A struggle with my favourite 50mm lens…
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- Опубликовано: 17 май 2023
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This week I'm still in Italy but this time I'm shooting with my Leica M11. Some landscape photography, some street photography, but as usual mostly in between...
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Here's that page I mentioned :) www.jamespopsys.com/leica-in-italy
I'm Italian and I'm glad you visited our country it's really beautiful
Do you really do hands?
@@mateleber Not when we play football
Fratello italiano a rapporto :D
Si, signore
@@gallinasullalbero1333 I have seen Saló. I know what your hobby is.
As a long time viewer of you channel James, I’m really enjoying how your style has changed over the years
The tones you use now really compliment your subjects. It’s fantastic to see a photographer evolve as much as you have.
I’m not at all envious of your Leica either… 😉
Looking forward to next week mate 👍
Thanks so much Glen :)
I did a workshop in NYC when I got my M11 a year ago and it was pretty awkward with a group of 6-7 people. Could never be discreet, everyone looked at what the others were seeing and thinking they had a better subject, etc. I ended up going off on my own and then I enjoyed the sessions later where we went back to edit and discuss our shots, and it was Leica focused so I learned how to use my camera to its fullest. I was one and done after that. Never been on a workshop for landscape or architecture but I imagine from what I've seen on your other videos with Nigel and others that it is more conducive to a group photography experience.
Always great to have my subscription feed blessed with legendary content like this. Thank you James for using your time and talent to help us learn and grow. We appreciate you!
Thank you sir!
I've gotten way more attention with my X100 than I ever had in 15+ years of SLR type cameras. Rangefinders are just unique enough to get the attention of non shooters.
BTW, that mechanical failure is embarrassing for Leica given the King's ransom they want for their lenses. Apparently, they don't make 'em like they used to.
100%, have an m4 and it's built like a tank, but I tend to use Zeiss and voigtlander glass on it, way cheaper and haven't had any mechanical issues
Leica quality control a joke! My M3 new in box, 3 signatures! No working RF! Reqd. parts to complete assembly. 9 months later an apology. "Some people expect too much'. Oh. Fianl assembly in South Africa at the then, local agent! 1967.
@@jasongold6751gosh!
I stick to Hasselblad film and they are still working well for me.
Even though you might have preferred to shoot the Italian street scenes with your 28, I think the results you got with your 50 look really good.
8:32 👌Absolutely MAGNIFICENT work. Great work again James, thanks for another great clip!
I‘m terribly suffering from GAS at the moment, binge watching Leica videos to no end. But interestingly your GX1 pictures from last video impressed me even more. (Not sure if that reduces my suffering)
Me too, those Leica colours. Might try tweaking my Fuji colours and save my money 😅
Turn it off Joseph.
This is how they get you. Once the videos draw you in, then it is all over.
Your bank balance and your relationships will go, as a direct result.
Please, please turn it off.
I ran a Photography Meetup in Paris for many years. One of our recurring events was the Sunday Shoot (™😉). The group would meet at a Metro stop around town. I would then divide the group into smaller units of three to five photographers, given everyone the same list of shooting subjects for the day and send everyone off with a rendez-vous time and place. The subjects usually included a color, a geometric element and then some things that they might find in the particular neighborhood we were in, all open to the photographer's interpretation. This was an interesting way to keep people "on topic" but give them the creative freedom to find interesting subjects and compositions.
That's a really nice idea! Thanks James!
@@JamesPopsysPhoto You're welcome! I'll just need an invite to the first one 😉😁
Again, loads of useful info and entertainment at the same time. Excellent channel!
Years ago I participated in a National Geographic photo workshop based in a resort outside Sienna. There were some group excursions, such as trips to various hilltop towns and to a family owned winery. The trip was made much better with the inclusion of a local photographer as well as a regional guide. The guide and her husband had purchased the vineyard and beautiful old home a few years earlier and restored the home, turning it into a beautiful B and B. The workshop was the typical format of gathering each morning to review the previous day’s images (Two of us were still shooting slide film, and the organizers were ferrying our film to Firenze each evening for overnight processing. I was using Leica MPs, by the way.) The point of this overly long comment is that think the inclusion of the local guide/organizer and local photographer really helped make the workshop a much richer experience than, say, riding around on buses and piling out to take touristic snapshots. I think you should select a few possible locations or areas and spend some time meeting and coordinating with local talent.
That sounds fantastic!
Great video and some beautiful shots. Love your approach to photography. You may already know this, but in case you're curious, the "pickup" is called an ape, which in Italian means bee. Probably not interesting to anybody but, apart from the Ape, the Piaggio group also make the vespa, which means wasp. They are among my favourite vehicles, are quintessentially Italian, and seeing them always brings a smile to my face.
Hi from Italy the pick up is called Ape car from Piaggio and it’s a classic here.
Great stuff, James. Super-multi-layered; really nicely coloured.
I loved most of the photos you posted here. You have such a great eye for composition. You often see opportunities when I don't see it, whether you are going for a nature walk or walking a city street.
I love the final look and feel that you produce with your images, great stuff
Barely missed you! I’ll be there next week! Bringing the Leica SL. Great video brotha!
Great post, James. I really like the feel and vibe of the work you're doing - feel so much part of being there with you. I have a Q2 and experience the same thing with folks that want to touch and feel. I really like the 28mm lens on the Q2, wide, fast and sharp. Great for travel-type photography, has a small footprint, great for lurking and camping on corners ...
Thank you James
The light that morning was indeed gorgeous. Great pictures!
you could do the workshop in sicily. There are so many different things to see. And everything is still fairly close, so you can mostly decide spontaneously.
- Etna obviously
- Palermo
- Marsala/Trapani Salina (Windmills)
- Agrigento (Greek temples and scala dei turchi)
- Cefalu, Enna, Taormina, Catania etc
- loads of small lesser known villages
one way you could potentially do a workshop would be to have a home base, maybe have a chat beforehand, then let everyone go out for an hour, come back, have a look at photos and critique then (depending how long you would want it to go on for) go out a second time and see if people can implement the critiques?
That animated intro is adorable, and lovely. Good job! It makes the start of the videos feel different, and very chill. It's nice.
James I’m glad you are
Enjoying your Leica experience. I wish you would really bear down on comp and lighting and give the gear a rest- as a favor to those of us that must milk a couple of more years out of their Dslrs!
Beautiful results 😁 always enjoy what you capture James.
Thanks James. I think that's a really good set of photos. I think there's something about picking out the detail with a longer focal length, rather than 'getting it all in', which appeals to me- possibly because my first serious camera was a Practica MTL with a Helios 58mm. I had a 28mm lens as well, but it wasn't as good quality, so I tended to gravitate to the longer end.
You are right, the second batch of photos are better. Well done!
About the 50 being too narrow, you could do panoramas. It’s not very hard if you hold the camera still and rotate it around itself (to avoid parallax I mean). I do this all the time when I need a wider shot than my current lens can give me. And you don’t have to limit it to one row of photos either. You can for example take a row of photos from right to left and then aim up a bit then take another row of photos from left to right.
A technique that I believe James showed of a few months ago while looking at an abandoned house I believe.
Did a couple on this trip! It's really nice on a camera like that as it's so easy to flip everything to full manual :)
@@JamesPopsysPhoto ah okay okay! Sorry, didn’t mean to tell you something you’ve already shown in a video before. I forgot about that.
@@philliumo oh dang! Did not remember that!
Great commentary. I really enjoy your juxtaposition of nature and human built elements - it's more appealing to me than just straight landscape images. I too don't find the 50mm "normal" view to be overly useful for how I shoot. I bought one ages ago and found that despite whatever else others said, it just doesn't work that well for me. I prefer either wider (35mm is the preferred for me) or else tighter (70mm, 85mm, etc.). Finally, regarding workshops, I've been on one to southern France, and we naturally just broke up into groups of 2 to 4 wherever we ended up visiting. So maybe orienting a general area for your attendees, and then letting them loose for the next couple of hours before meeting at a common point for a break/meal is all you have to really do. Cheers.
i went here in March. Also with only a 50mm but on a d800. A great place for photography :)
Enjoyed this one mate. I’ve been challenging myself to shoot just the 50 on the M10-R recently with some fun results. I quite like that photos at 2:47 , 4:00 and 8:34. Love these walk arounds mate. I’m shooting a silver chrome M10-R and everyone comes over for a chat haha.Inspiring me to shoot more videos myself for my channel mate. Slowly getting used to being on camera. Cheers from Ireland. Colin
Really enjoyed that video. I had a similar but opposite day yesterday walking to Brown Willy In Cornwall. Only had the 35GM with me and in such an open landscape I struggled to get much that i liked. Wish i'd pocketed the Sigma 65mm as well. Some great photos, though, really liked the photo with the guy walking in with the oranges and the blue fiat. And the one with the pontoon is great.
This felt like such a supremely valuable video... amazing storytelling and advice, particularly around why the 50mm wasn't suiting you in Sorento & Venice 👌💡💯
Reminder that you could show up in a new place and take a while to realize your usual setup isn't cutting it for some reason -- another great vid 👍
Thank you!
the little pick up truck is called APE CAR, glad you spent some time shooting in Italy again :)
As a tall guy, I mean more than average, I found that to be more discreet with my cameras (Fuji xpro3 and xt4 so Leica size) I prefer to use a wrist loop like the Peak Design one, the camera is in my hand that's hanging low and I only raise it to shoot with one hand most of the time. If I use a sling for the camera, almost everybody looks at it because it hangs higher and is more visible and my body language changes, I'm most of times have my arms ready to lift the camera so it's unusual and brings attention.
For a workshop/trip type thing, you obviously have things like excursions of to places to visit, walk around etc and could balance it with small town visits. I think for more of the street type thing in a small town you could take more of a challenge type approach, a bit like when you and Nigel go to the same location, everyone goes off on their own in the morning and come back a couple of hours laters, perhaps with a theme like reflections or “35mm only” etc, and then gather thoughts, review each others photos, eat pastries! Tbh, you could trial the idea in the uk a few times to see how it goes and find a structure and format that works, plus different ideas and plans based on location, weather etc
tbh i like the look of the pictures more, since you were "forced" into a specific composition the pictures have a lot of character in them, moreover i'm in love with straight lines, for sure the 28mm would help you putting more thing into the frame but my feeling is that the final results would have been more tourist/smartphone/uninteresting like....
Thanks James. Agreed re your fav shot at 8:28. Although, to me, a standout of these for lighting and "mood" is also 5:44.
I’m in Sorrento at the moment and been to Amalfi and Positano but Capri was my favourite place by far
Hi James, not sure exactly when you were there but this time last week you would have all the colour and action of the Giro d'Italia bike race as it passed along the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento to a stage finish in Naples !!!
Ahh couple of weeks back - that would've been fun!
And Napoli winning the Serie A title too. Should have been more or less around the time he was there.
That's a brilliant idea - a workshop somewhere in Europe, even better if in Italy. I was interested in your Antarctica workshop but sadly a bit over my budget - though I'd be seriously interested in a workshop in UK or Europe. Loved the content by the way.
Great video as always, James. I have never posted a comment before, but it is about time as I've been following you for some time now. Love your passion for certain focal lengths and as a result a source of inspiration to do just as well with less equipment. On this video you did something that I haven't heard you talk about regarding equipment and handling of said equipment based on experience. I shivered with fear when you put down your Leica on your desk as you talked about it how it draws attention. You kept the strap hang over the edge and the camera balancing close to the edge..My guess is that you have yet to experience someone, a dog, cat - or yourself - getting a hold of the strap by accident with the result of having the camera crash to the floor.. Not done that yet? Well, just you wait. It will happen if you keep the strap hanging off the table top :-) Yes, I have some experience. Maybe that's a topic for a upcoming video 🙂 Love your work and the way you present yourself, your technicues and your images. A true source of inspiration as already mentioned.
Won't lie, using 50mm in tight spaces does get easier the more you do it. At least in my case, it's almost to the point where 50mm feels _too wide_ in the alleys we have here.
Whatever the reasons behind-the-scenes.... I love your photographs with 50mm , my all time favourite Len is 50mm only . Wishes from India 🇮🇳 Buddy .
I'm in on a workshop in Italy! And I like a Leica content 😀
Nice shots!
With a lens with a flashy silver ring on it it sure is not very discreet especially on sunny days 🤣
My Fujifilm in silver and black has gotten me a lot of questions while out and about having a visual conversation with the environment. I mostly use that camera for street shots, and it seems like many people recognize Fujifilm.
Well-done! I think that I saw the start of this presentation months ago, but may have been interrupted, because the parts near the ending seemed unfamiliar. So, a belated “Like.” A 50mm lens does, indeed, sometimes require more effort and struggle, especially in a new, unfamiliar environment.
"Noticing coffee shops and pastries - breathe - things that aren't good for me"
Muahahahahaha hahahahahahaha! Bwahahaha hahahahaha!
Hi James, that wobble at the front of your Elmarit lens may be a result of torque by using the hood to mount and unmount the lens with the camera. Try mounting the lens using the base of the lens, ie; the barrel around where the red dot is (as intended). I know it's narrow for your fingers but that should help to prevent the problem in the future. 😉
The photos you got in this video are very similar to my style. I enjoyed capturing people randomly out and about without making myself obviously.
Always enjoyed your videos but this one has inspired me particularly more 😂
I'm no good at "street" but have always thought of there as being two approaches - the Hunter or the Fisherman.
The former goes out looking for their "prey" amongst their surroundings. The latter finds a good spot and waits for the prey to come to him.
I fall in to a third category - the dog with a fly. Charging around all over the place fruitlessly trying to capture something! >_
very nice pictures! How do you go about exposing correctly/accurately with the shadows looking good and highlights just right? Do you have a video about that? Thanks!
A pick up truck… looks closer to a wheel barrow 😂 great video as always! Them 28mm are known to be a pain! Thankfully never happened to mine!
Great video. Still deciding whether to get the Q3, or M11. Completely different cameras for sure, had the M10, couldn't get on with it, sold it within a month - I think I needed longer. Had the Q2, loved it, had the SL2-S, great too. But something still draws me to the M11. 🤷🏻♂
James just started to watch this video and I would suggest that you think about the term SOCIAL LANDSCAPE it originated from an exhibition called "Towards a Social Landscape" featuring three photographers at MOMA in the late 1960's that would help you to think differently for this kind of photography.
The scenery really looks beautiful there and as you found out the local food and pastries are good too!
I loved the shot of the Fiat driving up the lane towards you (at 7.28), but for me the sign Bagni WC ruined it. The images off the jetty were truly lovely.
Can you recommend a hotel in that area?
your videos are very relaxing. i pair them with a hot cup of tea
I find it very intriguing to watch the gopro view and try to guess what your composition will be like or which elements you want to include. Often I find myself totally wrong because your 'eye' is of course different. From that perspective (see what I did there?) I think you absolutely _should_ do a photo workshop in places like this because 15 people can look at the same scene but no 2 photos will look the same. I've been practicing this with my wife and with friends for years and comparing our shots afterwards always was surprising and instructive. Love your channel, btw.
If the Elmarit is making problems, try the Voigtländer Ultron 28mm f/2 Aspherical. ;)
Beautiful images as usual James......really surprised that you liked the 28mm lens so much ....seems a bit wide for your taste.
Fond memories of Sorrento. Been there twice once for my Honeymoon
I see some love for Panda cars
I've never been convinced by the 50mm thingy. Mate of mine bought one on the basis of the usual blab about 50mm being what the eye sees and it was what we all used back in the day.
The lens hardly ever leaves the house.
35mm on FF is the way to go. Favourite prime.
it depends, if you're only ever going to use one lens then yes, generally a 35mm/40mm is the sweet spot (although some people do use 28mm or 50mm only). For me 50mm is better in combination with a 28mm
I have a Lumix G100 for that reason. Discreet and fantastic for runaround photography.
That pickup truck is an Ape 50.
Are those boots Vivo boots?
Oh, sure, nice photos! 😊
Good video! I don't believe there is a camera that people would not notice. So when I do what is called street photography (people only) I use a longer lens. When I incorporate street photography with documentary photography I use a wider lens. But the key is your body language in how you capture your images. What I mean by that is, if you are wanting to capture an individual coming towards you, along with capturing a scene that they are walking into, your body language speaks to them. Your body language should send the message that you are trying to capture the scene, and not them. They just happen to be there when you are doing it.
As a street photographer i never use a 50mm. I find it not wide enough to capture enough or not telephoto enough when i want detail (I'd use the 50mm fuji - so 75mm equivalent, for that).
So I hear your problems with it on this day. Having said that, i didnt see a photo on this video i didnt like. Great work as always 👍🏼
As a driver of a Japanese kei truck, I can attest that the miniature version tends to attract far more interest than the generic. Much like you taking photos of those Fiats, mopeds and trikes.
"Pick up truck " ......that made me giggle .
Bruh these photos are amazing
Some street photographers, and I'm pretty sure Cartier-Bresson said this of himself, consider themselves "hunters." No problem getting up close to people and taking photos of people. Others consider themselves "Fishers" who find an interesting composition and wait for a human being to walk into it to capture it. I definitely count myself among the latter group.
Not me screaming "get the bird get the bird!" as it flies from the left over the dock.
You got the bird. Thank you for listening.
Matt Osborne did a recent video on creating the bombproof rangefinder. If your lenses are going to fall apart, it might be worth watching. I’ve never thought Leicas were discreet either, apart from the old III models. Small black compacts are discreet (Olympus Mju, Ricoh GR, etc). Anything bigger isn’t that discreet.
At 5:13 I like the very simple photo of the woman on the bridge looking at the boat and the... Tilted horizon... Not much, like 1.5 degree, but tilted 😂
come to Mallorca!
Running a workshop in a town like this might work if you let them go off on their own. Meet for breakfast and give a talk on a particular aspect of street and urban landscape and set them on their way. Meet for lunch for a review and send them off again with either the same subject or a different one depending on their vote.
Then you have walks around the waterfront, or out of town in the landscape. Could work, but probably best with a small group of 5~7.
An interesting challenge anyway.
this is a gem of a video.
You know you've been watching a lot of photography youtube videos when a photographer references paule B
To be discrete, you pretty much need an Olympus E-P7 and the 20mm pancake or the GR3. Anything else is clearly a higher end camera.
1:34 is the most relatable RUclips content I have ever seen.
James what do you do with all your pictures? The pictures you take a look fantastic different to other photographers, which I love. Thanks, Mike.
Sat on a hard drive mostly, but working on a book at the moment :)
I think they call those little three-wheeled vans 'Tuc-Tuc's'. No idea why! 😂😂
That feeling of losing interest is very real. I regularly have it when walking around my town only because everything seems so familiar and I think, "why would anyone want to see this photo?" or "what is the point of this and why am I here doing this?"
I do this frequently as well. I wondered if anyone else felt this way. I always assume that the reason I don't think anyone would care is because I look at the scenes with "familiar" eyes -- I've seen it a "million" times, in other words. So what I try to do is find a different perspective to shoot it -- it doesn't always work out, but it's at least something to try before I give up and move on. Maybe it'll help you.
Interesting video. One thing that I have noticed, is that a lot of Y.T photographers refer to the 50mm as a normal lens because it resembles the vision of a human eye. This is incorrect. A lens is considered ' normal ' if its focal length is equvalent or close to the hypotenuse of the film/sensor format that it is used on. This makes 43 mm the ' normal lens for 135 format, or about 78mm for the 120 and so on. The closest focal length to mimick the human field of vision in a natural manner, is about 20mm in fact and not 50mm. The reputation for Leicas being discrete , was not actually earned by the M series but cameras like Leica II, and III. These were/are considerably smaller than the present M line of Leicas. Also, the classic line of M Leicas were very quiet in operation compared to their Japanese counterparts. For the type of photography you displayed, I would have thought that either a 28mm or a 24mm would have been more suited than the 50.
The town planner who cut the viewing hole in the fence cried when he saw this
I am convinced that nobody thinks things through, hence the bench facing the wall!
Well yeah, it's a Leica, I find my RX1R ended up being more discreet than my M simply cuz its even smaller and people who saw it thinks its a point and shoot or an A7.
Beautiful photos but the mess on the floor in the office. 😂
That silver ring at the front of the Voigtländer probably kills every "discreteness". Voigtländer should really rethink their design choice here.
Yes, I have an M10P (all black, no 'red dot') and when I use a very compact, but silver, TTArtisan 28mm f5.6 (lovely lens) I have noticed people 'looking' at it more than when I use other lenses.
@JamesPopsysPhoto ... I sounds like you need to shoot on a Leica Q, Q2, Q3.
Loving these images and particularly your editing style! Some real crackers!!! Ps what are your thoughts on the 40 and 50mm focal lengths?? (yes I’ve said that before ) 😂🤪🤪
As an urban planner, I can tell you that that bench could have been placed better.
Fab video.
Out of interest, what shoes are you wearing at the start of the video?
They're pretty cool.
Thanks
Mostly unrelated, but those boots look super comfy 😊. What are they?
Re the 50mm lens and previous posts on focal length. I wondered whether you would have preferred a 40mm lens (not sure whether Leica make one?) as you talked a lot about the 40mm focal length in previous RUclipss