Leica APO-ELMARIT-R manual Leica APO-TELYT-R 280 mm f/4 Picture Martin Trippen

Chapter 3

Leica R-Lenses 9

You will have to find subjects that have extremely fine details to start with, and then you must take pictures at quite a large distance, because you need a high value of negative magnifica- tion, and then you must enlarge thetiny negative to big propor- tions.This places the imaging chain under heavy strain.

For example: I use a subject that consists of a black-and-white line pattern with line widths of 0.25 mm. The pattern has a resolution of 2 Lp/mm. I need a negative magnification of 100x to get a resolution of 200x on the negative. Using my 280 mm lens, the distance to the subject will be 28 meters (92 feet).

But that positions me so far away from the subject that I cannot even see the pattern! To achieve an accurate focus I affixed the pattern to a large piece of white cardboard with a big black line on it for easy focusing. It is too optimistic to assume that all my problems have now been solved.

The focusing on the viewfinder screen is performed visually, with the eye being the final judge, but the eye is easily fooled! Therefore you have to bracket your focus by making several exposures with a slightly shifted focus in both directions from the original focus. The amount of that shift is a matter of expe- rience: I would suggest that you begin with one or two millime- ters at a time. The accuracy of Leica R8 or R9 cameras can be taken for granted! If errors occur, they will be human errors. Cable release, mirror lock-up and fast shutter speeds are fun- damental requirements. A shutter speed of 1/30 second, even on a heavy tripod, is not the best solution, it may even be hope- less.

The lens mount of the 280 mm lens has a built-in tripod socket, which is a necessity. But camera- and lens-induced vibration frequencies cannot be avoided (this involves thousandths of a millimeter). Experienced wildlife photographers use everything

from sandbags to bricks attached to the tripod in order to redu- ce vibrations. I used weights placed on the body and on the front part of the lens in order to eliminate the tremors.

This may sound very elaborate. It may be partly so, but with some experience it becomes a natural habit in high-resolution photography. Without specific experiments, you will never master the imaging chain. I wish to dispel the impression that this type of photography is as easy as shooting from the hip. But it is not a big problem either. Leica camera bodies and len- ses are not the weakest links in the chain. And it is very gratify- ing to discover details in projected images or in big prints that you never knew were there in the first place!

You will get the best performance of around 150 Lp/mm with Agfa Copex exposed at a film speed of ISO 12 to 16 and proces- sed in Spur Nanospeed developer, or Kodak Technical Pan exposed at a film speed of ISO 20 to 25 and processed in Spur Dokuspeed developer. There are no secret tricks here: just develop according to normal practice. With Agfa Rodinal devel- oper you will have to experiment: at a dilution of 1:50, you will get quite a steep gradation. And users have reported very good results at dilutions of 1:100 and even 1:300 (this maybe a secret tip!).

Up to 110/120 Lp/mm can be achieved with ISO 100 slide films from Fuji (Velvia, Velvia 100F, Astia 100F) and Kodak (E100G/GX). The advantage here is the higher film speed.

Current ISO 100 black-and-white films can deliver up to 100 Lp/mm and slightly more with dedicated developers and speed settings (often ISO 64 and 50). Recommendations are not easy, because every worker has his or her own methods and devel- oper solutions. You need a developer that has a low amount of sulfite. The formulas from noted experts like Beutler, Windisch, Cyril Blood or Crawley (FXl) are good starting points.

LEICA APO-TELYT-R 280 mm f/4 Picture: Martin Trippen