Tokyo Films - M6 streetphotography
February 18, 2017This is the first post of this style that I’ve written, so just bear with me as it evolves…part camera review, part travel journal, part musings on 35mm film photography, part street photography :)
This post has been marinading for a while, as I decided exactly what it was that I wanted to write. Then having no real idea, it was time to sit down and start.
Just over 1 year ago I was in Tokyo. I went to Japan primarily to head to Fukushima to shoot a photo documentary about the 5 year anniversary of the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster - which if you’re interested you can find in a seperate post here: F is For Fukushima.
Anyway, prior to heading up to Fukushima I planned some time off in Tokyo. Having been there once before I knew how amazing it was…is…and wanted to spend some time dedicated to street photography for a few days. And what better place to do it than in among the overcrowded, hectic, jam packed Japanese capital.
Before I flew in I spent a bit (ok a lot) of time planning out where I wanted to go. I made myself up a google map with location pins (81 to be exact) of important stuff around the town. Pins included generally interesting points, view decks, 2nd hand photo book shops, train stations, food spots, oh and a few camera stores. The google map, up on the trusty iPad, became my constant companion - once paired with a life saving wifi rental router that I picked up on arrival at Narita airport just after grabbing my bag. Of all the things that I recommend you do if you’re going to Japan (unless you’re a fluent speaker…or have one with you…who also speaks English) is getting one of them. Just flick it on and you’re connected, and best of all, you can follow that little blue google dot around that overly detailed map you made just before you took off as it meanders around the town. Forget asking people for directions, and don’t think you’ll be able to just look at street signs and numbers - it’s not gonna happen…. ;)
Oh, the other thing I did before I flew in was to pickup a little Leica M6 - pictured below. One final purchase that was needed to pair with it was a Voigtländer 35mm lens. Or if you want the full mouthfull, AKA the Voigtlander Wide Angle Color-Skopar Pan 35mm f/2.5-M (PII). But more about that shortly.
Once I’d decided that I was going to Tokyo, I also felt compelled to start looking for a film camera. I’d been shooting streetphotograpy for a while, and knew I wanted….needed?….to try something different for a change. So I started asking the oracle of all things google on what were good options for shooting street on film.
35mm it was to be, as it needed to be small enough to not be too obtrusive - as I was coming from an X100. I also wasn’t keen on an SLR style body - as I shoot enough of that on digital. There were a heap of options from cheap P&S to not so cheap: Oly XA2, Contax T2/T3, Ricoh GRs, Konica Hexar AF, Oly Mju & Trip 35s, Lecias plus a few other options from Oly, CanoNikon, Yashica, Fuji etc. In the end I was after something fully manual (focus and exposure), with an inbuilt meter, while interchangeable lenses would be great to give some more options down the track, rangefinders sounded interesting having had no experience, oh yeah and also (most importantly) it had to be all black….. :)
So after stumbling across a good looking used M6 in the window of a 2nd handshop in Melbourne it was love at first sight. Upon first inspection the rangefinder patch was off - north/south. After a bit of haggling this was agreed, and after being told that it would be uber pricey to get it fixed locally, I opted for a discount and the 1984 M6 headed out the door with me.
Next task was a lens. Time again to consult the smart little hamster in the googling wheel. Options at the cheaper end were generally Russian, mid priced (and nicely compact) VC, a step up to Zeiss or just go and sell one of your kidneys (again) Leica. The reviews at the websites on the VC seemed generally positive, glowing on some. So the performance seemed to be there. Secondly being the 2.5 option it was compact - another box ticked. Lastly, and most importantly, you could get it in black. Hook, line and sinker. Sold.
Sorted. Now time to take it out for a spin and a few test rolls. I only had a few weeks before I took off. Having not shot any film in around almost 15 years - since spending a 2002 summer with a plastic fantastic EOS300 and a zoom or two, it was time to get back on the horse. Oh, and time to get to grips with rangefinder focussing too. As soon as I put the M6 up to my eye the whole shooting experience was amazing. I was overly fixated on making sure the patch was 100% aligned telling me everything was dead on - simple things like an appreciation for depth of field and how much actually would be in focus at f/8 went out the window for some reason. Thankfully this didn’t last too long and I was able to squeeze in 3 rolls to get developed and scanned before taking off. The results were ok, and trusting the two red LED meter arrows seemed reliable, but getting used to having the single ISO of a film roll took a little bit of time. As a result I left with a mixture of excitement and paranoia about not being able to look at the screen on the back of the camera in the street photographers paradise of Tokyo.
Ok, enough lead in, time to get into some photos. All in all, probably due to the mild paranoia mentioned above, across the 5 days I ended up shooting 3 rolls of colour and 4 rolls of B&W and a fair bit of X100 (all the shots in this post were from the M6). And because I hadn’t shot film in many many years, instead of sticking to one type, like the kid in the candy store I shot a few different ones (Superia 400, Portra 400, Portra 800, XP2, Tmax & TriX).
Let’s roll with the colour first. Maybe it is because there are so many people and so many colours and things going on in Tokyo - but I was happier with the B&W over the colour shots.
I wanted to go to the Tsukiji fish market to see the tuna auctions, and to get in there you need to get into the waiting room at some offensively obscene hour. It was also February, which meant it was properly cold. So as a result I decided to chose an Airbnb as close as possible to the market. I mean 3 mins walk close. It was great on the morning that I got up a 3.20 am to go the market, but not so great on the other days. Turns out there are little fish shops all around that area - who would have thought? They also get up with their fork lifts and mini trucks every morning the markets is open at around 3 am. So like all Tokyo apartments this was *tiny*, but also had the bonus 3 am wake ups most days.
Ok, after getting the Tsukiji market done and dusted, there was a bucket list of places that I wanted to go. The vast majority of them would involve getting on the underground / subway. Probably the best system in the world. Much like pretty much everything in Japan, the trains just work properly - as they should. They run on time, they’re clean (but usually full of people), they’re fast and if you miss one, there is another one coming in about 6 mins - and it’ll be on time too. Once you’re on the train they are a joy (navigating inside some of the larger Tokyo train stations not so much). Oh, and if you like shooting street they’re also great, especially as pretty much no-one in Tokyo seems to care about cameras. Japan do make the odd camera or two….
it’s all B&W from here on in too…..
One of the reasons that I enjoyed shooting so much in B&W was that there are stunning patterns and geometry in so many different parts of the city that can be used as backdrops for the locals. You can guarantee if you sit and wait in a good spot for just a minute or two that you will find someone interesting walk straight into frame….like shooting fish in a barrel.
The M6 was simply fun to use. Full stop. It was small enough that people didn’t care about it, especially with the VC pancake lens fitted. Using the frame advance lever was a joy and so was focusing with the rangefinder. I really enjoyed the limitations that a single fixed lens gave, and also the single speed film loaded - forcing you to be more creative. Even loading the camera was a non event. I read about people saying this was hard, and that was difficult, but really the whole process was enjoyable. The focus on the VC was well damped and had decent resistance to it. Since returning I’ve had a lot more practice with estimating distances and not using the patch at all (both with the M6 and a Rollei 35SE - which is 100% distance/zone focus - but that is for another post) . While I was in Tokyo though all of the focusing was done with the camera up to my eye.
The buildings and skyscrapers in Tokyo also throw up some great architecture and lines that beg to be shot. The 3 shots below were all taken in Shinjuku, with the last two being the outside and then inside of the NS Building.
In terms of where I spent most of my time….it was probably Ginza. There are so many interesting spots there, and it was also not that far from Tsukiji where I stayed. So it made a logical start and end to the day. The other spots that I’d mapped down to visit were Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Shimokitazawa (a bit of a hike, and probably not on everyone’s must see list of Tokyo spots), the platforms at the Tocho building & Bunkyo Civic Centre, Ebisu, ride the driverless monorail (Yurikamome line) and also visit a few of the dedicated photography book stores in Jimbocho. I picked up a nice 2nd hand book by the well known Japanese photographer Daido Moriyamama and a couple of other random books too.
I visited a few camera / film stores during the 5 days that I was there. Including the famously well stocked Yodobashi in Shinjuku where I picked up a few rolls. For those that havn’t been to Japan before, Fujiflim is reasonably priced (depending on your currency conversion), while Kodak not so much. Makes sense in terms of where it all comes from, but don’t just expect that because it is one of the biggest film photography centres in the world that everything will be cheap as chips.
Tokyo in the darkness is just as spectacular as it is in the day time - maybe even more so. The main parts of town are lit in all kinds of neon and streetlights from every direction. I picked up a roll of 3200 with the intention of shooting it at night, but in the end to try out something different (and often because that is what was loaded from the daytime) I just ended up continuing to shoot 400 speed film in the evenings. This was enjoyable too as it really made you work the photos given the low speed film limitation. Some of the shots below would have been at 1/15 or 1/8 which is still handhold-able as the camera and lens is well weighted.
Everything in Japan and especially Tokyo is so different to any place you can travel to. So many people, buildings and interesting things to look at. The language barrier is very high - as a traveller it isn’t safe to assume that english is widely spoken (by locals of any age) but with that little wifi router and the connection to the oracle you can pretty much figure out most things. I would recommend a trip to Japan to anyone - just a beautiful place with a great vibe.
Shooting film again was a joy and I wish that I’d shot more of it when I was there. If you’ve made it down this far - thanks for reading. If you do want to see a few more shots - some of the digital ones from those 5 days are here.
Limted edition numbered and signed archival quality prints are available to purchase - just contact me for more information.
You can find me on IG and the web in a few spots:
35mm film - @_markforbes_
Commercial & documentary - @markforbesphotographer
Weddings - website & @markforbesweddings
here are a few final shots from the M6 to finish.
