Lensman 1 - In The Metal

Going from generating animations straight into product prototyping has been a primary goal of ours. By shortening this timeline we can present to you a physical watch in the metal. Over the past few years, we have worked incredibly hard to shorten timelines and gain control over production. Working with over 200 partners is challenging, but we have identified and invested in manufacturing the most time-consuming parts ourselves which means we can now produce our watches in a much quicker timeline. However, despite working with the best performance component manufacturers watches are still hand made and one must allow for an acceptable time window to produce these incredibly intricate machines.

Lensman 1 is a watch that we have been able to expedite given our new investments in machining and process optimization. It was a wonderful feeling to have launched the watch just a few weeks ago and to have a physical sample shortly after. Getting hands-on with the watch for the first time it was great to see how photogenic this photographer watch truly is.

I had about an hour with the watch before I needed to hit the road. Our watchmaker Lenny was kind enough to lend a wrist for the photos to give you all an idea of how the watch looks in natural light.

Lenny with the Lensman 1 in hand. I love how the angle of the photograph shifts the perception of the cyclops.

Given that Lensman 1 is inspired by photography I thought I would dive into the details of how I shot these images of the watch. I am by no means a great product photographer because to do that you must have in-depth and advanced knowledge of photoshop with talents bordering on graphic artistry and this means we work with a highly talented photographer for the product images you find on our website.

I was taught by one of my mentors to produce the result in camera and do as little as possible post-processing because in the times of film photography this is what we needed to do. This advice has helped me to focus on lighting and techniques that create images quickly. Today like most I am shooting digitally and I shoot in raw format which means the image will need basic level adjustments such as exposure, contrast, saturation, etc. Those adjustments happen very quickly along with some masking which in the days of film was called dodging and burning which can be summed up as darkening lighter portions of an image and brightening the darker portions of an image so you can arrive at a balanced look. Newbies to photography today oftentimes don't realize that dodging and burning were developed in film photography. A film photographer working in their darkroom with an enlarger would have to individually dodge and burn each print and take notes of the exact time spent doing this on each section of the image to recreate the same result for each additional print. Today software makes this process very easy and consistent and if you are wondering how someone can always get the perfect exposure masking is something to learn more about. I use Adobe Lightroom for all post-production work, but there are other programs that generate similar results.

Getting the image right in camera, adjusting the levels and doing a little masking goes relatively quickly with the most time-consuming aspect of watch photography being dust removal. I would say 95% of the post-production time is spent on removing dust, fuzz, hair and fingerprints that despite one's best efforts always appear on the case and crystal.

Lensman 1 on the wrist in beautiful window light.

I try my best to get all the dust and markings out, but there comes a point where I just have to move on to the next image. Today people can zoom in on any image with their mobile phone or computer screen and despite my best efforts you can always expect to find some dust in my images, I'm only human after all.

The base setup. Lensman 1 sitting atop a little rubberized packing material on the window shelf with a sheet of A4 paper in my left hand to brighten the lower lugs.

My photo setup for these images was incredibly simple. Our facility has a lot of natural light pouring in via some large windows that run the length of the building. Given that I had only about an hour to work with and the need to show the watch in natural light I opted to use only a window light for the shoot and a sheet of A4 white paper to bounce light and fill in the area around the watch lugs. I opt to shoot photos handheld rather than with a tripod as it's faster and more flexible to move around and since these are not highly polished product images such as the ones we use on the site to showcase our watches I can bump up the iso and increase the shutter speed to reduce handshake.

Modern cameras also have very good image stabilization built in and thus the reason I opt for my Nikon camera bodies over the Leica M for product photography. I have shot Nikon since 2003 and practically every semi-professional and professional camera body they have produced in that time. For this shot, I am shooting with the Z6 which is a semi-pro mirrorless camera that is lightweight and returns some great results. It has more than enough dynamic range for digital presentation compared with the earlier digital cameras that I once shot with for editorial print work. Although there are other brands that might be deemed better such as Canon or Sony I prefer to work with what is intuitive. It's not so much about what camera you have, but how well you can take a photo with what you have on hand. This intuitive approach is also why I shoot Leica for street photography and lifestyle shots around our facility as the functions are very simple and given I always shoot manually (adjusting my own aperture, shutter speed, iso and focus) I can better control the result.

The only difference between the product-only image and the on-wrist images is that for the product-only images I held the camera in one hand and a sheet of A4 white paper in the other hand to bounce light back onto the watch. If I had the luxury of an assistant then I might have opted for someone to hold a reflector, but having worked alone a lot I have figured out some workarounds.

Here you see the Lensman 1 atop my Leica M262 the details of the camera really complement the watch and you can really see how the camera inspired Lensman 1's design. From the camera's body grip to the focus ring of the lens as well as finding a match to the colour and finish, every detail was considered.

Getting the watch on a person means that you need to be a bit more flexible when shooting. What the model see's, what you see and what the camera captures are all different. There is a constant back and forth between the photographer and the model to make slight wrist adjustments or for the photographer to physically move themselves to ensure the dial comes to life.

Five layers of anti-reflective (AR) coating are applied to Lensman 1's sapphire crystal, which helps improve a watch's legibility. Oftentimes and even though a watch has incredible anti-reflective coatings enthusiasts question whether a watch is AR coated. I believe this often happens as the photography that is created like in the image below has a very bright section of the dial highlighted. This is in fact not due to the AR coating, but to the subject (the watch) being photographed in mixed light with one light source in this case the sky having the ability to over-expose its subject and the lack of light in the room running the risk of underexposing the image.

On the watch below the section from 11 o'clock to 1 o'clock on the watch dial is actually the top of the window frame and the bright overcast sky light it's letting in. It's a delicate balance and sometimes a unique effect to include this effect in the image as it creates more depth to the dial. Where Lenny is standing is nearly in the dark as there are no lights on in the room and he is slightly turning his wrist to the window light to illuminate the dial. Too much and the entire watch is overexposed and too little and you won't see any details of the dial.

The goal of lifestyle photography should be to get a real watch on a real wrist in real light. Often times marketers and photographers can get carried away with over-polishing an image. Over-polishing creates an unrealistic end result and I feel that in today's world where customers like yourself are purchasing more products online we as a brand should strive to get the most realistic look and this includes wrinkles, blemishes and even arm hair. This is why I simply grab the person closest to me to photograph the watch and who is comfortable in front of the lens.

In the image above there is a slight reflection running between 9 o'clock and 2 o'clock from a ceiling beam that is picking up some of the light from the window. Only after getting the photo on my computer did I notice this. Despite it showing up in the image I still shared the shot as it has a nice mood to it.

There is something to be said about the same watchmaker that built the watch modelling the watch. How many watch companies do that?

I hope you enjoyed these first images of Lensman 1. There will be more images and photography stories to share. We are just completing the final studio images and once complete we will update the website and will share them here in the forum. With preparation for the Lensman 1 pre-order well underway, we will announce the official day when you can start placing your orders within the next 10 days.

As always I look forward to your comments.

Till next time...

Landon Stirling