I haven't been buying or selling much lately though.
I am fortunate that the community I met in Manhattan in the watch world gives me access to some out of this world expensive pieces that I could not buy.
I have been wondering though about how I can take my watch photography to the next level. I'm not sure I have many ideas.
you could do alot of neat environmental photos (with owner's permission of course!) alot of those nice watches only get desk diving duty. I'd like to buy a nice watch one day. one thing at a time!
FlyPenFly wrote:
I have been wondering though about how I can take my watch photography to the next level. I'm not sure I have many ideas.
Jae, I'm jealous of your access to expensive specimens. I don't indulge in watch photography since I only have one of note. This Breguet Marine has seen plenty of use on my wife's wrist, and the "5" pip has detached and is rolling around the dial like a pachinko ball.
Going to the next level is a matter of critical lighting and focus. I do quite a lot of tabletop shooting, especially with shiny objects, and watches are a real test. As you can tell from advertisements, the current fashion is having the entire face in focus - no selective focus except possibly the band/bracelet. Any sophisticated presentation is going to use an oblique angle rather than head on, so achieving focus requires tilt/shift.
Being a Zeiss thread, I used the CZ S-Planar 100/4 C/Y for the shot above. The SP100 operates with bellows only for focus and movements. Aperture was f/11, but tilt was essential for sharpness across the face. I also needed a polarizer to suppress heavy reflections from the mirror-like glass. I used just one source, a small light box at 12 o'clock. There were three reflectors to give shape to the watch case, and illuminate the facets of the bracelet links.
FlyPenFly wrote:
A couple more watch shots. ZA 24-70
Who needs a macro?!
Anyone who doesn't like CA.
I think you're really good at this kind of shots and the ZA24-70 gives a nice look to them, but the CA still bothers me. I see it (red+yellow fringe on the inside, blue fringe on the outside) on most of the bright chrome edges and in OOF areas outside of the center. Anyway, I'll quit bitchin' about it. :P
Rico: thanks! That looks great. Certainly Breguet is tops. I have thought about getting a tilt shift macro setup as well but I just havent' looked into the technical aspects of it enough.
Ahamb: I'm glad I can't see what you see or it would drive me nuts!
Anyways, not a macro shot, Zeiss ZA 85mm F1.4 at F2.8 Shot from a moving train so I needed the shutter speed.
FlyPenFly wrote:
I would say the ZA 24-70 is not as contrasty as the 35-70 which is in a league of it's own as far as contrast. I think the 35-70 is perhaps even more contrasty than the 28mm F2.8 in it's best FL and aperture.
The 24-70 has a more saturated look and it has imperfect extreme corners.
It has an incredibly high level of sharpness though in it's central middle that give images life at medium range distances.
It's definitely not the sharpest lens or highest resolving but the rendering is very vivid. It's almost too saturated that I sometimes turn down saturation from import if it's a golden hour shot.
It's not an ideal landscape lens, more of a great general purpose lens and in that way, I prefer it over the 35-70mm. But if I were taking landscapes all day, I would take the 35-70mm. ...Show more →
FlyPenFly, I am glad you enjoy your ZA 24-70. I like its rendering from your non macro samples. If it was old manual glass it would have cult status and cost an arm and leg, I believe. And it's with AF and 1:4 as you said. Lucky you to have it accompanied with 35-70.
Can anyone share insights in how the C/Y 100/2 and C/Y 50/1.4 compare to their newer Zeiss ZE siblings? Are they comparable at all? From what I've seen the C/Y 35/1.4 is as good as anything produced on that focal range.
There are some locally available, a bit pricy - but still FAR less than ZE's ...
EDIT: and should I expect mirror interference from these on a Canon 5D2?
Not sure about the 50, but the 100 should work fine on the 5DI/II. From what I've read on Pebbleplace, its the wider lenses which cause issues (less than 50mm). But I think its hit and miss (literally) whether the mirror will catch, depending on more the adapter than the lens. This will only occur nearer infinity, similar to the Rokkor 58 1.2 which you just bought. I own the CY 100/2 + 35/1.4, but only have the ZE 21 to compare that to.
I use a 1Ds2 however so no issues at all for me. Haven't read very many if any at all, problems with the 35/1.4 CY on the 5DI/II in the Official Zeiss 35 1.4 thread, I'm sure someone on there might be able to answer your question (or you might have to trawl through all the pages and see if there are any complaints)
Dark place. I found my motive mostly by flashlight.
