Tour of Flanders 2012

Tour of Flanders 2012, originally uploaded by Fraser Kynaston.

Ronde Van Vlanderen

...or Tour of Flanders as it's more commonly known amongst British cycle racing fans.  This is one of the biggest events in Belgian sport, a 260km epic bike race over farm tracks and steep cobbled climbs, or 'bergs'.  A race for the true hardmen of the sport.  The day before the pro's race, the public is let loose on the course, with 17,000 taking part this year.  Thankfully, I wasn't one of them.  I had entered, but decided not to ride through lack of fitness.  260km is painful when you're fit, hellish when you are not.  Phil though, took part.  I think his face says it all.

Phil after 260km - M9 with Zeiss 35mm f/2

 The pro race is often run off in winter-like conditions, but the 2011 event was blessed with good weather.  There was still plenty of tension at the start line.  George Hincapie, one of the few riders my wife recognises looked a touch stressed beforehand.  Maybe it was the tv crew shoving the camera in his face?

Hincapie - Nikon D700 70-200mm VRII

The crowds for this race are pretty huge for a bike race.  10,000 at the start, thousands more along the route.

The Depart - M9 - Zeiss 35mm f/2

 We decided to watch the finale in a bar in Brugges.  Probably the best decision we made, as the atmosphere was great, with locals and amateur riders from the day before crowding the bar.  The finish line looked chaotic from the tv, a stark contrast to the day before.

Finish Line - M9 Zeiss 35mm f/2

I love Belgium.  I love their beer, I love their bike racing, I love their attitude.  What a great place to spend a weekend!

Leica M9 w/Zeiss 35mm f/2

Just realised how much the Zeiss 35mm got used this trip.  It must have been on the M9 for about 95% of shots.  Posting a few samples just for the hell of it.

India with the M9

Returning to work after a few weeks travelling is always a difficult day, more so if you've just spent those weeks in India.  Well known for it's colourful sights, potent odours, and delicious food, India does not disappoint.  It's such an assault on the senses that it can be overwhelming when it comes to photography - where do you start?  We were travelling by car on this occasion so this allowed me to take quite a bit of kit with me.  A D700 with 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 F2.8 VRII and a 24mm PC-E.  I also packed the Leica M9 with the Zeiss 35mm f/2 and Leica Summarit 50mm f/2.5.


Looking through my photos over the weekend, it was apparent that all my kit got used.  There's nothing more annoying than hauling stuff half way around the world just to sit in your bag the whole time.  We spent a few days in Corbett wildlife reserve, so the 70-200mm got plenty of use there.  The rest of the trip was focussed on Rajasthan, with it's many architectural highlights, so the PC-E lense was perfect.  Many people rate this as a specialist lense, but to me it is hugley versatile.  Apart from the obvious correction for architecture, it's great for stitching 3 shot panoramas, and also for pefrect front-to-back focus for landscape shots.  I also occasionally use it as a walkaround lense where space is tight.  The manual focus is a breeze, nothing like the awful focussing rings of the autofocus lenses.  Super smooth and responsive.
I'm posting up a few photos over the next few days, most of which will be on my flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/51617596@N02/)

Leica 21mm Summilux

I had an extended round trip to the Leica store in Mayfair this morning.  They were the only place that had a spare battery for an M9, but to be honest, I don't really need much of an excuse to make the trip.  Whilst there, I had a chance to play with the 21mm Lux.  Obviously, being restricted to the confies of a small store doesn't allow too much in the way of creative photography.  However, it was a chance to test the feel of it on the M9 and see how I got on with an external viewfinder.

Leica store, Mayfair

First thing I noticed was vignetting at 1.4.  To be expected though, and it disappears with treatment in Lightroom.  Handling was actually better than I expected.  The lens is big, certainly, but not overly so.  I suppose I'm still used to the huge lenses of Nikon slrs, so any Leica will compare favourably.

I haven't taken my ruler out, but the distortion looks very well controlled.  The lines on the tiles appear straight as does the counter on the right.



I would love to take this to India next week, but my 35/50 combo will have to suffice.

Leica Summilux 21mm

So, although I've titled this blog 'Fast Glass', the truth is, I don't really have any.  Ok, I've got a 50mm 1.8 Nikon lense, but that is one of the cheapest on the market, a mass produced toy.  That may change soon, however.  An order has been placed for the 21mm Summilux.  I find the wider lenses fascinating, and this one particularly so.  1.4 is a fairly normal aperture for 50mm lenses, and if you're a Nikon shooter, you can choose from 24mm, 35mm, and 85mm aswell as the 50.  21mm, however is exclusive to Leica.  Who knows when it will turn up, the dealer admitted they never know what or when is being delivered!  Hopefully, it won't be too long a wait.

M9 + Summarit 50mm f/2.5

The Zeiss has been on the M9 pretty much non-stop since I got hold of it, but I'm going to get around to using the little Leica very soon.  A trip to India next week should allow me some quality time with both, and an opportunity to really get to know the rangefinder system. 

I know Leica lense have a reputation for being small, but this thing is tiny.  Just hope I can get my butter fingers used to it.