archiphoto.com>
> wrote:
>> I was talking to Tom Abrahamsson this morning, and he recollected as did I
>> that HCB said once when asked about the sprocket hole strip, and why it 
>> was
>> missing: 'I ate them', implying at least that he had done it for whatever
>> reason, and that this is likely the original.
>> 
>> On the other hand we're all just guessing and inferring from hearsay, and
>> probably the full 'truth' will never come out anymore. And it really 
>> doesn't
>> matter.
>> 
>> As far as 'old style' film is concerned, some of the stuff that Efke 
>> markets
>> comes closer than today's Tri-X and HP5+ or other films from the majors. 
>> The
>> Efke offerings come from a couple of different manufacturers and are based
>> on old Adox and Orwo emulsions. MACO also produces some (and Efke markets
>> some of those, as well).
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> At 1:53 PM -0400 6/10/11, Lawrence Zeitlin wrote:
>>> 
>>> Henning is right! I stand corrected. I based my original conclusion on
>>> measuring the image on an iPad. But enlarged on a 20" screen, and making
>>> allowance for the foreshortening, I estimate that the negative strip is
>>> 27.5
>>> mm wide. A row of perforations could have been snipped off and still 
>>> leave
>>> the full image frame. Why that was done is hard to say. Damage? Stripped
>>> sprocket holes?
>>> 
>>> The fact that the film was snipped does not mean that the negative shown
>>> was
>>> not a copy. E. Leitz (remember them?) made several devices for 
>>> duplicating
>>> film strips including the Elida Film Printer, the Eldur Contact Printer,
>>> and
>>> the Kopat Combination Printer. One of the major scientific uses of the
>>> Leica
>>> camera was copying rare artifacts and manuscripts in situ. Leitz itself
>>> suggested that distribution prints of rarities be produced from copy
>>> negatives to avoid excessive handling and potential damage to
>>> irreplaceable
>>> original images. The HCB jump negative probably fits in that category.
>>> Interestingly Leitz never suggested blowing up the negative to 4x5 size 
>>> to
>>> make copy prints. The idea probably would have gone against the 35mm bias
>>> of
>>> the company. A full description of Leica copying technique is spelled out
>>> in
>>> Morgan and Lester's "Leica Manual," especially the editions published
>>> before
>>> 1950 when specialized microfilm copying equipment became widely 
>>> available.
>>> 
>>> Larry Z
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Leica Users Group.
>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> 
>> --
>> 
>> ? ? ?Henning J. Wulff
>> ?Wulff Photography & Design
>> mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com
>> ?http://www.archiphoto.com
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information




In reply to: Message from digiratidoc at gmail.com (James Laird) ([Leica] HCB negative)