Farmhouse photography

21. April 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Abandoned, Lenses, Pentacon F3.5 30mm, Photos, Reviews

My usual cohorts and I went out shooting a short while back. I suggested we go to a salvage yard where we could find some photos of some machinery and fun rusty things.

Afterwards we continued on to an abandoned farmhouse that I once spotted in my travels. We jumped a gate and dodged cow droppings and found a few things to shoot.

Of particular note is the kerosene refrigerator, the Frankenberry and Woody Woodpeckerstickers, the brylcreem jar, and the pharmaceutical bottles (one of which is a tonic). I’m guessing that this place has been abandoned since the 70′s or 80′s, but I suspect that somebody had been slumming it there for a while afterwards.

Anyway, on to the photos. I took off the flarey Yashinon that I had been using earlier and swapped it with the Pentacon 30mm ƒ3.5. This lens is a bit uninspiring, also fairly soft. It has fair colours, low contrast and a reasonable amount of chroma. Focus ring is smooth, if a little stiff and the aperture works like a treat. It’s the same lens as the Meyer Optik Lydith 30mm, rebranded to Pentacon in 1968 after a takeover. The copy I have isn’t in amazing condition, however I don’t think that a mint condition copy would make much difference to the end product.

Interestingly I was tossing up between this lens and another when I happened across this one for a too-good-to-pass-over price. In the end I wish I had’ve found the other lens. I will be sourcing it as soon as I can scrape together some more funds. More on that later when I find a copy :)

On to the photography… The photos are very average. They needed quite a bit of post processing to make them “good” and even then nothing exceptionally special. I am glad, however that I was able to document the farmhouse before it’s demolished. That farmhouse is somebody’s history, their childhood. I wonder who and where they are now.

 

 

Till next time,

 

Ben

Yashinon flare, salvageyard.

20. April 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Lenses, Photos, Reviews, Yashinon-DS F1.4 50mm

There I was, trying to decide which lens from my silly collection of 50mm 1.4 lenses to take with me. On an impulse I picked a lens which I knew had a poor reputation. I wasn’t expecting much, and boy were my expectations correct.

Enter the Yashinon-DS 50mm ƒ1.4

Sharp? no. Contrasty? no. Apo-chromatic? shit-no. Flarey? Like you would not believe!

But what is it like to use? It’s fine, but it’s no Super Takumar 50mm. The Focus is smooth but firmer than the Takumar, and the aperture is far more clunky. Unlike many of the German and Russian lenses this little lens (sadly) doesn’t have a round aperture stepped down.

The photos below are from a salvage yard on Great Northern Highway just after Bullsbrook. I found some interesting tidbits there.

I still haven’t found the best use for this lens yet, I’m starting to think that it would be better for videographers than it is for photography. I may need to try my hand at that some time.

The below photographs were heavily post processed in order to make them acceptable.

 

 

Take care,

Ben

Jupiter 9, 2/85

05. March 2013 · Write a comment · Categories: Jupiter-9 F2 85mm, Lenses, Photos, Portrait, Reviews

Lately I’ve been shooting a lot with my Jupiter-9 lens.

It is a M39 (39mm, threaded) SLR mount. This mount type was originally intended for use with Zorki / Kiev Cameras, however through the magic of adapters they can be used on modern SLRS (in manual modes). These lenses are also available in Leica Thread Mount (LTM) which is also 39mm, so finding the correct one for your camera can be confusing at first. Luckily the LTM version and the M39 version have slightly different barrels, so where there are photos available the choice is made easier.

Performance:

Before I jump into the performance of the lens, I would like to discuss expectations and context. This lens dates back to the late 50′s / early 60′s. It is an old lens, and performs remarkably well for an old lens. Remember the age of this lens when people bang on about how good modern glass is. This lens would have been (at the time) comparable to any German 85 being produced, it was based off the same optical design as the Zeiss Sonnar 85mm. Modern AF 85mm designs are better; they are sharper, have more contrast and better colours. However, that does not mean to say that this is not a good lens.

Ok, now on to how this thing performs.

Wide open this lens has a soft (in this context not bad) rendering, and as the lens is stopped down (only by a few stops) becomes very sharp and contrast improves. The focal length is perfect for portraits and the rendering reaffirms this.

In low light this lens is still competitive with newer lenses, it is a third of a stop slower than ƒ1.8 lenses and only a stop slower than ƒ1.4 lenses. It is a pre-set lens, so one may set the minimum aperture and flick back to it at any time.

The focus ring is smooth (for a lens of it’s age) and has a long focus throw (important for accurate focusing).

Of course bokeh is subject to personal taste, I find the bokeh of this lens to be smooth and non-distracting. It’s a great lens for isolating the foreground subject in portraits and with some selective contrast enhancement can really add some “pop”.

The lens does suffer from a bit of chromatic aberration, but this can be controlled with the situation and by stopping down.

Samples:

Conclusion:

There is a reason why I have been shooting with this lens quite a bit lately, it is a sheer a pleasure to use. From the focus throw to the pleasant results from the lens. Prices of this lens vary on the ‘bay. Make sure you get the correct version for your system, mirrorless cams should be able to use the rangefinder versions and will find them slightly smaller, whereas mirrored cameras may need to get their hands on the SLR version.

I hope you enjoyed the review :)

Treasure hunting

24. December 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Around Town, Lenses, Meyer Optik Oreston F1.8 50mm, Photos, Portrait

We all know the kids game “treasure hunting”. Kids are given a list and asked to find one of each thing on the list, the first kid with everything that appears on the list is the winner.

Ilkka, Paddy, Ant and myself decided to go on a photography expedition to Fremantle and attempt a photographic treasure hunt.

Over breakfast we each contributed a few words to a list, and then in groups of 2, set about trying to capture as many as we could.

The words / phrases were.

  • Breaking the limit.
  • Over the rainbow.
  • Life in the big city.
  • Woman in red.
  • Hey big spender.
  • Inside out.
  • Feather.
  • Button.
  • Pink.
  • Orange.
  • Frown.
  • Smile.
  • Jewelry.
  • 3.
  • Tile.

Below are the images I was able to capture. Moderate amounts of post processing are included.

 

-Ben

 

Kings Park Birding, Canon 100-400L impressions.

01. December 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Canon, Canon F4-5.6 100-400L, Lenses, Nature, Photos, Reviews

I was lucky enough recently to have the opportunity to borrow Ilkka’s Canon 100-400L lens, he was going away for work on the weekend and didn’t need it so I he offered it to me for a short while.

I hear lots of things about this lens, I wasn’t overly impressed though. I’ll break down below the pro’s and cons.

 

Pros:

  • Not heavy (for a telephoto zoom)
  • Image Stabilization (super super handy, I was hand-holding bird shots and getting minimal (read: unrecognisable) handshake)
  • Push / Pull zoom design (I know these designs suck in dust and are susceptible to lens creep, however they are really handy in terms of usability).

Cons:

  • Not light (I know the opposite of this is in the pros list, I feel that 1.38 Kg is a bit of an inconvenience, especially hand holding)
  • Not constant ƒ4 over the zoom range.
  • Probably not long enough for serious birding.
  • Not particularly sharp (could be version variance though)

 

So for birding, I wouldn’t use this lens again without a tele-converter on it. That is saying something about the length that serious birders use, as I use a 7D and the crop factor makes this lens a 640mm lens on the long end. This itself poses a problem as Canon has designed the 7D to have incompatible auto-focus with certain lens and tele-converter combinations.

I used this lens 90% of the time at 400mm. At the end of the day, I would forego the Image Stabilization for the increased image quality and cheaper price that a 400mm ƒ5.6 prime could offer. It would mean using a tripod or monopod, but for the bird shooting I was doing, there was really no need for me to be hand-holding.

If I could think of any proper use for this lens it would be close subject outdoor events (i.e. picnics, daytime concerts, music festivals) or well lit indoor sporting events, (i.e. indoor soccer, squash, basketball).

 

Below are a few shots (processed) from the lens, enjoy:

John Forrest National Park, Macro and Jupiter-9

09. November 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Jupiter-9 F2 85mm, Landscape, Lenses, Macro, Mamiya F4 120mm Macro, Nature, Photos

So I went shooting at John Forrest National Park with Travis, in Perth for study and Abby his sister. The day was nice and sunny and there were reasonable amounts of flowers and birds out.

We did come a little late for wildflowers though. We were lucky enough to see a sun orchid (Genus Thelymitra), however it was finishing as you will see from the photo.

Before heading home we stopped by the Melville Rose Nursery in Carmel. I spotted some Red-Browed Finches (introduced into WA) and a Splendid Fairy Wren (looking a little dishevelled).

I shot with my Jupiter-9, 85mm ƒ2 and my Mamiya 120mm ƒ4 macro lenses.

 

Leinon or Cantz, the Canon / Leica RF hybrid.

11. October 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Brand, Canon, Leica, Leitz, Rangefinder

Some time ago I decided I needed a portable digital body to carry around with me. Not being satisfied with just any old point shoot. I set myself some redundant requirements.

The point and shoot must:

  1. Be cheap. let’s be honest, cheap isn’t going to happen.
  2. Use vintage glass of some sort.
  3. Look amazing.

So I set about thinking how I was going to accomplish this. I didn’t want a Nex, as they look like ass and are too expensive. Actually the same holds true with most µ4/3 cameras.

For where my train of thought was going, the sensor size of the µ4/3 was too big… Yes… Big.

What I ended up deciding was that I was going to use a cheap 10ish Megapixel Canon point and shoot, pairing it with an 8mm film lens. Which brought me to deciding which point and shoot, paired with which lens.

Ultimately the choice in point and shoot was easy, a friend had dropped her hot pink camera, causing it to acquire a lens error. $20 later, I have a broken pink digital camera, great! It’s going to require a lick of paint. Although I might go the leather route. It’s also 14 Megapixels, and supports CHDK :)

Next step, choose a movie camera lens. A trip to ebay left me with 3 choices, a keystone 8mm with 3 lenses, a wollensak with 3 lenses or a leica (leitz) with 2 lenses.

The options were, buy a brand name that is well known today (Leica), that doesn’t work, with one less lens. Or, be smart and buy the Wollensak or Keystone. Technically it is two less lenses, as there is a built in lens and an extension lens. As is evident from the title, I bought the expensive broken Leica.

So, what is left for me to do:

  1. Disassemble the Canon P&S
  2. Remove the lens assembly
  3. Get the lens error to stop appearing
  4. Maybe install CHDK
  5. Disassemble the Leica
  6. Measure the focal flange distance
  7. Remove the lens and design an aperture control mechanism
  8. Build Canon body back up, design for better ergonomics

Simple really :)

I’ll keep updating this blog with new posts with photos as progress occurs.

Kings Park, plant sale event, macro shots

29. September 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Macro, Mamiya F4 120mm Macro, Nature, Photos

Ahoy,

Subjects are as follows: Pink Fairy, Spider and Donkey Orchids. Banksias, Green Kangaroo Paw, Wood Ducks (Maned Geese), Grasshopper, Dragonfly and a Wattle Bird.

A rather varied day.

Was fun :)

Anyway, images below:

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