Author: davidislip

Giving picture a title is either easy or difficult. This one was easy!

A Honour to be asked to Judge for The London Portrait Group agin this year.

Recently we heard of a Couple being given 3000+ wedding pictures by their photographer several months after the wedding.

To me this is Lazy editing by the photographer. Too many repeat images.

In later years we have given approximately 500-600 for a full coverage and generally within 2 weeks.

Enough said!

As the title says this post describes the basics of Chromatic Aberration for Beginners.  

What is Chromatic Aberration?  

Chromatic aberration occurs when a lens cannot bring all wavelengths of light to a single converging point.

  The fringing effect is usually visible as a purple band on high contrast edges. Branches against a bright sky and metallic surfaces are common places but it can occur in other areas as below.

I don’t claim to be an expert in this subject however I know enough to know when it spoils pictures.

Lens designers use different types of glass, different element types and coatings to reduce the effect. However the usual considerations for lens designers come into play; image quality; lower price point; fast aperture; small size, pick any two! OK that over simplifies it but you get the idea that all lenses are a compromise. Even something like a diminutive Leica 35mm APO-Summicron m is a compromise as it is only f2, but costs over £7000!

Fast aperture lenses (popular with many wedding photographers) are very often subject to high levels of c.a. although it can also occur with many other lens types. Older designs often suffer more than modern ones.

Three ways to avoid chromatic aberration:-

1) Remove chromatic aberration in Lightroom or similar programme

2) Spend vast sums on specialist lenses – not ideal for most.

3) Don’t take pictures with high contrast edges – might prove rather impractical!

Let’s concentrate on Lightroom.

How to remove chromatic aberration

This picture shows the effect of c.a and the purple fringe.

This picture shows just how easy it is to remove!

The Leica M11 as a wedding camera is fantastic. Paired with a 35mm f1.4 Summilux lens, that is pretty much all you need!

The M11 is the first rangefinder with a built in back-up in case of card failure or corruption. Having said that I have only had one card corruption in 1500 weddings, so its only a small risk but a risk never the less. I now feel able to use a rangefinder for a whole wedding.

I long ago realised that around 35mm was my most used focal length at weddings, combined with the ‘crop-ability’ of the M11, it is a perfect set-up. I do also have a 21 Super Elmar for those very wide moments that are sometimes required!

Cropping – there is nothing wrong with cropping! For most weddings a 4000pixel wide image is plenty and will print happily to 30″ wide. Let’s face it most couples will only ever see their pictures on a small device!

The Good Points

Quiet, discreet, built in back up, great battery life, Manual focus, crop-able, compact. Manual focus. Great lenses.

The not so good

Manual focus. Affording two bodies could be challenging for many.

You will see manual focus is listed under good and bad! Some shots and some in very dark conditions may be more suited to A.F. although on the whole I find manual focus is easier.

Hand Grips Many reviewers (who generally use other systems) complain about the lack of a finger grip. With a Leica M there is personal choice, not just what the manufacturer builds in, that may not be suited to you!

The Hand Grip. Holding comfort is a personal thing. I can use the camera on it’s own but the hand grip makes it more comfortable over longer periods. The built in Arca Swiss plate makes it simple when a tripod is required.

The thumb grip is popular with many photographers however I find it tends to project out of the rear and annoy me!

Leather Half Case. Many available with and without finger grips.

Battery life seems adequate, I do have a two spares and don’t chimp too much!

The shutter is very discreet, not at Leica Q levels but still very quiet. Ideal for weddings!

Weight  Over the years we have moved from 6×6 medium format, through Nikon Professional and onto Fuji. The Leica is a real breath of fresh air.

Back Up Camera(s) When doing a paid job having a back-up is essential. If a second M body works too expensive, another mirrorless body is often the answer. I find a Fuji X series with a Leica lens adaptor does well.

Leica M wedding photography is something I wish I had started on earlier in my career! The lack of autofocus seems to have been the biggest ‘reason’ for not using the Leica. This is strange as it was all manual focus for the first 20 years of my wedding photography!

A Little History

Sometime in the 1990’s clients started asking for a more natural ‘capture the moment’ style of pictures. Less of the stiffer arranged pictures.

Having tried with medium format Bronica, fitted with waist level finder it soon became apparent that this was the wrong camera! A Nikon F100 was introduced and the results started to come. Very soon the Bronica was retired and even the formals were covered on 35mm.

Despite most of my peers saying ‘digital will never be good enough for weddings’ we took delivery of one of the first Nikon D1x cameras in 2001. We were making good money in those days and we bought each upgrade, up to D3s. Eventually the weight of cameras and lenses became difficult and we switched to Fuji in 2015.

Leica M

The Leica M9 was a 2012 purchase but by then the autofocus ‘crutch’ was well imbedded, so the M9 was not used as much as it should have been and we traded it in for a Leica SL in 2016. This was a step backwards in size with the wonderful but huge, 24-90 lens. Although a great camera and lens the SL was just too big and was exchanged for an M10-p in 2019.

M10-p with 35mm Summicron, 21 Super Elmar and 90mm APO makes a great Leica M wedding photography kit. A Leica Q3 gives cover for those autofocus moments – still need that crutch!

So what is so great about a rangefinder for weddings? Simple controls, discrete quiet camera, no viewfinder blackout, are the main points. Leicas are expensive cameras however being a business, the cost is Tax deductible. When we were VAT registered it was even better! Good Leica M lenses will in time increase in value, win, win!

2024 update – M10-P traded in for low mileage M11-P, no base plate, better battery, internal memory for back up. The 35 Summicron and APO 90, became a 35 Summilux. A great set up for weddings.

More of our wedding photography is here.

A great quote from Tom Stoddart, a documentry photographer

“You make pictures with what’s in your head and your heart and your feet and there are a handful I consider to be my best pictures”