The Alsace Experiment: Leica M8 Kodak CCD meets Brightin Star

Reflecting on a recent reportage journey through the timeless, historically significant Alsace. It is a locale well-explored by tourists, so I deliberately set out to challenge myself: to capture unusual perspectives and moments which tell a story often lost in between the fairy tale frames most tourists capture.

Such an approach often benefits from a quite literal change of gear. There is a prevailing notion that serious reportage photography requires a modern camera with impeccable autofocus, high ISO performance, and a razor-sharp, fast-aperture lens. I decided to contravene this expectation.

My choice was the Leica M8, the first Leica digital rangefinder equipped with an APS-H sized Kodak CCD capable of impeccable resolution, thanks to its lack of an optical low-pass filter. As my sole optic, I brought the 28mm f/2.8 premium pancake lens by Brightin Star.

This combination yields a horizontal field of view equivalent to a 37mm lens on a 36×24mm camera. In my experience, this is the perfect compromise between a 35 and a 40—less wide than the former, yet still more dynamic than the latter.

The experiment was both refreshingly different and profoundly challenging. In fact, I ended up appreciating not just the camera, but especially the lens, so much that I conducted a full, in-depth review on my YouTube channel and website, with quite intriguing results.

Last but not least, I arranged the final results in a series of thematic diptychs: Two classic reportage shots, two nudes, two architectural scenes, and a monograph of a technically challenging sunflower landscape (demonstrating that the Leica M8 can indeed handle high dynamic range scenes with distinction).

I invite you to review the images and watch the accompanying analysis.