|
Post by nikkortorokkor on Feb 15, 2011 0:11:24 GMT -5
Here is the 1st roll off the AGFA Ambi Silette. All taken around Masterton in the Wairarapa, New Zealand. Feel free to critique. Film - Fuji 200 print Hand metered with a Sekonic Leader L8 selenium meter (contemporary with the camera - smaller, lighter and, IMHO, easier to read than the Weston Master which came with the Ambi). Lenses 50/2.8 Color-Solinar & 90/4 Color-Telinear. I don't have exposure info (lazy), but in most cases, I was shooting between f8 and f16. Masterton Railway yards and Tararua Mountains (mostly obscured by clouds). Color-Telinear Color-Solinar Waiting for the 12:55 from Wellington Color- Telinear The 12:55 from Wellington rolls into Masterton Color-Telinear The Fat Duck Cafe (formerly the Coronation Hall, built in 1912) Color-Telinear. The loss of contrast in the centre of the frame is noticeable in several images made with the 90/4 Color Telinear. It is fitted with a factory filter, which I'll remove for the next roll. I'll also add the factory lens hood, though I don't think it would have made a difference here. Same subject, same location. Color-Solinar. Overall, the 50/2.8 Solinar appears to have more "punch" than the 90mm telephoto. It is a nice, contrasty lens. Maybe my favourite image from the roll. A Cartier-Bresson moment at the Queen Elizabeth Park Cricket Oval. Color-Telineon.
|
|
|
Post by nikonbob on Feb 15, 2011 4:28:29 GMT -5
The photos look pretty darn good to me. Looks like you got a winner there. It is going to be interesting to see if removing the filter on the Color-Telinear will help with the loss of contrast. I am wondering if it might be a little bit of haze in the lens?
Bob
|
|
daveh
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4,696
|
Post by daveh on Feb 15, 2011 4:48:06 GMT -5
Michael, super and superb. The two photos on the station: taken about ten minutes apart and yet the two people on the bench seat haven't changed position. Are they still there? I know Kiwis are pretty laid back, but...... I always like seeing photos of subjects that don't make it to most magazines, tour brochures, albums or whatever. The pick of the bunch has to be the cricket match, for all sorts of reasons. What a wonderful setting for a great game. Cricket at its best has everything: The ultimate team sport for individuals. The moment is perfectly captured - just as the ball is about to be released. Everyone, except the little lad, who has distracted his mother, concentrating on what is going to happen next. And what did happen next? Did Cartier-Bresson ever photograph a cricket match? We went to Paris a couple of years ago and went into the Bois de Boulogne. There was a cricket match going on there. There is an active French cricket league. Several of the teams are made up of Sri Lankans, as the two teams were that we saw. There is something strange about watching cricket in France. Maybe Cartier-Bresson did, indeed, photograph it: as you say, it is a Cartier-Bresson moment. Wonderful. Dave.
|
|
|
Post by jess77 on Feb 15, 2011 8:27:59 GMT -5
Love the first picture. It's like the beauty of nature meats manufactured "progress." I love how the metal tower on the left mirrors the tree on the right. It's almost like as if the created is melting into the manufactured... out of the dust rises an army. Ah, the train station... we don't really have stations that look quite like that here anymore... or if we do, I just haven't been to one in so long I have forgotten. Anyway, the two pictures are nice. I like the advancing clock and yet the people still haven't moved on the bench. It feels quiet and relaxed. Are those rails as narrow as they appear? They look far more narrower than ours. The cafe looks very inviting. Seems strange not to see anyone enjoying it though. Is that duct work falling from the ceiling or a banner that has been rolled up? Cricket... one of these days I'd love to see what that's like. I wonder if they have a cricket team in Texas? Love the energy in this pic. Good job on all.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2011 10:34:36 GMT -5
Just viewing those photos probably lower my blood pressure 20 points and are further proof of why we need to make plans to visit Oz and New Zealand.
Wayne
|
|
|
Post by nikkortorokkor on Feb 15, 2011 13:22:41 GMT -5
Bob, I also wonder if there is internal fogging. The lens looks crystal clear to me, but that may not be the case.
Dave, Did Cartier-Bresson ever photograph a cricket match? the thought seems incongruous, but you never know!
Jess thank you for your positive comments. Cricket was, in the nineteenth century, reasonably popular in the US. We've just had a great news story here about the touring Compton Cricket Club, nicknamed the 'Homies' or the 'Popz'. They are all former gang members or homeless men who now play the 'gentleman's game'. The team members credit the game for its civilizing and calming influence on their lives. They've made quite a hit in NZ and Australia.
The rails are 3'6" gauge, used in New Zealand, Queensland (Aus), Sth Africa, Japan and Thailand. This narrow gauge makes for rock'n'roll travelling!
The falling duct work is, in fact, a side curtain to keep the verandah warm during evening functions. On the warm afternoon when the photo was taken, most of the patrons were enjoying coffee on the front side of the verandah, which runs 3 sides of the building.
Wayne, please come down! Both countries are a photographer's paradise, though physically very different. I suggest touring the huge landscape of Oz first, before sampling the more compact NZ.
|
|
|
Post by vintageslrs on Feb 15, 2011 13:34:36 GMT -5
Some fine looking pix..... Glad to see you are enjoying!
Bob
|
|
photax
Lifetime Member
Posts: 1,915
|
Post by photax on Feb 15, 2011 14:05:54 GMT -5
Michael, wonderful pictures ! The Ambi Silette is a superb German camera and I pressume New Zealand is a great place to be MIK
|
|
|
Post by nikkortorokkor on Feb 17, 2011 4:38:39 GMT -5
Thanks Bob and Mik.
The Ambi Silette certainly is a superb German Camera. It is definitely the most refined German rangefinder I own (or sits 1st equal with the rather charming but less-well-built Braun Super Paxette III Automatic) and I'm really learning to enjoy using it.
I have one caveat however. Although I think the Ambi is a a cherry to use (I'm still not over that *silent* shutter), I don't like the "poor man's Leica" tag which Steve Gandy has attached to the AGFA. Somehow the AGFA is too self-consciously styled for that epithet.
In my very humble opinion, while the Ambi is probably a better user than a "3 window" Diax, if only for that fantastic, parallax-compensating viewfinder, the Diax IIb has a charm that the Ambi lacks.
The size, shape, weight, finish (dull satin chrome) and even the idiosyncrasy of the Diax make it the only camera in my collection which I think of as my "poor man's Leica". The Ambi looks like a (very competent) styling exercise, whereas the IIb looks like it was designed by a competent 35mm photographer.
One day I may bore everyone with a more full comparison of these cameras.
|
|
Doug T.
Lifetime Member
Pettin' The Gator
Posts: 1,199
|
Post by Doug T. on Feb 17, 2011 16:17:11 GMT -5
Michael, Those are very nice photos. Sometimes going back to an "old" camera, it's necessary to learn things all over again (like thinking about shutter speeds, aperture, dof, etc.). It's nice, and relaxing, to do things old school once in a while. I'd like to see some photos taken with a Leica posted, then some taken with various other cameras posted to see how much of a difference, if any, there really is. Any takers? Doug
|
|
daveh
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4,696
|
Post by daveh on Feb 17, 2011 17:24:40 GMT -5
Doug,
I can take some with Leica lenses. The only Leica body I have is a very broken down Leica II, but I would have to find it to establish exactly which model. A couple of the lenses, Hektor 13.5 cm and Xenon 5 cm are not worth using. The Xenon was I think quite soft anyway, but the front element is lightly scratched (a professional photographer having done that to make it into a soft focus lens). The 90mm f4 Elmar takes nice pictures though.
Dave.
|
|
|
Post by nikonbob on Feb 17, 2011 23:16:37 GMT -5
Doug
I agree that it is nice to slow down and go old school to relax while taking photos. I am too lazy to post any of the photos but any I took with my Leica stuff was in no way head and shoulders above what I took with any other brand camera, at least not to my eyes. Maybe I am too easily satisfied and/or just not a connoisseur of fine glass. One of the only lenses that has stood out to me because of its character is a 50/1.5 Sonnar be it German, Russian or Japanese built.
Bob
|
|
|
Post by nikkortorokkor on Feb 19, 2011 3:56:17 GMT -5
Doug,
I'll gently disagree with you on the utility of a comparison between photos made with a Leica and those made with other cameras. I do so for several reasons:
1. The variability in scan quality and monitor settings makes such a comparison technically difficult. 2. In terms of technical image quality (based on resolution), my old Yashicamat 124G and my Mamiya Press Universal stomped all over my best 35mm gear. 3. BUT, I made my "best" (most personally pleasing) photos on an old, brassy Nikon F3. Having never owned a Leica, I's still hazard a guess that there were similarities between the experiences of using the pro Nikon and an M series Leica, even though the former was an electronically controlled SLR. Fit, ergonomics, weight; everything stacked up to make the F3 a camera which was always in my hand (I didn't even use a neck strap). It was a camera which never felt as if it would let me down, despite having obviously put through thousands of shots before I ever laid hands on it. 4. Combining all these points: great 35mm photography is not really about technical quality (measured by resolving power). That is the province of medium and large format. Professional 35mm (as opposed to all us amateurs) was (it has been replaced by digital) centred on photo journalism and related (sometimes imitative) genres. The drama of a Capa, the wit of a Cartier-Bresson, these go beyond technical quality. Portability, speed and dependability were equally Leica traits along with a reputation for great lenses.
An inspired photographer with a box brownie could make more arresting photos than an uninspired photographer with an M4. But in terms of professional 35mm, Leica, and later Nikon and Canon, provided photographers with enough of the the necessary qualities to ensure that they were highly likely to be the cameras found in great photographers' hands.
I hope that this rant makes some sense. I'll still have fun with the Ambi!
Michael.
|
|
daveh
Lifetime Member
Posts: 4,696
|
Post by daveh on Feb 19, 2011 5:56:11 GMT -5
Michael,
I have looked for resolution charts for the 124G, but can't find any. Resolution is a fairly tight parameter of a lens: how many lines can be resolved. It does matter, but such as contrast, colour fringing, distortion etc. have to be added in to the equation.
For me the Canon 70-200 f4 L lens is way ahead of anything else I have used, taking all factors into account.
Dave.
|
|
|
Post by nikonbob on Feb 19, 2011 6:56:43 GMT -5
The thing that has always amused me about these lab resolution tests is the fact that after buying a 35mm lens tested best in the lab for resolution most people shoot hand held. Add to that, Leica shooters seem to enjoy using slow shutter speeds hand held. Doing all that just does not seem to be the best way to exploit all that lab tested resolution capability. Then again, looking for the holy grail, whatever that is, can be a lot of fun.
Bob
|
|