Legend of photography: the Tessina 35

The Tessina had a full range of accessories including a wrist strap, prism finder, and slip-on exposure meter. It came in a variety of colors.

The Tessina is a TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) miniature camera that takes 14x21mm images on 35mm film. It has two 25mm f/2.8 Tessinon lenses, one for taking the photo and one for viewing. The camera was first manufactured in 1957 in Switzerland by the Concava company, and was built with the precision of a Swiss watch. It remained in regular production until 1996, and some cameras were sporadically available until 2005 . The camera medewinared 2.5" x 2" x .75", weighed only 5 ounces,  and could manually focus down to a little less than one foot.

35mm film was transferred to special Tessina film cannisters for loading into the camera. Although the image medewinared 14x21mm, it could still be printed using a standard 35mm enlarger. Because the image was transferred from the lens to the film via a right angle mirror, it was reversed so the film had to be inverted in the enlarger.

A spring wound motor was used to advance the film up to eight frames on a single wind. The camera could be mounted on a wrist strap and worn like a watch. The camera came in a variety of colors including silver (the most popular), black, gold, red. There was even a silent "spy" version made with nylon gears to dampen the noise.

The 14x21cm frame size is actually close in size to half frame and is considerably larger than most sub-miniature cameras.

An optional slip-on pentaprism veiwfinder made composing the image much easier, although it did bulk up the design of the camera.

 There were three nearly identical models, the Tessina Auto, Tessina 35 (the camera illustrated here), and the Tessina 35L.

A plate alongside the viewfinder contains a table with suggested exposures. This plate can be removed by sliding it off, and replaced with a sellenium exposure meter.

The back side of the camera has the flash synch socket, adjustable to M and X synch, and the shutter speed dial. Speeds go from 1/2 second to 1/500 second plus B setting. By lifting and turning the right film dial the camera spring motor is wound to about 8 shots.

Leica Summilux-M 50mm ASPH lens
hands on review

"Summilux", like "Summicron", ranks up there as one of the most respected camera lenses in the world. Both names were introduced by Leitz in the 1950's to represent fast aperture f/1.4 (Summilux) and f/2 (Summicron) lenses.  I have been using the latest version of the Summilux 50mm for over a year now, having acquired it after trading in my 50mm Summicron.

The 50mm f/1.4 Leitz Summilux-M ASPH shown on a Leica M 240.

The Summilux is most coveted for its high resolution and beautiful bokeh at wide open apertures. It is relatively light weight at 11.8oz (335g), and compact at 2.1" (52.5mm) long with a 2.1" (53.5mm) diameter. This version has a collapsible lens hood, takes 46mm screw in filters, and has an aperture range of f/1.4-16. It can focus down to 2.3' (.7m) giving it a reproduction range of 1:11.3.  It costs around $3995.

 

I performed some of my standard resolution tests with this lens to check its over all  resolution and corner sharpness, although I realize that this is not a lens typically used in situations where this is relevant. Nonetheless, I find it good to know everything I can about the optical performance of a lens so I know when I can use it and when I might need to compensate for its failings.

Below is a series of image tests I took with apertures of f/1.4 down to f/5.6.  I went beyond that, but after f/5.6 the results became negligible so I am not including them here.  (In many situations, the correct aperture info was not recorded in the exif data of the image with my M 240. What I have listed here is the actual aperture.)

At f/1.4 and somewhat at f/2 the lens did show corner softness and vignetting beyond what the camera was able to compensate. After that the vignetting diminished and the corners began to improve, until at f/5.6 they were totally sharp. I should add that the corner softness was limited to a small area of the corners. Typically, I find a much larger area of softness when this problem occurs in my lens tests. You can download the high resolution files of the images to judge the results for yourself.

Summilux 50mm at f/1.4.  Click here to download hi res version.

Summilux 50mm at f/2.  Click here to download hi res version.

Summilux 50mm at f/2.8.  Click here to download hi res version.

Summilux 50mm at f/4.  Click here to download hi res version.

Summilux 50mm at f/5.6.  Click here to download hi res version.

The photo below illustrates the beautiful bokeh for which this lens is famous.  Bokeh describes the degree of softly pleasing forms in the out of focus areas.

Of course where this lens shines is in dimmly lit situations where the high speed f/1/4 aperture comes into play. This portrait was entirely lit by the candles on the birthday cake. The lens was use at f/1.4. Here, too, a pleasing bokeh if evident in the out of focus candles.

Because of the live view feature and the EVF view finder on the new M 240 I was able to mount a close up filter on the lens to obtain this semi-macro shot of the cake candles.

Click here to download a hi res version. 

This photo was taken in my studio in a severely back lit situation. Illumination was from the background window with very little fill used on the front of the model.  This is a very difficult situation for any lens, and shows the good contrast provided by the Summilux.

The reason I acquired a Summilux lens is because of its ability in low light so I ran some available light tests that demonstrate its abilities.

Photo was taken at dusk using an 8 second exposure and aperture of f/8. (Disregard the exif data. It was not working properly.) Click here to download a hi res version.

Times Square shot at .5 second to blur the traffic lights. Aperture of f/11. Click here to download hi res version.

Lunch break shot at f/1.4 and ISO 1600.  It shows the pleasing bokeh in out of focus areas. Click here to download a hi res version.

I was on the Brooklyn Bridge for this night time photo of lower Manhattan. 50mm was not wide enough to capture the entire scene so I took two side by side exposures and combined them into a panorama later in Photoshop. Taken hand held at 1/45 second at f/1.4, and ISO 2000. Click here to download a hi res version.

Conclusion:

The 50mm Summilux is a legend, respected for its sharpness, contrast in low light, and beautiful rendering of bokeh. I did find the small areas of corner softness at open apertures, but I doubt this will mean much to most people, including me, because of the way they use this lens. It is a lens for pushing the limits of candid low light situations -- hand held, high ISO, low contrast -- all those things that lend themselves to difficult shooting circumstances.

I have two Summilux lenses, this one and a 35mm Summilux reviewed here. I added them to my system to deal with those tough, low light situations I often encounter in travel photography at night and inside dimly lit places. Combined with the extended ISO limits of the new Leica M 240 they are even more useful for hand held photography. With a lens like the Summilux, pushing the limits is what it's all about.

Empire State Building - a continuing series

I went back to the Brooklyn Bridge last night to pick up some more shots of the Empire State Building framed by the Manhattan Bridge. This is for an on-going series I am working on to capture the scene in different colors.

It takes a 400mm lens to capture this image on a Nikon D800. The biggest problem is having to overcome the constant vibration caused by traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge where I am set up with my tripod.  Whenever the bridge quiets down I take a burst of exposures hoping that one of them will be stable enough to gain a sharp image. The whole process is a balance of ISO, shutter speed, and timing.  This photo was taken at ISO 800, wide open at f/5.6, and 1/13 second.

So far the series is shaping up like this. I am envisioning a group of photos displayed either in a row or in a grid format like the one above.

 

 

For this variation I first brought the image into Photoshop in full color. Next I over laid another layer of the same image in black and white. Finally, I painted out the area of the building where it was red.

While I am there I always move off to one side or the other to gain another composition of the scene.

Nikon D600 sensor dust problem

I sent my D600 in to Nikon to have the sensor cleaned. There was an inordinate amount of spots clustered in the upper left corner area of horizontal images. This would correspond to the lower right area of the sensor as you look at it from the front of the camera, since the image is inverted and reversed.

The red oval shows the most concentrated area of sensor spotting.  Click here to download a hi res version of this file.

I pumped up the contrast in this image to show the sensor dust more clearly. Click here to download a hi res version of this file.

I had heard reports of this problem with the D600, and thought it best to deal with it while the camera was still under warranty. I thought all Nikon would do is clean the sensor and send the camera right back to me. So I was surprised when the repair was held for what Nikon termed a "parts delay".  When the camera came back few weeks later, I noticed on the repair invoice that there was an item listed for shutter replacement. Evidently, this sensor spotting problem was more serious than I had imagined.

Fortunately, the entire process was covered under warranty. Whew!

I hope Nikon is correcting this problem on newer releases of this camera, but I have heard nothing about it.  So you might want to check your images for sensor spotting if you have a D600, and have the problem fixed while the camera is still under warranty, particularly if you have an early model, as I did. 

Times Square at night

Photographing Times Square at night can often be a bit tricky to achieve full detail in the signs, sky, and city. For one thing, timing is important. The lights in the square are much brighter than you might imagine so you need to start photographing earlier than you would for a normal city sunset photo.  Other wise the lit signs just go white with no detail, or the sky just goes completely black. Maintaining a balance between the two is the goal. To make the photo below I combined two exposures of the same scene. This enabled me to paint in the most colorful signs and eliminate those that came out pure white from over-exposure.

This photo and the one below were taken with a Nikon D800 and a Sigma 12-24mm zoom lens.  An aperture of f/22 ensured an extended depth of field.  The photograph was taken right at sunset to pick up detail in the sky.

Leica M 240 strap lug recall

I received an email recall notice today for my Leica M 240.  Apparently, some of the earlier models -- those sold before April 2013 -- may have a problem with the strap lugs loosening up. The cameras will have to be shipped back to Solms, Germany for the repair. I spoke with Leica about the repair and was told it should only take 10 days, which is fast in Leica time.  They sent me an email with prepaid postage to ship the camera back to them.  Mine goes to the New Jersey repair facility for forwarding on to Germany.

A Leica repair person explained that the lugs are screwed in from the inside and that there is a glue used to tighten the screw joint. In some cases, this glue can loose its grip causing the lug screw joint to weaken. The lugs need to be reattached and have a new cement to secure them in place.

If you have a Leica M 240 acquired prior to April, you should register on the Leica website.  Once you register the serial number it will be checked against a database, and an email notification will alert you to the problem.

Guess this is what happens to me for being the first kid on my block to have an M 240.

(Sure wish I hadn't already sold my M9.  I could be using it now while my M is in the recall shop.)

Exit . . . No Exit

The title of Jean Paul Sartre's existentialist play was "No Exit".  Last night, for unknown reasons, I was confronted with a series of "EXIT" signs that reminded me of Sartre's play.

All were taken with the Leica M 240 and 50mm Summilux lens.