|
發表於 2013-8-22 22:00:50
|
顯示全部樓層
It is a very interesting conversation.
I agree a lot with you regarding the "wrong emotion" elicited by Leica cameras. People always ask: "It is a very good picture. What CAMERA was it taken with?" Or when people see you using an "expensive" camera, they would expect certain kinds of images to be created. This is a little bit like the uncertainty principle in physics: that the existence of the observer unavoidably will have an effect on the one to be observed. The use of cameras is destined to change, favorably or unfavorably, "the moment" of the moment of capture.
My response to your question is twofold - one on the technical, the other one, probably i can say, is more about strategical.
I think you want to have a camera which is stealthy and quick, which allow you to capture the decisive moment easily. The camera should be a tool, rather than an object of interest. You want good quality, but you are not too stubborn about supreme quality like bokeh, etc.
Honestly, I won't choose Leica M for this purpose. It is just not "low-profiled" enough. I know people would laugh at me - I would simply pick a Sony RX100. Small, quick, good enough quality. And most importantly, it looks so ordinary. It just serves the purpose right.
But to take your question to a different route, if we agree that, say, a Leica camera would bring some unexpected and sometimes unwelcoming effect on the process of image-making, is it possible to make this seemingly hurdle into something advantageous? To put it another way, what is the "strategical use" of a camera?
If a Leica camera creates a Wow effect to the people around you, surely it brings in some unnecessary attention and expectation, but it can also be something useful. It is what I call using a camera to create a "moment" of the moment of capture. And I try to explain it through the use of larger format cameras.
To take portraiture as an example, 4x5 camera is never the most convenient tool today. It is just way too big, way too slow, way too complicated. But I do like using 4x5 camera to take portraits a lot. Why? it is not only because it creates certain "look" technically, but it has an emotional effect on the subject that you are taking photos of. A sort of seriousness, a sort of nostalgia, a sort of respect. On another thread, we are discussing how to make strangers agree to be photographed. I could very easily to ask strangers to be photographed in nyc when I set up my 4x5. The camera creates the emotion, or the "moment". Thus, it can create certain "look".
And even in Hong Kong, I can say, it is much easier to take pictures of strangers with my Hasselblad H4D than with my Nikon D800E. The Hasselblad is a much slower camera in any possible sense. Technically, the D800E is a much preferable camera for outdoor location shooting. But in reality? You need the med format. It is heavy. I hate it. But people love it. People are interested in the odd-looking camera. Then it creates emotion. That is the moment of capture.
So, to cut it short, get the S for serious pictures, or better still, get Hasselblad or Phase.
(Okay, I'm biased on this. Just to revenge on the psychological damage you made on me regarding the damn monochrom! )
|
|