Prescott, AZ, has the territorial days’ heritage of cowboy lifestyle, including the arts which are wonderfully represented in a distinctive fine arts museum called the Phippen Museum for Arts & Heritage of the American West. George Phippen, cowboy artist, founded the museum in 1984 where truly fine art painting and sculptures by cowboy artists are displayed, along with educational seminars about the American West.
For the past 7 years, on the weekend before Memorial Day, the Phippen Museum organizes an arts show at the Prescott town center. Artists display their works allowing visitors to purchase unique artworks for their homes.
One of the main attraction of that weekend are live painting sessions by artists who are given one hour to start and complete a new painting. Thousands of visitors watch the painters up close throughout the process and then the completed artwork are put to auction.
This weekend, I wanted to capture a few moments through a 1949 Canon Serenar 50mm lens mounted on a 1953 Leica rangefinder camera. The lens was produced from 1949 to 1952, and is based on early 1930s German lenses by Leitz. For those who want to learn more about the history of 1950s Canon rangefinder cameras and lenses, I will share my experience at the end of this posting.
It was a very challenging afternoon for a photographer with the high desert sun filtering through the tall trees of the town square. Everything and everyone was part shade and part sun, making any composition aiming at smooth tonal range transitions practically impossible. Plus, with a 74 year old lens and a 70 year old mechanical camera, the challenge was not only in composing a frame, but knowing that these antique tools would be “overwhelmed” by the kaleidoscope of light and shade.
So, a perfect setting to test the old lens!
The photo at the top of the page shows the artists working on their new painting and captures part of the crowd watching the process. Of course a 35mm lens would have been better for a more inclusive view. Photo taken at f11 and 1/100th second shutter speed.
I used two shutter speeds during that afternoon – 1/75th for heavily shady frames, and 1/100th for the rest. I wanted to remain minimalist and use the Leica IIIF for what it was intended – street photography.
I also used a vintage Spiralite coated 40mm filter on the lens hoping that it may increase contrast and minimise flare. If nothing else it protected the front element of the Serenar.
I decided to focus on 3 artists for testing the following aspects of the lens:
1. The sharpness of the lens at f4 aperture since I could not open it more given the maximum speed of 1/1000th of the Leica
2. The contrast, and
3. The shallowness of the depth of field or blurring of the out-of-focus background.
Here are examples:
Sharpness. This artist had the most intricate western clothing and the fine detail on her coat would serve for my test of lens definition and sharpness. Taken at f5.6 and 1/100th second shutter speed.
Contrast. This light and shadow falling upon this painter were like a web and patchwork. And, with the afternoon wind, the tree branches were moving changing the tonal range constantly. Here is the best shot I got after a few tries. Taken at f5.6 and 1/75th second shutter speed.
Thoughts
I had used this lens once, years ago as it came with a 1949 Canon IIB rangefinder camera. I did not like the dim viewfinder of the camera and kept it as a historical artifact (more about it below). But the Serenar lens was beautifully made even if based on a configuration by German camera manufacturer in the 1930s.
But I am glad to have tried the lens again, this time on my 1953 Leica IIIF.
The photos came out better than I expected. Actually, the sharpness and contrast were very similar to a 50mm f2 Summicron I once owned. While the center of the frame is delightfully crisp and sharp, the fallout at the corners is very noticeable. As with all vintage lenses and those who still love to use them, the criteria for goodness cannot be similar to modern lenses. After all would one compare the 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass to an electric car? As with these cars, the driving reason for being behind the wheel of the Cutlass was the character and identity of the ride. It was my first real car (the Peugeot 204 could not compare…) and I still recall the joy of driving it around corniches of the Mediterranean.
Using the Serenar was a bit like that – a lens that has a lovely background blur (bokeh) even at 5.6 and f4, and a sharpness that can add to the creativity if the photographer composes the scene keeping in mind the character and prowess limits of the lens.
Now a short background about the Canon IIB rangefinder and the 50mm Serenar f1.9 lens that was made for it in 1949.
Until 1949, all Barnack cameras, the Leica and various copies of the design by the German inventor Oskar Barnack, had three “eye” to look through – two round ones for the rangefinder assisting the focusing, and a rectangular one for framing the picture. Canon revolutionized the design with the IIB model, where the rangefinder and the framing windows became one. It was now much faster to focus and frame. But, the IIB had another major new feature – the rangefinder/viewfinder had three interchangeable positions, depending on the lens one uses. Indeed the improved finder could be switched for 50mm lens framing, to 100mm and also 135mm lenses. No more auxiliary viewfinders for each lens! This technological step forward gave Canon a new status in the field by now having its own designs and not making copies of Leica. The IIB was discontinued in 1952 but the interchangeable viewfinder technology continued through various models till 1959 when the Canon P rangefinder camera broke yet a new ground in viewfinder technology.
Here is my 1949 Canon IIB (on the right) next to my 1953 Leica IIIF showing the 3 vs. 2 rangefinder/viewfinder “eyes”.
Since the Leica has a larger frame than the Canon IIB (although the weights are comparable) I think the Serenar lens looks very proportioned on the Leica.
The Canon Serenar collapsible 50mm f1.9 lens was designed as the “normal” (50mm) lens for the IIB camera. When the IIB was discontinued in 1952, so did the collapsible design which was replaced by a rigid 50mm f1.8 lens. I have and continue to us the latter lens with my Canon Model L3, and it is among my favorite rangefinder camera lenses.
But since only 14,500 Canon IIB with the collapsible 50mm Serenar lens were sold between 1949 and 1952, the combination remains a favorite of collectors.
May 29, 2023
© Vahé A, Kazandjian, 2023
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