Sometimes unusual circumstances require the use of unusual equipment. Photography is no exception. We used to have a cabin on a lake in Central Wisconsin where we spent many weekends while our kids were growing up.
When arriving a few years ago I noticed a huge hornets nest in one of the trees. Not only that, but the hornets appeared to be unusually aggressive, so we stayed at a safe distance.
This seemed to be a worthwhile subject for some photographs, but how to do so without upsetting the animals, leave alone getting stung.
The resulting picture, I feel, is not so much of interest because of its pictorial excellence but rather because of the unusual Leica equipment combination it was taken with.
To be able to stay at a safe distance, I decided to use a 560mm f/5.6 Leitz Telyt. But how to focus it close enough? About 20 feet appeared to be a safe distance.
At that time, my main camera was a Leica M5. I used the 560mm Telyt with a Visoflex III. The Visoflex III also allowed to do closeups with the Leica Bellows 2. With the 560mm Telyt attached to the bellows, I was able to focus without any problems. Of course, a sturdy tripod is an absolute necessity in a situation like that.
Thinking back to that day, I am glad to have updated my Leica equipment since then. The Visoflex III is long gone, as is the Leica M5. They have been replaced a few times. My current equipment is a Leica M240 with its electronic Visoflex. Even though the Old Visoflex III would still work on the M240, my current setup is substantially easier to use.
Were I to do that kind of work more frequently, I would probably add a Leica SL. But my heart has always been with the Leica rangefinder cameras. In that regard, the electronic Visoflex allows me to virtually anything that would have required an SLR, DSLR or mirrorless camera in the past.
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Wouldn't a lens made for close up photography have rendered better results?
ReplyDeleteOf course. Any lens is optimized for its primary use, thus the 560 Telyt is optimized for use at relatively long distances. However, in this instance I wasn't about to get any closer to those critters than necessary. As it was, even at the approximately 20 foot distance it wasn't exactly a comfortable working environment. Those hornets were very aggressive.
DeleteIt would have never occurred to me to do close up photography with such a long lens.
ReplyDeleteMe neither. I guess this is an example of necessity being the mother of invention.
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