Leica Monochrom on Helgoland Leica Monochrom on Helgoland

Two Leicas and the island of Heligoland

In the meantime I have to see something else. A weekend trip is coming to mine Favorite island Heligoland just right. Convenient travel and a quick recovery effect are a good reason to visit Hamburg - no matter how short it is. As soon as the island was free again after the Corona lockdown, I was in June with my loved one (meaning my wife and not my Leica, dear reader), as the Halunder would say. And then again in July. The September trip is already booked. The nice thing about Helgoland is that it is different every day.

This was particularly noticeable on the second visit in July. The weather was better than on the mainland because it rained almost only at night. However, the wind increased as the stay progressed. Especially on the Lummenfelsen and the long Anna, a lot of wind is an experience. While you can hardly find a firm hold on the cliffs and the seagulls tend to be driven away by gusts, the northern gannets stand calmly in the air. A fascinating spectacle that we enjoy watching again and again.

Corona is of course an important topic on the island in summer 2020. With only one intensive care bed on Helgoland, careful use of disinfectants, masks and tracking is necessary. Most guests understand this too. Even the Halunder jet is not fully occupied. Only restaurant capacity is limited on the island. We always make reservations for all subsequent days in our favorite restaurants on the first day on the island. The visit to the restaurant itself is of course completely problem-free and quiet.

Logistics have always been complex for Germany's only offshore island. In winter the supply ship comes once a week and if it cannot come because of the waves, next time it will deliver food rather than building materials. That makes sense, of course, but some house construction takes a long time. And when it comes to ingredients for the kitchen, planning in good time is also essential. In summer the ship comes more often, otherwise the many guests would not be able to get enough.

The island is most beautiful, at least from my point of view, when the day guests have left Helgoland in the evening. Between 16 and 17 p.m. it becomes quieter on the red rock in the middle of the blue between sky and water. Then the liquor shops are closed and those interested have the chance for a long Anna in the sunset. The shaking of the head at ignorant parents will also be gone. Nobody tells their children anything about seagulls anymore when they see gannets.

Because then the ornithologists come and enjoy the breeding success of the largest gannet colony in Germany. Or the hosts of guillemots who gave the rocks their name. And yes, of course there are seagulls there too, but they are not even half as big as the gannet offspring...

On the first trip in June I mainly tried filmmaking. So the title is a bit of a lie, because I filmed with the Panasonic S1. It shares the bayonet with the Leica SL2, but has wonderful features that make filming smoother. Since it was my first cinematic approach to Heligoland, I had made enough mistakes. I was able to fill some with the Leica SL2 on the second visit in July. I find the Leica SL2 easier to use, especially for slow-mos, because you can adjust the shutter angle and don't have to calculate the correct exposure time. You can now see the result of my first filmmaking effort see it on my YouTube channel or right here...

Heligoland – filmed with Panasonic S1 (mainly) and some slow-mos with Leica SL2

By the way, the postscript in the video is meant seriously. We discovered exactly this rope with the knot in it again on the second visit with older offspring. It was wrapped around the body of a cub and will prevent that animal from ever leaving the island. It can't fly thanks to the rope. Very sad…

Photography was the focus of my second visit in summer 2020. And shortly before departure I had the completely absurd idea of ​​swapping a lot of camera luggage for the Leica Monochrom and the 50 Noctilux. Photographing animals with 50mm and in black and white sounds a little crazy. But the gannets are easy to reach and the weather played into my hands. And yes, the following images were taken with the ancient and slow CCD monochrome. I like the atmosphere of the photos...

If you pay attention to the Exif data in the gallery and are wondering about the shallow depth of field at a fairly high aperture, I can tell you that the Leica M models do not transmit an aperture. In other words: the camera does not know which aperture is set on the lens. She guesses the value based on the exposure used. This is of course prone to errors - especially if you screw an ND6 filter onto the lens. I had to use it to take photos with an open aperture in strong sunlight. Because that Noctilux gets its name because it allows photographs with an aperture of 0,95. That's a little more than one stop more light than your overrated 1.4 lens. The Leica M can only work with an exposure time of 1/4000s, otherwise the dimensions of the camera would have to be larger. So without a gray filter nothing works...

I would like to praise the Leica SL2, which is technically impressive. The lenses that fit the L-bayonet are pretty much the finest things available on the XNUMXmm film market. I then used it to take the pictures that called for color or required long focal lengths.

Conclusion: Helgoland is always worth a trip. Especially for people who love wind, sun, birds and water. We will be back…

  1. Hello Gröni,

    Very impressive pictures and the video really took us away, as we had just returned from Helgoland on Sunday after a great weekend. By the way, we were also there in June, around the time of the Lummensprung. That was also an extraordinary spectacle.

    I only took photos with my iPhone, but at least I got a few decent “random” photos. The sunsets on the long Anna are priceless. And the sunrises over the dune are a dream.

    Hope to see you again at the Millerntorstadion or at blind football or on Heligoland. Time will tell...

    Regards
    Bodo

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