One of the rewards and advantages of using Leica RF certainly must reside in handheld, available low light photography. Here the Leica M enthusiast isn't hindered by either the slap of a mirror, or even worst, the black out caused by mirror lockup, or by the use of a timer. All of this involving, of course, a cumbersome tripod and cable release. Conversely, in recognition of the special requirements of these M shooters, Leica has designed a wonderful tool, the Leica Tabletop Tripod & Leica Large Ballhead. A small, innocuous tool, easily carried in the smallest kit bag. This tool can easily add two to three stops to those doing handheld available low light photography, and the gifted can easily attain three, four, or more stops. And of course, in those situations where neither flash or tripods are allowed, or are socially unacceptable, the Leica Tabletop Tripod & Leica Large Ballhead can be worth there weight in gold. No one will even look twice. Historically, Leica has both recommended and advocated the use of the Leica Tabletop Tripod & Leica Ballhead to attain the highest possible resolution, contrast, and tonal scale possible in handheld, available low light photography. Leitz M6, Elmar-M 50mm 1:2.8, B+W KR1.5 MRC, Fuji Sensia II 200, ManFrotto Tabletop Tripod (braced against my chest):

-- Glenn Travis (leicaddict@hotmail.com), April 13, 2002

Answers

Glenn, your picture is excellent. really one of the more interesting pictures I have seen recently. was it actually taken at 2.8? the DOF looks more towards 4 or even higher? or is there less depth in the real object than seems?

-- rami (rg272@columbia.edu), April 13, 2002.

Yes, the loved Leitz table top tripod. Saved me many times. I carry one in my bag at all times. My Leicaholic self has a few too many though. 2 tripods and 4 heads.

-- chris a williams (LeicaChris@worldnet.att.net), April 13, 2002.

I'm curious, just what in the hell am I'm looking at exactly?

-- Dave Doyle (dave@soilsouth.com), April 13, 2002.

Dave:

You're looking @ the Eiffel Tower from directly underneath.

-- Chris Chen (Wash., DC) (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), April 14, 2002.

looks like an lifter hole, (elevador in spanish),

Glenn, tell me, is this resoulution worst than actual picture?, remainds me the look of a 35 summaron wide open, in my view softness of focusit makes DOF looks longer, and subject in focus also become less isolated.

I´m just begining to know the 50/1.4, and find similitude in sharpness at f/2.

Of course this is from what I can see in my screen.Thank´s

interesting picture too, what´s it'

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

is it Chris?,

by the way, what exposure was it Glenn?

-- r watson (al1231234@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

;-)

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), April 14, 2002.

r watson:

That's definitely the underbelly of the Eiffel Tower--like most tourists, I've shot it many times from that perspective (but never @ night). But you weren't too far off in thinking that it looks like an elevator shaft, as you can see the machinery that takes sightseers up the tower in all 4 "legs," as well as in the central post.

-- Chris Chen (Wash., DC) (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), April 14, 2002.

Nice Eiffel Tower at Night Glenn

Even with a Leica SLR, you can take pictures with low light

This one is made with Provia 100F, a 90mm/F2 at f2.8, hand held http://xavierf.b.free.fr/Elancourt/Elan03.jpg

If you want to see a few French Monuments: http://xavierf.b.free.fr/Elancourt/Elan.htm

Cheers. Xavier

-- Xavier d'Alfort (hot_billexf@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

With a tripod, any damn camera will do. So what was it you were showing again? o, the truck..

-- Travis (teckyy@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

I can take better shot of it with my Lumix braced against my teeth.

Sharp u say?

-- Travis (teckyy@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

Glenn - Thank you for the treat. the details in the iron work is amazing, for a hand held night shot at asa200. I have tried to use the Leica table tripod against my chest, but have never been able to stop breathing and shaking long enough to get a solid shot. I usually hold the tripod legs against a pillar, wall or tree. Then my results are excellent. If you could discribe how you held the tripod and positioned the legs, it might help me. I also carry the Leica table tripod in my camera bag or car glove box, all the time. Thanks again, nice "Eye Candy". Frank Ricatto

-- Frank Ricatto (luttmann@nerc.com), April 14, 2002.

I disagree with those who say any camera will do. Try putting an arm shaking, mirror slapping F5 on a little chest pod and getting that shot. Glenn is touting a small, easy to carry, at the ready kit, not some outfit that requires you to pull permits and bring 2 assistants in support. I've also used a little C-Clamp thingy with a ball head to grab any nearby support and shoot available light at night. The Ms relatively small size with big optic performance is what makes it all work. That 50/2.8 keeps the balance more centered and makes me realize it's usefullnes in such critical situations. Hey Glen, do you get a sales commission from Leica? If not you should, at least for 50/2.8 sales.

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), April 14, 2002.

I still don't get it. Glenn, you could be talking about any camera in the world. What makes Leica so good is it's ability to shoot in low light WITHOUT a tripod or support, with as fast lens as possible.

Try f/2.8, 1/8 sec without a tripod. Sure with a Sulmmilux 35 you need to spend more cash, but a Elmar f/2.8 on an M6 is more $$$ than a FM3a and a 45mm f/2.8.

Your point is a contradiction to mine......so why is everyone so PRO your point and ANTI mine? Must be popularity rather than sense I guess. Good sense tells me that shooting WITH a support is LESS impressive than shooting WITHOUT, at any cost.

-- Kristian (leicashot@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

Everyone including Glenn is waxing eloquent or talking about the "wonderful" Leica table-top tripod. Hey, did any of you, (gee, Glenn, you included?) notice the photo was shot using the Manfrotto tripod, not the Leica one?? :-)

I think the little Bogen/Manfrotto guy is great, myself--the adjustable stalk makes it actually something you can use to take photos, unlike the stubby Leica thing, which really isn't high enough for a lot of the jobs it should be doing.

By the way, this picture looks distinctly not sharp to me.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

Glenn is a most impressive artist. I got the chance to view some of his prints done by Epson inkjet. It's wonderful to know that a dude like him can use one camera body, one lenses and get enough variety of impressive shots.

Unusually this shot is very creative. Some would have dragged out the Summilux and the Noctilux but Glenn chose the Elmar, his beloved weapon of choice.

I would admit hands down that I would be using 2-3 lenses in general. Right now it's a 40mm and a 90mm. Not too shabby but I would prefer a 28mm and a 135mm plus a 50mm (Elmar or Noctilux or Summicron) in addition.

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.

FWIW, when I use the Leitz table top and large ball head, I use it as a chest pod, mostly. It's a bit more akward than regular hand holding, but it buys you sharpness that is perhaps double that of what you would get otherwise. Just hope that your subjects don't move!

There's more on my web site, if you're interested.

http://208.218.135.74/top/top.html

-- Tom Bryant (boffin@gis.net), April 14, 2002.

Glenn- There is another option that is as useful if not more than a tripod: A BEAN BAG. I use one all the time.

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), April 14, 2002.

What makes Leica so good is it's ability to shoot in low light WITHOUT a tripod or support, with as fast lens as possible.

This may be true to get you down to 1/30th, or even 1/15th, of a second shutter speeds...but 1/8 & 1/4???...forget it. The advantage of Leica lenses is that they have good center to edge sharpness wide open. This has nothing to do with using a long shutter speed, handheld. It's an advantage in that you'll get a sharp shot wide open if the camera is held as steady as possible.

A Leica with a fast lens is not a ticket to careless technique. An exposure made at these slow speeds without any kind of camera support will just about always guarantee an un-sharp picture. And that may be fine...even the desired effect...for certain kinds of shots. But shooting landmarks and buildings at night is not one of these situations, IMO.

-- Jim Tardio (jimtardio@earthlink.net), April 14, 2002.

While 1/4 is really pushing it (although you can be very lucky), I think 1/8 is perfectly feasible, although you need to shot several frames to get one that works. Subject movement is more of a problem, of course.

I do think the Leica M gives you an edge in handholding low shutter speeds.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), April 14, 2002.

I agree w/Rob, especially his point about subject motion. Some of us, @ least, can successfully handhold an RF down to 1/8 or even slower, but if your subject is moving then it doesn't matter how steady your hands (&/or tripod/monopod for that matter) may be. To me, fast lenses redeem their hefty price tags when they let me shoot @ a shutter speed high enough to stop motion to an acceptable degree. For the nightclub shots of musicians that I like to do, that means @ least 1/30 sec. to stop reliably freeze the action. If you're shooting a building or other static scene, I think it's much more economical to use better camera support or work on one's handholding techniques.

-- Chris Chen (Wash., DC) (furcafe@NOSPAMcris.com), April 14, 2002.

Sure, Glenns point is a good one and whenever possible, using some sort of aid is going to be better than none.

But when you can't rest the tripod on a ledge or chair or chest, then what? Then a fast lens and steady hands is all that can be relied upon.

But by all means use a supporting aid whenever possibe, if you can be bothered to carry one. And the table top tripods are a handy little device as Glenn said.

-- Kristian (leicashot@hotmail.com), April 14, 2002.