To Mechuka — with two of Leica’s finest M-Mount lenses

I am strapped in for the flight to Dibrugarh. Stowed in the overhead bin are two of Leica’s finest M-Mount lenses, the Leica 35mm Summilux-M f/1.4 and the Leica 50mm Noctilux-M f/0.95, on their first trip to Mechuka. Tucked in with them is the Leica M11.

For the next ten days, we’ll be on the road, and the Summilux, small and light, is on the camera. Its big sister sits patiently in the bag on the backseat. On my first trip to Mechuka in 2018, which some of you good people who had joined me on the ride will remember, I had the Leica X Vario with me. On this trip in 2022, I hope to get to know a couple of new playmates more intimately.

Across the river

We stop at a river camp by the Brahmaputra not far from Pasighat. It rains all night. The next morning I take a few pictures of the house cat with her kittens snuggled in a wicker chair outside my cabin door. A view of the verandah and the wet grounds. Lovely misty conditions for captivating, atmospheric photography. Unfortunately, none turned out that way, so as much as I love you guys, I’m not going to show you any of them. But here’s one from the road on the previous trip.


Back on the road, there are many points of interest to favour the 35mm; rivers, bridges and mountain vistas, little hamlets and roadside dhabas, and even a pachyderm in the hills. And again, somewhere further ahead, at a steep hairpin bend that an unfortunate lorry driver failed to negotiate successfully.

The X Vario, which accompanied me in 2018, though not as small as a 35mm on an M body, is quite unintimidating too. This family of stone crushers in Lokpeng were happy to have their picture taken, day’s washing hanging out to dry and all.


The rain is unseasonably heavy for October. At every turn in the road, we must contend with a landslip or a waterfall. Piliya and Gudi shield me with an umbrella while I take pictures. We reach Tato and make a chai stop. There’s an old gent sitting on a bench in front of the Hiba Line Hotel.

As I approach, he notices me, but as he probably doesn’t think much of the equipment I hold up to my eye, he turns away again. This has happened before. More often, when I’m taking a picture of someone and Baro, with his mini bazooka, is doing the same. Attention shifts away from me. Which is not a bad thing since, by experience, I know typically girls are shy, and boys are boisterous. So a camera and lens combination that doesn’t draw unnecessary attention has to be a good thing.

Where wild horses roam

It’s the Noctilux’s turn now. It’ll stay on the camera for the rest of the trip. Despite its size and weight, it’s become my favourite lens for a reason ⏤ the way the background is rendered when it is shot wide-open. Here are two examples from that morning.

The Government Primary School in Lhalung village is in session, and the kids are out during a break. We hang around the gate and watch the kids play. A little girl sees us from the far end of the field and comes running. I never get to ask her name before she runs back, but she has the sweetest smile.

Then there’s Nishi, on her grandma’s back, come to get some provisions from the only shop in Lhalung. Little Nishi is being strapped securely on grandma’s back with the aid of a shawl, and with her hands now free, she can carry the packets home.


One of my favourite photographs is of the little boy with the toy gun.

It is getting on close to 4 pm, and the light fades quickly. I’m watching the local lads play football in the open patch of ground opposite our homestay. I quickly arrive at the conclusion that shooting with a rangefinder and a 50mm @ f/0.95 is not the best combo for action photography. But I’m stupid that way, and I try regardless.

After a while, I give up and turn my attention elsewhere. There is a path that leads into the fields on my right. To my alarm, it is made up of wooden planks that sink into the soggy ground under my weight. I walk on gingerly, but very soon I have to step off the path to make way for a woman walking briskly towards me. In soaking shoes, I take a photograph of a house in the distance. The warm glow from the lights on in one of the rooms makes it look warm and welcoming. Then I spot the little fellow.


Mechuka is well known for its feral horses. They roam freely through the countryside, grazing along the grassy banks of the Siyom and on the lower mountain slopes. If you’re lucky, they will be one of your first sights as you approach the outskirts of town. We came across several herds on our trip earlier, their dark chestnut frames scattered around the meadows of the valley. There are noticeably fewer of them this time, and Baro tells me it is a result of the farmers fencing off their land.

“A moment can be enough.”

At Tsokarpu, a village perched on a hillside on the outskirts of the main town, a Ramo woman belonging to a sub-tribe of the Adi stops to greet us on her way home. She invites us up for tea.

Yachak Chije mostly lives by herself, except for those days when her husband, who is away on work, is able to come home. They had three children, one whom, she matter-of-factly says, is buried in the ground outside. Tea is prepared. It is salted milk which Baro and Piliya are strong enough to try. Gudi and I choose to sip on hot water with makai bhutta, a roasted corn on the cob.

Sipping on salted milk, Yachak Chije sits and chats about the crops she grows, including the makai bhuttas that are roasting on the fire, why she doesn’t keep hens, about her two surviving children now grown and living in the city, and even about a ride she once took in a helicopter (it brought her home so quickly she recalls).

The only light in the room streams in through a window. Yachak Chije is a busy woman. Between recounting stories, she turns the makai roasting on the fire, gives instructions to Gudi on where to find the cups, fills the kettle, pokes the fire. I wait to take a picture. Patience, that moment will come. As Dennis Stock once said, “A moment can be enough.”


Another chance encounter I remember fondly happened on my trip in 2018. It was in a village called Singbir on the other side of town.

To reach Singbir, which had probably a dozen houses, we had to leave our car by the river’s edge and cross over on a cable and plank contraption, locally called the hanging bridge. I needed both hands to steady myself as it swayed and bounced. Gudi, Piliya and Baro waited for me to get to the other side before stepping onto it themselves. This year is no different, except that I take a picture first.

We took a leisurely stroll through the lanes and fields of Singbir when Tashi Drema spotted us walking by through an open window and, with a big smile, hailed for us to come in. Removing our shoes, we stepped into her home. She sat us down on low stools she brought out and had neatly lined up along one wall. Then she and her daughter got around to prepare a pot of tea. Her son joined us, having finished ploughing the field. Here we were, a group of strangers sharing stories over cups of tea.

I try to remember the location of her house on this trip too. But almost five years have passed, and there are many more houses. We wander around the village just as we had done before. We spot her house in the distance. But there is no Tashi Drema by the window.


At this time of year, the grass is green in patches amidst the rusts and yellows. From the Samten Yongcha Monastery we get a full view of the valley below. The Siyom winds in great arcs through the valley. In the far distance, sprinkled like confetti across the changing landscape, are the candy-coloured rooftops of Mechuka. I fully expect that by my next visit, those rooftops in the far distance will have become much closer.

Come along to Aalo

Our route home to Ziro takes us through the West Siang district to Aalo, previously called Along, a small town with an estimated population of 28,400, where we break our journey for a couple of days. One morning in Jirdin village, which in 2022 bagged the Chief Minister’s award for being the cleanest village in the district, we meet Deli Rike and Kikar Lollen. They are national-level craftsmen. We accept their invitation to join them on the balcony of their bamboo house on stilts.

They are working on a traditional cane hat worn by the Adi Galo tribe, called bolup. We sit and chat over cups of tea. They have travelled the world showcasing their cane work. Deli Rike says he’s looking forward to a holiday in Thailand when he can take a few weeks off from teaching young apprentices the intricacies and techniques of his craft. They tend to their fields when they are not making hats. Yomeh, Rike’s granddaughter, with a kala tikka on her forehead to ward away nazar, is too shy to join us.

In the fading light of day

I’ve read that the Noctilux has been referred to as “The King of the Night”. The October light fades quickly, and I have the opportunity to verify this first-hand.

One evening we head out to Kabu village, where Baro has a friend. Doni is at home, and she is delighted to meet him. We all end up having tea. Darkness envelops the village, and I have trouble focusing the rangefinder. I don’t have the Visoflex with me. Despite that, young Siiba Loyu wants to be in the picture.

Later that same evening, after dinner, the shop below the cafe is the only one with its lights on. If nightlife exists in Aalo, it has high-heeled it to another part of town.

Soon we are on the road again, but there’s a setback. The potholes on the road from Mechuka have taken their toll, and Baro pulls up at a roadside mechanic for some repairs. It takes two hours, but luckily parked outside the mechanic’s is a Royal Enfield motorcycle.

Journey’s end

It is the final leg of our journey. I think Gudi, Piliya and Baro are looking forward to being back home. The car is fixed, but we still have a long drive to Ziro. We must cross Potin before the road maintenance crew closes traffic on the road. We go like the wind. Through pitch-dark plantation roads and winding mountain roads. It is close to midnight by the time my head hits the pillow.


I look down at the paddy fields from the hilltop where a few days earlier the annual Ziro Music Festival was held. The womenfolk head home after a long day spent in the fields.

Endnotes

I received a silver-body Leica M11 soon after it was released. At the same time, the Leica Store in Delhi had on sale a used Leica 35mm Summilux-M f/1.4 and a used 50mm Noctilux-M f/0.95. They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

The Summilux has been out with me before, but this was the first time I took the Noctilux on a trip like this. I carried the Leica Visoflex 2 but never got around to using it.

I also carried and used a white balance card. Later, back home, I preferred the slightly warmer manual WB setting to the cooler auto setting in Capture One. In mixed light conditions, I relied on the AWB setting on the camera.

As both camera and lenses were exposed to the rain on many occasions, the inbuilt hood on the Noctilux and the hood on the 35mm did a decent job of keeping most of the spray away from the front element.

I decided on my return to get an M handgrip to use primarily with the Noctilux. Besides giving me a better hold, a handgrip, I think, would also help keep the camera steady.

The Summilux 1.4/35 is a lens I can shoot quickly and instinctively with, while the Noctilux 0.95/50 is more of a contemplative shooting companion. And that’s fine by me as long as there’s tea.


Read more from Farhiz Karanjawalla




34 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you Farhiz for this presentation. Hard to find a single favourite image, there’s so many good ones. Subject matter, light, perspective. Enjoyed it.

  2. Lovely photos, Farhiz. This is where a Leica really shines, capturing people and places. Best of all is when you capture people and places together. The photo of the schoolgirl is a perfect example of that. Like Keith, I take off my hat to your focus skills. I find that, as the years go on, my ability to focus on the move is going down, but I can still manage slow and considered photography. You have managed both in these wonderful photos.

    These photos really capture Mechuka and its people. I have never been there, but I almost feel that I have been there through your photos.

    William

    • Thank you, William. I have to thank my friend and guide, Baro, whose friendly, chatty manner with people we meet on these trips puts them at ease. Except for a very few, most of the pictures of people were taken after a few minutes of our engagement with them. Those few minutes are gold when using the Noctilux. I hope I never tire of places like Mechuka, and am always grateful to have been able to see it, as time changes everything.

  3. Dear Farhiz, what a wonderful article. Great photography and wonderful text. You managed to take me to place I had not even known that it exists before. I love the expressive and colourful images, my favourite is the suspension bridge. The schoolgirl reviewed much praise already and this is more than justified. A great achievement with two lenses that need talent and experience to work with. Thank you very much for sharing this. Jörg-Peter

  4. Hi Farhiz, I really enjoyed this article. The photographs are gorgeous. I thought the shots of the schoolgirl and the lady, Yachak Chije, illuminated from the side, were particularly striking. What was it like focusing such a fast lens, wide open, on these two subjects? Was your overall success rate high? In one or two photos it looked as if the main subject was just outside the zone of focus, which must have been razor thin. I take my hat off to your focusing skills! All the best, Keith

    • Thanks, Keith. You don’t get to see the failures 😀. But jokes apart, I have to expect some of them to be out of focus, not by much, but sometimes enough to ruin it. Now, for instance, the shot of Siiba Loyu is not in focus but I decided to include it. That depends on the story you want to tell. So no, the overall success rate is not high but as I practice (hoping my eyes don’t get worse, I wear glasses, have three pairs in fact, long distance, intermediate and reading) I hope I can improve on the score.

  5. Amazing photography and good supporting commentary. In addition to being beautiful to look at, it is inspiring. I was an avid traveler before 2019. Presentations like this make me consider getting out on the street both at home and afar a little more. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Thanks Farhiz. The rendering of light and shadow in these photos gives them great dynamic and authenticity. That cable bridge brings on a prickly feeling. Stay Well, Fred Hepworth

    • Thanks, Fred. They don’t just sway left and right but up and down as well. I had terrible thoughts of my camera slipping out of my hands and dropping through the gaps. Mighty relieved I was each time I got across.

  7. Thanks Farhiz for a wonderful article and set of images. I’ve been utterly impressed by the way you master the rangefinder with the Noctilux since you started posting images on your instagram or flickr site. The images with the two lenses look smooth and have that amazing Leica rendering when you use them. I guess the schoolgirl in the government school coming towards you is my favourite. I just wish it was as easy to photograph people here in the western world.
    Thanks you again
    Jean

    • Thanks, Jean. It must be a combination of being familiar with manual focus which I prefer ever since I ditched dslrs in 2010 and having a rangefinder, the Canonet QL-17, as my first proper camera. I love that photo of the schoolgirl too and grateful that she gave me that second to focus before she ran off back to her friends.

  8. Curious about which version of the 35/1.4 Summilux you were using. Original, ASPH or ASPH II. Makes a big difference. Traveling light, the 0.95 Nocitlux would not be my choice. I use the re-issue 50/1.2 to save a bit on bulk and weight if I need to use a Noctilux. 50/1.4 Summilux ASPH would be my first choice for traveling. Another excellent choice would be the 50/2.8 Elmar-M. Incredible persormance in a very small package.

    • I use that 50/2.8 Elmar M and it is a gem. I usually have my 35mm Summicron f2 as my main lens, but these pair are perfect for travel.With digital and the ability to use high ISO these days i find f2 is plenty fast enough. What these photos here show best is how Leica images somehow give an intimate sense of being there. Lovely article, both words and pictures.Thanks for posting these.

      • Thank you, Stephen. Yes with the high ISO sensitivity of sensors these days f/2 is plenty fast enough. But there is a difference in the background blur between an f/1.4 and and an f/2 lens when you open them up fully. That said, an f/2 lens as a travel companion is a great choice.

        • Yes, I clearly see that background blur and it really is nice with sharp definition at the point of focus. I should definitely see if I can find a good condition used f/1.4 and play with it a bit. I’m inspired to do so by the images you show here.

    • Thanks Bill. I think my copy of the Summilux 35/1.4 was manufactured in 2013. I got it second hand. The Noctilux 0.95 is definitely not for someone who wants to travel light. I have the silver bodied M11. Combine that with a Noctilux 0.95 and a handgrip and it becomes a formidable weapon.

  9. Some spectacular photos — even something as simple as the Makai bhutta is a beautiful composition — it might even be my favourite, though it competes with Schoolgirl.

    Now the tough question: how do you feel using the M11 with Summilux 35 compares to photographing with the X-vario? Is it worth the thousands and thousands more in cost? Or does composition win over currency?

    • Thank you, Kathy. I’m just happy you liked them both. Good question re. the Summilux vis-à-vis the X Vario. I included photos from the X Vario so that people can judge how different or similar the images render. I think they are different. First, the X Vario at its 70mm throw will stop down, even at 28mm it is a slow lens. That said it is a terrific lens for travel, giving really sharp detailed images. The Summilux lens has terrific micro contrast even when it is shot wide open. When the subject is close then shooting at f/1.4 gives really wonderful separation which I haven’t experienced in the same way with the X Vario. Now to address whether it is worth the extra cash. I have been taking pictures for over 50 years and when I got the M11 I had to decide which lens to get for it. Did I want sharp photos all the time or get something I had not experienced before. I chose the latter. I think it has made a difference to my photography. Where once every shot was sharp and had good depth of field, I now have settled to a different look. So for me, the answer is yes, it was worth the extra cash. Hope I’ve been able to answer your question, Kathy.

      • Farhiz,

        Thanks for the reply. It does answer my question, and what you say makes sense to me. Equipment that actually expands what one can do, gives omne new capabilities, seems like the very best reason to put money into gear!

        It’ll be fun for all of us to see what happens in the coming years!

  10. Farhiz, thank you for your insightful essay on a country I only know as a result of your travels, so beautifully described and photographed. Mother and child is a sensitive capture, but I am left wondering at the risky sling securing the child. I do like your natural portraits.

    Your photography is so accurately colourful and records so much detail. My only criticism is occasioned by the extensive use of wide open aperture on your Noctilux. The landscapes evoke an unnatural impression, hinting at a stage setting in the theatre. While I agree there is a place for extreme subject isolation, perhaps I prefer less harsh control of depth of field more often.

    • Thank you, David. You’re spot on with your observation. It is one thing I have learnt from this trip which is not to shoot wide-open in all situations. I made that change on the very next trip we took. On the apprehension regarding the sling, rest assured, the tribeswomen and men take very good care of their little ones and though I have seen this way of carrying them on their backs all over the Northeast, I have never seen one drop.

    • Thank you, John. Yes, there are some things that I do in post process. After I bring the RAW files into Capture One and set the camera and lens profiles, I will typically follow these steps: Check the C1 WB slider and decide whether I like the manual WB I had set or suggested by C1. Leave exposure as it is. Depending then on each image I will adjust shadows and highlights, brightness, levels (not RGB but individual red, green and blue channels) and curve. I don’t usually do anything to saturation. All these are on the base layer. Then I will decide whether the image will benefit from a crop. Then I will again depending on the image, dodge or burn using separate layers. I don’t change the sharpening instead I go with C1’s recommended sharpening. I will add a touch of clarity but not much structure. And that is it. The idea is that the end result should look like a photograph not an illustration. Do it many times and an edit shouldn’t take you more than 5 or ten minutes.

  11. Your photographs are impressive. I think my favorites are A House in the Distance and Yomeh.

    Exquisite.

  12. Thank you for a lovely article; atmospheric in both words and images. I particularly like the “wild horses roam freely” photograph. To me there are six layers of landscape receding into the distance. The eye can just roam all over the scene for ages. Perhaps you should have it printed up and hung on your wall.
    Chris

    • Thanks, Chris. Honestly I hadn’t counted the layers 😊 but I think I know what you mean. It is a shot my daughter likes very much too, so we’ll see if it ever gets hung on the wall.

  13. What a great trip, I’m jealous! I don’t know which I like better your landscape or your portraits. The King of the Night deserves that title.your crossing that plank bridge I hope, earned you a tall G/T. Thank you for treating us to another part of the world.

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