Leica M9 POV Through the Viewfinder with a 35mm Summilux

by Eric Kim on July 7, 2011

Another fun video of me shooting with the Leica M9 and the 35mm f/1.4 Summilux in Santa Monica’s 3rd street promenade. To record this video, I put my HTC EVO 4G Smartphone’s camera through the viewfinder and walked around and shot. Didn’t include the photos I took during the video because most of them came out out-of-focus (holding this setup was hard). But I hope this video helps you get a better sense of what I see when shooting street photography :)

Tagged as: 35mm f/1.4 summilux, leica m9, pov, street photography, viewfinder

  • http://niconine.tumblr.com Nicolas

    Hi, thanks for the video Eric! But I was wondering how is it that the photos came out blurry when yo uwere shooting at such high shutter speeds! I think you should upload some of the photos you took, curiosity is killing me haha

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Edit: I meant to say out of focus or out-of-frame… I’ll see what I can do though ;)

  • http://mweistling.aminus3.com/ morgan

    That was a fun a little trip you took us on. Out of all the things you shot, I really, really , hope you got a good one of that kid being pulled into the air and twirled. That was awesome to see in the street.

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Unfortunately didn’t get the shot… too busy recording :’[

  • André K.

    Hey Eric,
    thank you for sharing this video. I was always wondering what the glorified rangefinder viewfinder really looks like. Do the white lines for the framing change according to the lens? I like the way you treat the people you shoot, feels more like you are friends with them. Looking forward to more videos like this.

    • anna

      yes, the frame lines change according to which ever lens you have ie. 35mm, 50mm, etc.
      what you see will never change- just the lines changes.

  • Isoterica

    This was just fun Eric, thanks for taking us along with you. And you should have shot the blue shoes guy on the escalator.. his shoes that is. And maybe the pigeon that was walking along with you.

  • http://laurisaksa.net/ Lauri Saksa

    Haha nice video! It’s funny how you talk a lot to people when you take their photos but it seems to work pretty okay. That girl at the end of the video was quite funny. I sense she was gonna ask ‘what’s this for?’ When I work, I don’t say anything unless I have to. Most of the time people just ask each other: ‘did he just take a picture of me?’ I guess that’s what you’d get if you weren’t talking to them. Too bad you missed that kid at the start though!

  • Rick

    Really cool vid, Eric! I am just fascinated with how people do the things they do, so the chance to go out with you on a shoot through a video like this is really neat for me. You make it look so easy too… Well done.

  • http://www.inzain.org Ints

    Very inspiring, thanks!

  • http://www.mrkhan.co Barry Khan

    Wow people in Santa Monica seem friendly! Nice video. PS do you shoot at aperture priority or was that just for this exercise.

    Cheers

    Barry

  • http://www.davidgrimbert.com/blog David

    Too bad you missed the shot of the kind in the beginning !

    By the way, thanks for sharing this interesting video :-)

  • http://www.davidgrimbert.com/blog David

    the shot of the kid (of course !)

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  • Benny

    Thanks for sharing Eric, loving the photo’s and now the video’s. I only just started getting interested in street photography, so these video’s are a great insight on how things are done.

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonstclair-photography/ jason St Clair newman

    Interesting to see, thanks for the upload, really appreciate the time you put in to helping people eric.
    Couple of questions/observations……You move quite fast through the crowds…. if you shot film do you think you would move at the same pace, and take the same amount of photo’s i.e be more picky on what you shot?
    I remember reading a piece you wrote (may sometime I think) about your Contax, and how it slowed you down and composed more and how you liked that.
    I’m just wondering how that crossed over to your digital work and how you’ve found that helped you?

    Curious.
    Jaosn

    • anna

      jason,
      i have no doubt that unless erick was shooting at f/5 or above, most of his pictures have resulted from out of focus. its is difficult to manually focus at the speed at which erick was moving his feet unless he knows how to focus without using the rangefinder quite accurately with the lens.
      nonetheless, manual focusing while moving very fast is quite difficult- something that requires you to be very intimate with your camera and especially your lens in order to achieve it.

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Definitely shooting film helped me slow down and appreciate the process more. But at the end of the day, digital is far more convenient and it’s nice to be able to regularly upload my images online :)

  • http://www.zenowatson.com Zeno

    Your approach and demeanour is much more positive and friendly, I really enjoyed this clip.

    It will be interesting to see how you will adapt with your other camera now.

    Keep up the great work Eric

    Zeno

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Thanks Zeno! I don’t think I’m as rude as other people think I am ;)

  • Adam

    Thanks for another insight into your shooting.

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Anytime Adam :)

  • http://dylanhope.deviantart.com Dylan

    It was really cool seeing how you work Eric. I’m curious though, do you wear your glasses when shooting, and if so, do you ever have any troubles with looking through the viewfinder?

    Thanks for this video and for your time,
    Dylan

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      I shoot with glasses– it can be annoying a bit but I still am able to grab half decent shots ;)

    • anna

      Dylan,
      with the M9, if you have glasses, you might have difficulty seeing the 35mm frame lines or wider. its almost like you have to shove your eye directly into the rangefinder.lol.

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  • Thayer

    Was sent here through m43 forums. Thanks for the video! Adding you to my rss :)

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Anytime Thayer– wonderful to have you! :)

  • http://www.onelouderimage.com André Weigel

    Very nice try…

  • anna

    Erick, your street style photography is definitely different than others.
    It’s more IN YOUR FACE and slightly intrusive. You don’t necessarily blend well with your environment- especially with an M9 which is built to also be small and stealthy.

    I read this over at leica rumors but would like to ask:
    What percent of your images (including the non-posted ones) are of people with strange facial expression towards you?

    thanks

    • http://www.erickimphotography.com Eric Kim

      Great question Anna. I would say only 2% of my shots people give me a weird expression.

  • Marvin

    Awesome… I love this and you’re an inspiration.

    So I’ve been trying this today. I just came back home. I saw this interesting woman with nice sunglasses (I really liked them). So I tried what you did but…

    She went crazy. I don’t wanna give up already. This was my first f’ing photo I tried. But I’m insecure as hell and I had the balls to try it.

    Too bad I couldn’t delete it because it’s film… I really want to do this. Guess I’ll go asking for permission instead.

  • http://www.bclimages.wordpress.com B.C.

    Not to play the role of East Coast Bias, but I shoot a lot in urban areas and I think that your style would not last long (and I’m not talking about Manhattan’s Upper West Side).

    There is a fine line between capturing and image and being invasive. While your technique does foster great shots, it seems to invade the personal space of others. I like street photography and capturing seemingly mundane moments, then turning them into something special. But I also think that we have to respect others and know when it is a good time to shoot and a good time to let a moment walk away. Literally.

    I don’t considering this style “ballsy” any more than a bit inconsiderate.

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  • ImmortalizR

    Hi Eric, i’m interested on the shots you have taken this afternoon, can we see them ? or the best ones?

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