I fine-tuned the focusing on my 58/1.4 lens this evening.
As I suspected, it was off.
I suppose I could be annoyed that it needed a “+15” adjustment, but I’m mostly relieved that it can be corrected easily.
[Edit (November 21): Upon further testing – in daylight 🙂 – it turns out I need to make a +18 adjustment!]
—Peter.
Fleeting expressions like this are rarely seen with our eyes but always perceived by our subconscious.
Photography has the power to suspend such moments for our leisurely contemplation.
It’s one of the qualities of this obsessive pursuit that I enjoy.
—Peter.
A little motion-emotion.
(Technical:Â 1/30 | f/16 | ISO 64)
—Peter.
Introducing the Nikon D810.
New camera, same outlook.
(Onward and upward.)
Oh yes — the lens.
Another time.
I’ll discuss.
Promise.
—Peter.
A roll of 120 film on the Mamiya RZ67 allows for exactly 10 photographs.
I used 3 of those frames tonight to photograph Honey — just because I love shooting the RZ67, and I hadn’t for a while, so I was itching… because good things happen when I pick up the RZ67.
(and Honey makes for a willing model)
More to follow.
(currently scanning the images… 9 out of 10 are worth keeping)
—Peter.
Yes, I did it.
I managed to burn a hole in my M3 shutter curtain.
After all of these years… this is a first. I had read about it but never really worried about it.
As far as I can tell, it was caused by not having the lens cap on while I was outside in intense sunlight (at the Blue Jays game). My uncapped lens likely focused the rays of light onto a small area of the shutter cloth and — voila! — a hole was created.
This is what the hole was doing to all of my film images:
(iPhone shot of a scanned image on my computer screen)
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Fortunately the curtain can be easily repaired/patched.
Now I have to reconsider my w(hole) modus operandi for shooting. I have been using my lenses with protective hoods and filters but no lens caps.
—Peter.
Sometimes, you just have to hang on.
—Peter.
Technical:Â 1/30 sec.
Technical #2: My Leica M3 is broken (curtain issue). I thought the (now sold) 50/2 Jahre was flaring badly, but the same bright spot I was seeing in its images appears in the centre of most of my images with 35 Summicron ASPH. Bummer! Thank goodness I took two quick images of this scene and this (second) image was okay. Thank you also to my friend Mark (If Time Stood Still) for help with the diagnosis.
If you have been following along, my last few posts contain photographs created with Undisclosed Lens #3.
So far, I’ve only shot with it on film.
I decided to examine central sharpness, wide open, on the Leica M9.
Here is the original test shot:
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And here is the central crop of the above image, at 100%:
(focus was on the “T” of the word “Teas”)
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Once again, I’m quite impressed with this lens.
—Peter.
My newly-acquired Mamiya-Sekor Z 110mm f/2.8, which was used to take these recently posted images here, here, and here, has fungus in it.
A lot of fungus.
It was described as “mint” by the seller in Japan.
To his credit, he has sent me a replacement lens. It’s not quite as nice cosmetically, but the glass is clean (other than dust, which all of these Mamiya RZ lenses seem to attract in great quantity).
Yet, I wonder if I should keep and pay for the eukaryotic-exotic first lens?
It seems to perform spectacularly.
Myco-graphy anyone?
—Peter.
This series was photographed last night with my undisclosed lens.
(click to see LARGE)
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Each image was created with the lens wide open.
For those interested in seeing the details this lens captures at maximum aperture, here is a 100% crop of the third image:
(focus is on his eyelashes)
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Yes, this lens costs less than a Leica lens hood. It costs less than an M9 battery. Amazing really.
I’m working my way down the list of donators to the site and revealing the identity of my undisclosed lens.
Thanks again to those who donated.
—Peter.
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This was photographed tonight.
It’s another colour image taken with my undisclosed lens (well, eight of you now know which lens I’m using — I’m going down the list of people who donated to my site and revealing its identity as my personal thank you).
As you can see, the rendering — even wide open — is impressive.
—Peter.
She’s emerging from the darkness of a 6 day fever.
And with this post, I’m emerging from radio silence. Thank you again to all who donated to the site.
As you know, I’m going down the list of donators each day and divulging the identity of my mystery lens, which can currently be purchased for less than a Leica lens hood.
This is the first colour shot I’ve created with the undisclosed lens. I see impressive colour rendition and pulling of shadow detail, but it also helps to have the mighty M9 sensor capturing those precious photons.
On a related note, I’d like to thank the great Mr. Youxin Ye for repairing my undisclosed lens in record time and making sure the aperture and focus rings are working smoothly. He also removed a considerable amount of dust from within the lens barrel. Thank you Youxin!
—Peter.
Wow, this is amazing — I have to give Leica full credit for following through on this.
For those who haven’t seen the announcement, here is the link:
CCD sensor lovers, rejoice!
—Peter.
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Related:Â An Open Letter to Leica
A few observations:
—Peter.
I was thinking of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s famous shot when I took this.
(his image is more interesting — for many reasons)
On a related note, I’ve gone back and edited all my soccer-related images and added the category The Beautiful Game to each one, so that I no longer have to type “The Beautiful Game” in the title or in the post.
—Peter.
Why didn’t Sony take the RX1/R and turn it into the Leica Q before Leica did? Sony was so close the first time…
Sony is a behemoth with deep resources and Leica is a tiny company with relatively limited resources, yet Leica out-Sony-ied Sony.
I keep wondering: Why?
(Nikon and Canon haven’t shown an interest in this class of camera — yet. So forget them, as they seem to be sleeping.)
Either way, I’m glad Leica pulled this off first because Sony would have messed up the haptics.
On a related note, every decade people are willing to write Leica off, but Leica manages to re-invent itself. As I stated in point #20 of My Photography Truths:
—Peter.
It’s our May holiday weekend here in Canada and I’ve had some time to relax.
I’ve spent part of the day looking at various fora, blogs, photo-sharing sites, etc. and have seen some genuinely nice images.
To my dismay however, I’ve also seen a lot of something else:Â the over-processed-HDR look.
Apparently, tone-mapping is alive and well.
At this point, I feel compelled to link back to an article I wrote several years ago:
Please read it, or pass it along to a friend who may need help. Consider it an act of kindness. Or tough love.
In the meantime, if you want to remind yourself of what a proper photograph should look like, have a look at some film images.
Here are a couple of sites I often visit because the photographers there are still shooting film (in addition to digital):
You won’t find anything flashy there, but you will find some very fine photographs.
—Peter.
Prosophos 
