Portraits Lower East Side: Leica SL and 75mm Lux f1.4:

Portraits Lower East Side: Leica SL and 75mm Lux f1.4:

I took a little break from shooting for a while, and I’ve been getting back into it recently.  I’m preparing to set up some new shoots but in the meantime, I’ve been looking through my archive of photos for content to edit, and kind of get my feet wet again.  I found these portraits that were actually taken with my Leica SL and 75mm Lux, and I thought it would be kind of cool to share.

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I’ve had the 75 Summilux f1.4 for many years.  It was actually my dad’s lens, which he bought new at the time, when he purchased an M6 back in the 1980s.  This is a lens I will never sell.  In addition to it being my dad’s at one point, which means it has sentimental value, it’s one of Mandler’s best lenses.  It really can produce some magical images.  Thanks to Leica, and their M mount, I’m still able to use it with current Leica digital bodies.  I love that about Leica.

The 75mm Summilux produces such a beautiful look but I must admit, I don’t use it that often.  The reason is because focusing, for me at least, is not always easy.  The focus throw is long, and I guess my eyes are just not as good as they used to be.  With that said, I find it a lot easier to use the 75mm Lux with the SL cameras than M cameras.  The rangefinder in the M cameras is not always perfect, which makes it even more difficult to focus at times.  At least with the SL cameras, there’s a nice EVF that also has magnification and focus peaking.  This is why, as some of you know, the SL system has basically replaced the M system for me.  Of course, the SL lenses are also just superb in pretty much every way, and I love that I can use other lenses like ones from Sigma and Panasonic, for instance.

Getting back to the 75mm Summilux, when I am use it, I really need some patience or rather the model does, since she’s the one that has to stay still while I am focusing lol.  This is why for me now, my go-to short tele is still my Summicron-SL 90mm f2 ASPH.  It’s always quick to focus and tack sharp.  It gets the job done, and it’s the best 90mm I’ve used so far.

Let’s talk about the images.  These were taken in the Lower East Side, and it was a cloudy day as you can see.  The model here doesn’t shoot anymore, so there’s no Instagram of hers to visit.  I ran the RAW files through Capture One, and then brought the images to Photoshop for some basic retouching.

So, I hope you all enjoy the images.  I think I will make more of an effort to use the 75 Summilux f1.4.  I’ve been looking a lot of my past images taken with the 75mm Lux, and I am starting to miss what it can produce :).  Maybe I will see if I can do a portrait session with it and the Leica M11 next :).  Anyway, thanks for stopping by!