The Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 II + the Fujifilm X-Pro3 @ Dutro-Ernst Woods
GEAR + PROCESSING:
Fujifilm X-Pro3Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 IIUrth lens adapter - Leica R lens mount to Fujifilm X camera mountHoya Black Mist diffusion filterProcessed in Capture One 22
Featured Cinematic Presets:
“ERNST”
A color Capture One Style for Fujifilm cameras.
“SUNSTONE”
A monochrome Capture One Style for Fujifilm cameras.
I’ll never forget shooting this gallery.
Why?
Because it was the first time shooting in the field with my Fujifilm X-Pro3, and it was a borderline surreal experience.
As for the scene, Dutro-Ernst Woods is considered an ‘urban nature preserve’ in Muncie, Indiana (USA). I certainly wouldn’t describe the setting as urban, considering there are no tall buildings in sight, but the preserve is situated alongside a fairly busy state road within the city limits, and across from a lovely cemetery.
The preserve was once the site of Ernst Nursery, a greenhouse and plant nursery founded around 1870 that operated well into the 20th century. The commercial plot remained in the family long after the nursery closed, but eventually went up for sale.
The plot caught the eye of Josie Fox (of the Fox brand of dirt bike equipment), who was visiting her parents’ gravesite across the road. Fox saw the environmental potential in the land, so she purchased the plot in memory of her high school biology teacher, Ruth Dutro. Dutro taught biology and environmental science around the world, but for decades around Muncie, leaving a strong impression on her students and peers.
Fox donated the land to Red-Tail Land Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving lands and creating nature preserves where people and nature can come together. The land was dubbed “Dutro-Ernst Woods”.
The preserve features a 1.1 mile walking trail that meanders through prairie before winding through a wooded area. The land is considered “in-restoration,” so each passing year features more and more native flora and fauna while efforts are made to weed out non-native and ‘invasive’ species.
I’ve visited Dutro-Ernst Woods several times. I find it interesting how drastically it changes with the seasons. It’s always good for a little stroll, but certain times of the year are far more scenic than others. I suppose this is generally true of Indiana as a whole, and the fact that this preserve features only native flora makes sense that it would act like a microcosm of the state.
It was mid-September 2021 when I shot this gallery, and Indiana was still firmly in Summer’s grip. I thought I was in for a bit of a reprieve, though, as the forecast called for temperatures in the upper-70s (Fahrenheit, of course) and overcast clouds all day. Compared to the scorching weather we were experiencing, it felt relatively cool and damp. Per usual, though, the real weather had different plans.
About 20 minutes into shooting, the sun came out. I don’t know if it was because it was just overcast, but it felt like the sun was searing every square millimeter of skin that it touched. The temperature promptly climbed into the 80s. The pleasant dampness in the air now felt humid and heavy.
Nevertheless, I had my new (to me) X-Pro3 and the Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 II, and it would take a lot more heat and humidity than that to irk me.
I genuinely expected my first time shooting with the rangefinder-styled X-Pro3 to feel awkward, given that I was so used to the SLR-styled Leica SL and Fuji X-T cameras. Quite the contrary. I was pleasantly surprised by how natural the X-Pro3 felt. I was immediately comfortable with it, which only reinforced my budding love for it.
I shot in full manual, which is so convenient and enjoyable with the X-Pro3.
First, you set the ISO by pulling up on the shutter speed dial and turning your fingers to the desired amount. Of course, you can set it to A (automatic), if time is of the essence. Or, if you prefer, you could set it to C, which allows you to control the ISO setting with one of the dials on the front or back. I set it to ISO 640, since I was using DR400 mode; more on that below.
After setting the ISO dial, you adjust the shutter speed dial with your right hand while your left hand takes care of the aperture ring on the lens. The X-Pro3’s shutter speed dial adjusts in full stop increments, clicking into place with delicious firmness. It’s a dream to use in conjunction with the Summicron-R’s equally fantastic aperture and focus rings.
I generally under-exposed by about a stop. If the optimal exposure sat squarely between two stops, I would skew towards under-exposing to protect highlight information.
Furthermore, I shot in DR400 mode, which is a Fujifilm feature that underexposes the RAW by two stops and pushes it to achieve the desired exposure. This essentially gives you two extra stops of highlight information at the expense of two stops of shadow information. This is more ‘film-like’, as film is generally better at retaining highlight information, whereas digital is much better at capturing shadow information. Since digital usually has way more information in the shadows than we need, the only practical drawback to DR400 mode is the elevated noise floor from pushing the file two stops.
This trade is fine by me because I don’t have an irrational aversion to noise. In fact, I always finish my photos with an extra layer of grain in post. This helps to prevent compression artifacts and gives the final result a bit more life than digital photos usually have.
Back in the scene, the insects didn’t mind the heat, humidity, or sun either. The prairie was abuzz with bees and wasps gathering pollen from the countless native flowers. The most abundant of which were the beautifully vibrant goldenrods. You can see in many of the photos just how stuffed the bees’ pockets were.
The bees and wasps may not have been bothered by me, but the few butterflies were quite shy and elusive. One particularly large monarch butterfly seemed to know exactly what it was doing as I comically pursued it back and forth a half dozen times before it finally disappeared up and over a line of trees. I did manage a photo of a smaller monarch shortly after that, although it didn’t tolerate me getting very close, unfortunately.
Towards the end of my trek, I came across a giant female orb weaver, snacking on a bee. You can even see some pollen residue on her web line, as well as another bee, wrapped and saved for later. I just sat and watched her for a while. Horrific. Beautiful. Awesome.
Using the Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 II is always a phenomenal experience. There’s everything to love, and nothing to complain about.
The Summicron’s perfect drag and huge 270° throw make it the most enjoyable focus ring I’ve ever used. It helped a lot in capturing the bees and wasps in action as well as getting the focus exactly where I wanted it on other subjects.
The aperture ring is satisfyingly firm and industrial, instilling confidence that the setting will never change unintentionally. Admittedly, I rarely touched it, as I shot the Summicron wide-open pretty much the whole time.
On the X-Pro3, the Summicron-R 50mm f/2 II is visually equivalent to a 75mm f/3 on the 35mm format - as far as angle-of-view and depth-of-field - due to the 1.5x crop factor of the APS-C sensor. The result is a horizontal angle-of-view of ~27°, which makes the Summicron a short telephoto lens on the X-Pro3 since it’s narrower than the human focused angle-of-view of 30°. The extra magnification of APS-C really helped in enlarging the insects in the frame. The added depth-of-field helped in achieving acceptable focus, too.
I edited the photos in Capture One 22.
“ERNST”
A color Capture One Style for Fujifilm cameras.
For the color style, which I’ve named “Ernst” - for the Ernst Nursery as well as Ernst Leitz, the namesake of Leica - I started with an Eterna base. I knew I wanted a vintage, faded look with low brightness contrast, and Eterna provides the lowest contrast of Fuji’s film simulations. The goldenrod flowers also greatly influenced the look of the “Ernst” preset, as I knew I wanted their vibrant yellow color to really pop.
“SUNSTONE”
A monochrome Capture One Style for Fujifilm cameras.
For the monochrome style, titled “Sunstone”, I wanted the visual contrast to be consistent with “Ernst”, so I went with the second lowest contrast film simulation, PRO Neg. Std. I made some slight adjustments to the curve, but kept the contrast fairly low. The result has beautifully smooth gradations and just enough contrast to catch the eye.
The following photos all feature “Ernst” and “Sunstone” styles, with only minor exposure adjustments made to each individual photo.
Thank you for reading.
GALLERY.
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