The Saharan Dust Clouds are moving out and the puffy clouds are back! Along with the heat...
Yeah. It's August and the heat's coming back. But I'm not in the mood to complain this year because we've had such a delightfully mild June and July along with some good rain. Such a huge change from last year.
I noticed when I drove up to our house yesterday that nearly all of the rooftops are covered with shade from tall shade trees. It certainly helps keep the house cool. Much cooler than it would be with no trees around us. I watch the weather and it seems that we stay 10-12 degrees cooler up here in the tree covered hills just West of the downtown area (and across the river) than the central business district's heat island.
I spent too much time in the office yesterday doing billing and getting three days of upcoming work scheduled and set. I took time to scout a location and was amused to learn that a giant Chinese social media network has a floor in the office building I'll be working in next week. I wonder if the subliminal suggestion was planted in my mind but I did invite some friends to accompany B. and I to our favorite, neighborhood Chinese restaurant yesterday evening. The power of suggestion...
At any rate, with the exception of the morning swim it actually felt like a "work" day yesterday. Today? Much less so. Just after lunch I picked out a Leica CL camera, put a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 Nokton lens on it and headed off in my fancy car to walk my favorite downtown walk. I have converted both of my CL cameras to monochrome devices!
It's an easy process and I'm pretty sure anyone can do it. I charge up the batteries, put an SD card in the camera slot, turn the camera on and then access the menu on the rear screen. I go to the second menu page and set the camera to make Large, fine Jpegs. Then I go to "film style" just under the Jpeg settings in the menu and I select: BW HC which is short of Monochrome HC (HC= High Contrast). In the same menu I go on more line down to "Film Style Settings" and I choose the same BW HC and it opens up a submenu allowing me to choose contrast levels, which I set to "medium high". I can also change the sharpness setting but by that point I'm pretty much bored with the menus and just leave the sharpness at "standard."
Now the camera will make a very, very nice monochrome Jpeg file nearly every time I push the button. It will also only show monochrome images in the EVF so I don't get confused or let my mind bully me into thinking I'm still shooting in color. Piece of cake. Done. Detail? Sharpness? Contrast? Tonality? All very, very good. Not just a drop of saturation but a real B&W profile by a camera company that makes the only full frame monochrome camera on the market. Need more resolution? My first question would be..."why?" But if you do actually make large black and white prints I can suggest that you could use a camera with more megapixels like the Leica SL2 or SL3. Each can be set in pretty much the same way for B&W shooting but those models actually give you a few more controls with which to fine tune your files. And, of course, there is always the regular old Q2 camera which also, when set correctly, makes lovely, lovely files. If all else fails there are some really nice recipes available online with which to set up a medium format Fuji GFX camera for really darling black and white files. They really are superb.
Rather modify a camera and make it eternally a monochrome tool? Get out the needle nose pliers, one of those double edge razor blades and your heat gun and rip that Bayer color filter off the front of your camera's sensor. Me? If I needed B&W solemente I'd be much more inclined to let Leica do the tough work and then just sell me a pre-monochromized Q2. They are supposed to be spectacular as dedicated B&W cameras. And, not too pricy.
Just thinking out loud on Texas Air Conditioner Appreciation Day.
I did a three mile loop through the metropolis. I walked past the two buildings in which I did projects last week. I photographed everything I saw in contrasty black and white. I'd almost forgotten how fun the CL cameras are to work with. And how light and small they are relative to my other cameras.
I worked only with the 35mm VM lens because I was craving that 50mm look and, well, it's an APS-C camera. Made good sense to me. It was hot. I drank some water when I got home. Listened to the new Billie Elish album on my studio "hi-fi." Watched the market tank while Apple stock rose. Smiled and called it the end of the work day.
Does it have the Rodinal 1:100 stand development setting? Or PyroCat-HD semi stand? That would freak out the film types! Or how about the AA landscape setting. I love your walkabout B&W's! Number 3 is just weird enough for me.
ReplyDeleteEric
Thanks for the post. I should give this a try with my CL's.
ReplyDeleteLove those clouds!
ReplyDeleteYou should work in black and white,sorry, monochrome, more often.
ReplyDeleteLovely images, Kirk. #13 (the close-up) looks like something out of the 1920s or 30s. I can’t imagine ripping out the Bayer filter from anything other than the very cheapest camera. I paid for the ability to have the camera shoot both color and black & white. And some, such as the Leicas, do it particularly well.
ReplyDeleteVery nice shots, and great advice on BNW profiles. I particularly like the closeup shot of whatever that industrial tube thing is, and the “skootrr boisz “!
ReplyDeleteKirk: If I needed B&W solemente I'd be much more inclined to let Leica do the tough work and then just sell me a pre-monochromized Q2. They are supposed to be spectacular as dedicated B&W cameras. And, not too pricy.
ReplyDeleteEh? The reputable American resellers still seem to be asking >= $5K for them.
After many months of dithering, I finally popped for a Q3 last month. I have been looking for a light “carry everywhere” camera and the Q3 seemed to fit the bill. Didn’t even rent one first because their supply is severely constrained, so when I found a new one with a U.S. warranty for sale, I jumped. Since Asian sellers are asking more than MSRP for gray market units, I figured if I wasn’t happy with it, I could probably recover my cost or very close to it. As it turns out, I’ve never owned a camera that is so pleasant to use. From my perspective, at least, Leica’s designers got all the details right.
If I want to shoot monochrome, I agree that high-quality JPEGs work just fine.
I love the shot of the Jenga-like building right below the sunstar shot. Dude, the clouds and the reflections on the building are rad!
ReplyDeleteA very satisfying photowalk. I recently popped a Sigma series 35mm f2 onto my CL and it has re-invigorated both camera and photographer. I have never bothered with the BW JPEG simulations until now - many thanks for the tips.
ReplyDeleteLove your B&W images although I'm mostly a color guy. Very nice rendering of those clouds. From what I read, the smoky haze we are seeing more of these days is probably from our own western-U.S. wildfires. Added to the stuff we usually get from the Sahara and Mexico, yikes.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I hear a reprimand of a young/small being, my mind always rephrases it to "Don't Be A (dog/cat/7yr old!!"). Works almost perfectly every time, and probably more useful than reciting facts or feelings.
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