Shooting film with my Leica in Istanbul by Phillip Wortman

24 Comments

1. I really like your pictures, very nice color but it is all about the light…and that light in your pictures is just awesome. But i also think that your point of view is very inviting to be part of the place. You give us a sense of place. Concerning 35mm i totally agree: shooting leica mp, 35 lux i just do not feel the need of changing the lens. Just move a few steps backward or foreward and all is good:-)

   Keep on analog shooting, Mike/Switzerland

2. There’s something very different between film and digitals. I usually shot b&w film but white balance is completely different in film… there’s not really such a thing, just “daylight”.
   See for example those men on a ship or somewhere on the sea.
   There’s a warmth in all of it that seems away of electronics.

3. I was about to complain about how bad the images look but then I looked at your instagram and its much better! What happened to the colors and the quality here?

   • hm not sure, they look fine on my screen 🙂

     what exactly do you mean? too contrasty, unsharp?

4. I really liked the shot of the mosque. I won’t say I love all these photos but I enjoyed viewing them. Istanbul is one heck of a place (one of Dan Brown’s novels had a scene there).

   The shot inside the taxi has lovely colours – I’m not aware of a sensor that can look quite like that.

   I love film as well but I don’t trust the infrastructure right now: scans are too expensive and don’t show the full potential of the medium. Cinema scanners are amazing but who is going to use a cine scanner for 36 exposure strips of film? There’s a huge market waiting for the manufacturer who makes a proper photographic scanner.

   Rangefinders, film or digital, are not useful to me right now but I do intend to get back into them. I’m not sure I could make do with merely one lens, but I could make do with a 28mm and a 50mm. 🙂

   FWIW, if you haven’t seen it, here’s an ad for Chanel, filmed in Istanbul, shot on 35mm:

   https://vimeo.com/14026982

   • Haha thank you. You sure don’t have to love all of them 🙂

     You’re right, scanning is a major issue with shooting film. I’ve been struggling with it for years and have tried almost every scanner there is. With the amount of film I shoot sending it off to a lab to get scanned is not economical for me.

     I’ve recently bought a Fuji Frontier SP500, which is absolutely amazing and everything I’ve been looking for. Just a tip 🙂

     28mm & 50mm is a also a great setup! The thing is, I hate changing lenses on the leica. I’m always scared I’ll drop the lens and ruin myself financially haha. So I only own the 35mm and NEVER take it off the camera. It’s nicely in between 28 and 50 and I feel like I can do everything with it. ALL photos on my website are shot with that setup.

     best

     Philipp

5. Images have life and the color is much nicer than digital

   • Sorry if I have to disagree in that case
     Digital quality is far better nowerdays than film ever was…….and belive me
     taking pictures is my profession for 25 years now.

     • Can’t we agree that it’s matter of taste? 🙂

       He said nothing about objective quality. “Life” and “nicer color” are very subjective terms.

       • Dear Philipp,
         I agree but literally
         “Have life” and “the color” is “much nicer than”
         mean the opposite right ?

         So we have the battle going on again
         To be honest if you just compare results
         digital wins in any category……in studio and streets !

6. ‘This looks so much better than all the digital stuff.’ in what way?

7. This looks so much better than all the digital stuff.

   • Thank you very much! 🙂

     Of course i agree with you in some way. It’s way shoot film. And only shoot film actually – haven’t owned a digital camera in years.

     But I’m a little hesitant with the word “better”. I think it’s just different and it’s what I happen to like better. A matter of taste.
     Also there are ton of photographers doing great work digitally, where I don’t care for a second about what medium was used. In the end it’s all about the content of the photograph I think.

     That being said if you’d like to see more film photography feel free to follow me 🙂 https://www.instagram.com/_philippw._/

   • I respectfully disagree/

8. Lovely images charming and well observed. Used to have an M6 now have an M8. Would love to have both : Moral of the story never sell a Leica if you can manage it.

   • A lesson I learned several times over!

   • True! Every now and then I get silly thought of switching my M6 for a Contax G2. But then I get my shit together and move on 😉

   • I sold my complete Leica equipment for other reasons
     and money wasn´t the problem…..what doesn´t mean
     that I would buy that overpriced brand again even when
     I had money to trow it out of the window.

     Peace – just my own 2cents

     • Dude, chill….

     • Not helpful RPMcM, No spesifics…

       • I took pictures with
         Leica III (Jam on Filmtransport)
         Leica M3 (Defocused Viewfinder)
         Leica M3 DS (Shutterjam)
         Leica M4-2 (Synchrotime/times wrong)
         Leica M4-P (Stuck Filmtransport)
         Leica M6 (Flashshoe dead)
         Leica R3 (Lightseal Filmwindow)
         Leica R7 (Broken Rewinder)
         Leica R8

         Especially the last one – Leica R8 which most of the fanboys claimed
         not to be a real Leicawas the only one never gives me troubles or jammed. 😉

   • Interesting those comments on to leica or not to leica

9. Thank you for sharing Phillip. You have captured the people and the mood very well. A melancholic, but very beautiful city.

   • Thank you 🙂

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