🔴 Guest Post: Michael Schmidt
How the rangefinder helped me develop my photography skills. The Leica M camera had a significant influence on training my photographic eye and also on how I take photos and frame my shots today.
Who is Michael?
First, a few words about myself: I was born in 1972 and started taking photographs when I was 13 or 14 years old. My father had a Zeiss Ikon Icarex 35 S with a Zeiss Tessar 50/2.8 lens. The camera already had an internal light meter that worked with the working aperture; everything else was completely manual and mechanical. At that time, I often photographed slide film, which forced me to be very precise with the exposure, because slide film didn’t allow for much leeway. The Icarex slowed things down considerably, and you simply had to take your time, otherwise the results were rather poor. The learning curve was quite steep with the purely manual camera, as you had to figure out how aperture, shutter speed and film speed worked together and what pitfalls the rather simple light meter had.
From today’s perspective, the light meter was more of a rough guide, and you were forced to make the appropriate corrections based on the subject, light and experience. After Icarex, I moved on to Canon and their A and T series, then to the EOS-1, until I also went digital. At first, I still took photos with digital EOS cameras, as I had a few EF lenses from my EOS-1, and then later I switched to Nikon and their F-mount.
I have never photographed with analogue Nikons, only digital ones so far. But that was also the time when I had already started to focus more on portrait photography and to use only a few fixed focal lengths for this purpose. This was accompanied by a switch to black-and-white photography, which has stayed with me to this day, and I have not photographed in colour since.
My journey to Leica
My first contact with Leica cameras was through the Leica Academy, which was still housed in the Altenberg monastery at the time, and Leica itself was still based in Solms and not yet in Wetzlar. That was where I first photographed with an R8 and Leica lenses. As the opportunity arose ‘by chance’, I tried out a classic M6 TTL with a 35 mm Summicron and was not at all impressed. It all felt somehow ‘wrong’ to me, probably because I had only ever photographed with an SLR before.
Even today, I can’t explain exactly why I bought an M7 with a 50mm Summicron as my first Leica in the early 2000s. That’s how I got started with M photography, naturally with a 50 mm lens, because I simply love using that focal length. You have to be willing to get involved with M photography, like fixed focal lengths and not see the limitations as such, but rather see them as an opportunity to do something different with them.
Since I was very familiar with 50mm, I was able to concentrate completely on photographing with an M. My focal lengths today are the same as they were back then: 28, 50 and 75 mm. Whether analogue on film or later digital, for me an M is always the rangefinder with all its advantages and disadvantages.
I’m not so sure about the current EV1. It also has an M on it, but at the moment the question doesn’t arise for me. More on that later.
Why Leica?
For me, the most important feature of a Leica M is the rangefinder, because with it, from 35 mm and longer, you always see more than you photograph. You always see the whole picture, whether consciously or unconsciously, which allows you to perfectly adjust your own framing right up to the moment you press the shutter release thanks to the bright line frame. You frame your own picture with the camera, so to speak, during the process of taking the photograph. That’s what photography with an M means to me.
This possibility alone has influenced me to question my framing, and with an M this works perfectly, because you simply see more and can make new decisions much more quickly that can significantly improve the image, or you see completely new things, a whole new perspective, which is much more difficult with an SLR viewfinder, because here you only see what is in the frame.
This constant training of my own eye has contributed so much to how I photograph today. Even though one or two themes in my photography have changed, I have always enjoyed taking portraits and that has not changed to this day.
What do I photograph?
If I had to describe what I photograph today, the following comes very close: Women from portrait to sensual nude exclusively in black and white, photography reduced to the essentials, because less is more; less technology and image editing, preferably available light, no distracting colours, genuine, honest portraits and aesthetic sensual nude photos with sophistication and clear visual language. As a counterpoint to this, I photograph landscapes, architecture and street scenes to clear my head for portrait photography.
I like this reduction. I usually travel with a camera or a lens, always in black and white, and for several years now, I have preferred to use the JPG directly from the camera. However, this is not a dogma for me; if the situation requires it, I fall back on DNG. My aim, however, is to photograph a finished image directly and save myself any time in post-production.
One might think that an M would be particularly suitable for this reduction, but I haven’t photographed with an M for a few years now, for several reasons. As a glasses wearer, 28mm on an M isn’t really good for photography, and on top of that, I’ve been very fond of shooting with fast 50mm lenses for quite some time. Taking portraits with such a wide aperture using a rangefinder, with the model and photographer constantly moving slightly, results in a very high number of rejects. That’s why the Leica SL2-S with M/L adapter and the Leica Q2 have completely replaced my M photography but not my M lenses.
With a Leica Q camera you get a bit of that M feeling, at least because of the similar size and the viewfinder in the right place. With age, my eyesight isn’t getting any better, and at f1.2, the Leica SL2-S’s viewfinder is really very pleasant when focusing M lenses, and I have significantly fewer rejects in my portraits in terms of sharpness at the desired point.
The fact that I no longer photograph with an M also has to do with the fact that today I can see my framing in advance and know it even before I look through the viewfinder. I have become increasingly aware of this in recent years as I have switched back and forth between different cameras.
Thoughts
Looking back, it was very important for my photographic development to take photographs with the M and the rangefinder. I learned a lot from it, and even though I no longer take photographs with the M, I wouldn’t want to have missed that time and, looking back, I’m glad I chose the M7 and everything that followed.
Even though I no longer take photographs with a Leica M myself, I still have a keen interest in it, particularly in lenses with an M bayonet mount, although these do not necessarily have to be new.
How do you know MrLeica?
I have been following Matt’s channel for a long time because I personally like his mix of new and old lenses and cameras, model photography and useful add-ons.
When Matt opened his Patreon channel, I was happy to join. I no longer shoot analogue or with an M, but I still enjoy our bi-monthly group Zoom calls, even when the topics are specifically about that. I enjoy interacting with everyone else, seeing the work others put into photography and seeing the images that result from it. It’s just fun to share the topic of photography with others, where it’s not about being better or getting more clicks and likes, but about enjoying beautiful images and exchanging new ideas.
Favourite Leica camera?
The Leica M9 was my absolute favourite camera back then, even though it had many weaknesses; the look of the images from an M9 was simply brilliant. Today, it’s the Leica SL2-S with M/L adapter and the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f1.2 for portraits plus the Leica Q2 because it’s so versatile.
Favourite lens?
My favourite focal length is still 50 mm. With the Leica M7 and M9, it was the Leica Summicron 50mm f2 and sometimes the Leica Summicron 28mm f2. With the SL2-S, things have changed a bit. It’s still a 50, but now it’s the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f1.2 and, rather rarely, the Leica Summarit 75mm f2.5.
Favourite film?
When it comes to film, I have only used two Ilford films recently, Pan F and HP5. This had the advantage for me that I knew how the films reacted in certain situations, so I didn’t switch to other films.
Where can you find Michael?
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