The NY Auto Show 2015 With the Leica M 240:
While I’ve found driving in New York City a chore, I do love cars, and if I lived somewhere less congested, I would probably be driving a lot more. I missed the NY Auto Show last year but I managed to go to this year’s on Friday. However, I did go to the NY Auto Show two years ago, and you can see the photos from that time (Part1/Part2/Part3). Luckily it wasn’t so crowded this time, so I was able to comfortably check out some of the latest cars. I even went to Jeep Camp, where they have a mini obstacle set up for Jeeps to go through, which was quite fun.
Of course, I definitely wanted to take some pics at the NY Auto Show, so I brought along my Leica M 240 with just my 35mm Summicron ASPH. It was the perfect lens and focal length for this occasion. It’s wide enough so I can get close to cut out most of the crowd yet not too wide where it would severely distort the cars. I used F2.0 for every pic there, which was perfect because the bokeh wasn’t completely out of hand yet it still did a good job at isolating the subjects. Plus, this lens is extremely sharp at F2.0.
↑ A Nissan GTR.
↑ There were super high end cars like the Rolls Royce Wraith Convertible.
↑ One of my favorites: the Lamborghini Huracan.
↑ American cars like the Chevrolet Camaro.
↑ The new Chevrolet Corvette Z06.
↑ The new Lincoln Continental.
↑ The rear of the Continental looks pretty nice.
I often get emails from people asking me what I think about the 35mm Summicron ASPH and well, as you can see from the photos, it is a very sharp lens that is also quite good at rendering colors. I process all my photos through Camera Raw but I did not do much work at all. This really is a super lens and while I may purchase a Summilux in the future because there are times where I would like the extra stop, I do not think I would ever trade in my Cron because not only are the optics excellent, it’s also such a compact and fast lens.
↑ Looks a little different to me from the previous NY Auto Show: The Acura NSX.
↑ The Porsche 911 Turbo S.
↑ The new Mercedes Benz S Class Coupe.
↑ The new Mercedes MLE.
↑ The Mercedes GT-S.
↑ My current favorite Mercedes: the S65 Coupe in matte white.
↑ The Audi S3.
↑ You get to see unique cars like this at the NY Auto Show: Elio Motors.
↑ You can find older classics at the NY Auto Show as well: BMW 2002.
↑ BMW i3 test track.
↑ Maserati GranTurismo.
↑ There are plenty of new concepts at the NY Auto Show like the new Infiniti QX30.
So, here are a few photos from the NY Auto Show I thought I would share with you all. By the way, if I lived somewhere else where there were no potholes and traffic wasn’t so much of an issue, this is the car I would buy:
↑ The Alfa Romeo 4C Cabriolet.
↑ I love how the rear looks as well.
↑ The Coupe version was also at the NY Auto but personally, I’d rather have the Cabrio; I want to hear everything in a car like this.
Why this car? Well, I loved the Alfa since I heard about its release and the reason is because this car only has one purpose: Unlike many of the cars these days that are released with a multitude of electronics that numb the senses, this is a pure driver’s car. It’s barebones, focuses on the essentials, super light, and you’ll probably feel everything making it a car you wouldn’t want to drive your grandmother around in but to me, that’s part of the charm. Plus, the rewards and total driver involvement are worth it :). Of course, I wouldn’t go fishing in this, so I would probably get one of these as well ;):
↑ GMC Yukon.
I’d probably sit in the back of one of these and sleep, while I have my fishing buddies drive lol :). I hope you enjoy the pics from the NY Auto Show and thanks for stopping by!
Hello Patrick,
I really enjoyed the photos – reminded me of just what they show in the magazine articles about this & other shows. The 35 Summicron lens is incredible & as you say, really quite sharp wide open at f/2.0. Also really great colors – just like being there in person to see their brilliance & all the reflections. And that lens was just the right width to capture the car subjects with just enough else to put them in the show perspective, but without too much background going on to distract from them. The bokeh was also just enough to center the attention on the car but not disturb seeing them. You got some really great shots which I know from going to car shows is not easy to do – usually scads of folks all around them, leaning all over to see them & just a very crowed, closed in environment. Given the crazy lighting that either exists or is created to spotlight the vehicles, you also managed that extremely well to show the true colors. And just as a side note on one of the cars shown, the two views of the new Lincoln Continental, I read recently that this car is the first ever out of Detroit to be designed solely for a foreign market instead of the US. Not surprisingly, that market is China! Cheers,
Jed
Hi Jed,
Sorry for the late reply and thanks for the very kind words! I’ve just been super busy lately. I’m not usually a fan of big crowds but I do loves cars, so it’s nice to see so many of them in one place. I also love photographing them. I actually ended up spending the whole day there. Too bad they won’t let you sit in some of the nicer cars though ;). I would’ve loved to sit in that Alfa. As for the Lincoln, I did not know it was designed solely for the Chinese market. It’s actually a nice looking car. It looks a lot different than the previous Continental. It’s nice to see Ford release the Continental again after its brief hiatus. Thanks again for leaving a comment, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Best regards,
Patrick
You made the cars look great: wish I could afford one and remember how to drive in NYC traffic.
Hi inthedarkroom,
Thanks and great to hear from you again! Trust me, you’re not missing much in terms of driving in New York. It can be more frustrating at times than fun ;).
Best regards,
Patrick