I recently visited Brixham Harbour to spend some time on the Pilgrim BM45, launched originally in 1895 and the oldest surviving trawler that was built in Brixham Harbour. What better way to capture this story than in words and pictures, using the Leica Digilux 3, complete with the wonderful German made Leica Elmar 35-70 f3.5. Sneakily, I also took along the gorgeous little Olympus PEN E-P1 loaded with the 17mm f2.8 pancake lens and to make things easier in bright sunlight, the VF-1 viewfinder which is a hot shoe attachment. Both cameras were used to capture the day.
Pilgrim BM45 – A Photo Essay with the Leica Digilux 3
About Pilgrim BM45
The Pilgrim BM45 is a fully restored heritage sailing trawler at the heart of the history and culture of the fishing port of Brixham in south-west Devon. Free to visit, she is open to visitors on most Sundays throughout the summer and is well worth a visit if you are staying in the town for your summer vacation, or even if you are only visiting for the day. The volunteers who look after her are all incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about the Pilgrim, her history and her place in the Brixham community.
Launched in 1895 from Uphams yard originally situated a few 100 yards away although now sadly gone, Pilgrim now sails the coastline of Devon and Cornwall across to the Channel Islands, Brittany and to the Isles of Scilly. Above decks she has been restored to her original configuration while below decks she has benefited from a contemporary fit-out. If you’d like to learn more about Pilgrim BM45, why not visit their web site.
About My Photographic Gear
Leica Digilux 3 from 2005
I was lucky enough to pick up the Leica Digilux 3 along with two gorgeous Leica lenses for just £400 on Ebay. The first lens was the Leica Elmarit 14-50mm f2.8-3.5, which is fully automatic while the second was the fully manual Leica Elmar 35-70 f3.5. Both lenses bring lots of character to images taken with this old camera. If you are looking for an exceptional quality camera from this time, around 2005, either of these cameras should be on your shopping list. Armed with a 7.9MP LiveMOS (NMOS type) sensor, the DIGILUX 3 is essentially a Panasonic DMC-L1 albeit has had image processing adjustments as defined by Leica. I have both and yes, there are slight differences in the images they produce. In use, no, there is nothing in it. They both feel great in the hand and both are easy to use once you get used to the various functions and menus. I have had no problems with either. The Lumix L1 BTW cost me £190 and is professional black while the Digilux 3 is in black and silver.
My Backup Camera – The Olympus PEN E-P1 from 2009
The Olympus PEN E-P1 is basically a reworked Olympus E-620 and therefore, the E30. It’s gorgeous metal body and micro four thirds interface have enabled Olympus engineers to cram in a lot of features albeit that the view finder has been sacrificed in favour of just an LCD screen. The only detriment here is that the screen is pretty much unusable in very bright sunlight and this led to Olympus releasing a hot-shoe mounted viewfinder, the VF-1. I have this add on and while it’s great, really bright and clear, it is only really useful when combined with the Olympus 17mm f2.8 pancake lens. You might get away with it for some of the range of the 12-32mm but for practically any other lens, it’s all guess work as to what will be in frame. For this reason, I only use it with the 17mm f2.8.
All this aside, the Olympus PEN E-P1 is a fabulous camera, ideally suited to travel because of it’s low weight and small size. Another benefit is the fact that the lens mount is Micro Four Thirds which means that lenes are plentiful and ultra lightweight in their construction. On days when I don’t need the VF-1 viewfinder I often team this camera up with the Lumix 12-60 f3.5-5.6 which is just a smidgeon away, quality wise, from the more expensive Leica f2.8 version.
Photo’s From The Day
Although this blog’s title is Pilgrim BM45 – A Photo Essay with the Leica Digilux 3, in reality I covered both the boat and the harbourside shooting a variety of photos from buskers to statues, to boats and harbour-side life and everything in between. So as not to confuse things, I will break these down into a section on the boat itself and a second section on the life around the harbour-side. Let’s start with the boat.
Pilgrim BM45
Harbourside & Candid
Conclusion
These couldn’t have been two more different cameras. The tiny Olympus PEN E-P1, even with the VF-1 viewfinder fitted fits perfectly in the hand. It’s also a very light camera, thanks to the M43 mount and image quality is as good as any of my CCD cameras and indeed, it stands up well against it’s older and more expensive siblings, the Leica Digilux 3 and the Lumix L-1. It beggars belief why photographers who covet film like tones and colours, fail to spot the opportunity with older Lumix cameras. The Olympus PEN E-P1 is stuffed with everything that Panasonic has learned in the 10 or so years since digital cameras hit the mainstream of consumer photography. So much so that if you think the Olympus E-620 and E-30 cameras are good, then you are going to love the compactness and features of the Olympus PEN E-P1.
On the other side of the equation you have the beast which is the Leica Digilux 3. This professional level camera of its time creates wonderful, colourful, enigmatic images which take you right back to film days. It feels professional and it looks professional. Prefer a Lumix version? The Lumix DMC-L1 is the same except for a few differences in the image processing engine. The downside, it’s big, and heavy, especially if you add a Leica or pro lens. The good news is that it’s Four Thirds mount means that if you are coming at from the stand point of early CCD and Olympus gear, you’ll probably have an arsenal of good lens which will fit right on without issue.
My favourite images of the day? In truth there are many but this one ticks a lot of boxes. Was this from the Leica Digilux 3? No, it was from the Olympus PEN E-P1 which you can buy today for around £60 with a kit lens, and yes, it’s worth every penny.
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An awesome post Dave, thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks Rob, appreciated